Have you ever wondered where Callender Street in Cambridgeport got its name? The original street was approved in 1838 as part of Putnam Place, laid out between 29 Hews Street and 152 Putnam Avenue. In 1874, it was part of Hewes (Hews) Street and extended to 47 Howard Street. For reasons unknown, the street was renamed Grigg Street in 1877 and retained this designation for over seventy years.
On October 18, 1949, the City Council ordered that the name of Grigg Street be changed to Callender Street in honor of Private First Class George Duncan Callender, a young man killed in action during World War II.
George was born in Cambridge on February 3, 1923. His mother, Gladys Odessa Pyle (1902-1966), was born in Saint Michael Parish, Barbados; his father, Eleazer T. Callender, died in 1925 when George was just an infant. Gladys, who went by Odessa, then married Marcus Elder Sr. (1904-1982) on June 3, 1926. Elder was a painter and immigrant from Castries, Saint Lucia. George graduated from Webster School in 1938 and from Rindge Technical School in 1942. In 1941 Callender, nicknamed “Lefty,” became a founding member of the Aggie Associates, or the “Aggies”, an all-Black basketball team based in Cambridge.
George Callender (also spelled “Callendar” in some sources) enlisted on April 22, 1943 and was later assigned to Unit 366th Infantry Regiment, Company M.
At the time of his enlistment, George was living at 49 Grigg Street and working at Wards Baking Company at 140 Albany Street.
After his enlistment, he trained at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, and at Camp Atterbury, Indiana.
Initial reports stated incorrectly that George died in combat on February 9, 1945, in Tuscany, Italy; later, it was determined that the fight had taken place in Germany. George was laid to rest in Cambridge Cemetery. In 1946 the Aggie Associates were renamed the George D. Callender Associates in memory of him. The house at 49 Grigg, a triple-decker built in 1913 by George B. Blacknell, was later purchased by the Cambridge Housing Authority and demolished in 1953 to make way for the Putnam Gardens housing community. Today, a marker honoring George D. Callender stands at the corner of Putnam Avenue and Callender Street in Cambridgeport.
