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“The Magic Incubator”: MIT Building 20 (1943-1998)

Posted on by cambridgehistoricalcommission
Building 20 – MIT – from blimp – Aug. 1945. Courtesy MIT Museum.

MIT’s Building 20 was built at 18 Vassar Street in 1943 as part of the war effort to improve existing radar capabilities. In 1940, the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) appointed the president of MIT, Karl T. Compton, to head up special research projects to advance the development of what turned out to be “micro-wave” radar. Given the size of the project, Compton quickly realized MIT needed a new building to accommodate the task at hand—hence: Building 20. The administration and business affairs of the work done there were handled by MIT, but its funding and research agenda were determined by the NDRC.

Building 20 was erected in only six months. Since war-time steel production was limited to use for armaments, the building was constructed of wood and built like a three-story barracks. It had five wings: the “B” wing was parallel to Vassar Street, while the A, C, D and E wings extended perpendicularly towards the central MIT campus. The roof was flat, the shingles were asbestos (a product not yet firmly considered toxic), and the windows were stacked hoppers. Because it was considered a temporary building, Building 20 was also built without the need to adhere to some of the usual building constraints of the time, like prevailing fire codes. After the war, the MIT Acoustics Lab was attached to the C wing. At the time of its demolition in 1998, Building 20 and its additions had a combined floor area of approximately 222,000 square feet.

Detail of Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. 1950. Sanborn Map Company via Library of Congress. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3764cm.g03701195001.

The main event when the building was completed was housing the “Radiation Laboratory” or “Rad Lab,” a somewhat vague name intentionally chosen to conceal its true operations: developing microwave radar to improve the accuracy of bombing. Once this new technology was ready for action, the urgency of this need caused the Rad Lab to start manually building “blind bombing sets” in Building 20 until industrial manufactures could gear up to produce them in large quantities.

Radio Frequency (Group 53), MIT Radiation Laboratory. Image courtesy Jewish Women’s Archive via Wikimedia Commons.

Other inventions included “… airborne bombing radars, shipboard search radars, harbor and coastal defense radars, gun-laying radars, ground-controlled approach radars for aircraft blind landing, interrogate-friend-or-foe beacon systems, and the long-range navigation (LORAN) system. Some of the most critical contributions of the Radiation Laboratory were the microwave early-warning (MEW) radars, which effectively nullified the V-1 threat to London, and air-to-surface vessel (ASV) radars, which turned the tide on the U-boat threat.” (MIT Radiation Laboratory)

According to The Cambridge Chronicle (August 16, 1945) the real purpose of Building 20 was made public just a half hour after Truman announced the surrender of Japan:

In 1998, the year the building was to be demolished, The New York Times ran an article called “Last Rites for a ‘Plywood Palace’ That Was a Rock of Science,” which stated that the building was home “for almost 4,000 researchers in 20 disciplines. At one time, more than 20 percent of the physicists in the United States (including nine Nobel Prize winners) had worked in that building.”

What made Building 20 such a hotbed of creative innovation?

It all had to do with what biologist Stuart Kauffman [not at MIT] called “the adjacent possible.” His description of the term perfectly describes Building 20: “…its physical and social environment continually expanded the realm of what was thinkable and doable. Its open, makeshift design and its mix of disciplines made it easier for researchers to stumble upon the next possible thing that hadn’t yet been imagined. The proximity of minds from different domains allowed ideas to leap boundaries and merge into novel possibilities, showing that innovation is less a flash of genius and more a product of evolving connections in the right conditions.”

Those who worked in Building 20 agreed: 

“It turned out to be absolutely perfect for research…you can knock down a wall, you can punch out a ceiling, and you could get space. In academics, space is everything.” (Morris Halle, Professor of Linguistics in “A Building with Soul” by Alex Beam, The Boston Globe, June 29, 1988).

Interior image of Building 20. Courtesy MIT Museum.

“Life in Building 20 was homey with a family-like atmosphere. Any excuse would serve for having a party. People ignored the shabbiness and dirt because the atmosphere encouraged creativity and the exchange of ideas.” (RLE Undercurrents, Vol. 9, no. 2, Fall 1997)

“People got together and shared ideas without worrying who you were.”

“It was so informal nobody considered rank or previous training.”

“…it was so easy to build experiments there – pull wires, bolt things to walls, come and go at any hour.”

It was unpretentious in all aspects.

A hallway in Building 20. Courtesy MIT Museum.

A 1945 statement by the Department of Defense noted that the research in the Rad Lab “pushed research in this field ahead by at least 25 normal peacetime years.” (“Building 20: What Made It So Special and Why It Will (probably) Never Exist Again.”)

Among those working in the building during the war years were:

  • Jerome Wiesner: worked on microwave radar, later at Los Alamos National Laboratory, later chairman of President Kennedy’s Science Advisory Committee (PSAC), and later President of MIT
  • Amar Bose: his invention of improved loudspeakers led to the founding of the Bose company
  • Leo Beranek: an acoustical engineer, who went on to found Bolt, Beranek & Newman
Site visit to Building 20, MIT. Photographed by Charles M. Sullivan. 1998. https://cdash.cambridgema.gov/s/cdash/item/136333.

Building 20 After the War

After WWII some programs closed down, opening up space for other projects. While scientific research continued, over time a myriad of “non science” programs like linguistics, history, arts, music, and student affairs also occupied space in the building, further adding to its quirky allure. The list below is far from inclusive but serves to convey the range of programs that shared the space.

  • Department of Linguistics and Philosophy. In 1976, Morris Halle and Noam Chomsky, pioneers in linguistics research, together founded the MIT Linguistics program
  • Jerome Lettvin, cognitive scientist and Professor of Electrical and Bioengineering and Communications Physiology
  • MIT Dean of Humanities Office
  • History of Science and Technology Program, including Elting Morrison, historian of technology, and founder of the Science, Technology, and Society program
  • Anthropology section of the Humanities Department
  • Music Department
  • MIT Electronic Research Society (MITRE)
  • Research Lab of Electronics Photography: Harold “Doc” Edgerton who developed stroboscopic, stop-action photography, including the famous milk drop “Considered one of the most important photographs of all time.”
Milk Drop Coronet, photographed by Harold Eugene Edgerton. 1957. Courtesy MIT Museum. https://mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/object/HEE-NC-57001.
  • MIT Council on Arts
  • The Atomic Energy Commission, Cambridge Office
  • MIT-Wellesley Upward Bound Program
  • Model Railroad Club
  • ROTC: Army, Air Force, Navy
  • Biotechnology Process Engineering Center
  • Center for Space Research, Gravity & Cosmology
  • The Institute for Learning and Teaching
  • Graphic Arts
  • Biologic Process Engineering Center
  • Center for Materials Research in Anthropology & Ethnology
  • Center for Environmental Health Sciences

The Denouement of Building 20 

Building 20 finally reached the end of the road in 1998. Having outlived its original planned lifespan by decades, by any standard Building 20 was a ramshackle place. The Cambridge Historical Commission initially advocated for giving the building protected status. However, after hearings on the subject, the Commission, noting the comprehensive history of the building maintained by MIT and the fact that it no longer could support “modern science and engineering,” gave MIT permission to raze the building.

MIT Building 20 being demolished. Courtesy City of Sound blog. https://cityofsound.com/2004/06/23/designing-adaptability-into-mit/.

Building 20 was replaced by the Ray and Maria Stata Center (Building 32), designed by Frank Ghery. It opened in 2004.

MIT’s Stata Center photographed July 31, 2004 by User:Raul654 via Wikimedia Commons.
Building 20 along Vassar Street framed with wood recovered from flooring of the demolished building. Private collection.

The frame for the photo above was made with wood of floorboards from Building 20. The name carved into the bottom of the frame, Parker & Stearns, was a lumber company in Johnson, VT and is presumed to have provided lumber for the building’s construction.

The MIT Building 20 Time Capsule is located the Stata Center, part of an exhibit dedicated to Building 20 and the Rad Lab. The capsule is to be opened in 2053, 55 years after Building 20 was demolished. Perched on top of the box holding the time capsule is another relic from the war research: a SCR-615B Radar Antenna.

Designers and builders of the Building 20 Time Capsule (left to right): Tanisha Lloyd, Sonia Tulyani, and their UROP supervisor, Professor J. Francis Reinties, 1999. Courtesy MIT Museum.
Rad Lab Exhibit, Stata Center, MIT. Image courtesy S. N. Johnson-Roehr. https://astronomy.snjr.net/blog/?p=559.

Today’s post was written by Kathleen Fox

Sources

Adams, Steve. “The Hottest Property: MIT’s Building 20.” Banker & Tradesman. Sept 11, 2022. https://bankerandtradesman.com/the-hottest-property-mits-building-20/.

Beam, Alex. “A Building with Soul.” The Boston Globe. June 29, 1988.

“Building 20 at MIT Innovation Story: A humble wartime lab that sparked a legacy of innovation and collaboration.” https://conversational-leadership.net/mit-building-20/.

“Building 20: The Magical Incubator 1943 – 1998.” https://web.mit.edu/fnl/vol/104/Bldg20.html.

Cambridge Historical Commission Architectural Survey file for Building 20: https://cdash.cambridgema.gov/s/cdash/item/136317.

Campbell, Robert. “The End of the ‘Magic Incubator’.” The Boston Globe. June 5, 1998.

“Celebrating the History of Building 20.” https://wayback.archive-it.org/7963/20190701202448/https://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/building20/.

Garfinkel, Simson. “Building 20: A Survey.” https://ic.media.mit.edu/projects/JBW/ARTICLES/SIMSONG.HTM.

Halle, Morris. “Rooms to Grow In.” Preservation, Vol. 51 No. 5, September-October, 1999. https://web.mit.edu/morrishalle/pubworks/papers/1999_Halle_Rooms_to_grow_in.pdf.

MIT Distinctive Collections. https://libraries.mit.edu/distinctive-collections/.

“MIT Radiation Laboratory.” Lincoln Laboratory, MIT. https://www.ll.mit.edu/about/history/mit-radiation-laboratory.

Subject summary for objects: Building 20. MIT Museum. https://mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/subject/building-20-37.

Happy Women’s History Month!

Posted on by cambridgehistoricalcommission

Every March, Women’s History Month invites us to pause and look at the people that built our communities. Some of the stories are well‑known—names etched into monuments or printed in textbooks. But many others, often those of women, live quietly in the margins: teachers who shaped generations, activists who pushed for justice, artists who reimagined the world, caregivers who held neighborhoods together. These women influenced Cambridge in a myriad of ways, yet for centuries their contributions were scattered, forgotten, or never recorded at all.

The Cambridge Women’s Heritage Project (CWHP) was created to change that. It is, at its heart, a restoration project—not of buildings, but of remembrance. This effort seeks to bring women’s contributions into focus, ensuring that they are included in city’s rich history.

Dr. Ruth Marguerite Easterling
Pathologist, first African American woman admitted to Tufts Medical School

The project began in 1996, sparked by a community effort to honor writer May Sarton with a memorial at the Cambridge Public Library. What started as a single tribute quickly revealed a larger truth: Cambridge history was rich with women whose stories deserved recognition. That realization grew into a city‑supported initiative to document women’s lives from Cambridge’s founding in 1630 to the present day.

Today, the CWHP is a living, evolving archive. Volunteers, historians, and community members work together to research and write biographies of Cambridge women and women’s organizations. Some entries are detailed portraits; others are fragments waiting to be expanded. To date, more than 900 women and groups have been nominated, and the project continues to grow as new stories surface.

Flyer for Bread and Roses Restaurant
Gourmet vegetarian restaurant and center for feminism (1974-1978)

The work is meticulous and often challenging. Many women left few written records, and their contributions were not always preserved in traditional archives. The CWHP addresses this by gathering information from published sources, obituaries, local history collections, and community submissions. Each entry is carefully edited, fact‑checked, and organized so that future researchers, students, and residents can explore the city’s history through a more inclusive lens.

But the project is more than a database. It is also a catalyst for public engagement. Over the years, the CWHP has hosted International Women’s Day celebrations, walking tours, lectures, and other programs that bring women’s history into the public square. It invites the community to participate—by nominating women, sharing photographs, offering corrections, or volunteering to help with research.

Helen Wendler Markham (born Helen Wendler Deane)
Biologist, histochemist, humanitarian

The CWHP was created as a joint project of the Cambridge Commission on the Status of Women and the Cambridge Historical Commission and relies on volunteers from the community to keep growing. The mission is both simple and profound: to celebrate the women of Cambridge, to preserve their stories, and to ensure that future generations can see themselves reflected in the city’s past.

During Women’s History Month, the project feels especially resonant. It reminds us that history is not fixed; it is something we build, revise, and enrich. We invite you to follow us on social media as we highlight a selection of these individuals and organizations where the stories of women—long overlooked—are finally being given the visibility and honor they deserve.

Visit the Cambridge Women’s Heritage Project database:
https://cwhp.cambridgema.gov/

Follow the Cambridge Historical Commission on social media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cambridgehistoricalcommission/
WordPress blog: https://cambridgehistoricalcommission.blog/

Reminder: Submit Your Preservation Awards Nominations!

Posted on by cambridgehistoricalcommission

Each year, the Cambridge Historical Commission honors projects that have made outstanding contributions to the preservation of the city’s historic character and built environment. The 2026 Preservation Awards will recognize individuals and organizations for projects completed within the last year. The awards will be announced and presented at a ceremony in late May or early June 2026.

2025 Preservation Award winner Edward & Julia Joyce three-family, 95 Fayerweather Street (1910). In 1991, this building was redeveloped by Homeowner’s Rehab as limited equity condos for moderate-income homeowners. After a few decades the building began to deteriorate. Just-A-Start came in with a home improvement program and utilized Community Preservation Act funds from the Cambridge Historical Commission’s grant program as well as their own assistance to redevelop and restore this house.

Seven project categories are eligible for Preservation Awards: restoration, rehabilitation, adaptive use, neighborhood conservation, landscape preservation, archaeology, and education. The award-winning projects will be selected based on the following:

  • historical and architectural significance of the preserved property;
  • exceptional quality of the project;
  • extent to which the project contributed to the preservation of the property; and
  • impact of the project on the preservation of the city’s historic resources.
2025 Preservation Award winner First Baptist Church, now Central Square Church, 5 Magazine Street (1881). For many years the building suffered from an inability to address deferred maintenance issues. For this project, masonry was restored, clock faces were repaired, and the bell deck has been sealed and reroofed. Now the church continues to be a landmark of Central Square.
Before and after images of Central Square Church roof repairs
Before and after images of Central Square Church masonry repairs

To nominate a project, including your own, please submit a completed nomination form and supporting documentation by Noon on Friday, March 13, 2026 to:

Cambridge Historical Commission
831 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139

Or electronically to: histcomm@cambridgema.gov

All submitted materials become the property of the Cambridge Historical Commission and will not be returned.

For more information on the Cambridge Preservation Awards, or if you have questions regarding the nomination form, please contact the Commission.

Telephone: 617 349 4683 | Email: histcomm@cambridgema.gov

URL:  https://www.cambridgema.gov/historic/aboutchc/preservationawards

What Does Harry Katz Have to do with Valentine’s Day?

Posted on by cambridgehistoricalcommission
The Cambridge Sentinel May 20, 1922

“I don’t know what the business men are getting out of radio, but it is certainly a big force let loose in the world…I pass on where this game is leading us. I don’t believe that anybody knows where radio is headed to – it’s all an unknown quantity yet, and who will ultimately profit most, time will tell. I recon that the public will – – anyway it keeps us merchants pushe’d along, and we have to keep up with it.” (The Cambridge Tribune October 11, 1924).

In addition to Valentine’s Day, February 14 is also National Radio Day. And, since Harry Katz was a radio salesman extraordinaire in the early days of Cambridge radio and beyond, we thought we’d use this chance to say a few words about him.

But first – here are some Cambridge and Mass-related fun radio facts:

  • Marconi Beach on Cape Cod is named after Gugliemo Marconi, the Italian inventor of wireless radio. In 1903, Marconi famously transmitted the first transatlantic wireless communication between the U. S. and England from the cliffs overlooking this beach, which is now part of the National Park Service.
  • At the outset of WWI, Harvard provided the Navy free use of its Cruft High Tension Electrical Laboratory on Oxford Street for the Navy’s new School for Radio Electricians. “By early 1918, more than 5,000 Naval recruits had enrolled in the program and 400 new radio operators were graduating and entering military service each week.” (“Cruft Laboratory goes to war”)
Historic building with two tall communication towers, surrounded by grassy area and trees.

Radio towers on the roof of Cruft laboratory at Harvard, photograph by American Engraving Co. Image courtesy Harvard University Archives. http://id.lib.harvard.edu/via/olvwork723677/catalog.
A historical black and white photograph of a large group of naval students in a classroom setting at the U.S. Naval Radio School, Harvard University, in April 1918. The students are focused on operating radio equipment, sitting at rows of desks with headsets.
Class operating in the radio room, April 1918. Photographer: Edwin Levick. U.S. Naval Radio School, Harvard University. Source: The U.S. National Archives.
  • The proliferation of commercial radio stations in the early 1920s led to the Radio Act of 1927 and the Federal Radio Commission, which established the first set of broadcasting regulations. Stations in the Boston area at that time included WNAC, WBZ (broadcasting from the Hotel Brunswick), WDBR (broadcasting from the Tremont Temple Baptist Church), WGBH (originally broadcasting from Fall River), WBZ, WEEI (licensed to the Edison Electric Illuminating Co. of Boston) and WRSC (broadcasting from the Hotel Bellevue).
  • In 1922, the MIT Radio Society “…announced that it will accept messages from any students at Technology for transmission free of charge to any part of the United States or the Hawaiian Islands.” (The Cambridge Tribune October 14, 1922)
  • Cambridge venues of all sorts were advertising radio concerts. Some included dancing. Even the Manhattan Market grocery store on Mass Ave hosted a series of radio concerts in their store. The store manager proclaimed: “This will enable many to have a first glowing experience with this new electrical wave marvel.” (for more about the Manhattan Market, see our blog post “Before Their Were Supermarkets”)
  • The General Radio Co. (later GenRad), founded in 1915, which manufactured electronic radio testing equipment, built a new facility in 1924 at the corner of Mass Ave and Windsor Streets.
Illustration of the General Radio Company building, featuring a large brick structure with large windows and a tower, surrounded by people and early automobiles.
The Cambridge Sentinel October 11, 1924
  • An item in The Cambridge Tribune (April 15, 1922) declared “$5,000,000 is spent weekly on radio. Already 75 broadcasting stations serve more than 600,000 radio operators through the country. Are our local electricians alive to possibilities?” Radio supply and service shops proliferated.  Among them were:
The Cambridge Tribune April 29, 1922
The Cambridge Tribune February 25, 1922
The Cambridge Chronicle June 17, 1922

And then there was Harry Katz…

A black and white portrait of a man wearing glasses and a suit, with a slightly serious expression.
The Cambridge Sentinel July 6, 1929
Historical photograph of a large gathering outside Harry Katz Auto and Radio Supplies store, featuring numerous men in suits and hats, with a prominent sign for the store.
The Cambridge Sentinel October 11, 1924: “Scene before the Harry Katz Radio Store in Central Square at an early morning hour when something colorful was happening in the Democratic Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York. A Radio Audience.”

The Chronicle reported that “Harry Katz has been giving ‘day and night’ service to the radio ‘fans’ during the national Democratic convention. He had a crowd about his store at all times when the convention was on, even when the final ballot was announced about 2.30 a. m. Wednesday morning.” (July 12, 1924)

In October, Katz tuned the radio and amplified the World Series games to the public. As The Cambridge Tribune reported under a headline “RADIO CROWDS JAM SIDEWALKS”:  “it…kept the crowds spell-bound all through the week in front of the firm’s Central square store.” This was followed by his broadcast of the November 1924 election results:

The Cambridge Chronicle November 8, 1924

Of course, Harry’s speakers  also relayed baseball games: 

The Cambridge Tribune October 24, 1925

Harry Katz was born in Lborow, Austria in 1890. His family emigrated to the Boston in 1903 on the inaugural voyage of the White Star Line Ship Cretic. Harry was a savvy entrepreneur: in 1909, he was given a license for selling used clothes, and had started a bicycle repair business at 85 River Street:

The Cambridge Chronicle November 9, 1909

In 1912 he moved his bicycle business to 73 River St, where also serviced automobile tires “retiring” baby carriages to his services.

$5 to $15 second hand bicycles advertisement for Harry Katz, including a bicycle illustration and contact details.
One of several footline advertisements that appeared in the 1916 Cambridge Directory

Finally, in 1917, he moved his radio and auto accessory business to 712 Mass Ave in Central Square, next to the Board of Trade building. This includes merchandise from his bike store in North Cambridge.

The Cambridge Chronicle October 27, 1917

In 1929, he also opened a gas and auto service station at 125 Brookline Street:

Text from a newspaper article about Harry Katz, highlighting his achievements as Cambridge's first auto accessory man, first radio distributor, and pioneer in super-service auto stations, noting he was only 38 years old.
The Cambridge Sentinel July 6, 1929

“Harry Katz of Central square likes to be first in everything. Julius Caesar was just the same way. Not content with being one of the first bicycle dealers on a large scale in Cambridge, and the very first auto accessory dealer in the city, added to being the pioneer radio man of the town, now he has opened the first super-service auto station on Brookline street…” (The Cambridge Sentinel July 26, 1929)

Vintage photograph of a service station named 'Harry Katz Service' with several parked cars, a sign for 'Pan-Am Gasoline,' and a surrounding street view.
125 Brookline St, ca. 1929

Around 1932, Katz moved his entire operation from the 712 Mass Ave location to his 125 Brookline St service station. (For more about this location see our Instagram post on the former Katz Garage)

45 years before his death in 1972, The Cambridge Sentinel ran a remarkable encomium about Katz’ character:

“[Katz] is quiet, social, and sensible. His head for business has not hardened his heart. Those black eyes see more than a tactful tongue will talk about. He is Harry to a host of friends. People of the vinegar type are not saluted by their first names. It is a tribute to general worth, the mutual expression of familiarity with respect. It is the irresistible appeal of friendliness, the touch of nature, that makes the world kin, that explains the likableness of Harry Katz. He does not strain to please. He is more blunt than diplomatic in expressing what he thinks… Common sense is Harry Katz’s distinguishing train. It explains his quiet, thoughtful manner, his courtesy and amiability…For more years than he looks, Harry Katz has been and is a greatly respected personality in the business of Central square. In his modest way he has led organized trade in that busy section. This constitutes leadership, even if so modest a man would protest the claim. Most would be apt to ignore the denial. The facts to not sustain the objection.” (November 4, 1933)

Harry Katz died on August 2, 1972 at Brookline Hospital. He was 82 years old. The headline of his obituary sated that he “was in real estate here for many years.” Katz and his wife Annie Perlstein, who predeceased him, lived at 61 Austin Street in Cambridge.  He left his daughter Gertrude [Katz] Kagan; and a sister, Sarah Kaufman. (The Cambridge Chronicle August 10, 1972)

*  *  *

The advent of radio had an enormous impact on society, connecting the social fabric as never before. For the first time, people were united by hearing the news, election results, a baseball game, the local high school glee club, or a concert all simultaneously. Geography no longer mattered. As always, shared experiences of this kind informs how society in all its aspects evolves– reinforcing community engagement, shaping public opinion and politics, and bringing an enhanced knowledge of the wider world. The advent of television did the same thing, just as today the countless sources of information available on the internet continue to shape our society.

Today’s post was written by Kathleen Fox

SOURCES

Cambridge Historical Commission

Cambridge Public Library Historic Cambridge Newspaper Collection

“Cruft Laboratory goes to war” by Adam Zewe. Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. November 11, 2015. https://seas.harvard.edu/news/cruft-laboratory-goes-war.

Eastern Massachusetts Radio Timeline: The First Fifteen Years, by Donna Halper and edited by Garrett Wollman. https://bostonradio.org/timeline/timeline-20s.

Harvard Property Information Resource Center (PIRC)

National Park Service: Marconi Beach. https://www.nps.gov/caco/planyourvisit/marconi-beach.htm.

USAHistoryTimeline.com

Black History Month Feature: Roosevelt Weaver

Posted on by Meta Partenheimer

Today we’re highlighting Roosevelt Weaver, an educator, activist, and voice for the people.

Roosevelt R. Weaver was born in Macon, Georgia in 1936. He obtained his degree in sociology after receiving a scholarship from Yankton College in South Dakota. During his time in undergrad, Weaver was a star athlete, earning accolades in track, football, and boxing. Following graduation, Weaver taught in the Atlanta public school system and served in the Peace Corps as well as the US Marines active reserves. While a Peace Corps volunteer from 1962-65, Weaver coached the Senegalese Olympic track team.

The Cambridge Chronicle, 18 May 1967

Weaver became the first Program Director at the Cambridge Community Center in 1965. Weaver was surprised to encounter in Cambridge the same racism he faced in southern states when he was refused multiple apartment rentals based on his ethnic background. Weaver resigned his position at the community center in 1967 to to become the Group Leader for Operation Crossroads Africa Inc.’s work in Cameroon. The project was designed to engage American and African college students through summer work projects. Weaver returned to Cambridge in 1968. He had earned his master’s degree in Urban Education from Simmons College and began pursuing his Doctor of Education degree at Harvard in 1969 while also teaching courses at Emerson College and Simmons.

Roosevelt Weaver photographed by Forman on April 8, 1970. Cambridge Photo Morgue Collection, Cambridge Historical Commission.

In 1970, following unrest and a sit-in at the Cambridge High and Latin School, administrators hired Weaver part time to head up a course titled “Black Experience.” What followed were several months of meetings, student discussions, and seminars focused on addressing racial tensions and demands of Black students who faced racism and objected to the white-centric coursework at CHL and Rindge Tech. That year, Weaver was chosen as an Outstanding Young Man of America and received an Alumnus of the Year award from his alma mater. Weaver served on numerous committees and boards, including the Cambridge Police Relations Council, tackling issues faced by the Black community in Cambridge. In 1971, he became the first black principal of Bernice A. Ray Elementary School in Hanover, NH. Weaver later moved to New Jersey to teach in the East Orange school system.

Wikipedia Highlights Black Cambridge

Posted on by cambridgehistoricalcommission

The Cambridge Black History Project in collaboration with the Cambridge Public Library invites you to come out and try your hand at editing and creating Wikipedia pages related to Cambridge Black History!

When: Wednesday, February 25th from 5:30pm-8:30pm
Where: Central Square Branch of the Cambridge Public Library (45 Pearl Street).

This event is free but registration is required. Please click HERE for more information and to register for the event. Once at the registration page click the blue “Begin Registration” button.

Barbara Ward Armstrong, a Cantabrigian and innovative artist whose life-sized African-inspired multi-textured fabric sculptures, called “soft sculptures,” redefined 20th century artforms.

All levels of experience are welcome! Join in on the fun and excitement of looking up information on Black Cantabrigians and beyond as we move to create Wikipedia pages that will highlight some local individuals. We will be adding to information on existing pages, creating new pages, finding reliable sources for others to use, and copyediting and formatting pages. The Central Square Branch offers resources from its Archives and Special Collections as well as its Black Voices Collections.

We are looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday, February 25 from 5:30pm – 8:30pm. 

Access information:

  • The library’s accessible entrance is available from Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza
  • Public transit: the library located 1 block from the Central MBTA Red Line station
  • Street parking (metered) is available near the library.
  • Garage parking (paid) is available in the Green Street Garage.

2026 Preservation Awards: Call for Nominations

Posted on by cambridgehistoricalcommission

Each year, the Cambridge Historical Commission honors projects that have made outstanding contributions to the preservation of the city’s historic character and built environment. The 2026 Preservation Awards will recognize individuals and organizations for projects completed within the last year. The awards will be announced and presented at a ceremony in late May or early June 2026.

2025 Preservation Award winner St. Augustine’s African Orthodox Church, 137 Allston Street (1886). Using Community Preservation Act funds paired with fundraising efforts, the congregation was able to secure a beautiful restoration of this important building, allowing this church to take on a new and vibrant life in Cambridgeport.

Seven project categories are eligible for Preservation Awards: restoration, rehabilitation, adaptive use, neighborhood conservation, landscape preservation, archaeology, and education. The award-winning projects will be selected based on the following:

  • historical and architectural significance of the preserved property;
  • exceptional quality of the project;
  • extent to which the project contributed to the preservation of the property; and
  • impact of the project on the preservation of the city’s historic resources.
2025 Preservation Award winner 5-7 Irving Terrace (1888). Five condominium owners enthusiastically restored original clapboards, shingles, and woodwork, bringing the building back to like-new condition.

To nominate a project, including your own, please submit a completed nomination form and supporting documentation by Noon on Friday, March 13, 2026 to:

Cambridge Historical Commission
831 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139

Or electronically to: histcomm@cambridgema.gov

All submitted materials become the property of the Cambridge Historical Commission and will not be returned.

For more information on the Cambridge Preservation Awards, or if you have questions regarding the nomination form, please contact the Commission.

Telephone: 617 349 4683 | Email: histcomm@cambridgema.gov

URL:  https://www.cambridgema.gov/historic/aboutchc/preservationawards

Frances V. Antupit (1934-2025)

Posted on by cambridgehistoricalcommission

We at the CHC were saddened to hear of the passing of a Cambridge icon, Frances Antupit, long-time proprietor of the landmark establishment Koby-Antupit Photography Studios. In her studio, Frances photographed architects, politicians, scientists, and activists, as well as local students, couples, and children.

Frances Antupit in the Boylston/JFK St studio, ca. 1960s. Koby-Antupit Portrait Collection, Cambridge Historical Commission

Frances V. Antupit was born October 5, 1934, and raised in West Hartford, CT. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1957. Although Frances took only one photography course, she and a friend would sneak into the school’s darkroom after hours to develop film and make prints. Looking back, Frances laughed at her work from that time–mostly odd compositions of doorways and objects–calling it the “Ashcan School of Photography.”

Paul Koby Studio business card. Koby-Antupit Portrait Collection, Cambridge Historical Commission

Frances soon moved to Boston, intending to pursue a graphic design career, but quickly discovered few positions available. She was interviewed by a Copley Square art director who noticed her eye for photography and suggested she apprentice to an established photographer. In the yellow pages, Frances found an ad for Paul Koby’s studio in Harvard Square. Koby initially dismissed her, but Frances soon convinced him of her abilities, and she began her training in lighting skills, darkroom techniques, and retouching.

View of Paul Koby Photography studio, above the Wursthaus in Harvard Square. Cambridge Historical Commission

Koby left the Boston area in the 1970s. In 1978, despite no formal business training, Frances decided to purchase the business. Along with the studio, Antupit inherited a large collection of Koby’s negatives and prints.

Chris Jennings by Frances Antupit, 1991. Koby-Antupit Portrait Collection, Cambridge Historical Commission
Unknown couple by Francis Antupit, date unknown. Koby-Antupit Portrait Collection, Cambridge Historical Commission

In 1997, Cambridge Savings Bank bought the building that housed Antupit’s studio, and all tenants were given notice to vacate. Frances later opened a new studio but despite her reputation as a creative photographer, the new location proved difficult for returning customers and walk-ins alike. Antupit began afresh in neighboring Belmont before finally retiring. In 2006, Frances donated her collection of photography materials to the CHC. The Koby-Antupit Portrait Collection contains photographic materials taken by and relating to Frances and her work in the studio and material created by Koby.

Read the full obituary
See images from the Koby-Antupit Portrait Collection

Modern Monday: The Bitter House

Posted on by cambridgehistoricalcommission

A year after his family purchased the easternmost acres of the former Coolidge farm in West Cambridge, Edward Waldo Forbes built an enormous Georgian Revival mansion on the lot in 1911. An early convert to Modernism, Forbes, an art historian and Director of the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, allowed his daughter Rosamund and her husband, William Bowers, to build Cambridge’s first International Style house on the grounds in 1935. The introduction of this new design paved the way for M.I.T. physicist Francis Bitter and his wife, the singer Ratan Devī, to commission architect Carl Koch to design a modern house for the couple at the foot of the hill in 1946.

The House

Black and white photograph of the Bitter House, designed by Carl Koch, showcasing its modern architecture with large glass windows. The image features a low-lying structure amidst surrounding greenery.
Photograph by Ezra Stoller. Architectural Record (January 1949)

Carl Koch’s design for this house was praised by his contemporaries.  Following its completion, the house was written up in two journals, Architectural Record (105:76-83 January 1949) and House & Garden (94:6;127-129 December 1948). The author of the article in Architectural Record described the well-conceived plan, “So in this house we have the straightforward, thoughtful planning that reflects and serves the owners’ individual needs and desires–convenient, cheerful, efficient, informal–but with its own welcome dignity.” 

A black and white portrait of a woman with long hair adorned with a flower, wearing an elegant patterned garment, slightly tilting her head and extending her hand outward with a thoughtful expression.
Coomarasumay, Ananda, Mrs. (Ratan Devī), 1917 May 8, by Arnold Genthe. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
A black and white portrait of a bearded man in formal attire, looking directly at the camera with a serious expression.
Francis Bitter, ca. 1935, photographer unknown. MIT Museum.

The Bitter House was built as a modern, one-story, single-family house by Koch and his associate Frederic L. Day. The building was composed of cladding of vertical, tongue and groove fir boards on the living room wing. The bedroom wing, positioned for privacy opposite a garden “Plaza” from the living and service wing, was constructed of concrete block and not sided with another material.  The entrance door opened into the glass-enclosed garden plaza which was designed around a sculpture by Francis Bitter’s father, Karl Bitter.

Interior view of the Bitter House featuring a glass-enclosed garden plaza with plants, sculptures, and natural light filtering through the roof.
Photograph by Ezra Stoller. Architectural Record (January 1949)

On one side of the plaza was the living and service wing, which housed the living room, dining room, kitchen, and basement study. The living room was acoustically designed to accompany Mrs. Bitter’s love of music. Indoor living space continued to the outside with two patios, one off the dining room and the other off the garden plaza. The kitchen was designed for efficiency and included pass-throughs to the dining room and service entrance for the easy delivery of packages. The large, hooded fireplace was the focal point of the living and dining rooms. 

A modern living room featuring a distinctive brick fireplace, a low sofa, bookshelves, and large windows overlooking greenery. The decor includes patterned rugs and a small coffee table.
Photograph by Ezra Stoller. Architectural Record (January 1949)

On the opposite side of the plaza was the bedroom wing. The master bedroom was designed as a suite with a large dressing area. The guest bedroom had a fold-out bed built into the slope of the linen closet in the hallway.

Unlike some of his later efforts in prefabricated housing components, this design is completely tailor-made to meet the needs of the Bitters: a physicist and a professional musician. Mr. Bitter was an expert in magnetic physics. Under her stage name Ratan Devī, Mrs. Bitter was a performer of Hindu songs and poems and recorded Indian music. Koch considered both of their vocations when designing the residence at 44 Gerry’s Landing. Koch designed the basement as Mr. Bitter’s laboratory and study with plenty of natural light provided by the sloping site on which the house was built. The living room was acoustically designed to enhance the piano music of Mrs. Bitter. 

A black and white image showing the kitchen of the Bitter House, featuring white cabinetry, a sink, stove, and a dining area with a small table and chairs. Windows provide natural light, with kitchen utensils hanging above.
Photograph by Ezra Stoller. Architectural Record (January 1949)

Koch paid careful attention to the smallest details of the house–from the acoustics in the living room to the linen closet to the delivery panel in the kitchen wall.  Koch employed the use of twentieth century materials such as linoleum and corrugated Transite in his design.

Development of the Site

A historical map showing the layout of properties in West Cambridge, with a focus on Edward W. Forbes' estate and marking the location of a house in a blue circle.
Detail of Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, March 1950 (Vol. 2) with 44 Gerry’s Landing Road circled in blue. Library of Congress

The Brown and Nichols boys’ school was originally located on Garden Street. Although the school purchased fields at the base of Coolidge Hill in 1910-12 to use as athletic fields, its classes were not held on the lower campus until late in the 1940s. Brown and Nichols School gradually moved all its classrooms to the Gerry’s Landing campus between 1948 and 1963. The modern residences on the Forbes estate were soon acquired by the school and the Bitter House was converted for use as an art studio.

A black and white photograph of a modern one-story house with a flat roof, featuring large windows, a wooden deck, and surrounded by minimal landscaping in winter.
The Bitter House at 44 Gerry’s Landing Rd, photographed by R. Cheek in January 1969

Higher taxes, fewer domestic employees, and increased density after World War II affected the scale and efficiency of the designs for post-war construction. New technologies in building materials and construction quickly made their way to the private sphere after being developed by the military during the war. Carl Koch’s design intent for 44 Gerry’s Landing Road was a product of the new materials and design ideas of the post-war period. It was built in the same year as Koch’s more famous Snake Hill Houses in neighboring Belmont.

Black and white photograph of the Bitter House, showcasing its modern design with large windows, surrounded by trees in a winter landscape.
The Bitter House at 44 Gerry’s Landing Rd, photographed by R. Cheek in January 1969

An application to demolish the house at 44 Gerry’s Landing Road was received by the Cambridge Historical Commission on November 6, 1996, and the final application was made on November 26. The applicant, Buckingham, Browne and Nichols School, was notified of an initial determination of significance and a public hearing was scheduled for December 4. Although the Bitter House was found to be significant in part as an example of post-war architecture and in great part due to its relationship to the internationally significant architect, Carl Koch, the building was demolished in 1997. At the time of demolition, the intentionally limited exterior detailing of the modern residence was primarily intact with no evident additions or major remodeling.

African American Heritage Trail, Cambridge

Posted on by cambridgehistoricalcommission

The African-American community in Cambridge has a long, rich, and fruitful history. The roots of this community, much like the rest of the United States, are in the institution of slavery, which brought Black people from Africa and the Caribbean to New England soon after the Puritans settled. The small Black population of Cambridge became free in 1783, when the Supreme Court of Massachusetts decided to end legal chattel slavery in the state. This measure, combined with the general movement of southern Black people to the North in the 19th century and the attractive integrated school system, brought many Black families to Cambridge, expanding the African-American community. Over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth century, Cambridge saw a great variety of prominent African-American activists, officials, and leaders. Coming from all over America, these figures have contributed to the growth and empowerment of the Black communities in Cambridge, the United States, and even the entire world.

Cover of African American Heritage Trail, Cambridge, Massachusetts (2000)

We at the Cambridge Historical Commission invite you to explore the inspiring and unique stories of twenty of Cambridge’s most important Black leaders through our informational booklet, African American Heritage Trail, Cambridge, Massachusetts (2000), an accompanying text to our African American History Trail.

Selections from African American Heritage Trail, Cambridge, Massachusetts (2000), featuring entries of Pauline Hopkins and Harriet A. Jacobs.

Here, you’ll meet figures like Maria Louise Baldwin, headmaster of the Agassiz Grammar School in Cambridge and the first African American to hold such a position in the North. You’ll also learn about William Wells Brown, an escaped slave who became the first African American novelist, and Alberta V. Scott, the first African American graduate of Radcliffe College. With the aid of this guide, you can hear about and visit the locations where these abolitionists, authors, educators, and office holders lived, worked, and expanded their lives in Cambridge from 1840 to 1940. The guide contains the complete text of each historical marker, a map with key, and a brief history of African Americans in Cambridge.

Select pages from African American Heritage Trail, Cambridge, Massachusetts (2000) showing locations associated with featured historical figures.

To learn more, and obtain a copy of this publication for just $2, click here, email us at histcomm@cambridgema.gov, or visit our office at 831 Mass Ave in Central Square.