Massachusetts Genealogical Council
As part of executing its educational mission year-round, MGC offers programs on open records and other topics of interest to genealogists 4 to 5 times a year. To avoid conflicting with regularly scheduled meetings of other societies and organizations, M:O.R.E. presentations will occur during the 5th week of a month.
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Click here to see the presentations of those speakers who have allowed us to record their talks and make them available to everyone.
The presentations are free, but registration is required.​​​​
An Evening with
Samuel Edwards
Finding the Stories of Relatives in Massachusetts Mental Hospitals
and State Schools for the Disabled
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July 29, 2026, at 7:00 PM ET via Zoom
On November 15, 2025 Governor Maura Healey celebrated a new law that makes it easier for family members to access records about their loved ones who were state mental hospitals and state schools for the disabled in Massachusetts. Samuel Edwards, Reference Archivist at Massachusetts Archives, will explain the changes specified in the law, the process for requesting these records through Massachusetts Archives, what to expect from these requests, as well as tips on how to find more information about ancestors at state institutions.
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Samuel Edwards is a Reference Archivist at Massachusetts Archives. He holds a Master’s of Library and Information Science from Simmons University in Archival Management, and a Bachelor of Arts from Hampshire College. He has experience working with documents spanning from 1628 to the present day. He served on the Special Commission for State Institutions as the Archives representative from 2024-2025, a disabled-led commission reckoning with the history of state institutions and making recommendations for the state. Samuel found his interest in archives from helping his mother with their family genealogy.
​This presentation is free, but registration is required!
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Co-sponsors: Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society-New England Chapter (AAHGS-NE), Boston Public Library (BPL), David Allen Lambert Library (DALL), Essex Society of Genealogists (ESOG), Falmouth Genealogical Society (FGS), Friends of Irish Research (FIR), Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston (JGSGB), Massachusetts Society of Genealogists (MSOG), Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants (MSMD), New Bedford Historical Society (NBHS), New England Chapter-Association of Professional Genealogists (NEAPG), New England Historic Genealogical Society--American Ancestors (NEHGS), The Irish Ancestral Research Society (TIARA), Western Massachusetts Genealogical Society (WMGS).
Upcoming 2026 Schedule​
Samuel Edwards - Institutional Records at the Massachusetts Archives (29 July 2026) - REGISTER NOW
Bonnie Wade-Mucia - Uncovering Pre-1900 New England Church Records (Sept. 2026)​
Mark your calendars to keep these dates free.
Registration instructions will follow closer to the presentation dates.
Previous M:O.R.E. Presentations
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Stephen Hartwell: Maritime Records lead to Genealogical Treasure (29 April 2026)
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Margaret R. Fortier: Bay State Bonanza: 400 Years of Vital Records (30 March 2026)
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Linda MacIver: Demystifying the Three Big Free Digital Sites for Massachusetts Genealogists: The Internet Archive and Beyond! (29 Jan. 2026)
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Bonnie Wade Mucia: Decoding the Silver books: Mastering Mayflower Genealogy Research (29 Sept. 2025)
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Sybil J. Gilchrist: Camarades of War I (30 Jan. 2025)
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Miriam Weiner: You Are Invited to a Meeting with the KGB (10 Nov. 2024)
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Jenifer Kahn Bakkala: Writing a Compelling Family History (30 Sept. 2024)
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Sara E. Campbell: What's in My Vault--Confessions of a DPW Engineer (29 April 2024)
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Jill Marie Snyder: Dear Mary, Dear Luther: A Courtship in Letters (29 Feb. 2024)
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Anne Hanson, Buried Secrets: Looking for Frank and Ida (30 Jan. 2024)
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John D. Warner: Archivist of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (30 Nov. 2023)
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Kate Kelley, Meet the Photo Angel (30 Nov. 2022)
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Kenvi Phillips, PhD: Sounds like Sounds Like Family: The Oral Tradition in Researching Family History (29 Sept. 2022)
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Paul Joseph Fronczak: The Foundling, True Identity (31 Jan. 2022)
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David J. Silverman: This Land Is Their Land (30 Nov. 2021)
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Nicka Sewell-Smith: The Trask 500 (30 Sept. 2021)
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John D. Warner: Archivist of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (30 June 2021)
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Amy Whorf McGuiggan: Finding Emma (31 March 2021)
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Brooke Schreier Ganz: Reclaim the Records (27 Jan. 2021)
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Judy Bambrough-Billingsley: Too Brown to Keep (29 Oct. 2020)
Recorded M:O.R.E. Presentations
We are grateful to these presenters who allowed us to record their talks and make them available to you.