Cambridge MA - The Cambridge Historical Commission Blog

Charles Follen McKim and the Radcliffe Gymnasium

Posted on August 24, 2020August 24, 2020 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

Happy Birthday to Charles Follen McKim, who was born on August 24, 1847, in rural Pennsylvania to James M. McKim, a Presbyterian minister and fervent abolitionist, and Sarah Speakman McKim, a Quaker. After attending public schools in New Jersey and Philadelphia for three years, McKim entered Harvard’s Scientific School in 1866, dropping out within a year. Soon after he entered the École des Beaux Arts where he studied architecture and design for three years, from 1867 to 1870, becoming enamored of the Classical architecture of Europe. On his return to America, McKim began working in the architectural office of Gambrill and Richardson in New York City. Here McKim was shaped by the architectural giant Henry Hobson Richardson for two years before opening his own office in New York. His friend William Rutherford Mead soon joined him; they were joined by Stanford White in 1879 to form McKim, Mead & White.

Charles Follen McKim, photo dated 1890. Library of Congress collections

The firm got its start designing large summer estates in Newport and the Berkshires for wealthy families and gained national recognition for their designs. McKim became known as an exponent of Beaux-Arts architecture applied to styles of the American Renaissance, employing Classical and Colonial motifs inspired by both his studies in Europe and excursions in New England. One of his most iconic designs is the Boston Public Library’s McKim Building (1895) on Boylston Street that drew heavily from the Sainte-Geneviève Library in Paris, where McKim likely spent much time studying architecture.

Sainte-Geneviève Library, likely McKim’s inspiration for Boston Public Library.

Although McKim only spent one year at Harvard, he was always considered a “Harvard Man.” Almost all buildings at Harvard during the 19^th-century were underwritten by donors who selected their own architects with limited input from the Harvard president; two such McKim projects were the School of Architecture Building, Robinson Hall (1900), and the Harvard Union (1901). President Charles Eliot hired McKim to design his most important commission at Harvard, Johnson Gate. He was later commissioned to design many memorial gates and walls enclosing Harvard Yard. McKim selected coarse rejects and glazed headers from a local brickyard to emulate colonial-era masonry, directly contradicting the contemporary preference for perfectly finished, evenly toned brick surfaces. Almost every brick building Harvard put up thereafter, right through the 1980s, used these bricks, which the New England Brick Co. marketed nationally as Harvard Brick (Building Old Cambridge, pp. 774-775).

1904 image of Harriet Hemenway Gymnasium, Detroit Publishing Co. photograph

Before McKim was hired to design any Harvard buildings, he had been commissioned by Radcliffe College, a women’s college, to design a gymnasium for their new Radcliffe Yard between Brattle and Garden streets. Harriet Hemenway, the founder of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, donated roughly $50,000 to Radcliffe for the project, perhaps inspired by her husband’s gift to Harvard in 1878 for their all-men’s gymnasium (since demolished).

Detail of central pavilion of Radcliffe Gymnasium. Featured in *BrickBuilder* 1901.

The three-story brick building adjacent to Fay House opened in 1898 and presented a Colonial style of architecture desired by Radcliffe. The symmetrical gymnasium building features a slate roof topped by an ornate cupola. At the central bay, the main entrance is framed by a portico supported by four Tuscan columns with a balcony with balustrade above. At the third floor gable, a massive fanlight is framed by a brick arch with Georgia marble accents.

Interior plan of gymnasium’s three floors. Images from *BrickBuilder* 1901.

The interior featured a basement level swimming pool and practical and utilitarian spaces such as locker rooms, bathrooms and a director’s office on the ground floor.

Gymnasium basement pool unfilled, ca. 1910. Image courtesy of Radcliffe Archives.

The gymnasium proper on the second floor features maple flooring with a suspended running track that frames the boundary of the room and is accessible by two flights of winding iron stairs. The track is just six feet wide and measures twenty-one laps to the mile. Its suspension by trusses allowed for open space on the gymnasium floor below.

Gymnasium at second floor, ca. 1910. Image courtesy of Radcliffe Archives.

Gymnasium at second floor on elevated track, ca. 1910. Image courtesy of Radcliffe Archives.

The Radcliffe Gymnasium was renovated in 2005 by the Radcliffe Institute, which hired Bruner/Cott to preserve many interior features for its new use as an auditorium space. The basement area, formerly the swimming pool, was converted into a climate-controlled archives storage facility. Elegant marble, salvaged from the swimming pool, has been reused as terrazzo flooring, signage, and exterior paving. Radcliffe received a Cambridge Historical Commission Historic Preservation Award in 2007 for the work. In 2013, the building was renamed the Knafel Center in honor of Sidney R. Knafel and in recognition of the center’s increasing role in the promotion of intellectual exchange across Harvard and with the public.

Gymnasium interior after renovation by Bruner/Cott.

Gymnasium interior from elevated track after renovation by Bruner/Cott.

National Get Caught Reading Month – New Library Holdings

Posted on May 17, 2020August 17, 2020 by Brittany F.

Here at the CHC we are constantly updating our library holdings and our researcher resources. Since the beginning of last year, we’ve added 196 new entries to our database! We aim to accrue the most complete collection of resources on Cambridge and its history that we possibly can. Scroll down to learn about our latest and newest offerings. They may inspire you to Get Caught Reading this month. All of the books listed here were published in 2019.

1-overview — The front covers of some of the books we chose

Maria Baldwin’s worlds: A story of Black New England and the fight for racial justice by Kathleen Weiler

Written by a local Tuft’s professor, this nonfiction biography recounts the life of Maria Baldwin (1856-1922), an African American educator in Cambridge and Boston. After growing up in Cambridge, Baldwin had to seek out employment in Maryland before returning to Cambridge where she gained a position at the Agassiz school. In 1889 she was promoted to principal of the school, making her the first female African American principle in Massachusetts. Some of her other major contributions included her efforts within many civic and educational organizations in the Boston area, including the literary Omar Khayyam Circle, the Women’s Era Club, the Cantabrigia Club, and the Boston Literary and Historical Association– but those are just to name a few. Weiler’s book offers insight into the challenges Baldwin faced and how she was able to surmount racialized barriers and achieve significant feats in both her professional and personal life.

maps — Here are some of our favorite plates from *The Atlas:* Plate 13. Boston in 1800; Plate 17. Literary Boston, 1837-1891; Plate 27. Streetcar Suburbs, 1870-1900; Plate 32. Sports and Recreation, 1895-1903.

The atlas of Boston history edited by Nancy S. Seasholes

A pictorial and textual work, this book contains 57 spreads of Boston’s landscape throughout its history. Detailing the evolution of the terrain over time, this resource shows the trajectory of change in one convenient resource. Containing both this geographic topic as well as explanations of the visualized history, readers can gather a well-rounded overview of Boston’s history. However, this work is not just about the physical changes of the city over time. As stated on the book’s official page, it contains “a wide range of topics including Boston’s physical and economic development, changing demography, and social and cultural life.”

Splendid Epworth: How a chapel in Old Cambridge became a pillar of liberal New England methodism by Lane Lambert

Check this book out to learn about the history of Harvard Square’s Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church. The first on this subject matter, the book chronicles the church’s congregation from its creation in 1868 as the North Avenue Methodist Society as well as the built environment of the church’s location at 1555 Mass Ave. If you visit us to reference this book, you can read about notable members and pastors, including pastor Daniel C. Whitsett (active 1958-1963) and pastor Edward L. Mark (active 1964-1996). Lane Lambert offers a unique perspective as both the author and a church member of this book.

2-genealogy — *Genealogical extract of the record books of the Charles River Baptist Church of Cambridge, Massachusetts renamed in 1895 the Emmanuel Baptist Church*

Genealogical extract of the record books of the Charles River Baptist Church of Cambridge, Massachusetts renamed in 1895 the Emmanuel Baptist Church by Glenn Berry

This publication is a great source for anyone seeking to do local genealogical research! It covers the church’s baptisms from 1876 to 1955. Currently the Cambridgeport Baptist Church after it was purchased in 1982, this church was once located at 459 Putnam Ave.

The colonial records of Kings Chapel 1686-1776 edited by James B. Bell and James E. Mooney

We pulled the book blurb from the University of Virginia Press to give you an idea as to what this book is about:

“The story of the origins of the first Anglican congregation established in Boston and New England, Kings Chapel, is significantly shaped by the gradually emerging imperial policies of the government of Charles II during the late seventeenth century. It is a transatlantic account influenced largely by two forces, one in London, driven by the members of the Board of Trade and Plantations, and the other in Boston, driven by a handful of merchants with active and productive commercial ties with London and Bristol trading firms. Extending the Church of England to Puritan Boston after the revocation in 1684 of the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s first charter and the creation of the province as a royal jurisdiction was received reluctantly by the town’s residents, who considered it a novel, abrupt, and unwanted political and ecclesiastical act. This was not merely the extension of a religious group from the Old World to the New, for the Church of England was granted great political and cultural authority through the laws of England’s unwritten constitution.”

Bonus! The book’s seller on Amazon does not deliver to the United States so this is your chance to read the book easily.

The arts and crafts houses of Massachusetts: A style rediscovered by Heli Meltsner

Do you like architecture and local buildings? Then you’ll love this new addition to our library. A great resource on this 20^th century aesthetics movement in our state, this book highlights local places you may have walked by without even realizing it. Additionally, as the book’s official site states, “it is also the first book to explore the use of this cutting-edge style in designing buildings for estate servants, transit workers, and renters—groups that historically lacked access to professionally designed homes.” Written by a local resident who has been the curator of the Cambridge Historical Society as well as a contributor to various planning and preservation efforts, this book is a fantastic read.

Sources consulted:

“The Arts & Crafts Houses of Massachusetts.” Bauhan Publishing. May 22, 2019. http://www.bauhanpublishing.com/the-arts-crafts-houses-of-massachusetts/

“The Atlas of Boston History.” The University of Chicago Press Books. Accessed March 6, 2020. https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo39508817.html

“Harvard-Epworth Church releases book on church history.” Wicked Local. December 3, 2019. https://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/news/20191203/harvard-epworth-church-releases-book-on-church-history

“The Records of Kings Chapel, Boston.” The University of Virginia Press. Accessed March 6, 2020. https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/5425

University of Massachusetts Press. “Maria Baldwin’s Worlds.” University of Massachusetts Amherst. Accessed March 6, 2020. https://www.umass.edu/umpress/title/maria-baldwins-worlds

Historic Buildings: Lionel Hall and Mower Hall at Harvard

Posted on April 17, 2020April 17, 2020 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

It is hard to name an architecture style more identifiable with Harvard than the Georgian style. The oldest extant buildings in Harvard Yard include Massachusetts Hall (1720), the Wadsworth House (1726) and Holden Chapel (1744), just some of a larger group of Georgian buildings constructed before the American Revolution. The Georgian style is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, George III, and George IV—who reigned in continuous succession from 1714 to 1830. It is in this time that Harvard, the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, created its now iconic architectural identity. By the 19th century, other buildings in various styles were designed in the Yard, from University Hall (1815) in the Federal style, to Matthews Hall (1872) a Victorian Gothic dormitory, to Sever Hall (1880) one of the greatest examples of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in the world; Harvard would later return to the Colonial-era Georgian style. Two great and lesser-known examples are Lionel Hall and Mower Hall.

1930 Bromley map showing recently completed Lionel and Mower Halls enclosing the two small quadrangles.

Current aerial of Lionel (yellow) and Mower (blue) Halls, facing west. Holden Chapel at center.

Abbott Lawrence Lowell, Harvard University President (1909-1933) is responsible for the wide-scale revival of the Georgian style at Harvard through his massive building programs for the Harvard River Houses, dormitories in the Yard, and the new President’s House. Two of the smallest being Lionel Hall and Mower Hall.

Screen Shot 2020-04-15 at 4.27.04 PM — Circa 1925 image of Mower (left) and Lionel (right) Halls during construction from Peabody Street. Courtesy of Harvard Property Information Resource Center.

Screen Shot 2020-04-15 at 1.21.57 PM — Plans of Lionel Hall (identical to Mower Hall) published in Architectural Forum, Dec. 1925.

Lionel and Mower Halls were built in 1925 in the Georgian Revival style and sited to frame the Holden Chapel and enclose the western edge of the Yard. Appropriately nicknamed “The Holden Twins”, the two dormitory buildings were designed by the firm of Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch, and Abbott, who went on to design many later buildings for Harvard, including the River Houses (both the Georgian style and later Modern Houses). Both Lionel and Mower Halls were funded by a building campaign by President Lowell to expand the university and house additional students. They are constructed of red brick with stone trim. Both buildings are near-identical and rise 2 1/2 stories into a gambrel roof. Symmetrical facades and stone entries with fluted pilasters capped with Corinthian capitals over rusticated stone complete the Georgian Revival motif.

46838104 — Lionel Hall quadrangle facade. Photo by Ralph Lieberman (2012).

46838107 — Lionel Hall entry detail. Photo by Ralph Lieberman (2012).

Lionel Hall is named after Lionel de Jersey Harvard (class of 1915), an English descendent of John Harvard who was killed in World War I in France. Lionel was the first known relative of John Harvard to attend his namesake’s University. He descended from Thomas Harvard (1609–1637), brother of Harvard University founder John Harvard (1607–1638), who had died childless. Lionel Harvard in 1918 served as Commander of Number One Company, in the British Army and died from mortar fire in March of 1918, during the German Spring Offensive, leaving behind a widow and infant son.

LioneldeJerseyHarvard_InUniformStanding — Undated photo of Lionel de Jersey Harvard, Creative Commons.

Mower Hall is named in honor of Thomas G. Mower, by a gift valued over $18,000 from Miss Sarah E. Mower as a memorial to her late father. Thomas Gardner Mower (1790-1853) graduated from Harvard College in 1810 and immediately began to study medicine, later enlisting in the army as a surgeon in the War of 1812. After the war, Mower settled in New York and became a head Surgeon and examiner for the US Army until his death.

While these two modest dormitories do not stand out for their size nor architectural grandeur among the iconic buildings in Harvard Yard, they together showcase how proper design, massing and siting can truly enhance the character of an area without diminishing the significance of nearby buildings.

50 Quincy Street – Swedenborg Chapel

Posted on February 7, 2020May 14, 2020 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

The following is an excerpt from Swedenborg Chapel Planning Study by Mark Careaga, AIA.

Quincy St 50 DSC_8865 — View of the Chapel from Kirkland Street, near the Quincy Street intersection. CHC Collection.

The Cambridge Society of the New Jerusalem – the formal name of the congregation that worships at Swedenborg Chapel – was formed in 1888. The following year, the New Church Theological School purchased the Treadwell-Sparks house at 48 Quincy Street, directly south of the site where the chapel would later be built in 1901. Named for Jared Sparks, professor of ancient and modern history and president of Harvard University (1849-53), the Treadwell-Sparks house would become the home for the theological school for nearly 70 years. Ten years after the school moved into Sparks House, planning commenced for the chapel, which would serve both the congregation and the school.(26)

chapel drawing — Original exterior details of the Chapel for the New Church Theological School by Warren, Smith and Biscoe Architects, ca. 1901. Cambridge Society of the New Jerusalem Archives.

warren sketch — Drawing of the Chapel by the architect, ca. 1900. CHC Collection.

The chapel’s architect was Herbert Langford Warren (1857-1917), a prominent Boston architect among whose many accomplishments include being a founder and president of the Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston. He was also the first “dean of the School of Architecture at Harvard, having taught there continuously since offering the first course in architecture in 1893.”(27) Warren was a lifelong practicing Swedenborgian, influenced by his father’s commitment to the faith. As an architect, Warren had distinct preferences for English styles,(29) which may stem from his roots (he was born, reared, and educated in Manchester, England (30), from Swedenborgianism’s roots (the church was founded in England in 1787 by devotees of Emanuel Swedenborg’s distinctive Christian theology (31), or both. The chapel’s design reflects the English gothic style consistent with Warren’s deeply felt affection for the medieval English parish church, which he expressed to his students in his lectures.

Below is a description of the Chapel published by the Cambridge Society of the New Jerusalem.

cambridge society desc full 2

chapel and sparks house — View of Sparks House to the right of the Chapel, later moved to Kirkland Street. Undated photograph, CHC Collection.

In the 1960s, the school decided to relocate to Newton, Massachusetts and sold the Sparks House property to Harvard. Given the historical significance of the house, Harvard relocated it a short distance away on Kirkland Street, where it remains today as the home for the minister of Harvard Memorial Church. As Robert Kiven observed in 1968, this was in fact the second time that Sparks House had been moved.(32) As City of Cambridge preservation planner Sally Zimmerman notes, “in 1901, the house was turned 90 degrees and moved south on its lot to make room for the chapel’s construction.”(33)

The New Church Theological School’s establishment at Sparks House marked the beginning of a century-long transformation of Quincy Street. Starting in the 1840s, Quincy Street began to unseat “Professor’s Row” (Kirkland Street) “as a prime residential location for those connected to [Harvard College], and it remained so up to the end of the nineteenth century, as a cosmopolitan group of noted academics settled along the street’s length.”(34) This can be seen in the 1865 map below, which shows five faculty houses on the west side of Quincy Street, in Harvard Yard, eventually replaced by expansion of academic facilities – in particular, Robinson Hall, Sever Hall, and Emerson Hall.

1865 map 2 — Map of Cambridge from 1865 showing faculty housing on Quincy Street. The Chapel would be built where “Prof Lovering” is located, just below “Kirkland St.” City of Cambridge GIS.

1916 Bromley map 3 — Map from 1916 showing the Church of the New Jerusalem, now known as the Swedenborg Chapel. Bromley 1916 atlas, CHC Collection.

The transformation began with the Fogg Museum, designed by architects Coolidge, Shepley, Bullfinch, and Abbott of Boston and built in 1927, taking over 28-36 Quincy Street. In 1963, the Le Corbusier-designed Carpenter Center was completed, with its iconic ramp structurally integrated with a basement library book-stacks facility that was added to the back of the Fogg in 1961 to expand the Fine Arts Library.(35) In 1963, the Minoru Yamasaki-designed William James Hall was completed to house Harvard’s Department of Psychology, which William James was instrumental in establishing.(36) James’ father, Henry James, Sr., was deeply influenced by the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg.(37) Six years later work began at 48 Quincy Street to construct Gund Hall for the Harvard Graduate School of Design (“GSD”), bringing the school that Herbert Langford Warren had founded in the late 1800s directly next door to the chapel he designed for his fellow Swedenborgians and affiliated theological school. Lastly, the Sackler Museum was constructed in 1985, replacing the 1951 Allston Burr Lecture Hall,(38) an outdated science building that had supplanted two smaller residential buildings for Harvard College.

View of lancet window with hand carved detailing. Photo courtesy of M. Careaga.

By the time it relocated to Newton in the 1960s, the New Church Theological School had changed its name to the Swedenborg School of Religion (SSR), and the school constructed an annex on the north side of the chapel, facing Kirkland Street. Designed by Cambridge architect Arthur Brooks, it provided fellowship space and other ancillary functions to support the Cambridge Society congregation, which continued to hold services at the chapel after the school’s departure. By the late 1990s, SSR announced its intentions to sell the chapel property to raise much-needed capital to support its operations. Concerned about the potential loss of a significant work of architecture, the local community and the Cambridge Historical Commission lobbied successfully to obtain City of Cambridge landmark status for the chapel in 1999, paving the way for the Massachusetts New Church Union and the Cambridge Society of the New Jerusalem to purchase the property from SSR in 2001. The chapel site is the only parcel of land that the university does not own on the city block bounded by Quincy Street, Kirkland Street, Sumner Road, and Cambridge Street. Regardless of its status as private property separate from the university, the chapel and its land are intimately connected to Harvard, woven into the physical fabric of the university’s campus as well as through the intersecting histories of Harvard University and the Cambridge Society of the New Jerusalem.

View of reredos and alter. Photo courtesy of M. Careaga.

Today, along with its own congregation, the Swedenborg Chapel hosts two other worshipping communities as well as a monthly Taize candlelight service.

Mark Careaga is Principal and Founder of Mark Careaga Architect LLC, in Cambridge MA. He can be found online at http://www.mcarq.co and on Twitter and Instagram @mcarqco

References

26. Maureen Meister, Architecture and the Arts and Crafts Movement in Boston: Harvard’s H. Langford Warren (Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England, 2003), 110.
27. Meister, 1.
28. Meister, 7-8.
29. cf. Meister, 5, 110.
30. Meister, 8.
31. Meister, 8.
32. Robert H. Kiven, “Letter from the Editor,” The Messenger 188, no.10 (October 1968): 142-143.
34. Sally Zimmerman, “Church of the New Jerusalem / Swedenborg Chapel, 50 Quincy Street, Landmark Designation Study Report,” prepared for the Cambridge Historical Commission, March 5, 1999, 8. This report can be accessed online at: https://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media/Files/historicalcommission/pdf/Landmark_reports/lm_quincy_50.pdf.
35. Zimmerman, “Landmark Designation Study Report,” 8.

36. Natalie Moravek, “William James Hall,” in “William James’ Cambridge,” website designed and hosted by the Cambridge Historical Society, accessed February 7, 2019, https://cambridgehistory.org/james/James 5.html.
37. “Famous Swedenborgians,” part of the website of the Swedenborgian Church of North America, accessed February 7, 2019, https://swedenborg.org/famous-swedenborgians/henry-james-sr/. The web page cites the following source: Alfred Halbegger, The Father: A Life of Henry James, Sr. (New York: Frrar, Straus and Giroux, 1994).
38. Susan E. Maycock and Charles M. Sullivan, Building Old Cambridge: Architecture and Development (Cambridge MA: The MIT Press, 2016), 817. Allston Burr was designed by architect Jean-Paul Carlihan of Coolidge, Shepley, Bullfinch & Abbott.

Modern Monday – Continental Terrace at 29 Concord Avenue

Posted on January 27, 2020May 14, 2020 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

Constructed in 1960 and designed by Hugh Stubbins & Associates, Inc., Continental Terrace at 29 Concord Avenue is an apartment building that maximized space while providing natural light throughout. The 8-story brick building consists of 103 apartments and features distinctive white balconies for every unit.

View of Continental Terrace with central front entrance descending below grade. City of Cambridge.

The design encompassed 81,690 square feet organized around a galleried central well. Stubbins was able to add an 8^th floor by dropping the ground floor a half level below the sidewalk, providing more units while staying under the 65-foot height limit as measured from the sidewalk. The building has a single loaded system and one elevator which opens out onto a light-filled atrium furnished with couches. Since the building is single loaded, each corridor is adjacent to the open atrium, making the space feel larger and more pleasant. Stubbins provided residents with access to daylight from most parts of the building.

Architect’s rendering of 29 Concord Avenue. Francis Loeb Library, Harvard Graduate Design School.

The design of the lobby and the single elevator fostered interaction among neighbors creating a sense of community. Since the building was designed a half story below grade, to reach the vestibule one descends between two garden terraces into what feels like a private area, deterring strangers from wandering inside. This is also the location of the mailboxes, and according to one former resident people often linger there to check mail, further contributing a sense of security. Residents were also known to spend time in the lobby which has views of the upper corridors.

Article in *Architectural Forum* showing floor plans as well as a view of the atrium from above. *Architectural Forum*, June 1961.

View of atrium in *Architectural Forum*, June 1961.

Architect’s first floor plan illustrating the lobby and arrangement of units with patio/gardens. Francis Loeb Library, Harvard Graduate Design School.

In the apartments, the living room receives natural light from a floor to ceiling, wall-to-wall window while the bedroom has one narrow tall window. The interior layout is very open, and spaces flow easily with minimal doors and walls, but does reduce opportunities for privacy. Each unit has a private balcony which also makes the unit feel larger. Basement level apartments also have gardens.

Article in *Architectural Forum* with photographs of interior units. *Architectural Forum*, June 1961.

Architect: Hugh Stubbins & Associates, Inc. Landscape Architect: John L. Wacker. Structural Engineer: Goldberg & LeMessurier. Mechanical Engineer: Delbrook Engineering, Inc. Electrical Engineer: Fred S. Dubin Associates. Acoustical Consultant: Bolt, Beranek & Newman. Contractor: John F. Griffin Co.

Sources

Pierson, Caroline (former resident), “Why Design Matters: The Effect of Architecture on Living Experience.” March 2010.

“Apartments Around a Well,” Architectural Forum, June 1961.

Torn Down Tuesday: Prospect Skating Rink

Posted on December 10, 2019December 10, 2019 by Meta Partenheimer

According to the “Brief Notes” section of the Cambridge Chronicle from March 22, 1884, “Roller skating rinks are booming in Cambridge.” The June 14th edition declared “Everybody goes to the skating rink now.” At this time, a new skating rink was under construction at 30-50 Prospect Street in Cambridgeport.

At the time of the Prospect St rink construction, roller skating rinks were already under heavy use at Union Hall around the corner on Mass Ave and in Harvard Square, and a petition to erect another rink on Green Street was making its way through the city government.

Worcester skating rink, Worcester, Mass., undated. The bottom of the image reads “225 x 100 feet, floor 175 x 73 feet.”. Historic New England.

The economy of Cambridgeport was highly-industrialized, and included ventures in soap-making, musical instrument manufacturing, and confectioneries, among others. A steady influx of immigrant labor allowed these businesses to expand exponentially along with the population, which grew by nearly 10,000 each decade in the mid-nineteenth century. Residents new and old sought recreation to fill idle moments between work and daily obligations.

Roller skating guide (1884) Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries

The United States, and East Coast cities in particular, saw a surge in roller skating popularity after Medfield, Mass native James Plimpton patented an improved version of the roller stake that allowed for more steering control.

Pair of Roller Skates (with leather straps and metal buckles). Sarah Moore Field Collection, Historic New England

To meet this increased demand for skating venues, rinks were constructed at a furious rate during the late 19th century. Construction of rinks in Cambridge allowed residents the convenience of leisure and recreation in their own city rather than making the trek into Boston.

Wood engraving after a sketch by Miss Georgie Davis titled “District of Columbia – glimpses of life at the national capital – a fashionable roller-skating rink” (1880)

The Prospect Skating Academy, as it was known, held a grand opening in May 1884. The ceremony and ensuring party included music by the Cambridge Orchestral Society and “an exhibition of fancy skating.” These events were held frequently, and often included an evening of full entertainment. Costume parties,

Advertisement in the *Cambridge Chronicle* (3 October 1885)

Despite the rink’s popularity, the building was razed just ten years after it was built, replaced by a row of three-story retail stores in 1895.

A fire destroyed most of this newer building in 1948, and as a result, the complex was converted to the one-story line of retail stores that stands today. Current businesses include Improv Boston, Jimmy’s Shoe Repair, and The Boston Tattoo Company.

30 Prospect St following the fire in December 1948

30 Prospect Street (July 2018). Google Street View

Torn Down Tuesday: Willard Phillips House and Barn, 58 Linnaean Street

Posted on November 19, 2019May 14, 2020 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

The Willard Phillips House formerly at 58 Linnaean Street was constructed in 1841 in the then fashionable Gothic Revival architectural style. Willard Phillips was born in 1784 in Bridgewater, MA and graduated Harvard University in 1810. After graduating, Phillips studied law and by 1826, was a member of the legislature and during this time, he was an editor of multiple law review journals which were distributed all over the country. By 1839, he was made judge of probate for Suffolk County and built his home shortly after in Cambridge. He retired from legal practice in 1845 to become the president of the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company, where he remained until 1865 when he retired.

Circa 1930 image of the Willard Phillips House (58 Linnaean Street) courtesy of HOLLIS Images.

After his death, the property remained in the Phillips family who rented the home to Professor John Trowbridge, who was the Director of the Jefferson Physical Laboratory at Harvard. By 1900, 58 Linnaean Street, land which extended from Linnaean Street to Shepard Street and all buildings thereon were conveyed to Radcliffe College, who also purchased the land of Dr. Bemis next door to develop what is known now as the Radcliffe Quad.

The Phillips House became known as the Trowbridge House, a dormitory for students at Radcliffe while the larger brick dormitories along Shepard Street were being constructed. As the Radcliffe Quad developed into the 1920s, open space became a challenge, and many wood-frame dwellings and outbuildings were demolished or moved. The Phillips House eventually was razed in 1951 for Holmes Hall, a wing of Moors Hall.

Detail of Phillips House and barn at rear, undated photo in CHC Archives.

The original Gothic style barn as part of the Phillips estate was moved in 1926 to the rear of 61 Garden Street and redesigned by Mary Almy, a Radcliffe Graduate and principal architect of the firm of Howe, Manning & Almy which was started in 1900 by Lois Lilley Howe. Radcliffe hired the firm to convert the former barn structure into a field house for athletics on the Radcliffe Quad.

Photograph of Phillips Estate barn at second location behind 61 Garden Street. Image part of MIT Special Collections. Circa 1926.

Location of former Phillips estate barn after renovation to Radcliffe Field House behind 61 Garden Street (Edmands House, dormitory). 1950s Sanborn Map.

The Field House was redesigned in the Colonial Revival style and was nearly indistinguishable from the former barn besides the bargeboards at the side gable of the roof which were retained to showcase the history of the structure.

1968 Photo of Radcliffe Field House taken by CHC.

Ca. 1930s view of Radcliffe Field House, courtesy of HOLLIS Images.

Plans and documents which are in the Howe, Manning & Almy Special Collection at the MIT Special Archives showcase the drawings and floor plans of the space even down to the large wooden beam at the mantle on the interior which reads “In Memory of Rosamond Claire Esty 1925”. Ms. Esty, 22, was a recent Radcliffe graduate who was swept from a ledge in Rockport by rogue waves in and despite her brothers attempts to save her, died in the surf.

1930s interior of Radcliffe Field House and carved wooden mantle reading “In Memory of Rosamond Claire Esty 1925”.

Photo of Radcliffe Field House proposed front elevation, original at MIT Libraries.

The Field House was a success and saw heavy use until the 1960s when the building became known by the College as a “necking hangout”. Radcliffe allowed its female students to study in the Field House with a male companion until midnight by requiring students to sign out a key held at nearby Holmes Hall; this made the Field House the only building at Radcliffe legally available to Radcliffe students and their dates every night. Articles explained that the key was often signed out under assumed names and would go missing and unauthorized duplicates later would proliferate through the Quad.

Radcliffe and Harvard Students posing at recently completed Radcliffe Field House, ca. 1930. Image courtesy of HOLLIS Images.

The Field House was razed by 1970 for the construction of the Currier House.

Historic Building Highlight: 3 Bigelow Street

Posted on October 30, 2019May 14, 2020 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

Today we are highlighting the building at 3 Bigelow Street, originally 5 Bigelow, located opposite Cambridge City Hall (and our next door neighbor here at the CHC).

3 Bigelow Street today. Credit: CHC images.

Built in 1869 for William B. Craft, a commission merchant in Boston, 3 Bigelow was one of the first homes built on Bigelow Street, formerly Beacon, which was laid out the previous year. The three-story mansard was an early example of the pavilion style, and the wood exterior was rusticated to imitate ashlar (finely dressed stone) masonry. Later remodeling of the porch would significantly alter the coherence of the facade.

In 1877, Craft sold the house to D.U. Chamberlin, who in turn sold it to Judge Henry J. Wells of Arlington, later a Massachusetts Representative and Senator. Wells and his family lived at 5 Bigelow until 1913. Wells’ daughter, Henrietta Wells Livermore, helped to lead a revitalized suffrage movement in the State of New York in 1910, and founded the Women’s National Republican Club in 1921.

Henrietta Wells Livermore. Credit: Courtesy of and Copyright Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, ggbain.14915.

In 1929, 5 Bigelow resident Dr. Eugene McCarthy petitioned the City to designate his entire house as part of a business zone, in order for him to lease it to a funeral home. Four neighbors objected to this, stating that “Bigelow Street is already used as a garage by nearly all of city hall,” and that the funeral home business would only make traffic worse. (Cambridge Chronicle, 4/12/1929) McCarthy’s lawyer argued that the “quiet and dignity” of a properly run funeral home would benefit the neighborhood, and assured neighbors that no embalming would be done in the building.

Partial view of 5 Bigelow, right, opposite City Hall. Taken from Mass Ave. Credit: CHC images.

Later that year, Andrews Funeral Home opened at 5 Bigelow Street. The owner, Joseph G. Andrews, also lived at the house with his family. In 1930, Andrews died suddenly, and his son Paul Andrews took over the business. The Cambridge Chronicle wrote of Andrews: “His equipment, modern home, the dignity and beauty of his services given to those who are bereaved, have given him an enviable place in the undertaking business.” (2/6/1936)

Andrews Funeral Home advertisement, Cambridge Chronicle, 2/6/1936

Aerial view of Bigelow and Mass Ave, July 25, 1946. 5 Bigelow is directly opposite City Hall, behind the empty plot following the demolition of 823 Mass Ave in 1944 (Brusch Medical Center would be built there in 1950). Credit: Cambridge Photo Morgue, Digital Commonwealth scan.

By the 1950s, 5 Bigelow had been converted into the Bigelow Nursing Home, and in 1965, Dr. Charles Brusch (of Brusch Medical Center next door at 831 Mass Ave) filed a petition to turn the building into seven apartment units. In the 1980s, the building was owned by the Maryknoll Fathers/Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, which also owned 831 Mass Ave.

5 (later 3) Bigelow Street, circa 1970. Credit: CHC survey files.

In 1987, the City of Cambridge purchased 5 Bigelow and, through an arrangement with the YWCA, opened Bigelow House, a short-term emergency shelter and transitional housing for families and young adults. The building became 3 Bigelow either shortly before or during this time, and the office building next door, built in 1940, became 5 Bigelow.

In 2017, after it was determined that 3 Bigelow would need extensive renovations, the family shelter moved, and today 3 Bigelow remains unoccupied.

Sources:

Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge, Volume 2: Mid Cambridge, 1971.

Cambridge Chronicle, Cambridge Public Library’s Historic Cambridge Newspaper Collection.

School Days: Emma Forbes Harris

Posted on August 15, 2019May 13, 2020 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

Sharpen your pencils, sit up straight, it’s almost time to head back to class. We all remember the excitement, and sometimes a little dread, of returning to school in the fall. There have been so many great teachers in Cambridge but today’s post looks at a Cambridge teacher about whom we only recently learned. This teacher lived from 1830 to 1930 and taught in public and private schools for about forty of her ninety-nine years. Her name was Miss Emma Harris.

Emma Forbes Harris was born on December 16, 1830 in Milton, Mass. to Dr. Thaddeus William Harris and Catherine Holbrook Harris. She was the third of eleven children and the second oldest girl. The Harris family moved to Cambridge when Emma was two years old. Emma’s father took a position as the college librarian at Harvard. He also taught natural history to students that included Henry David Thoreau. The family settled at 8 Holyoke Place in a house built in 1844.

In 1853, Emma Harris resigned from her position as a public-school teacher at the Webster Middle School. She purchased a one-story building, formerly a post office and dry goods store, and moved it from Norfolk Street to Cotton Street (now Hancock Street) and converted it to a school. The building, which measured 20’ wide by 32’ long, was sited on a lot of land opposite Chatham Street that Harris leased from J. Warren Merrill of Harvard Street. Her school opened in 1854 for boys and girls up to fourteen years of age. Miss Harris operated her school in this location for over thirty years. In 1886 she began construction on a new larger school at 3 Acacia Street. The first school house was then moved to 277 Broadway and used by E. C. Heubel as a boot and shoe store. It was demolished in 1949.

Harris_CottonStreetSchool_1857advert — Advertisement for the Cotton Street School, a private school run by Miss Emma Harris of Cambridge. Cambridge Chronicle, 22 August 1857.

Harris_schoolhouse on Hancock circled_1873 — Emma Harris purchased a one story building and moved it from Central Square to Cotton Street, near Harvard Street. Cotton Street was located between Harvard Street and Broadway and was renamed in 1865 to be an extension of Hancock Street. Hopkins Atlas of Cambridge, 1873.

Harris_schoolhouse_CTribune01281888JPG — This article details the life of a building that started as a post office, then was moved for Miss Harris’ school, then moved again to become a shoe store. Cambridge Tribune 28 January 1888,

The new school building on Acacia near the corner of Ash was 2½ stories high and built in the Queen Anne style with an asymmetrical gable roof, corner porch, and decorative shingles. It was designed by her younger brother, Edward Doubleday Harris and constructed by local builder F. B. Furbish. The new school opened in September of 1887. Both boys and girls were accepted for enrollment. Miss Harris’s mother Catherine died in the spring of 1888. This change in her family circumstances may have led to her decision to retire. But the fall of 1888 was the last year that she advertised for new students to enroll in her school.

Harris_house circled at 3 Acacia_1894 — Miss Harris’ new school was built in 1886 on Acacia Street near the corner of Ash Street in the Half Crown neighborhood. This two story building was converted in 1890 to a dwelling. Bromley Atlas of Cambridge, 1894.

Acacia St 3 google street view — This house at 3 Acacia Street was built first as a school in 1886 then adapted for the residence of Charles Harris and family in 1890. Google Street View image, June 2018.

In 1890 she pulled a building permit to convert the school to a residence. This may have involved a small addition at the rear of the building. The house was occupied by younger brother Charles Harris and his wife Elizabeth Hovey Harris and their children. The house still stands on Acacia Street, with sunroom and tower additions that were constructed in 1994. Miss Harris resided in the family homestead at Holyoke Place until 1929 when it was purchased by Harvard and demolished for the construction of Lowell House. At that time she went to live with her sister Elizabeth Harris at 68 Sparks Street. Miss Emma Harris died in June 1930 and is buried in the Cambridge Cemetery. Miss Harris touched many lives and imparted knowledge to countless school children.

Harris_obit_CTribune06211930 — Obituary of Emma Forbes Harris, who died in 1930 in her hundredth year. Cambridge Tribune 21 June 1930.

Thank you to all the teachers who are heading back to school to prepare for the children that will be learning from them this year! Who was your favorite teacher?

Torn Down Tuesday: 18 Old Dee Road

Posted on August 6, 2019May 13, 2020 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

Old Dee Road 18_001 — The house at 18 Old Dee Road was set back from the road and nestled into the landscape. (CHC Collection)

Constructed in 1947 for Harold and Anna Ryan, 18 Old Dee Road typified the mid-century International Style residence. Located on a cul-de-sac off Larchwood Drive, the house was a one-story, shed roof, frame structure with vertical wood tongue and groove siding. Fenestration consisted of single glazed wood frame casement and fixed glass units, with a horizontal emphasis. A large brick chimney was positioned near the back of the house. The main entrance was recessed at the center of the façade, and a side entry door was covered by a small shed roof. The house had an unusual trapezoidal footprint that widened from the front façade to the back, in response to the irregular shape of the lot.

map old dee road — The site’s shape, outlined in red, informed the layout of the house. Note the address numbers are different on this plan dated 1952. (City of Cambridge Public Works)

18 old dee road_Page_3 — View of the back of the house just prior to demolition. (CHC Collection, gift of Peter Wasserman)

18 old dee road_Page_5 — Floor plan as documented in 2005. The footprint is original except for an addition on the north wall which dates from 2001. (Dingman Allison Architects)

18 old dee road_Page_1 — View of main living area with fireplace. (CHC Collection, gift of Peter Wasserman)

The house was the first design by The Architects Collaborative (TAC) in Cambridge. The firm was headed by Walter Gropius, founder of the famed Bauhaus design school in Germany. In 1934, Gropius moved to England as Hitler rose to power. He eventually came to the United States in 1937 with his family to chair the architecture department at Harvard Graduate School of Design. Other TAC partners included Norman and Jean Fletcher, John and Sarah Harkness, Robert MacMillan, and Benjamin Thompson. As the name of the firm implied, there was an emphasis on a team approach to design and a modernist aesthetic that involved clean lines, functionality, and a rejection of superfluous ornamentation. Several partners designed their own homes at Six Moon Hill in Lexington which are still extant today. The firm’s only other residential commission in Cambridge was at 15 Hemlock Road in 1952.

tac 02 — Portrait of partners of TAC, 1952. Left to right, Sarah Harkness, Jean Fletcher, Robert McMillan, Norman Fletcher, Walter Gropius, John Harkness, Benjamin Thompson, and Louis McMillen . (*The Architects Collaborative*, Arthur Niggli, Ltd.)

TAC went on to design a range of projects around the world including the University of Baghdad, the Rosenthal Porcelain Factory in Bavaria, and the United States Embassy in Greece. In Massachusetts, the firm designed the Harvard Graduate Center, Wayland High School, and the John F. Kennedy Office Building in Boston, among others. Gropius was a part of TAC until his death in 1969. The firm closed in 1995.

The house was demolished in 2005.

Sources

http://architectuul.com/architects/view_image/the-architects-collaborative/27096

Jean Bodman Fletcher

http://wiedler.ch/felix/books/story/182