Boston City Charter is adopted by voters.

Drafted by Lemuel Shaw, it is adopted by a margin of 2,797 to 1,881. The charter calls for a mayor to be elected to a one-year term, serve as ex officio chairman of the Board of Aldermen, but with no authority to appoint or remove officials or veto legislation, but with the power to appoint committees. It calls for an eight-member Board of Aldermen, elected at-large to one-year terms, with the power to appoint department heads and commission members, and a 48-member Common Council, made up of four representatives from each ward, elected to one-year terms. It also calls for the School Committee to be made up of 21 members, elected annually and made up of the mayor, the eight members of the Board of Aldermen, and one representative from each of the 12 wards, that is charged with the “general care and superintendence” of the public schools. The school committee is increased to 25 members and then to 26 members in 1835.* The charter is amended in 1885,* 1908,* 1949,* and 1981.*