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.
Gail Willett with a display at Savanna Books, date unknown. Image courtesy Gail Willett.
Today we’re featuring Savanna Books, a bookstore specializing in books about children of color, and the store’s founder, Gail Pettiford Willett. As a Black woman and parent disappointed and frustrated by the scarcity of multicultural books for children and young adults, Willett took it upon herself to make such titles available to the local community as well as her own family. She began this endeavor despite having a psychiatric nursing background and no formal business training. The venture began in the early 1980s as a mail order business run from her home in Cambridgeport.
Gail Willett and her husband Walter inside Savanna Books, date unknown. Image courtesy Gail Willett.
When Willett was ready to expand the business to a storefront, her husband built counters, shelves, and other furnishings to outfit the first brick and mortar location at 858 Mass Ave, which opened in 1989. Willett notes that at the time, this was only one of two bookstores in the United States focusing on children of color.
Gail Willett (center) celebrates the grand opening of Savanna Books with her husband (left) and son, ca. June 1989. Image courtesy Gail Willett.
Gail Willett outside the first location of Savanna Books at 858 Mass Ave in June 1990. Image courtesy Gail Willett.
That same year, a pamphlet outlining the store’s goals was distributed at Freedom House’s 2nd Annual Cultural Holiday Bazaar. It read, in part: We believe that children must have books that reflect their cultures, teach their heritages, and expand their horizons. As parents we have searched for books which provide a positive variety of images for our children. Over the years we have watched many of the best books about children of color go out of print. We decided, then, to become advocates for this literature.
“Savanna Books information” by Gail Pettiford Willett, 1989. Freedom House, Inc. records (M16), Northeastern University Library. http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20329436.
Willett first started the business on her own. She later spoke with publishers who sent sales reps to offer assistance. She then began hiring help at the store, put together a board of friends, and hired a bookstore consultant. Willett started going in to schools for programming and then sponsoring contests to involve families and children.
Article featuring Savanna Books in The Cambridge Chronicle, 3 May 1990.
As part of her efforts, Willett participated in forums on cultural diversity, facilitated workshops and pop-up events at her store for parents and teachers. Willett very much enjoyed hosting author events at the store. Writer and illustrator Pat Cummings agreed to help celebrate the 1-year anniversary of Savanna Books in May 1990.
Gail Willet’s son (left) and two friends outside Savanna Books at 858 Mass Ave in September 1989. Image courtesy Gail Willett.
In 1993, when more space was needed for programming, the business was moved to larger quarters at 1132 Mass Ave in Harvard Square.
Gail Willett outside the second location of Savanna Books at 1132 Mass Ave, ca. 1993. Image courtesy Gail Willett.
Over the years, demand for books depicting diverse cultural backgrounds increased and other bookstores began carrying the titles that a local shopper could once find only at Savanna Books. Facing rising costs and competition, Willett closed her bookstore in January 1996. Following the closure, Willett pivoted back to her home mail-order business.
Gail Willett (right) with Savanna Books customers, date unknown. Image courtesy Gail Willett.
In 1999, Willett continued her path of bringing enrichment to children’s lives through literature and became a program coordinator at the Cambridge Public Library. Most recently, she and close friend Poppy Dade Milner have taken their passion for textiles to create Nguo Fabric Art where their pieces “celebrate and represent the beauty, confidence, creativity, and strength of African culture.”
Gail Willett (right) and Poppy Milner (left) stand with a Nguo Fabric Art display at the Cousen Rose Gallery on Martha’s Vineyard in June 2022. Image courtesy Nguo Art Instagram.
We thank Gail Willett for being a pioneer in bringing books of multicultural richness to the children of Cambridge and Boston for so many years.
Gail Willet’s son sporting a Savanna Books t-shirt, ca. 1990. Image courtesy Gail Willett.
Today marks the anniversary of a little-known military operation that took place 125 years ago at Cienfuegos, Cuba during the Spanish-American War. One Marine involved was Cantabridgian Joseph F. Scott. Joseph Francis Scott was born in Boston on June 4, 1866, and moved with his family to Cambridge in the early 1870s. Scott enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in Boston on August 11, 1888, and was assigned to the gunboat USS Nashville on August 21, 1897.
Portrait of Joseph Francis Scott, uploaded by user William Bjornstad on FindAGrave
By April 1898, Spanish forces were blockading Cuba. The US had only a few ships stationed nearby, including the USS Nashville. To stay in communication, Spanish forces used telegraph cables running from Cuba back to Spain through their possessions in the Caribbean and Key West. To isolate Spanish forces, the US decided to cut off this communication line—literally. First came the north shore cable cut, which severed communication from Cuba to Key West. Next was the more difficult task of cutting lines at the south side of the island near Cienfuegos. Around 6:45am on May 11, crews from the Nashville and USS Marblehead undertook the mission and rowed toward the shore in open boats. Although the crews hoped to slip in undetected, several seamen were armed and aided by a Hotchkiss naval gun to suppress fire, if needed.
USS Nashville. Halftone reproduction of a photograph, published in Deeds of Valor, Volume II, page 361, by the Perrien-Keydel Company, Detroit, 1907. The image shows crew members who participated in the cable cutting operation at Cienfuegos, Cuba, on 11 May 1898. They are posed in one of the ship’s launches, after the ship had been repainted in peacetime colors following the end of the Spanish-American War. The Medal of Honor was liberally awarded to those who took part in this operation. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Unfortunately, the group was spotted by a Spanish cavalryman. The US forces worked quickly to find the cable under 30-40 feet of water and coral reef. After some difficulty with a grappling hook, the 2″ cable, weighing about 6 lbs per foot, was heaved upwards. The mission was to cut a section of around 150’—no easy feat! When cutting the first cable, US forces were well offshore and a safe distance from Spanish fire. When cutting the next cable, a third previously unknown cable was found. By this time, the seas were pitching, and the boats are drifting closer to the Spanish position. At one point, Lieutenant Cameron McRae Winslow reported that the boats were within pistol range of Spanish forces. Despite heavy fire, the seamen attempted to cut the third cable. This harrowing event resulted in many injuries and a small number of fatalities on the American side. The fire was so intense the US forces pulled back, having successfully cut two of the communication cables. The entire operation lasted around three hours.
Halftone reproduction of an artwork, published in Deeds of Valor, Volume II, page 358, by the Perrien-Keydel Company, Detroit, 1907. It depicts boats from USS Nashville (Gunboat # 7) and USS Marblehead (Cruiser # 11) cutting underwater telegraph cables off Cienfuegos, Cuba, while under intense Spanish gunfire. Their ships are shown in the background, returning fire, with Nashville on the right and Marblehead at left. The Medal of Honor was liberally awarded to those who participated in this operation. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph
On July 7, 1899, Scott was awarded the Medal of Honor for his efforts at Cienfuegos, which noted that under “…the heavy fire of the enemy, Scott displayed extraordinary bravery and coolness throughout this action.” Scott was eventually promoted to Corporal and honorably discharged on May 7, 1901 and returned to Cambridge. Corporal Scott went on to work in the Boston Naval Yards as a ship fitter and maintained an active presence as an advocate for the veteran community. He died on February 28, 1941 at the home he shared with his wife Helena and their son Raymond at 3 Leonard Avenue in North Cambridge. Scott was buried in Cambridge Cemetery.
Veterans’ Graves Registration card for Joseph Francis Scott (CHC Collections)
Special thanks to Timothy Brosnan Sr., Junior Vice Commander, and Joyce Burchsted, Adjutant, of AMVETS Baker Xiarhos Post 333 for bringing our attention to Corporal Scott and his heroic deeds, and for their efforts to preserve veteran history and memorials. Click below to watch Episode 49 of “Dennis This Week” featuring an interview with Brosnan and Burchsted.
Sources
Cambridge Public Library’s Historic Cambridge Newspaper Collection
In honor of National Fire Prevention Week, check out the description below and accompanying images of “Spectacular Fires” that ravaged Cambridge buildings in the 20th century. The account appeared in the January 16, 1969 edition of the Cambridge Chronicle:
Fire at Memorial Hall, Harvard, 1956 (Cambridge Photo Morgue Collection)
Fire at Squire’s meatpacking plant on Gore Street, April 14, 1963 (Cambridge Photo Morgue Collection)
Fire at the Jordan Marsh Warehouse on Commercial Avenue, July 15, 1965 (Cambridge Photo Morgue Collection)
“Firefighters battling a fire from the truck in Kendall Square” [Warren Bros. Construction Co. on Potter Street], May 6, 1966 (Brearly Collection, Boston Public Library Arts Department)
188 Prospect Street, photographed by CHC staff (2006)
The one-story commercial building that once stood at 188 Prospect Street was designed in 1912 by the architect Nathan Douglas and constructed by its owner Thomas A. Gannon. Douglas was a prolific local architect with an office on Harvard Street, who designed dozens of three-deckers, apartment houses, and stores between 1901 and 1927. His larger commissions included the Beth Israel Synagogue at 238 Columbia Street (1901) and the Swedish Evangelical Church at 146 Hampshire Street (1902). The façade of 188 was arranged as a single storefront, with a recessed center entrance and two large plate glass windows that angled in to meet the entry door. The façade was detailed with ornamental rafter tails and dentils across the front that wrapped around the corners. A large quarter-round molding decorated the cornice. In 1946 red asphalt shingle siding was added , covering the original clapboards.
Notice of building permit for Gannon’s store, as it appeared in The Cambridge Sentinel (6 April 1912)
The first business to occupy the building was Thomas A. Gannon’s ice cream shop. Gannon manufactured his ice cream in the basement of the house at #190 and sold it at the store next door. Gannon died in 1914 and was succeeded by H.L. Fowler. His advertisement in the 1914 city directory includes offerings of ice cream, baked goods, and homemade candies. Fowler kept the store until 1918 and was followed by the Cambridge Funeral Company operated by Daniel L. Shea, a Somerville resident. (There must have been a good freezer in the building.) Later shops included another confectionery, furniture sales and refinishing, tire sales and service, bicycle seat covers and upholstery, and a photographic gallery.
Detail of Fowler’s advertisement in the 1914 Cambridge City Directory
Infill development on Prospect Street related to garaging and repair of automobiles began in the 1920s and 1930s. Even 188 Prospect Street had an automobile related use for a time: a Sanborn atlas lists a tire sales and service business there in the late 1940s or early 1950s. Occupants in the 1960s included Hamilton Television Service and New England Bicycle Cover Co.
188 Prospect photographed by Edward Jacoby (November 1969)
In 1969, the storefront became the first home of a school called Trout Fishing in America, which took its name from Richard Brautigan’s 1967 best-selling countercultural novel. William Hjortsberg wrote in his 2012 biography of Brautigan, Jubilee Hitchhiker: The Life and Times of Richard Brautigan, that the school comprised eight different storefronts. For a fee of $10, students could enroll in courses such as English, theories of revolution, math, science, and motorcycle repair. Trout Fishing in America served as both an educational space and a gathering spot for those who wished to listen, socialize, and plan their peaceful revolutionary future.
Richard Brautigan in 1959. Collection: California Faces: Selections from The Bancroft Library Portrait Collection at UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library. via https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/13030/tf9v19p3wd/
In 1969, Brautigan came to the Boston area to promote the release of a collection of three works, Trout Fishing in America, The Pill versus The Springhill Mine Disaster, and In Watermelon Sugar, and visited the Prospect Street school. With him was the reporter John Stickney, who was on assignment for LIFE magazine; his piece, “A Gentle Poet of the Young”, appeared in the August 14, 1970, issue. (Stickney later volunteered as the school’s journalism teacher.) The LIFE photographer Steve Hansen captured this image of Brautigan seated on the curb in front of the school surrounded by teachers and students. During his visit to Cambridge, Brautigan also participated in a Trout Fishing for America parade that began at 188 Prospect and wound through Central and Harvard squares to the northern end of Cambridge Common.
Richard Brautigan and the Trout Fishing in America School at 188 Prospect St, photographed by Steve Hansen (1969)
The Trout Fishing in America was based at 188 Prospect only for a short time before moving to 353 Broadway where it shared space with the Cambridge chapter of Vocations for Social Change.
188 Prospect St in 1978 (Community Development Department sign survey)
By 1971 The People’s Gallery, a photographers collective, occupied the space at 188 with a storefront gallery and dark room below. They soon shared space with Boston Area Ecology Action, an organic bulk foods store, and another photography studio came in the 1980s. Eventually the building fell into disuse. An application to demolish the commercial building and garage at 188 Prospect Street was filed in early July 2006, and the building was razed later that month. Today, the site is occupied by condominiums.
View of former location of 188 Prospect St via Google Street View (2007)
It’s time for a historic building spotlight! We are featuring the former filling station at the corner of Concord Avenue and Walden Street in North Cambridge. Today, the building has a whole new look.
Concord Avenue near the corner of Walden Street, facing east. September 6, 1933.
In the early twentieth century, Concord Avenue served as a main transportation route, though the area had evolved from its early rural roots to a more suburban character. The advent of the automobile as a mode of transportation for the average person opened up this area to further residential development. Fresh Pond and Kingsley Park were also major draws for day-trippers taking a drive into the countryside. With people and cars came the need for fueling stations. The gasoline station at 299 Concord Avenue was one of 8 gas stations to be built along Concord Avenue between 1905 and 1930.
Rotogravure originally printed in the March 8, 1925 edition of the Boston Traveler as part of the series “Colonial Filling Stations of Boston.”
As an example of an early gas station, the Colonial Filling Station at 299 Concord Ave was built in 1924 for $7,000. The building was designed in the Colonial Revival style and executed by Boston-based consulting engineer Allen Hubbard. Born in 1860, Hubbard spent his early life in Westfield, Mass and later became the town’s first major league baseball player. Hubbard attended Yale to obtain an engineering degree and became the college’s baseball team captain. Soon after his graduation in 1883, Hubbard left his baseball career behind and worked as a bookkeeper and engineer for contractors in Boston before forming a business partnership with Hollis French in 1898. Throughout his career, Hubbard would consult on various large-scale engineering projects, including the Boston Public Library.
Allen Hubbard in his Yale catcher’s uniform (via adonisterry.tripod.com)
Hubbard’s design for the hip-roofed structure was elaborately detailed with dentil moldings, a Federal-style doorway with elliptical fan light and side lights, round-arched windows with lancet-arched muntins, red roofing shingles, and a wood balustrade at the roof peak. The masonry detail further embellished the station, with arched brickwork over the windows and a soldier course of bricks at the base, topped by a course of headers. A large sign band filled the space between the doorway and the cornice.
299 Concord Ave ca. 1973-74. Photograph by Richard Cheek.
The station went through a series of owners over the decades. A garage bay for automobile servicing was added in 1938. When the building was surveyed by the CHC in 1973, it was in nearly original condition and one of the oldest surviving of its kind in Cambridge. By 1978, gasoline services had ceased, and the building was converted to office use. Then-owner Cambridge Alternative Power Co., Inc. (CAPCO) undertook major alterations to and built an addition. Subsequent projects included the construction of a windmill and solar greenhouse.
299 Concord Ave in October 1982. Photograph by CHC staff.
In 2003, the CHC received an application to demolish the former gas station and its additions to make way for new construction. Rather than demolish the structure, an updated proposal was submitted in which the new design would preserve the original fabric of the façade to the fullest extent possible.
299 Concord Ave 299 (June 4, 2003)
View of work on façade (August 4, 2005)
Today, the original filling station façade can be seen from Concord Ave.
View north from Concord Ave via Google Street View (October 2017)
SOURCES
“1883 Yale Baseball Captain Added to the Bulldog Club Posthumously” article by Dan Genovese (The Yale Newsletter, Winter 2005) Cambridge Public Library Online Newspaper Database CHC survey files
Formed on December 6, 1893, the Rindge Club, named for real estate developer and major City benefactor Frederick H. Rindge, first met in the Odd Fellows Hall building in North Cambridge on December 27, 1893. To accommodate the club’s athletic classes and activities, leaders leased a gymnasium building at 9 Beech Street (now the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses) from Samuel F. Woodbridge. At the behest of Mr. Rindge, the group changed its name to the Newtowne Club in June 1895.
Exterior of the Rindge Club House when located at the Samuel Woodbridge gym, 9 Beech Street. Cambridge Chronicle, 20 January 1894
Earlier that year, plans for a new and larger clubhouse were prepared by Boston-based architect J. Chandler Fowler. In June, Mr. Adams, a member of the club’s governing board, purchased land for the purpose of erecting the new building at the corner of Davenport Street and Massachusetts Avenue, about one block southeast of the Woodbridge gym. With a bid of around $30,000, a contract to construct the building was awarded to Wellington Fillmore & Co. and ground was broken towards the end of June.
Drawing of Newtowne Club by architect J. Chandler Fowler, published in the Cambridge Chronicle, 19 January 1895
The club officially opened on January 29, 1896 and nearly 2,000 invitations to the open house were distributed to the community. The new club house was described as “one of the handsomest and most substantial buildings in ward 5.”
Exterior of the Newtowne Club, ca. 1895. Historic New England
Designed in the colonial style, the building was “square and grand, with a wide porch, generous windows and dormers on the roof.” The exterior was painted bright red and finished with white trimmings and green blinds. (Semi-Centennial)
A corner of the library and glimpses of front hall and ladies parlor, drawn by L.F. Grant for the Cambridge Chronicle, 1 February 1896
“The house contains a fine gymnasium, with stage, six of the best bowling alleys in the state, shower baths, billiard and pool room, ladies parlor, lounging room, ample lockers for a 500 [person] membership, and, all the appurtenance to a first class clubhouse.” (Semi-Centennial)
Detail of the corner of Davenport St and Mass Ave from Cambridge Bromley Atlases, 1903 and 1930
Over the years, the parlors, gymnasium, and other facilities were rented by area groups, clubs, and committees for events ranging from charity parties to film screenings. In 1916, the Newtowne Theatre opened as a tenant of the club on the north end of the building, offering matinee picture shows and small concerts.
Clipping from the Cambridge Chronicle, 9 December 1916
Although the Newtowne Club had been prosperous for many years, it soon found difficulty maintaining memberships and meeting the expenses of the building. In 1917, the building was purchased by the Ozanam Council, Knights of Columbus through a foreclosure sale. The K of C also purchased the club’s furnishings and acquired the moving picture accoutrements for the club’s private use. The club was then renamed Newtowne Hall. In 1924, the Mass Ave frontage was sold and a block of stores were built on the clubhouse lawn. The building was subsequently divided and rented to local organizations.
5 Davenport St, ca. 1975. CHC staff photo
In 1960, Stephen and James Zaglakas remodeled Newtowne Hall and opened Stephen James House, an 800-seat function hall and restaurant that was a popular site for social and political functions until it closed in 1991. Several rounds of interior and exterior repairs, alterations, and additions throughout the mid-twentieth century left the building nearly unrecognizable. By the 1970s, the only features from the original 1896 building were the the hip roof and right side dormer. The building was sold and demolished in 1994 to make way for a condominium development.
Sources Cambridge Chronicle, 19 January 1895 The Cambridge Chronicle Semi-Centennial Souvenir, 1 February 1896 CHC survey files “Newtowne Club” by the Cambridge Historical Commission and North Cambridge Neighborhood Stabilization Committee, 2000
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.
Clipping from the Cambridge Chronicle, 8 March 1945
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.
View down Callender Street east of Dodge Street, ca. 1950 (Cambridge Planning Board)
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.
Clipping from the Cambridge Chronicle, 5 March 1942
George Callender (also spelled “Callendar” in some sources) enlisted on April 22, 1943 and was later assigned to Unit 366th Infantry Regiment, Company M.
U.S., World War II Draft Card for George Duncan Callender
At the time of his enlistment, George was living at 49 Grigg Street and working at Wards Baking Company at 140 Albany Street.
Advertisement for Wards Baking Company, published in the Cambridge Sentinel, 8 September 1928
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.
George D. Callender Square marker, 2021 (CHC staff)
It must be time for … Torn Down Tuesday! Today’s feature is a two-story garage that once stood at 71 Amherst Street.
Drawing of 71 Amherst by Francis W. Wilson. MIT.
Completed in 1909 for Fred Smith, the utilitarian structure was built of poured-in-place reinforced concrete. The design included a long span for the upper floor combined with a low-pitched roof carried by metal trusses. The building was set at an oblique angle to the street, and the second floor was reached by a concrete ramp leading up to a door large enough to admit automobiles and trucks.
The Cambridge Auto Body Shop as featured in the Cambridge Tribune, 3 July 1925
The building was later occupied by the Daggett Chocolate Company, which commissioned an addition in 1947. When this addition was demolished in 1981, much of the original design was again visible. The building was purchased from the Daggett Trust by MIT in 1961 and renamed Building E20. In 1972-73 the first floor was reconfigured by the architect Bernard Awtry to accommodate the institute’s newly established Department of Psychology. By that time the industrial sash bays had been largely filled in by concrete block panels pierced by small punched windows.
71 Amherst Street photographed by Robert Rettig, May 1969
The Frederick Smith Garage at 71 Amherst Street was of a typical, but relatively minor, use in the newly developed Cambridge riverfront lands. As the automobile became popular in the first decade of the 20th century, residents of the densely settled areas of Boston’s Beacon Hill and Back Bay needed storage and service facilities that could not be provided in their neighborhoods. Just as Bostonian’s stored their household goods at the Metropolitan Storage Warehouse on Massachusetts Avenue, so they brought their automobiles to be serviced in the Cambridge garages of Mr. Smith and others.
Detail of 1916 Cambridge Bromley Atlas showing Fred S. Smith’s garage.
This building and 79 Amherst Street (Building E10) were demolished in 2000 and replaced by an addition to the neighboring MIT Media Lab.
Sources: CHC demolition memo, cases D-811 and D-812 MIT report: Proposed Demolition of Buildings E10 and E20
Welcome back to Torn Down Tuesday! Today’s feature is the house that once stood at 17 Frost Street in Mid Cambridge. Known as the Ward-Lovell house, the 2½-story home was built in 1886 by Sylvester L. Ward, a Roxbury oil merchant, for his daughter Mary when she married Frederick Lovell, a North Cambridge grocer.
17 Frost Street, CHC survey photo (1965)
The house was designed by architectural firm Rand and Taylor in the Queen Anne Style. In contrast to East Cambridge, where the buildings of the nineteenth century had to be crowded between and behind older structures, there was room in Mid Cambridge for large buildings and for new streets and subdivisions. Sixty percent of the area’s houses were built after 1873. While there are larger and more important Queen Anne houses in other parts of Cambridge, nowhere in the city is there such a range in scale and importance, in type and development, as in Mid Cambridge.
17 Frost Street, B. Orr photograph (ca. 1967)
As described in the CHC’s Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge, Vol. 2: Mid Cambridge, “The most exuberant manifestations of Queen Anne style were dying down by the end of the 1880’s, and in the last decade of the nineteenth century two trends appeared. One, the shingle style, with its continuous surfaces and curvilinear shapes, had originated a decade earlier in the work of H. H. Richardson and other architects but made its first appearance in Mid Cambridge at this time.” A late shingle style house, 17 Frost exhibits a continuous surface of shingles sweeps lightly over the house, and the shapes melt into each other, emphasizing the generous ornament on the porch gable.
Detail of 1930 Cambridge Bromley Atlas
By 1906, the home was owned by Ferdinand Schuyler Mathews (1854-1938), artist and author of several field books describing the flowers, trees, and wildlife of the eastern United States.
Familiar Flowers of Field and Garden by F. Schuyler Mathews, biblio.com (1897 edition)
In 1913, the Cambridge Tribune described Schuyler as follows:
“…the artist, is equally well known as an ornithologist, although he insists that the latter study is merely a hobby. Mr. Mathews, however, has become an authority on birds and their music. His stories of the feathered tribe and his imitations of their notes are always a source of much delight to his hearers. He interprets the bird’s songs and is responsible for the assertion that the oriole is a first-rate ragtime whistler.–Globe”
For decades, Mathews worked to transpose bird songs into notes, and published his work in a guide titled Field Book of Wild Birds and Their Music, A Description of the Character and Music of Birds, Intended to Assist in the Identification of Species Common in the United States East of the Rocky Mountains (1904; expanded and reprinted in 1921). Ferdinand was not the only person in his family pursuing the sciences. After receiving her A.B. from Radcliffe in 1912, Mathews’s daughter, Genevieve, worked at the Harvard College Observatory as a computer where she studied new and variable stars.
Harvard University Archives: Harvard College Observatory. [Observatory Data Analysis by Women Computers], 1890.The house remained in the Mathews family until the late 1930s, and was later purchased by Harry P. Frost, who rented out the home. Known as “Doc Frost”, he was a well-known trainer of boxers and worked with such greats as Harry Wills and Maxie Rosenbloom. In the 1940s, Frost worked for the City of Cambridge park department running a youth boxing program and trained the youths at the Rindge Field Playground. Frost’s widow, Sally, owned 17 Frost until the late 1960s. The home was demolished in November 1967 for a parking lot, and in 1988 a series of five pastel-colored houses were built on the lot. These homes stand today.
7-17 Frost Street, Google Street View (March 2016)
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Sources: Cambridge Chronicle, 19 February 1942 Cambridge Tribune, 20 December 1913
Maycock, Susan E., and Charles Sullivan. Building Old Cambridge: Architecture and Development. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2016.
Cambridge Historical Commission, Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge, Vol. 2: Mid Cambridge. Cambridge, MA: Charles River Press, 1967.
