On the Job: Ancestors Who Worked in the Public Sector and the Amazing Records They Left Behind

Records created by state and municipal workers are extensive, well preserved, and increasingly accessible. From biographical information, pension records, and ID photos to tales of heroism and scandal, public employment records offer details about an ancestor’s life and times. Margaret R. Sullivan draws on documents available online to review specific cases and discusses her efforts to use city employment records to flesh out the later lives of the 1,170 Boston police officers who went out on strike in 1919. Sullivan is Records Manager and Archivist for the Boston Police Department. She has been honored for her research documenting line of duty officers, early African American officers, and pioneering women police. She is a Fellow at the Massachusetts Historical Society and former Vice President of TIARA, the Irish Ancestral Research Association.