Genealogy Gems at the Charles Sumner School Museum & Archives – Part IV

This is Part 4 of a 5 part series on using the collection at The Charles Sumner School Museum & Archives to perform genealogy research. This post discusses vertical files in the Sumner collection that can be beneficial to genealogy research. Unless otherwise noted, all photographs are Courtesy Sumner Museum.

• Part 1 of 5 – Introduction
• Part 2 of 5 – History of the Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives
• Part 3 of 5 – Documents in the Sumner Collection
• Part 4 of 5 – Vertical Files in the Sumner Collection 
• Part 5 of 5 – Portraits and Exhibits in the Sumner Collection 

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Vertical Files in the Sumner Collection

Vertical files contain a collection of papers, pamphlets, clippings, pictures or other materials on a specific subject. The Sumner collection has several types that are helpful to genealogy research:

• School Files contain information related to a specific school
• People Files contain information on an individual who was connected with the school system.
• Alumni Files contain information on individuals who attended a school. These files only exist for high schools.
• School Namesake Files contain information on person for whom a school was named
• Special Collections are created for individuals who were connected with the school system. They contain artifacts related to their tenure in the school system.

 

School Files

School files generally contain:

• Commencement Programs
• School Newspapers
• Class Pictures
• Photographs
• News articles about staff and pupils
• Programs for school plays and events
• Awards

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People/Alumni/School Namesake Files

People, Alumni and Namesake files generally contain the the following :

Obituary	News clippings
Funeral Programs	Photographs
Correspondence	Speeches
Biography	Oral History
Certificates	Diplomas
Ephemera	Publications

You can find some very interesting items in these files.  For example, one people file contained a script for a This is Your Life program that was part of an 85th birthday celebration.  This script contained a wealth of genealogy information about not only the person but his family members as well.

 

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Genealogy Gems at the Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives – Related Post

Part 1 of 5 – Introduction
Part 2 of 5 – History of the Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives
Part 3 of 5 – Documents in the Sumner Collection
Part 4 of 5 – Vertical Files in the Sumner Collection
Part 5 of 5 – Portraits and Exhibits in the Sumner Collection