This list represents libraries, archives, museums and special collections that have historic photographs of Andover in their holdings as well as online galleries (Flickr, for example) and repositories that may be of interest to local history researchers.  A significant number of collections on this list refer to websites that aggregate the holdings of participating libraries archives and museums. For ease of access, the links to historical photo collections on this page from instituions with content on those platforms do not point to the originating institutions but to the aggregated "discovery platforms" instead. 

MHL is always interested to know about new places to find historical photographs of Andover.  Email rdesk@mhl.org if you have suggestions for adding to this list. 

 

Websites for discovering public domain content

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is an all-digital library that aggregates content from libraries, museums and institutions around the country. 
Wikimedia Commons is a media file repository making available public domain and freely licensed educational media content.
Digital Commonwealth  supports the management, and dissemination of cultural heritage materials from Massachusetts libraries, museums and special collections.

 

Licensing, access and attribution
In many cases, the images from the collections listed below are in the public domain and are freely available to use without copyright restrictions.  In other cases, researchers must obtain permission for downloading and licensing images for usage. Researchers and casual browsers are responsible for taking care to understand the licensing restrictions for any content they may reproduce online or in print publications.  As a matter of courtesy and standard practice, researchers should fully attribute credit to the holding institution of any maps used in their work.  In cases where materials will appear in print, film or video broadcast, researchers should notify holding institutions of their use.  Librarians at Memorial Hall Library are available to help researchers understand whether or not photographs are in the public domain and how best to cite the holding institution of content they may wish to use. 

 

 

 

 

Andover Center for History and Culture Photograph Collection
https://andoverhistoryandculture.pastperfectonline.com/
Formerly known as The Andover Historical Society, ACHC's photographs are in a keyword searchable database. Researchers must make arrangements to use and reproduce images from the collection and not all images in the ACHC collection is digitized. For more information email:  info@andoverhistoryandculture.org 

Andover Historic Preservation Comission
Photos of historic properties and districts may be found on the Andover Historic Preservation Commission Database. 
https://preservation.mhl.org/

Andover Newton Theological Seminary Archives at Yale Divinity School 
divinity.library@yale.edu
The Andover Theological Seminary was the oldest graduate school in the United States, founded in Andover, Massachusetts in 1807. In 1908, the program moved to Cambridge and was in partnership with the Harvard Divinity School.  In 1965, the Andover Seminary left Harvard to join the campus and academic program of the Newton Theological Institution.  In 2016, the Andover Newton Theological Seminary (ANTS) closed and became a part of the Yale Divinity School in New Haven Connecticut. The ANTS archives and special collections have been accessioned into the Yale Divinity School Archives.  The collections are extensively documented in finding aids and include many photographs of campus, faculty, students, staff and related organizations. 

Arthur Griffin Photo Archive
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/collections/commonwealth:sq87bt61f
Arthur Griffin was a Lawrence-born commercial illustrator and photographer. His archive includes photos of Phillips Academy from the 1930s. 

Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society on Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bmrrhs/

Boston Public Library
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/institutions/commonwealth:sf268508b
The BPL's Special Collections include photographs taken by New England press photographers Dennis Brearley and Leslie Jones.

Essex Northshore Agricultural and Technical School
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/institutions/commonwealth:sf268906m 

Historic New England
https://www.historicnewengland.org/explore/collections-access/
Previously known as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), Historic New England is a century-old historic preservation organization headquartered in Boston. Historic New England’s collections include interior and exterior photographs of homes in Andover, Mass as well as images of decorative elements from Andover homes such as wallpaper and fixtures. 

Lawrence Public Library
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/institutions/commonwealth:sf268d423 

Library of Congress
https://loc.gov/collections/

Memorial Hall Library Photographs on Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/memorial-hall-library/

Memorial Hall Library Curated Gallery on Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/memorial-hall-library/galleries

Merrimack College Photo Archives on Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/merrimack/

New York Public Library, Digital Collections
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/
NYPL's digital collections contains a small group of 19c stereographs of downtown Andover, Massachusetts as well as a few other 20c photographs of Phillips Academy buildings under construction. 

Olmsted Archives, Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site on Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/olmsted_archives/
The archives of the landscape architecture fim Olmsted & Associates includes high resolution images of blueprints, landscape and civil engineering plans, maps and photos of Phillips Academy, private Andover residences and municipal properties in downtown Andover. 

Phillips Academy and Abbot Academy Archives and Special Collections  
https://phillipsacademyarchives.net/

Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search?f%5Binstitution_name_ssi%5D%5B%5D=Phillips+Library+at+the+Peabody+Essex+Museum&q=andover%2C+mass
The collections of The Phillips Library of the Peabody Essex Museum include a significant number of original print, photographic and manuscript documents regarding the history of Essex County Massachusetts.  

Pike School Andover on Flicker
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pikeschool/

Sisters of Notre Dame on Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/100882327@N05/albums/72157641470545124/