File:Seal of Somerville, Massachusetts (1876–1972).png

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English: Seal of Somerville, Massachusetts (1876–1969). Following is a copy of an Ordinance to establish a Seal for the City of Somerville.

A representation of Washington standing on Prospect Hill with a Union Flag unfurled. On the right, a view of a portion of Boston, with the State House. On the left, a view of a portion of Charlestown, with Bunker Hill Monument. Within a circle around the same, the inscription: Somerville. Founded 1842, Established a City 1872. On the outer circle around the above, as the City motto, the words: Municipal Freedom Gives National Strength.

The whole to be arranged according to the impression of Seal hereunto annexed
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Source https://s3.amazonaws.com/ifa.somervillema.gov/documents/historic/HaskellsHistoricalGuideBook.pdf https://books.google.com/books?id=O_YCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA35&lpg=PA35&dq=%22Ordinance+to+establish+a+Seal+for+the+City+of+Somerville%22&source=bl&ots=e4F7Aryy3B&sig=ACfU3U0GZVNHqIoBjsfPLiAKQMAVJiR7pQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj7hZ-E45WDAxXbFFkFHRVjCH4Q6AF6BAgMEAM#v=onepage&q=%22Ordinance%20to%20establish%20a%20Seal%20for%20the%20City%20of%20Somerville%22&f=false
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This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was a Commonwealth of Massachusetts public record disseminated by a Commonwealth agency or the Massachusetts Archives. Massachusetts' Secretary of the Commonwealth has stated that such works can be copied and used for any purpose. This copyright does not extend to those records created, received, or under the custody of municipalities by M. G. L. c. 66, § 7, unless otherwise stated, nor does this apply to copy-written materials for commercial purposes received by employees of the Commonwealth.
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A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, Published by William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Division of Public Records, (Updated January 2017) can be found at https://www.mass.gov/files/2017-06/Public%20Records%20Law.pdf and page 7 says:

"With the exception of situations in which a records custodian is withholding records pursuant to Exemption (n), inquiries into a requester's status or motivation for seeking information are expressly prohibited. [1] Consequently, all requests for public records, even if made for a commercial purpose or to assist the requester in a lawsuit against the holder of the records, must be honored in accordance with the Public Records Law."

  1. ↑ See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a) (public records are to be provided to “any person”); see also 950 CMR 32.05(5) (custodian prohibited from inquiring into a requester’s status or motivation); but see G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(n) (a records custodian may ask the requester to voluntarily provide additional information in order to reach a “reasonable judgment” regarding disclosure of responsive records).
Definition of "public record"

Public records are defined in A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, Published by William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Division of Public Records, (Updated January 2017) at https://www.mass.gov/files/2017-06/Public%20Records%20Law.pdf on page 40, under M. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26) as:

all books, papers, maps, photographs, recorded tapes, financial statements, statistical tabulations, or other documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any agency, executive office, department, board, commission, bureau, division or authority of the commonwealth, or of any political subdivision thereof, or of any authority established by the general court to serve a public purpose, or any person, corporation, association, partnership or other legal entity which receives or expends public funds for the payment or administration of pensions for any current or former employees of the commonwealth or any political subdivision as defined in section 1 of chapter 32, unless such materials or data fall within the following exemptions found on page 40

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This is consistent with the statement at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ARC/arcres/residx.htm:

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Massachusetts seal

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Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current05:52, 17 December 2023Thumbnail for version as of 05:52, 17 December 2023888 × 891 (517 KB)Illegitimate Barrister (talk | contribs)Uploaded a work by from https://s3.amazonaws.com/ifa.somervillema.gov/documents/historic/HaskellsHistoricalGuideBook.pdf https://books.google.com/books?id=O_YCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA35&lpg=PA35&dq=%22Ordinance+to+establish+a+Seal+for+the+City+of+Somerville%22&source=bl&ots=e4F7Aryy3B&sig=ACfU3U0GZVNHqIoBjsfPLiAKQMAVJiR7pQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj7hZ-E45WDAxXbFFkFHRVjCH4Q6AF6BAgMEAM#v=onepage&q=%22Ordinance%20to%20establish%20a%20Seal%20for%20the%20City%20of%20Somerville%22&f=false with UploadWizard

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