It’s National Monopoly Day! A day to break out one of America’s most loved and well-known board games. To celebrate, we’d like to share a few board games from the archives collection!
Cambridge-opoly
Cambridge-o-poly was initially released in 2000 and designed in Randolph, MA by a company called Just Board in collaboration with Karen Carmean the president of the Cambridge Action Fund. This nonprofit fundraising agency helps to fund programs that combat homelessness. The game plays much like any other Monopoly game, but the design team’s goal was to make players more aware of homelessness in Cambridge and the organization set up to assist those in need. In place of what traditional Monopoly would call “Community Chest” cards, Cambridge-opoly has “Cambridge Action Fund” cards. Each card references one of the Action funds many funded organizations with instructions like, “Six homeless need beds for tonight at Harvard Square Homeless Shelter. Donate $150 to Cambridge Action Fund. Inc.,’’ or, “Affordable housing built for six families! Your rate goes down. Collect $30.” The spaces on the board available for purchase feature many Cambridge businesses, some now gone and some still around. These include Susan’s, Masse’s Hardware Company, Cambridge Savings Bank, Cardullo’s, the Longy School of Music, Gypsy Moon, and Picante Mexican Grill. The game was sold for $37.50. If you bought it from the Cambridge Action Fund, the cost was a taxable deduction and half the cost went directly to program funding. (Source Cambridge Chronicle)
The Champion Game of Baseball
The Champion Game of Baseball was manufactured in 1889 by Proctor Amusement Co. of North Cambridge. The game, consisting of a baseball field board, red and blue play pieces, and a spinning wheel, is designed to be played by 1, 2, or 4 players. There is not much strategy involved as your team’s performance is based largely on the spin of a wheel. 16 spots on the inner wheel that read various outcomes, “Out, Base Hit, Strike, Strike Out, 3 Base Hit, Ball, 2 Base Hit, Base on Balls, Foul, and Home Run,” with, of course, the Outs being the widest sections and Home running being the narrowest. Additionally, there is an outer ring used for stealing bases. It reads, “Out, Sacrifice, and Safe.” While the game is primarily based on chance, it seems like a great way to pass the time, become more familiar with baseball rules, and practice skills like keeping score.
Women’s Lib?: A Game of Women’s Rights
Women’s Lib was created in 1970 by Urban Systems Inc. a corporation previously operating at 806 Mass Ave. (Source: OpenCorporates) According to the instruction pamphlet, the objective of the game is “enlightenment.” It’s a sort of roleplaying game where each player chooses from a selection of characters,” The Male Chauvinist, Traditional Female, Moderate Woman, Moderate Male, (W.O.M.B.) women opposed to male bigots, Male Liberationist, and (W.I.S.E) women interested in sexual equality. After choosing your character, you are given a booklet that details that character’s beliefs and the facts that support them. With this in mind, you must debate election topics with your fellow players to persuade them to vote one way or another. Election topics include abortion, child care, employment, education, legal rights of the wife, and male contraception to name a few. The outcome of the vote in tandem with a “Historical Precedent” card then modifies the salary of each player. As mentioned earlier, the objective of the game is “enlightenment,” so there is no true way to “win” or end the game, you’re simply meant to discuss topics from different points of view.
We hope you enjoyed learning about some of our less typical collections items! Go play a board game with someone today!
We are starting a new series on designers (architects, builders, landscape architects, and others) who have had a lasting impact on Cambridge’s built environment. For our first post in this series, we are featuring a lesser-known architect who lived and worked right here in Cambridge, William Everett Chamberlin.
William E. Chamberlin, 1907 Class Book courtesy of MIT Libraries
William Everett Chamberlin (1856-1911) was born in Cambridge on June 23, 1856, to Ann Maria Stimson (1822-1907) and Daniel Upham Chamberlin (1824-1898), a prominent Cambridgeport hardware dealer and president of the Cambridgeport Savings Bank. William Chamberlin (sometimes spelled Chamberlain) attended Cambridge public schools before enrolling at MIT, where he majored in Architecture.
William E. Chamberlin, Class of 1877 photograph, courtesy of MIT Libraries.
After graduating from MIT in 1877, the 22-year-old was hired as a draftsman by the esteemed firm of Sturgis and Brigham, architects in Boston. In February 1879, William moved to New York City, and began working as a draftsman at the internationally known firm of McKim, Mead, and White (MMW). Upon arriving in New York, William was quickly overwhelmed. Thinking there was a great deal he hadn’t learned, he was given permission by the firm to travel Europe for over two years to study in the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris, and to hone his drawing skills while travelling about the continent. He returned to the office of McKim, Mead & White in New York in early 1882, as the firm was receiving lucrative commissions with its Gilded Age clientele.
Sketch at Chaumont-Sur-Loire by William E. Chamberlin. Published in Catalogue of the architectural exhibition, Boston Society of Architects (1886).
Within a few months of arriving in the United States, William quit his job as a draftsman at MMW and returned to Cambridge, seemingly due to poor health – an issue which plagued him his entire life. Later publications explained that Chamberlin suffered from spinal troubles, which progressed enough that it left him confined to a wheelchair for much of his adulthood.
After a season of rest, William opened his own architecture office in downtown Boston, commuting from his parent’s house in Central Square. Recounting the early days of his own practice to former classmates in 1885, he sarcastically wrote: “I have started in business for myself here in Boston, though somehow or other, there don’t seem to be many ‘riche amateurs’ who want to build big ‘musees’ in parks as there used to be in the school programs. Still, I manage to get three meals a day, Voila”!
While Chamberlin joked about a slow start to his office, one of his earliest commissions was among his most important. In 1883, he designed an administration building and hospital wings for the new Cambridge Hospital (renamed Mount Auburn Hospital in 1947) in Cambridge. The building consisted of a main building of three stories and basement, which housed all departments of the hospital, including private rooms and two one-story wards, the whole forming three sides of a hollow square, with the opening toward the south and the river. Chamberlin worked closely with Dr. Morrill Wyman (1812-1903), an expert on the ventilation of sickrooms and public buildings and first president of the hospital, to orient the buildings facing the Charles River to maximize sun-exposure for south facing rooms and provide the full influence of southwestern breezes in the summer. Now known as the Parson’s Building (named after Emily Elizabeth Parsons a Civil War nurse who helped establish the hospital), Chamberlin’s first major commission in Cambridge set-off a prominent, yet largely overlooked career.
Parsons Buildingca.1955 aerial of Parsons Building and rear wings. The two rear hospital wings were truncated in 2006 for the present parking garage.
After receiving just a few commissions while running his own practice, Chamberlin entered into a business partnership with architect William Marcy Whidden (1857-1929). Whidden was a former classmate of Chamberlin, who’s career path mirrored much of his. They both graduated from MIT in architecture in 1877, they both studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, and both worked at the office of McKim, Mead & White. Whidden left MMW in 1885, when propositioned with the idea of running his own practice with Chamberlin. The duo established the firm of Chamberlin & Whidden that year.
The firm, led by a pair of thirty-year-old architects, was hired to design buildings all over the Boston area. Due to this success, they hired other young, promising architects to assist with drafting. One of those hires was Henry Bacon, who briefly worked for Chamberlin and Whidden before joining McKim, Mead & White. Locally, Henry Bacon could be known as the designer for the steps and walls of the Longfellow Monument in Longfellow Park, but he is best known for his design of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. (built 1915–1922), which was his final project. Within the first few years, the firm of Chamberlin and Whidden saw a lot of activity, including furnishing designs for a six-story commercial building in Boston in the Romanesque Revival style. Their major type of commission, however, was expensive, single-family suburban housing.
Stores on South Street, Boston, Mass. Featured in American Architect and Building News, February 1887.
The firm built beautiful homes including one on Highland Street for Robert Noxon Toppan (1836-1901) and his wife, Sarah Moody Cushing. The Colonial Revival style house was built in 1886 and is one of the earliest houses in Cambridge of the style, setting trends for its neighbors. The brick Toppan House exhibits a large Palladian window at the façade, with a rounded center bay and a full-length piazza overlooks the gently terraced landscape towards Brattle Street at the rear.
House at Cambridge, Mass. Featured in American Architect and Building News, February 1887.54 Highland Street54 Highland Street, rear facade.
When a design competition was announced for the new Cambridge City Hall, a few local firms were asked to submit designs following benefactor Frederick H. Rindge’s strict requirements. The advisory design committee suggested that Peabody & Stearns, Van Brunt & Howe, Longfellow, Alden & Harlow, John Lyman Faxon, and Chamberlin and Whidden all submit designs for consideration. Chamberlin and Whidden proposed a stately, symmetrical building with a strong Romanesque emphasis and a central clock tower, capped by a belfry and cupola. Their design was not accepted by Rindge, who selected Longfellow, Alden & Harlow instead. Undeterred, the young firm persevered.
Chamberlin & Whidden proposal for Cambridge City Hall, 1888. American Architect & Building News, June 1888.
A second time, Chamberlin and Whidden submitted in a design competition for the English High School in Cambridge, and won the design competition in 1889, securing that job. It would be their final project together in Cambridge. Their plans for the new High School called for a three-story masonry building of stone on the first floor with light-red brick above. The building was long and narrow, giving each classroom ample natural light and ventilation. Articles mentioned that there was little ornamentation as “the desire of all concerned was to construct a simple and dignified building expressive of its serious purpose”. The building was demolished in 1938 for the consolidated Cambridge High and Latin School.
English High School, photographed 1908. Detroit Publishing Company.
By 1890, William Whidden had moved west to Oregon and established his own firm. William promoted architect William Downes Austin (1856-1944) to partner of the firm, renaming it Chamberlin & Austin. The new firm kept busy with a steady stream of commissions, but it was clear Chamberlin’s health was preventing him from actively seeking out new projects as he once did. Many of the designs the firm completed as Chamberlin & Austin appear to have been from previous clients, showing their trust in Chamberlin’s quality designs.
One such projects was commissioned by Henry Endicott, whos large home at 151 Brattle Street was designed by Henry Bacon Jr. while working under William Chamberlin in 1888. Two years later in 1890, Endicott returned to Chamberlin to design a smaller residence on the newly laid out Brewster Street, at the rear of the Brattle Street property, for his daughter and son-in-law. The second house, much smaller in size, showcases Chamberlin’s attention to detail with the saw-tooth cut shingle and recessed porch at the entrance and gentle undulating form with continuous shingled siding.
151 Brattle Street as depicted in American Architect and Building News, May 5, 1888.151 Brattle Street, CHC photograph.
In 1891, William Chamberlin married Emily Douglass Abbott (1858-1916). The couple acquired a house lot on Clinton Street, at the rear of Emily’s father George Abbott’s residence on Harvard Street. That year, William designed his new house on Clinton Street and a renovation for his father’s new home on Harvard Street. The three houses were all direct neighbors. William Chamberlin’s new home on Clinton Street was the first of his own, after decades of boarding with his father and mother in Central Square. For his own house, William designed a modest, 1½ -story structure with prominent gambrel roof. The house, while altered, exhibits Chamberlin’s eclectic sense of design, which often blends styles into a single composition. William and Emily never had children. One year later, William D. Austin left the firm to partner with Frederick W. Stickney forming Stickney & Austin.
William E. Chamberlin House (1891), 27 Clinton Street, photograph taken 11-2022.1894 Bromley map showing location of William and Emily’s residence on Clinton Street (red); his father’s (blue); and his father-in-law’s (green).
William E. Chamberlin entered a semi-retirement due to his worsening health, which plagued him most of his life but could never fully step away from his passion for design. When he heard about the death of his beloved former professor at MIT, Eugene Letang in 1891, Chamberlin designed a memorial tablet of bronze set into a carved marble surround. This marker still stands in the Boston Public Library, Copley Square branch location. With this work, Chamberlin showed his skill beyond designing buildings. It is possible that he was the designer of many of his family memorial stones in the family plot at Mount Auburn Cemetery.
Eugène Létang tablet designed by W. E. Chamberlin. Ca. 1905 photograph, Boston Public Library collections.
He was hired again by the Cambridge Hospital (now Mount Auburn Hospital) in 1896, designing a Nurse’s Residence just steps away from the Administration Building and Hospital wings he designed over ten years prior. His design for the Nurse’s Residence, like nearly all his work, blends multiple styles effortlessly into a single composition. The brick building displays strong Classical features including the central columned portico and the belt course above the second story windows which reads as a frieze band with ocular windows. Soon after in 1898, he designed the Cambridge Homes for Aged People at 360 Mt. Auburn Street with former partner Stickney and Austin.
Nurse’s Home (1896)Cambridge Homes for Aged People (1898)
Nearly a decade later in 1904, Chamberlin and Boston architect Clarence Blackall completed designs for the new Cambridgeport Savings Bank (where his late father once served as president) in Central Square, Cambridge. The building is perhaps Chamberlin’s most recognizable and stately extant design where he could show-off his architectural versatility. The Cambridgeport Savings Bank is a monumentally scaled limestone-clad structure with a façade dominated by recessed central bays behind an engaged Corinthian portico. The ornate stone parapet which once capped the building was replaced in the 1950s. The Cambridgeport Savings Bank building is Chamberlin’s last known work in Cambridge before his death.
Cambridgeport Savings Bank Building, 689 Mass. Ave. CHC Postcard Collection.
At just 55 years old, William Everett Chamberlin died from a stroke on August 6, 1911, in Manchester Massachusetts, at his father-in-law’s summer house. When news of his passing spread, fellow members of the Boston Society of Architects memorialized of Chamberlin:
William E. Chamberlin was by nature dowered with great personal charm, a clear keen brain, debonair in its perceptions, just in its conclusions; a genius for his profession of architecture which was rare; and a fresh directness of expression tempered by a delicate humor. The active use of these qualities in the work of the great marketplace was first checked and then barred to him by a disease, which prevented his working outside of his home, and for over twenty years he made that home a center of intellectual stimulus to his friends…His noble character vibrated only perfect harmonies, but, unlike the harp in the wind, in him was the soul and the strong will which decreed always, as a duty to his fellow men, that no discords should mar the beauties of this life which, in spite of one great affliction, he found and made so blessed even to the last hour.
Last known photograph of William E. Chamberlin, ca.1910
William E. Chamberlin bequeathed nearly all his sizable estate, estimated at nearly $100,000, to several Cambridge institutions. His widow, Emily D. Chamberlin, received the income from his estate during her lifetime and that after her death. After which, it was distributed in seven parts. Two-sevenths went to the Cambridge Hospital, two-sevenths to the Cambridge Homes for Aged People, and one-seventh each to the Avon Home, the Holy Ghost Hospital, and to the Department of Architecture at MIT, which he remained engaged with throughout his life. Chamberlin’s legacy has lived on not only through his extant buildings, but his generosity, in the William Everett Chamberlain (sic) Prize for achievement in design at MIT and his generous gifts to Cambridge institutions.
William Everett Chamberlin is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery on Bellwort Path in the family plot. His monument, like many of his family members, was likely designed by himself from his Cambridge home.
William E. Chamberlin’s monument at Mt. Auburn Cemetery. Much of lettering covered by lichen.
“…this war has ruined my business. Those I owe will have to wait untilI can get the money out of the business” From G. H. Marshall April 9, 1917
November 11, Veteran’s Day, was founded after the end of WWI in 1918 and is one of two days where our nation remembers veterans of war, the other being Memorial Day, observed in May. Like all wars, WWI brought on changes in individual lives and businesses of every conceivable sort. The records of the Ellis & Melledge Real Estate and Insurance Co. reminds us of the tenor of the times – both in correspondence with the firm about housing: rentals and maintenance and selling or buying properties, and from the circulars on savings, reducing consumption, an increase in insurance rates, and hiring returning soldiers sent out from various state and government agencies.
As the quote above illustrates, some of the correspondence brings the consequences of the War in daily life down to a human scale. Here are some more examples:
“My Dear Mr. Ellis,
I have decided to give up my room in Prescott Hall, beginning Sept. 1st. I know that the time is short, but as I have been put on active service sooner than I expected there is nothing else to do…It is with regret that I must give up my room, but since the Army is not likely to take a rest for some time, I have no reason to believe that I shall have use for my apartment any longer…” (August 20, 1917 from James B. Munn, 2nd Lieut. U. S. R.)
Prescott Hall at 472-474 Broadway as photographed by Christopher Hail on August 16, 1987
This next letter refers to Samuel Chew (1871-1919) a Harvard graduate and lawyer in Philadelphia, who, working with Ellis & Melledge, was a large investor in Cambridge property, particularly on Church Street.
“Dear Sir: –
…Mr. Chew is with the American Field Ambulance in Paris, and will not return for several months. In the mean time you may continue the management of his church Street property…” (March 1, 1917)
The letter below was from Cecil K. Drinker, a professor at the Harvard Medical school from 1917-1932, who was living on Hurlburt St. in Cambridge:
“Dear Mr. Ellis:
Duties brought upon me through the war necessitate absence on my part from Cambridge after July first of this year. This has been a sudden development and renders it impossible that I should go forward with rental of the garage as we had planned…” (May 16, 1917)
6-8 Hurlburt St as photographed by Christopher Hail on January 13, 1985
Navy Commander W. L. Littlefield wrote Ellis & Melledge in 1917:
“Dear Sir:…Officers in attendance at the [Naval]War College here, are being ordered to sea daily and my turn will come any day now so you can readily understand that I am anxious to get this matter straightened out before I go to sea.” (March 17, 1917)
Commander Littlefield’s home was at #10 Mellen St.
10 Mellen St via Google Street View (November 2020)
Five months later, in August, Littlefield writes: “…due to the war conditions I would appreciate as prompt a reply as practicable, as I do not know where I will be tomorrow….”
INSURANCE
Costs went up for everything, including insurance. This letter from the New England Insurance Exchange (November 17, 1917) announces a 10% rise in rates:
TO ALL AGENTS
We are handing you, herewith, promulgation of a general advance in rates of 10%, effective on November 19, and which you have, no doubt, been long expecting….the insurance business is no different from any other, and conditions which demand a general increase in prices, affecting all lines of business, because of the increased cost of doing business, and the increased expense in the way of taxes to maintain the defense of our Country, produce the same results with the business of insurance.
Three weeks after the U. S. entered the war (April 26, 1917) insurance companies responded with ominous warnings about threats you could face in your own home. For instance, bombardment, as seen in this letter from Gilmour, Rothery Co.:
“Dear Sir:
YOUR CLIENTS ARE NOT INSURED If their property is destroyed or damaged by fire, originating from foreign enemies, military power, civil commotion, riots, etc. BECAUSE …Fire insurance policies do not cover damage by explosions or bombardment. There is far more reason to secure protection from these dangers now than here is to insure against fire in times of peace…” (April 26, 1917)
Or this newspaper advertisement:
Cambridge Chronicle March 17, 1917
Other businesses also took advantage of war time fears. The advert below implies that enemy troops may even be at your own gate!
Cambridge Chronicle March 17, 1917
SHORTAGES & SAVINGS
Shortages affected everything, but fuel was uppermost of mind. National and local government agencies sent flyers to businessmen about how to aid in preventing fuel shortages, as seen in this excerpt from the New England Fuel Administration flyer. (Reducing elevator service would not automatically come to mind these days):
“To Tenants of Apartment Houses November 19, 1917
“A serious shortage of coal threatens New England and it is important that every possible pound of coal should be saved. If each New England consumer will reduce his consumption twenty per cent, the total saving will be over nine million tons and we will get through the winter without serious factory shutdowns and without suffering…We offer the following suggestions:
Do not ask to have suites heated higher than you actually need; suggests 65 to 70 degrees
Do not waste hot water
Prompt attention to turning off burners of gas ranges will save considerable accost
Reduce elevator service where practicable
Shut off heat in all unoccupied rooms where there is no danger of freezing pipes
Pull down window shades at dusk. A drawn shade keeps in the heat nearly as well as a double window
Bank your fires as early as is expedient“
Of course, the newspapers all did their patriotic duty to encourage fuel reduction as well. These two articles were printed in the Cambridge Chronicle on the same date: January 12, 1918
FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR THE WAR
This advertisement is a grim encouragement, reminding people to buy Liberty Bonds. Liberty Bonds were a way of individuals “loaning” to the government to pay for the war. The loan would be repaid with interest after a designated number of years. These bonds became a symbol of fulfilling one’s patriotic duty.
Cambridge Chronicle April 13, 1918
The excerpt below is from a flyer sent out by the Treasury Dept., National War Savings Committee to enlist businessmen in helping raise money for the war effort through Thrift Stamps:
TO THE BUSINESS MEN OF MASSACHUSETTS
The importance of a general distribution among wage-earners and others of United States Government Thrift Cards and Thrift Stamps cannot be overestimated. With these cards and stamps widely distributed throughout the State a great savings movement will have begun.
I AM ACCORDINGLY REQUESTING YOU AND EACH AND EVERY OTHER EMPLOYER WHO CAN POSSIBLE DO SO TO GIVE A THRIFT CARD WITH A THRIFT STAMP AFFIXED (cost 25 cents) TO EACH EMPLOYEE.
…the Thrift Stamp bears no interest and is intended to be bought stamp by stamp by people who save in small amounts. When sixteen of these stamps are accumulated, amounting to four dollars face value, they may be exchanged for a War Savings Stamp by adding the necessary few cents to meet the price of the War Savings Stamp at that time. The War Savings Stamps are promises of the United States of America to pay five dollars June 1, 1923. …It will help bring to everyone’s attention the necessity of economizing in the expenditure of money, materials, and unnecessary labor so as to help keep up supplies for the Army and Navy.” (From Robert F. Herrick, State Director of the National War Savings Committee December 18, 1917)
Cambridge Tribune October 26, 1918
Of course, small- time businessmen also did their part:
Cambridge Sentinel June 30, 1917
AFTER THE WAR
After the war life, citizens had to adjust back to what used to be considered “normal.” But with demobilization, new issues arose:
“Dear Mr. Ellis:
The Fortunes of War or of Peace are bringing us back to Cambridge from Washington and we find ourselves in the peculiar position of hunting for a place to live with our own house rented.Are there any possibilities of small furnished apartments? Now that the soldiers and sailors are demobilizing I should think there would be attendant vacating of apartments.” (From Rachel Perry [Mrs. Ralph Barton] Perry November 27, 1918) [138 Irving St.]
138 Irving St with Francis Ave in foreground, no date. Photograph gift of William B. King
The housing situation was a jumble, but, perhaps more importantly, so was the employment situation. A circular from the U. S. Department of Labor on February 5, 1919 warned:
“War contracts are nearly all completed, necessitating the closing of a considerable number of shops. In many cases the people employed on these war contracts must find employment in entirely different directions. Discharged soldiers in continually increasing numbers are seeking replacement in industry.”
In Cambridge, a local Bureau for Returning Soldiers and Sailors was organized under the chairman Walter F. Earle, president of the Harvard Trust Co. And on January 25, 1919 the Harvard Square Business Men’s Association sent this to its membership:
“Dear Sir:
Your attention is earnestly called to the efforts now being made to provide work for the returning soldiers and sailors. These men have been representing you on the battle-fields of France and they have just returned after winning the greatest and most righteous war of all time. Now they desire employment – – not charity, but an opportunity to reenter [sic] business life and once more fill their places as good citizens. Can you help to provide employment for these men?”
* * * *
Cambridge Tribune November 16, 1918
Cambridge Tribune November 16, 1918
End note: Because Ellis & Melledge dealt mostly with properties in Mid and West Cambridge, the correspondence does not reflect the all the concerns of those living in Cambridge, particularly east of Central Square.
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen Fox
Inspired by the extant Romanesque buildings of Medieval Europe, Henry Hobson Richardson introduced a new and distinctive architectural style known as Richardsonian Romanesque. Other American architects carried the style across the country, tailoring it for houses (both freestanding and row), civic and municipal buildings, and commercial blocks and train stations.
Henry Hobson Richardson (1886) by Hubert von Herkomer. Wikipedia, public domain.
Richardsonian Romanesque is versatile and adaptable, but certain design elements appear consistently, including:
| Buildings are always constructed of square masonry blocks in a variety of colors and finishes.
| Roofs are distinguished by their variety: hip roofs may cap large square masses or intersect with smaller front and side gables, and towers are topped with conical or pyramidal roofs.
| Entrances and window openings are often deeply recessed under rounded arches. Doorways are highly ornamented; wide arches are decorated with sculpted shapes and patterns.
| Corner towers may be in the round, or half-round and snugged against the building.
The Rindge Gifts
During the last quarter of the 19th century, Cambridge experienced unprecedented growth, and the need for additional civic buildings became apparent. Early in 1887 Mayor William E. Russell gathered a committee to appeal to the city’s wealthier residents to help finance the construction of a new public library. As part of his campaign, Mayor Russell approached his friend and former classmate Frederick Hastings Rindge, whose response surpassed all expectations.
Mayor William E. Russell
Frederick Hastings Rindge
Frederick Rindge was born in Cambridge in 1857 to Samuel Baker Rindge, a wealthy Cambridge merchant, and Clarissa (Harrington) Rindge, who was wealthy in her own right. The family included six children: all but Frederick died in childhood of scarlet fever. He entered Harvard College in 1875 but spent much of his senior year in Florida because of illness. He graduated as a member of the class of 1879 and traveled extensively throughout Europe and the United States.
By 1887 Rindge’s life had changed dramatically: his father died in 1883 and his mother in 1885, making Frederick the sole inheritor of the family fortune, said to be in excess of $2.5 million. He soon married Rhoda May Knight and moved with her to California, hoping the climate would improve his health.
Rindge vowed to use part of his wealth for the public good. When Mayor Russell appealed to him for funds, Rindge responded generously, becoming Cambridge’s greatest benefactor: not only did he donate land on which to build the library, he donated the library itself. Later that year he wrote to Russell offering three more gifts in memory of his father: a new City Hall, a manual training school for boys, and a site for a new high school (which was not realized with Rindge funds).
Rindge, at home in Los Angeles, relied on a committee of trusted associates in Cambridge. The committee held limited design competitions, reviewed the submissions, and made recommendations to Rindge—but it was Rindge who made the ultimate decision. The committee was charged with overseeing the design and construction of the new buildings but to Rindge’s requirements. He kept ownership of the land and buildings until the projects met his expectations—then he gave everything to the city.
The Richardsonian Romanesque style was popular for public building in the 1880s. The three Rindge gift were all in that style, but each was designed by a different architectural firm. Thus, although each building is unique, each is in harmony with the others.
Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway. Van Brunt & Howe, 1889
Rindge awarded the contract for the new library to the prominent Boston architectural firm of Van Brunt & Howe (Henry Van Brunt and Frank M. Howe). Van Brunt and his family lived at 167 Brattle Street, Cambridge, in a house he designed. In 1884 the firm decided, surprisingly, to leave Boston for Kansas City, Missouri; Howe arrived in 1884, Van Brunt in 1887. The firm helped to spread the Richardsonian Romanesque style across the upper northwest: they built grand train stations for the Union Pacific Railroad, civic and municipal buildings, and handsome private residences. They also continued to accept commissions around Boston.
The house that Henry Van Brunt built at 167 Brattle Street.
The Cambridge Public Library is constructed of large blocks of Dedham granite and ornamented with a contrasting reddish Longmeadow sandstone. The composition features a heavily ornamented entrance porch by an asymmetrically placed tower. The squat sandstone columns of the entrance porch carry elaborate capitals of intricately carved leaves, vines, and medieval figures. The exterior is clearly influenced by H.H. Richardson’s style, but the interior reflects “Henry Van Brunt’s expertise in the functional aspects of library design. … He made firewalls and iron stacks an original feature of the Cambridge library, helping to win the commission over both McKim, Mead and White and Peabody and Stearns” (Society of American Architects Archipedia).
Cambridge Manual Training School (center) and Cambridge Public Library, ca. 1892. Harvard’s Memorial Hall is seen to the right of the training school.
The building is not to be palatial, but comely and substantial, its architecture expressing honesty and strength. Elaborate decoration, interior or exterior, is not desired. F.H. Rindge
Frederick Rindge selected another well-known architectural firm for City Hall: Longfellow, Alden & Harlow, comprising: Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr. (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s nephew), Frank Ellis Alden, and Alfred Branch Harlow. Longfellow and Harlow had both worked for H.H. Richardson; Harlow had been with McKim, Mead & White. In Cambridge, the firm designed an elaborate Richardsonian Romanesque house for Edwin Abbott, 1 Follen Street (1889, now Longy School of Music of Bard College) and two Colonial Revival buildings, Brattle Hall (1889, now Brattle Theatre) and the J.A. Noyes house at 1 Highland Street (1894).
Edwin Abbot House at 1 Follen Street
In accordance with Rindge’s wishes, the main exterior ornamentation is provided by the contrasting colors of masonry. All the exterior walls are pink Milford granite ashlar with rough-hewn surfaces. The foundation, belt courses between the floor levels, and window and door surrounds are all a deep brown Longmeadow brownstone. The contrasting colors of masonry, the horizontal bands of windows, and the arched entrance flanked by stocky engaged columns are all characteristic of the Richardsonian Romanesque style. The massive tower anchors the building, rising almost 160 feet over the entrance.
Cambridge City Hall under construction–note the scaffolding around the tower. The skylight in red circle brings natural light into the City Engineer’s office (now the Purchasing Department).
Cambridge City Hall in 1896
The two-ton bell, made by the Meneely Company of West Troy, New York, still rings the hours. Frederick Rindge believed in the power of representative government and the importance of every person’s vote, and an inscription, possibly written by Rindge himself, is cast in raised letters on the bell.
Cheerfully I ring the hour From my house within the tower But I would a lesson teach Even bells men’s hearts may reach. The Lesson: The ballot free and pure The rights of all secure Wrong finds antidote When each voter casts his vote.
The clock below the belfry was manufactured by the E. Howard Watch & Clock Company of Waltham with a clock face on each side of the tower. A specialist regularly retunes the clock, ensuring its accuracy.
Frederick Rindge formally deeded the completed building to the city on October 22, 1890.
Deed of Gift for City Hall from Frederick Hastings Rindge to City of Cambridge
Stay tuned for the final installment, all about the Cambridge Manual Training School.
Cambridge City Hall all lit up for the 2017 annual dance party. Kyle Klein photo.
Oh, the sorts of properties real estate agents are asked to find!
In 1893, Ellis & Melledge received a request from sculptor George Thomas Brewster. Brewster wrote from the Mechanics Building in Boston, looking for studio space in Cambridge. His discussions about taking a studio owned by “Mr. Newell” didn’t work out because “the floor supports will not be strong enough to stand the weight of some large work that I shall want to commence soon…”
Image of George T. Brewster as it appeared in Empire State Notables, 1914.
Brewster goes on to explain: “the clay alone will weigh from 3 to 4 tons and when the plaster mould [sic] is added it will make from 1 ½ to 2 tons extra.” About Mr. Newell’s studio, he “noticed that the supports for floor at the stairs are only nailed. Even if the cross beams were set into the sils [sic] they would not be heavy enough to support my work…”
Brewster finally settled on the studio of Cambridge sculptor William Clark Noble (1858-1938) at 46 North Ave, a building that is now demolished, but would be located at present-day 1607 Mass Ave at the intersection of Everett Street. The two sculptors undoubtedly knew each other and one another’s work as they were contemporaries. Both had worked in New York and specialized in monumental bronze memorial sculpture.
Detail of 1894 G.W. Bromley and Co. Bromley Atlas showing 46 North Ave
George T. Brewster
George T. Brewster was born in Kingston, Mass and was a descendent of William Brewster, after whom Brewster, Massachusetts is named. George studied at the Normal Art School in Boston and the Ecole des Beaux in Paris, and later taught life drawing classes at the Art Students League in New York and at the Cowles Art School in Boston. Brewster was a prolific sculptor of war memorials, cemetery memorials, and portraits.
In late 1893, Brewster entered a competition to design a Civil War monument in the Forest Dale Cemetery in Malden. He won the commission, and it is likely that this was the reason he was looking for studio space in Cambridge. His winning design was of “an heroic figure of a woman who will stand as a symbol of the valor by women during the struggle for freedom.”
“…the left hand grasps the now useless sword, the right holds the laurel crown ready to be set upon the head of the victors. A spiked cannon is under her left foot, a soldier’s cap and other accessories strewn about signify that war is over, that no more will the rampant hand of bitterness and death sweep over our land, that the armies have disbanded and that the spirit of woman, so sincere and earnest in the success of the sacred cause, now just as earnestly proclaims that peace is on earth and that good will must prevail towards men.”
Monumental News, July 1895
The dedication took place in Malden on Labor Day, 1894. The following year, Brewster’s plaster casts of five American poets were on display in J. F. Olsson’s art supply store in Harvard Square:
Cambridge Chronicle April 20, 1895
Other images of Brewster’s work include:
The Greek Law Giver. Image: Columbia University, Libraries Digital Collections
Sculptor W. Clark Noble with his Lincoln the Candidate bust, August 30, 1924. Cropped from negative. National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress.
William Clark Noble was born in Maine in 1858. Legend has it that he was inspired to become a sculptor at the age of eight after reading the life story of the Danish sculptor Berthel Thorvaldsen.[ii] Noble studied under Richard Greenough, and by 1879, when he was only 21, he had relocated in Newport, Rhode Island. There, Noble designed a statue of William Ellery Channing and the Soldier’s and Sailor’s monument. He was a busy man! In 1892, Noble opened a studio in New York.[iii] At the same time, he had a studio in Cambridge at 46 North St. In 1893, when Brewster was trying to locate studio space, Noble’s statue of Robert Burns (destined for Rhode Island) was still at his studio on North Avenue.
Boston Globe May 22, 1892
Cambridge Tribune July 9, 1892
From “Paper on ‘Cambridge Artists’” by Miss Almira L. Hayward as published in the Cambridge Chronicle November 4, 1893
Governor Andrew Curtin (1911-13), Pennsylvania State Memorial, Gettysburg Battlefield. W. Clark Noble, Sculptor. Photographed 1914. Image: Wikipedia.
Among Noble’s most famous monumental sculptures are the Phillips Brooks Monument in New York, the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument in Congdon Park, Newport, Rhode Island, the portrait bust of Revolutionary General Potter, and Napoleon Bonaparte. Noble also took on smaller commissions, one example being a portrait bust of George Washington Carver:
Patinated Copper-clad Bust of George Washington Carver, after William Clark Noble. Image: https://www.invaluable.com/
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen Fox.
SOURCES
Catalogue of an exhibition of contemporary American sculpture held under the auspices of the National Sculpture Society; June 17-October 2, 1916. via HathiTrust.
Empire State Notables, 1914 New York, N.Y. : H. Stafford, [c1914]. Electronic reproduction. New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Libraries, 2008.
Soldiers’ Monument, Malden, Massachusetts. George T. Brewster, Sculptor. In The Monumental News, vol. 7, no.7 July 1895, pp. 419. Lehman College Art Gallery.
