Asian American History - The Cambridge Historical Commission Blog

Happy Women’s History Month!

Posted on March 2, 2026March 2, 2026 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/

We Are the Port

Posted on November 26, 2025 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

The publication We Are the Port represents a five-year effort to interview more than 125 longtime Port residents of diverse backgrounds. Over the course of 150 years, the Port faced many challenges – from the federal anti-immigrant acts of the 1920s to plans for an Inner Belt highway that would have displaced many families and businesses. In the last fifty years, residents have joined the struggle for civil rights, including needs for educational parity and a more responsive city government. The community has weathered the winds of change, from the construction of Newtowne Court and Washington Elms in the mid- to late-1930s to the redevelopment of Kendall Square. The generational family stories inspired and moved the author, Sarah Boyer; many shared accounts of the courage of those who left their native countries to face an unknown world, toiling to provide for their families and improve the lives of their children and succeeding generations.

A historic black and white photograph of a woman pushing a baby stroller, accompanied by a young girl, both wearing vintage clothing with hats. — Ruby Higginbotham, her daughter, Suzanne Revaleon, and her son, Paul Revaleon (in carriage), outside 9 Worcester Street, ca. 1920

The following selection of passages comes from the section “Growing Up on Worcester Street” by Suzanne Revaleon Green (1912-2012):

“There were many children in the neighborhood, and we spent many hours playing together. As a little girl, I can remember standing in our bay window at dusk to watch the lamp lighter ride up the street on his bicycle to light the gas lamp at the corner of Norfolk and Worcester Streets.

My father, with the help of our next-door neighbor, a retired Irish carpenter, built me a playhouse in our yard. Parts of its construction came from the demolishing of some beautiful old houses on Norfolk Street, where new apartment houses were being built.

I walked to the Fletcher School on Elm Street each day and returned home for lunch, returning for school within an hour for the afternoon session. We all attended our nearest neighborhood schools.”

To learn more about Suzanne’s experience and those of many others who grew up in Cambridgeport, stop by our office or click here and obtain your own copy of this rich oral history book! For more information, email us at histcomm@cambridgema.gov.

Black and white portrait of an elderly woman smiling, wearing a white blouse and necklace, with a blurred background. — Portrait of Suzanne Revaleon Green, date unknown.

Modern Monday and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Joyce Chen’s Restaurant, 390 Rindge Avenue

Posted on May 20, 2019May 14, 2020 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

Joyce Chen (1917-1994) was born on September 12, 1917 in Beijing, China. Born into a wealthy family, she discovered her passion for cooking at a very early age. Her father, a railroad administrator and city executive, hired a family chef that cooked all of their meals. Chen learned about Chinese cuisine simply by watching their chef and other family members cook in their home kitchen. During the Chinese Communist Revolution, Chen and her family moved to the United States. Along with her husband Thomas Chen and their two children Henry and Helen, the family left Shanghai, China in 1949 and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts.

While living near Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she frequently met Chinese students that missed the food they’d grown up with. Chen’s children attended Buckingham School and she would often cook food to be served at school events. Her meals quickly became popular among college students and the families at the Buckingham School. This inspired Chen to open her first restaurant in 1958, called “Joyce Chen Restaurant.” At this restaurant, she served both Chinese and American dishes to encourage customers to try new foods. She often served “buffet-style” meals, to allow customers to try samples of everything. She created a menu with both Chinese and English translations of her food and numbered the menu items for easier communication in her restaurants. This made it easier for customers who spoke different languages to order at her restaurant.

joyce chen 2 — Joyce Chen, image courtesy of Joycechenfoods.com

Concord Ave 617_Joyce Chen foods_ca.1958.jpg — Joyce Chen’s first restaurant at 617 Concord Avenue in Cambridge. Courtesy of Joycechenfoods.com

In 1967, Chen opened her second restaurant called “The Joyce Chen Small Eating Place.” That same year, Chen starred in Joyce Chen Cooks, her own cooking show on PBS that aired worldwide. This twenty-six-episode broadcast was filmed in the same studio as famous chef Julia Child’s show, and the two became good friends. Her business empire expanded, and two larger restaurants were built in the Boston area with an architecturally unique restaurant at 390 Rindge Avenue.

Rindge Ave 390_Joyce Chens Survey Photo004 — Circa 1974 image of Joyce Chen’s Restaurant. Photo from CHC Collections.

The restaurant, believed to have been designed by Allan Ahaknian, was built in 1974 and employed architecture not typical for Cambridge. Partially hidden behind a tall wooden fence to screen noise from the heavily trafficked Rindge Avenue, the structure featured minimal fenestration on the sides but employed large skylights to flood the interior with natural light. The Contemporary/Shed style restaurant was a common stomping ground for residents of Cambridge and beyond. The restaurant was purchased by Just-A-Start and was converted to a child-care facility in 1999. The remainder of the lot was filled with townhomes for moderate-income, first-time homebuyers. In 2005, the structure was demolished for eight additional units of affordable condominium units. As it was not yet 50+ years old, it did not qualify for protection under the Demolition Delay Ordinance.

Rindge Ave 390_Joyce Chens Color Slide003 — Circa 1984 image of Joyce Chen’s Restaurant at 390 Rindge Avenue. Image from CHC Collections.

1978 Aerial Image of 390 Rindge Ave.

2018 Aerial image of 390 Rindge Ave. Note: the building has been demolished and replaced with housing.

While her restaurants are all now closed, the impressions of Joyce Chen’s legacy can be seen in almost every Chinese-American restaurant in the country today and in the enduring popularity of “Peking ravioli.” Also, her cookbooks and branded cooking utensils can be found in kitchens all over the world.

joyce chen cookbook.jpg

Images and some information on Joyce Chen courtesy of joycechenfoods.com