An Act By Any Other Name: General vs. Special Acts

Patrons often contact the State Library wanting to know the difference between an act that is general in nature, and what is commonly called a “special act” (or “special law”).  Massachusetts acts are made up of both types, and it’s easy to be confused by this concept since they are published together in no particular order other than that in which they were passed during a specific year; however, prior to 1920, you will find that they were published in separate volumes.  It’s important to be able to recognize the difference between the two, as research methods can vary depending on the type in question.  Also note that the Massachusetts Acts and Resolves are commonly known under the umbrella term “session laws”, and you may see this term used throughout your research.

An act that is general in nature will most often apply to all Massachusetts residents (for example, laws regarding divorce in the state), or it may involve the organization and administration of the state government (for example, the state budget).  Also keep in mind that general acts are passed with the intent of permanence.  This type of act makes up the majority of the acts passed, and together they form the body of the Massachusetts General Laws (MGL) and all of its additions, amendments, repeals, etc. that the MGL has undergone since its codification.  In other words, each general act is codified into the MGL.  The MGL, like most existing bodies of law, is mutable and subject to continual changes that are effected by these general acts.

“Special acts” are acts that are more specific in nature.  They apply to a limited number, such as one person, one event, a specific city or town, etc.  Like general acts, they are subject to amendments brought about by subsequent acts; however they are not codified into any body of law.

A good way to distinguish between the two types of acts is to take a look at the language used and the subject matter at hand.  Good questions to ask are: What is the scope of the subject matter?  Is it specific, or does it apply to the Massachusetts community as a whole?  Does it affect the organization or administration of the state government?  Is it meant to be temporary?  Key language usually appears in the first couple sentences of the act.  Does it specifically state that the act is an amendment or insertion being applied to the General Laws?  If so, then it is a general act.  If you’re still not sure, Shephard’s Citations, which is available in the library, is a good resource to look at because it distinguishes between acts codified and not codified.

To make matters more complicated, sometimes an act can have both.  A great example of this is 1993 Chap. 71, a huge act concerning educational reform.  Many of the sections are general acts with references to the MGL, but look at section 70; section 70 is not codified in the MGL and is considered a “special” part of this act.

Examples:
Special Act:  2009 Chap. 201. An Act Designating A Certain Traffic Circle In The City Of Lowell As The Micky Ward Rotary.

General Act:  1980 Chap. 63. An Act Establishing Town Meeting Day.

The State Library has digitized all of the acts from 1692 to 2009; later acts can be found on the legislature’s website.

Kaitlin Connolly
Reference Dept.

91st Anniversary of the 19th Amendment

On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the United States constitution, granting women the right to vote, became law. Here in Massachusetts the state legislature had approved in June "An Act to Enable Women Voters to Vote at Primaries and Elections When Qualified." You can read the preamble to that Act on the right, and the full text of the Act is available through the State Library's website.

A celebration of Women's Equality Day will take place on Friday, August 26, from 11am to noon at the Swan Boats Pavilion of the Boston Public Garden. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino will be the guest speakers. You can find more information about this event at the Attorney General's website.

Happy Women's Equality Day!

Five Feet High and Rising

On a rainy May 16, 1874, residents of Williamsburg and surrounding towns were struck by disaster. Early that morning the Mill River Dam, which harnessed over six hundred million gallons of water, gave way, wiping out four villages, destroying homes and factories, and taking 139 lives early that morning. The explosive wave of water ranged between 20 and 40 feet wide, and was the length of a football field. It only grew larger as it barreled down the river bed, ripping sediment and trees out of the ground as it gained momentum. Survivors of the flood described it as an enormous cloud of dirt and debris (including furniture, farm animals, and even people) speeding downstream.

There was a coroner’s inquest to discover who was at fault. It was apparent that the mill owners who commissioned the dam construction in 1865 had no formal engineering training. After consulting with engineers on the potential project, the mill owners felt the proposals ranging around $100,000 were beyond their $30,000 budget. They instead decided to consult with a railroad engineer to write up an inexpensive and flexible design, and found contractors to do the work for a mere $22,000. After construction was complete, there was much speculation among professional engineers as well as villagers living around the dam as to its safety. These accounts of concern are well documented in the interesting and engaging book, In The Shadow of the Dam: the Aftermath of the Mill River Flood of 1874 by Elizabeth M. Sharpe.

In 1875 the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed an Act which would hold builders of dams accountable for the first time. Plans for building would now have to be approved by county commissioners before construction began, and inspections would continue to take place even after construction was complete, in order to assure the safety of the structures. You can view the State Library's copy of An Act To Provide For The Supervision Of The Construction And Maintenance Of Reservoirs And Dams online.

-April Pierce, Special Collections intern

Newspaper image taken from Hartford Daily Courant, May 18, 1874, Hartford CT (courtesy of Newsbank and the American Antiquarian Society, 2004).

Interesting Acts from 1955

Recently I was working on transforming the scanned version of the Acts of 1955. I was taking the big file and chopping it up into individual chapters so that it is easier to search in the State Library's electronic repository.

There are some interesting acts that passed that year.

Chapter 481 of the Acts of 1955 deals with the purchase and distribution of the Salk vaccine for poliomyelitis or polio. This law is entitled "An Act relative to furnishing Salk poliomyelitis vaccine to certain children and others throughout the Commonwealth."

The Minimum Fair Wage went from $.75 up to $.90 per hour by Chapter 762 of the Acts of 1955.

The Rights and Privileges of Veterans was further defined by Chapter 708 of the Acts of 1955.

Naomi Allen
Reference Librarian

A Regular Day in Special Collections

One of my favorite things about working with special collections is the type of materials that can fall into your lap. Recently I was searching the stacks for a volume in our Pennsylvania collection and in the process I came across the volume pictured at the left, Acts and Laws, Colony of Rhode Island, 1730.

The State Library began in 1811 as a document exchange program between states and we have large holdings of other states’ legislative documents. The Rhode Island volume is just one of many we have for the state, but a particularly interesting one, as it was published in 1730 prior to American independence. The volume includes both the 1663 charter of the colony issued by King Charles the Second and the acts and laws of the colony. The information contained in this volume is invaluable for researchers of early American legal history, early Rhode Island history, and history of rule under the crown.

At the bottom of the title page a signature reads “Samuel Bennett.” While we cannot be certain of the provenance of this volume, a bit of research turned up references to a Samuel Bennett Jr. of East Greenwich, Rhode Island who was born around 1664 and died in 1745. Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of the State of Massachusetts includes a lengthy passage about the Bennett family and notes that the junior Mr. Bennett was a carpenter and deacon of two churches, one in East Greenwich and one in Warwick. Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of the State of Massachusetts is available in the State Library under call number O 929 M31 C99g. Acts and Laws, Colony of Rhode Island, 1730 is available in the Special Collections department as part of the Rhode Island collection.

- Lacy Crews Stoneburner, Preservation Librarian