Founded in 1892, the Colonial Society of Massachusetts is a non-profit educational foundation designed to promote the study of Massachusetts history from earliest settlement through the first decades of the nineteenth century. The central mission of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts is to publish documents and other resources related to the early history of Massachusetts, broadly defined, from colonization to c. 1830, and taking in local, regional, transatlantic and other perspectives.

The Publications Committee of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts accepts proposals for publications made by CSM members and others, in accordance with the Society’s central publishing mission. In considering proposals, the CSM is committed to achieving greater diversity in its publications, particularly in regard to documents and sources relating to Indigenous peoples, women, people of color, and LGBTQ history, and to increasing the diversity of its editors. Projects accepted for publication may be made available in print or in digital form, or both.

All ninety-one volumes of the Society’s publications are freely available to the public either for download or consultation through this website. (See Publications for the full list.)

Please visit Activities for a more complete description of the Society's activities. 

The Colonial Society is pleased to announce two new publications. The Correspondence of Thomas Hutchinson, Volume 4: November 1770 - June 1772, edited by John W. Tyler and Margaret Hogan, and The Papers of Francis Bernard, Colonial Governor of Massachusetts, Volume 6: 1769 - 1779, edited by Colin Nicolson. Both are available from the University of Virginia Press and Amazon, and can also be seen online on our Publications page).