Pursuant to St 1842, c 95, in Massachusetts the state secretary issued an annual report of births, deaths, and marriages registered with his office by municipal clerks. It was also based on reports by county medical examiners, and from 1882, reports of divorces by county clerks of courts. From 1917 the annual report on the vital statistics of Massachusetts was issued specifically by the Division of Vital Statistics (known also as the Vital Statistics Division). St 1964, c 508, providing that the state secretary make vital statistics records available to the Dept. of Public Health, transferred divisional personnel and responsibility for the annual report on vital statistics to that department where the report is currently issued as: Annual report of vital statistics of Massachusetts, prepared by the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics of the Division of Health Statistics and Research.
