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.
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 pagesrelated 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.
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
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.
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.
How many times have you fumed at an interminably slow traffic light or at people “running the light,” or been “rear-ended” while waiting? It’s hard to imagine driving in the city these days without traffic lights, but 100 years ago there were none.
But first, we can’t talk about traffic lights without a brief detour into the history of driver’s licenses. After all, the need for traffic lights arose from the number of cars on the road.
According to the American Automobile Association, in 1903, “Massachusetts (and Missouri) became the first states to require a driver’s license….when the first licenses were issued, they weren’t used to prove a motorist was a capable driver. By and large, anyone with a pulse and a car could obtain one”
Rhode Island was the first state to require a written test to obtain a license in 1908. Amazingly, it wasn’t until 1959 that all states required an exam to get a driver’s license. (South Dakota was the holdout.)
According to the Federal Highway Administration, in 2019, Massachusetts had 4,950,056 licensed drivers. No wonder we need traffic lights!
In the 1920s, licensed drivers were often referred to as “Autoists” in the press.
Cambridge Chronicle June 25, 1921
Prior to electric traffic lights traffic was directed by a traffic officer at intersections. This inevitably led to complaints about the officer holding up traffic in one direction in favor of waving through traffic in another direction. Discussions about installing traffic signals began in earnest in the mid-1920s when permission was given to “install a signal box for a new automobile traffic signal at the corner of Boylston [now JFK] and Mount Auburn Streets.” (Cambridge Tribune December 6, 1924) Permission was granted, and a few weeks later the Cambridge Tribune updated the situation: “Illuminated arrows direct the driver to the right, and an especial signal of red and yellow lights in combination, stops vehicular traffic while pedestrians cross the street in any direction safely.” (Cambridge Tribune December 27, 1924)
Central Square acquired its first traffic signal in 1924. This led to a kerfuffle about angle vs. parallel parking in town. The point of the traffic signal was to speed traffic but some felt that goal was hampered by “angle parking,” (car front end to curb). Of course, angle parking is much easier than parallel parking, hence the debate. Angle parking “delayed the speed of autos, which is necessary because of the new traffic signal in Central square.”
Cambridge Sentinel June 21, 1924
Eight months later the issue remained unresolved:
Cambridge Sentinel December 13, 1924
Apart from the parking problem, the advent of traffic lights generated a lot of other discussions. Where should traffic lights be placed? Should there be “safety islands’? How should they be timed? Should traffic officers trigger the lights? Should officers use loudspeakers? What colors should be used and in what sequence? Amber (what we now call yellow), green and red? Green and red only? Apparently, it was the amber light that caused the most confusion. In 1929, the Cambridge Sentinel reported on the results of a study of how many colors – – and what they mean – – are used in traffic lights in cities throughout the U. S.
The study noted, “Working on the information that persons who are to some extent color blind constitute 5 percent of the population, the bureau of standards has selected colors which are distinguishable to most if not all persons having defective color vision” (Cambridge Sentinel February 23, 1929)
In 1925 a traffic booth was installed In Central Square.
Cambridge Tribune March 28, 1925
The new electric traffic light worked automatically, thereby eliminating the need for a traffic officer. The Tribune went on, “It has three controls so that traffic can be handled according to its call. By setting it on the first control, traffic will be allowed to go up and down the avenue for 30 seconds and across the avenue for 30 seconds; second control allows traffic to go up and down the avenue for 40 seconds, across the avenue for 20 seconds; third control allows traffic to go up and down the avenue 25 seconds, across the avenue for 35 seconds.” [Got that??]
“The device has three colored spaces on each side. The top one which is read reads “Stop,” the middle being white reads “Change of Traffic.” There are three seconds between the signals so that each one has a fair chance to get his or her car under control. The bottom space is green, and reads “Go.” On top of the device there is a red light which is lighted at all times so that it can be seen my any one, therefore eliminating trouble by saying that they could not see it.”
Shortly thereafter the Chronicle outlined two suggestions for improvements to the “auto-cop” made by pedestrians and traffic officers alike, “…by which Central square’s new auto-cop might be distinctly improved upon….that the alarm bell, which rings to signal a traffic change, should be considerably louder…a more staccato note…would prove doubly effective… the second suggestion is that, during the interval of “traffic change,” when these words are outlined in white light in the center of the device, all other signals should disappear. An approaching motorist will tend to keep aright on going as long as he sees the word “Go” inviting him to do so.” (Cambridge Chronicle May 9, 1925.)
On June 5th, 1926, the Cambridge Chronicle reported that a “new” General Electric traffic signal had been put in operation the previous Saturday in Central Square. It featured a booth for a traffic officer who operated the signal.
That sounded hopeful. But the following year, after several traffic accidents involving officers, the police chief recommended what he called a “Fifth Avenue” system of lights for Massachusetts Avenue. (This system was named after the street in New York City where it was already in use.) Also known as the “wave” system, it coordinated traffic signals at each intersection so that if traffic moved at a given speed, they would never “hit the light” and be stopped. It’s not clear from the newspapers whether or not this was adopted.
Philadelphia had an interesting method of activating the lights:
“Mrs. I. T. Holton tests a new automatic traffic control installation which is being in tested in Philadelphia’s suburbs. It is designed to allow a motorist to cut into a busy traffic artery from a side street. By sounding her horn Mrs. Holton is changing the lights through a device which gathers the sounds and uses them to motivate an electrical sequence.” (Cambridge Sentinel May 4, 1929.)
It took some time for motorists to get used to traffic lights on traffic islands:
Cambridge Chronicle November 15, 1929
The article continues, “City Electrician O’Hearn, who has charge of installing the traffic signal system of which the traffic lights on the “safety island” are an important part, things that a change in reflectors will make them more conspicuous so that the motorists will pay more attention to them. He blames the motorists for the accidents …He expects that the motorists will soon get used to them…”
Jumping ahead about 7 decades, in 1994 the Cambridge Chronicle launched a new weekly column named “Road Gripe of the Week”
Cambridge Chronicle February 17, 1994
Today Cambridge has 128 standard yellow, green, and red lights; 14 flash beacons operating nonstop, 33 rapid flash beacons activated by pedestrians, and 31 timed school zone beacons operating during school drop-off and pick-up times.
This weekend organizations across Cambridge are hosting celebrations and commemorations for Juneteenth. 2022 marks only the second year that Juneteenth has been recognized as a Federal holiday, but what is Juneteenth and why does it matter? In 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, an executive order declaring all enslaved people held in confederate states free. However, it wasn’t until June 19th of 1865 that federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to announce and enforce their release. The day is now celebrated as the end of slavery in the United States, though there is still much left to be done. It’s a day to uplift African American voices, celebrate African American joy, and honor those who were robbed of their freedom and made to endure the inhumanity of American slavery. If you haven’t already made your own celebratory and/or commemorative plans, consider joining any of these many events happening right in our own neighborhood.
6/16 @ 12:15-1:30 pm Come to Joan Lorentz Park, 449 Broadway to catch a reggae performance by the Mystic Jammers
6/18 12-9:00 pm Catch a full day of activities from the Margaret Fuller House at 155 Harvard St. including yoga, a presentation on Joy in a historic Black Church in Cambridgeport by the Black History in Action for Cambridgeport (BHAC), and a Black Business Fair. They’ll be ending the evening with biking and skating at Hoyt Field.
6/18 @ 12-2:00 pm The Central Square Branch of the Cambridge Public Library will be hosting a Juneteenth celebration for all ages. There will be storytelling, music from the Albino Mbie Band, cupcakes, sidewalk chalk, and crafts. Visit the CPL events page for more details.
6/19 @ 3 pm The Cambridge Black History Project will be meeting at the Old Burying Ground at the intersection of Massachusetts Ave & Garden Street to honor and commemorate two African Americans buried there. Guests are welcomed to stand outside the gate to witness the ceremony.
6/19 @ 7:00 pm The Longfellow House and Museum of African American History have partnered to host a poetry reading and film screening of Jubilee Juneteenth and the Thirteenth. Learn more and register here.
6/20 @ 9-12:00 pm The Cambridge Families of Color Coalition and Starlight are hosting a parade at City Hall.
Today we are marking National Eyewear Day, June 6.
Cambridge Chronicle May 20, 1916
Cambridge Chronicle December 28, 1878
It is widely held that Italians invented eyeglasses as early as the 1200’s. What really launched popular demand for eye glasses – spectacles — was the invention of the printing press. More to read – more the need. By the 1700’s someone had invented an “over the ear” eyeglass, which was much easier to use than those pinched on the nose. Then Benjamin Franklin came along and invented the first pair of bifocal lenses, by cutting two different lenses in half and stacking them on the other in a frame. (Source: https://allabouteyes.com/see-past-fascinating-history-eyeglasses/)
A survey of Cambridge newspapers reveals that in the mid-1800’s most advertisements for spectacles and eyeglasses were for businesses in Boston, but one of the earliest in Cambridge was B. W. & J.N. Gibbs, jewelers on Main Street. A “periscopic” lens was good for both near and far sightedness. $1.37 1/2 per pair!
Cambridge Chronicle April 15, 1847.
As shown above, most eyeglasses were sold at jeweler’s stores:
Cambridge Chronicle November 16, 1878
Over time many jewelers became opticians and/or included optical departments in their shops. In 1891, James Marshea advertised as a watch and clock maker also selling spectacles, assuring customers that eyes were examined by a trained lady optician. By 1900, Marshea was offering specialized services: not only were eyes examined professionally, but eyeglasses were fitted with lenses ground on site to individual specifications. And, the shop offered free scientific examinations.
Cambridge Tribune January 2, 1891
Cambridge Chronicle April 14, 1900
Cambridge Chronicle June 30, 1900
Cambridge Chronicle August 31, 1901
But, especially among travelling salesmen, there were many quacks and fakes. Opticians were not regulated until well into the 20th century.
The Optical Journal and Review of Optometry, Volume 27. March 23, 1911
Reflecting back on the bad old days, J. C. Bloom, who began his practice in 1889, wrote that in the days of the travelling salesman in the west, “When a person came in to get a pair of glasses, you would look him over, ask his age, and then reach into one of the boxes that had the mounted goods and you would reach from box to box until the patient said he could see. He would ask what the price was, and it was anywhere from $150 to $5.” (https://www.eyetoeyeoptical.net/AboutUs/eyeglasshistory/index.aspx)
Eventually opticians established their practices independent of jewelry stores:
Cambridge Chronicle June 16, 1888
FASHION IN EYEWEAR
In the beginning there were monocles, worn mostly by wealthy men; lorgnettes, used by the stylish; and pince-nez, all in frames of silver or gold. Then came celluloid eyeglass frames, developed in the 1860’s and 1870’s using a material invented by the English chemist Alexander Parkes in 1858. In 1870 the American inventor John Wesley Hyatt and his brother established Hyatt’s Celluloid Manufacturing Co. in New York where they produced, among many other things, commercially successful eyeglass frames, such as those offered by the jeweler A.J. Applegate in 1882. (https://www.britannica.com/technology/celluloid)
Large round tortoise shell glasses became fashionable around 1914. The time had now come when “the average human disfigurement, often an injury, seldom a person, instead of being ashamed that his eyes are on the blink, actually seems to be proud of it.” (https://www.eyetoeyeoptical.net/AboutUs/eyeglasshistory/index.aspx)
Gold eye glass frames were still popular (look at the price!)
Cambridge Chronicle April 15, 1890
“Kryptok Lenses” were a type of round bifocal, which made the line between near and far lenses less obvious.
Cambridge Chronicle June 17, 1911
Cambridge Chronicle January 25, 1913
Cambridge Chronicle June 8, 1912
* * * *
Finally, this next advertisement is not only about eyeglasses but artificial eyes as well–it just seemed too good to leave out. The business was in Boston, but they advertised in Cambridge newspapers.
Cambridge Chronicle May 11, 1901
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen Fox.
Today we are taking another look at the legendary Orson Welles Cinema (1969-1986), located at 1001 Mass Ave. The theater opened with a festive candle parade on April 8, 1969, taking over the space previously occupied by the Esquire Cinema since 1964.
Esquire Cinema, 1965. CHC.
The cinema’s first films were Luis Bunuel’s Simon of the Desert, Orson Welles’ The Immortal Story, and a midnight movie, Don Siegel’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The original owner was folk musician Dean Gitter, programs were created by then-Harvard Law student Peter Jaszi, and according to MassLive, its first house manager was actor Tommy Lee Jones, then a Harvard student.
Orson Welles Cinema, 1969, CHC.
The theater featured a 400-seat main auditorium and eventually added two small additional screening rooms. Throughout the years, they specialized in first run films of all types – art, foreign, and independent; some revival series (including their screening of the 1972 Jamaican reggae classic “The Harder They Come”); popular series like a science film festival; children’s films; and a film school.
As the focal point of the local film community (and hands-down the place to be in Cambridge), the theater was not without controversy. In 1970, the theater was raided by the Mass State Police for showing the avant-garde theatrical revue “Oh! Calcutta!” on video. The owners and staff were arrested and spent the night in the Cambridge jail.
In April 1970 the cinema announced their Pornographic Film Festival, dubbed the “Sexploitation Film Festival” by protesters. According to a Harvard Crimson article, the theater’s owners encouraged feminist groups Bread and Roses and Women’s Lib to attend the films and help “create a discussion” with the audience. This never happened, according to Liane Brandon, a member of Bread and Roses and a burgeoning filmmaker at the time. Instead, the owners “got a protest and an earful.” As a result of these protests, Brandon and other women had their own films shown at the cinema around a year later (see poster below – Brandon’s film is “Anything You Want To Be”). Brandon would go on to found New Day Films and produce award-winning independent films. You can watch “Anything You Want To be” here.
Poster for women’s films at the Orson Welles, June 19, 1971. Courtesy of Liane Brandon.
In 1985 the cinema showed Jean-Luc Godard’s controversial film, “Hail, Mary,” which was met with protests from religious groups and a request from the Cambridge city government to not show the film, apparently due to concerns over crowd-size.
Cambridge Chronicle, November 21, 1985
Less controversial – but still popular – programming included the Intercat ‘76 cat film festival, shown the week of April 22, 1976. This festival was founded by actress and experimental filmmaker Pola Chapelle in 1969 with INTERCAT ‘69: The First International Cat Film Festival, “a five-hour program of films about cats” that began screening in New York before coming to Cambridge and then internationally, in 1973, 1974, and 1976. Festival showings included experimental films by Roberto Rossellini, Maya Deren, Alexander Hamid, Francois Truffaut, and an instructional film titled Fluffy the Kitten. Bard College continued to host this festival, as of 2016.
Film festival poster, CHC.
Another popular festival at the theater included the 24-Hour Science Fiction Film Marathon, which began in February 1976 and continues to be held today at the Somerville Theatre.
On January 7, 1977, the theater succeeded in getting the actual Orson Welles to visit the theater for the premier of his docudrama “F for Fake” (1973). Welles and his cameraman used this occasion to shoot footage inside the auditorium for their documentary “Filming Othello” (1978).
Orson Welles Cinema at the far right, 1984. Image by Chris Hail, CHC.
In addition to films, other operations at the cinema included the aforementioned Orson Welles Film School; a photo shop; record store; bookstore; and the Restaurant at the Orson Welles. The theater also published their own newsletters, of which we have a few copies in our Cambridge Ephemera Collection. All of the newsletter images below are from 1973.
On May 25, 1986, a fire broke out at the theater, purportedly started by a popcorn maker, and the theater permanently closed. It is now a mixed retail space. A documentary film by Garen Daly on the Orson Welles Complex was in the works as of 2015.
Orson Welles Cinema at far right, 1985. Image by Chris Hail.
About the building: Built in 1921 for Philip Silberstein as a one-story retail structure; changed to two stories in 1988.
The building in 2014.The building a few years ago. Hubba Hubba and Crimson Bikes are now at the corner of Ellery and Mass Ave, and Bo Concept was most recently in the former Orson Welles Cinema space (barely recognizable today).
Today we’re featuring 383 Broadway in Mid Cambridge. The original house on the lot was built by John J. Bright, a founder of the Boston Ice Company, who lived there until 1911 when he moved to Brookline. Bright’s mansion was demolished in 1917.
1916 Bromley map showing property of John J. Bright. The residence was razed in 1917. CHC.
The present house at 383 Broadway was built in 1922 and designed by the Cambridge architect Edward Graham. One of Graham’s first major commissions was the 1907 Shoe and Leather Exposition Building near Kendall Square, which contained the largest auditorium in New England. During his long career, Graham designed a number of institutional and ecclesiastical buildings such as the Lincoln School, St. Mary’s Hall on Prospect Street, St. Mary’s School on Essex Street, and the Nurses’ Home at Cambridge Hospital. Other residences by the designer include 16 Francis Street, 61 Fayette Street, and Jefferson Park apartments.
1930 Bromley map showing 383 Broadway. CHC.
Portrait of Dr. Herbert Cronin from an article in the May 13, 1916, Cambridge Chronicle announcing his appointment as the physician tending Cambridge City employees injured on the job.
Graham designed the house Drs. Herbert and Anastasia Cronin and their two children and included an office and work space. Herbert was a physician and treated Cambridge municipal employees under the Workingmen’s Compensation Act; he was also the factory physician for Boston Woven Hose and Rubber Company. Anastasia, a graduate of Tufts Dental School, practiced dentistry in Inman Square and specialized in orthodontia. She was also the dentist at the Women’s Reformatory in Sherborn (now MCI-Framingham). Their house included a separate entrance on Maple Avenue that led directly to Herbert’s first floor office and waiting room. On the second floor Anastasia had her own lab room for her dentistry work. The Colonial Revival-style house features a hipped roof, narrow cornice, wood clapboard siding (now aluminum siding), and a prominent central entrance.
Architect’s drawing showing elevation with main entrance facing Broadway. Cambridge Inspectional Services.Architect’s drawing of elevation facing Maple Avenue with entrance to Herbert’s office. Cambridge Inspectional Services.Architect’s floor plan showing Dr. Herbert Cronin’s first floor office and waiting room. Cambridge Inspectional Services.Architect’s floor plan showing the dental room designed for Dr. Anastasia Cronin. Cambridge Inspectional Services.
Anastasia tragically died from an illness soon after they moved into the house. At about the same time, Herbert lost his eyesight and could no longer perform surgeries. He later married Dr. Elizabeth Ann Sullivan, a friend of Anastasia’s who also worked at the Reformatory. She persuaded Herbert to become a psychiatrist and helped him with his training to become certified. They continued to live at 383 Broadway and maintain their practices on site. Elizabeth also devoted herself to helping those in need. She employed women newly released from the Reformatory at her home to help them get a fresh start and volunteered as physician at The Cambridge Homes for Aged People located across the street from the house. In the 1930s Elizabeth provided free medical care to women who had emigrated to the city from Austria and Germany and helped them navigate their new lives. Her children remember that a Linzer torte was delivered to her every Christmas as a thank you from the women she helped. Elizabeth also directed the Cambridge chapter of the Red Cross and opened the Red Cross Central Square unit for blood donations during WWII. Elizabeth passed away in 1955, and Herbert followed four years later.
Portrait of Dr. Elizabeth Ann Sullivan. Cambridge Historical Society.
The house was later home to Anna and Wiktor Weintraub, Polish refugees who arrived in the U.S. in the mid-1950s. During WWII, Anna, a doctor, had been the director of the Polish Hospital in Jerusalem. Wiktor served the Polish Government-in-Exile as information officer in its embassies in Moscow, Jerusalem, and London. Wiktor was a historian who specialized in the history of Polish literature and taught Slavic studies at Harvard; in 1971 he became the Alfred Jurzykowski Professor Emeritus of Polish Language and Literature. Anna died in 1967, and Wiktor married the scholar Maria Evelina Zoltowska in 1974. On Wiktor’s death in 1988, the New York Times noted his accomplishments as a prolific writer in both English and Polish. His last book, The Poet and the Prophet, was published in 1982.
Photograph of Witkor Weintraub, https://tinyurl.com/y3yy6zgn
