Mayor James M. Curley collection

Collection

Identifier: 0237.001

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Mayor James M. Curley collection includes materials created by and created about James Michael Curley during his long political career. The collection includes materials pertaining to periods during his time as Mayor of Boston as well as during his tenure as Governor of Massachusetts and as member of the United States House of Representatives. The collection includes correspondence, scrapbooks, speeches, audiovisual materials, writings, and various forms of memorabilia. Included with the memorabilia is a top hat once owned by Mayor Curley, funeral books created after the deaths of his wife and children, mayoral campaign material, and photographs. It is unclear who compiled the collection as it contains materials produced after Mayor Curley's death in 1958.

Dates

Creation: 1912-1977, undated

Creator

Curley, James Michael, 1874-1958 (Person)

Biographical note

James Michael Curley was the 37th Mayor of Boston and served four terms: 1914-1917, 1922-1925, 1930-1933 and 1946-1949. He was born in Boston on November 20, 1874 and attended Boston Public Schools. He entered politics when he was elected as a member of the Common Council for the 1900-1901 term. He married Mary E. Herlihy on June 27, 1906. After his first wife died, he married Gertrude Casey Dennis in 1937. James Michael Curley died on November 12, 1958.

Political Timeline of James Michael Curley

1900-1901
: Member, Boston Common Council
1902-1903
: Massachusetts House of Representatives
1904-1909
: Boston Board of Alderman
1910-1911
: Member, Boston City Council
1911-1919
: Member, Sixty-second and Sixty-third Congresses, Twelfth Massachusetts District
1914-1917
: Mayor of Boston
1922-1925
: Mayor of Boston
1930-1933
: Mayor of Boston
1935-1936
: Governor of Massachusetts
1943-1945
: Member, Seventy-eighth and Seventy-ninth Congresses, Eleventh Massachusetts District
1945-1949
: Mayor of Boston