Cambridge, Massachusetts, possesses photographic documentation that is probably unparalleled for a city of its size. In 1980, The Photo Search Project, a community-sponsored effort led by the Cambridge Historical Commission, unearthed thousands of photographs in archives, attics, and family albums. A curated selection of these images, dating from the 1840’s to 1946, appears in our publication, A Photographic History of Cambridge (1984).
Cover of A Photographic History of Cambridge (1984)
Within its pages, we see the exterior and the interior of a workers’ cottage as it appeared in 1860. We meet two of the founding members of the Cambridge Sewing Circle and the survivors of Company C, Third Regiment, who marched off to the Civil War in 1861. We are invited to a noontime English class for immigrants at a local factory in the early 1900s, and to a Polish wedding in 1913. Harnessmakers’, carriagesmiths’, and soapmakers’ portraits recall occupations of the past.
Coffee Counter at J.A. Holmes & Company, 638 Mass Ave, ca. 1904-1910
With a forward by renowned historian Oscar Handlin, introduction by CHC Executive Director Charles M. Sullivan, and text by historical experts, this publication provides not only an invaluable record of Cambridge’s history but a review of a century of developments in popular photography as well.
Magazine Beach, south end of Magazine St, 1906
Researchers, historians, photography enthusiasts, and those curious about the city’s rich ethnic, occupational, and architectural heritage will appreciate the diversity of subject, scene, and neighborhood beyond the well-known historic landmarks of our city.
J. Bouchard Provisions, 86-88 Harvey Street, corner Montgomery, ca. 1910
To obtain your own copy of A Photographic History of Cambridge for only $12.50, stop by our office at 831 Mass Ave, or email us at histcomm@cambridgema.gov. A limited number of hard cover copies are also available for $20!
Softcover and hardcover versions of A Photographic History of Cambridge (1984)
Do you live in a Cambridge home built before 1930? This is for you.
The Queen Anne house at 314 Harvard Street: the asbestos siding was removed in about 1975 and the exterior restored to its original appearance. Only the false timberwork in the gable ends had been destroyed and required replacement.
Cambridge boasts a rich tradition of residential architecture, distinct from Boston and its neighboring towns. Its unique social history—as county seat, university hub, Boston suburb, and cultural melting pot—has produced a remarkable variety of houses. From masterpieces by renowned American architects to vernacular designs crafted by local carpenters, the city’s neighborhoods still reflect the creativity and individuality of generations of Cambridge builders, contractors, and architects.
Cover of Maintaining Your Old House in Cambridge (1988)
To help preserve this heritage, the Cambridge Historical Commission published Maintaining Your Old House in Cambridge in 1988. This comprehensive guide, written by experts in the field, equips homeowners and tenants with the knowledge to protect both the structural soundness and visual character of their homes.
Diagram of typical roof and cornice construction
The text and accompanying illustrations offer clear, practical advice on repairs and upkeep that honor a house’s stylistic integrity. Topics range from fences, siding, and gutters to chimneys, contractor selection, and more. Illustrated throughout, the book remains an invaluable resource for anyone caring for an older home.
Door design variations
And if you ever need additional guidance, the Cambridge Historical Commission is available to provide technical assistance on rehabilitation and restoration projects—ensuring that your home continues to embody the city’s architectural legacy.
To obtain your own copy of Maintaining Your Old House in Cambridge for just $10, click here, stop by our office at 831 Mass Ave, or email us at histcomm@cambridgema.gov.
Cambridge City Manager, Yi-An Huang, is seeking to fill vacancies for members and alternate members for the following Cambridge Neighborhood Conservation District (NCD) Commissions: Avon Hill, Half Crown-Marsh, and Mid Cambridge. Homeowners and renters alike are welcome! Apply here: https://cambridgema.iqm2.com/Citizens/Board/Vacant. Read on for more information.
View of 59-65 Foster Street, part of the Half Crown-Marsh NCD
What is a Neighborhood Conservation District?
Neighborhood Conservation Districts were established by city ordinance in 1983. Conservation district designation recognizes a distinctive physical environment that reflects the architectural, cultural, political, economic, or social history of the city. NCDs foster wider public knowledge and appreciation of such neighborhoods. Designation encourages the conservation and maintenance of these areas so that the city may be a more attractive and desirable place in which to live and work.
View of 8 Maple Avenue, part of the Mid Cambridge NCD
Each NCD commission includes five members and three alternates. Most members must reside in the respective district; renters, as well as homeowners, are encouraged to apply.
More information is available through the following links:
The volunteer commissions meet monthly and are supported by the professional staff of the Cambridge Historical Commission. Applicants should have knowledge and concern for improvement, conservation, and enhancement of the district. The composition of each Commission shall represent the diversity of the designated neighborhood in terms of age, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and property ownership or tenancy.
Who Should Apply?
Individuals interested in being considered should apply through the city’s online application system at Cambridgema.gov/apply and select the respective commission. A cover letter and resumé or summary of applicable experience can be submitted during the online application process.
Questions?
If you have question about the application process, please contact the City Manager’s Office at 617.349.4300 or boardsandcommissions@cambridgema.gov if you need assistance.
For general questions, please contact our office at histcomm@cambridgema.gov or 617.349.4683
Part I: H.R.R. Richardson and the Romanesque Revival
Henry Hobson Richardson created and introduced to America a distinctive architectural style that became known as Richardsonian Romanesque. It derived from the architecture of Medieval Europe, especially that of France, which had been influenced by the region’s ancient Roman structures. Richardson admired many aspects of the Romanesque—its visual weight, rounded arches and towers, recessed windows and door, and the use of varied building materials—and used those elements to inspire his own designs.
Two examples of the Romanesque in France. Above: West front of Notre Dame la Grande, Poitiers, France. Gibert Bochenek photo. Wikimedia Below: West front of Church at Fontevraud Abbey. Jean-Christophe Benoist photo. Wikimedia
Henry was born in 1838 in rural Louisiana and spent part of his childhood in New Orleans. He enrolled in Tulane University in 1855 but soon transferred to Harvard College. The wealthy and affable young man formed lifelong friendships with fellow students such as Henry Adams (a future client) and Edward W. Hooper.
Richardson had intended to study civil engineering but was drawn to architecture and moved to Paris in 1860 to attend the École des Beaux-Arts. Money troubles forced him to leave the school, but he stayed on in Paris, working for a French architect, studying and practicing his craft, and traveling extensively.
Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris. Guilhem Vellut photo. Wikimedia
He returned to the States in 1865. Two years later he married Julia Gorham Hayden of Boston, and the couple and their growing family (six children in all) settled on Staten Island. Richardson and his near neighbor—the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted—became good friends and colleagues. Richardson’s talent and connections brought in commissions, especially in New England, and the family moved to Brookline in 1874 (possibly to finish work on Trinity Church, Boston, 1872-77). *
25 Cottage Street, Brookline.* The Richardson’s rented no. 25 from Edward Hooper. Julia purchased the house after the deaths of Richardson and Hooper. Public Library of Brookline, Brookline Photo Collection. Digital Commonwealth
H.H. Richardson’s library and studio at 25 Cottage Street. Public Library of Brookline, Brookline Photo Collection. Digital Commonwealth
Henry died in Brookline of Bright’s disease in 1886. Julia died in 1914.
Richardson’s New England commissions are diverse in style and size and include houses, community libraries, suburban railroad stations, and churches, as well as education, commercial, and civic buildings. He designed Sever and Austin halls for Harvard, which cites the latter “one of the best examples of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in the world.” Austin Hall’s façade is both grounded and vivacious: undressed (rusticated?) Longmeadow sandstone is laid in polychrome patterns that contrast with arches and an incised cornice band of pale Ohio sandstone. The round corner tower is topped with a conical roof; the recessed center entrance is approached through a triple Romanesque arch.
Austin Hall. Harvard University photo.
* In November 2020 a developer acquired properties on Cottage and Warren streets in Brookline, including the Richardson’s house at 25 Cottage and the house of John Charles Olmsted and his wife, Sophia, at 222 Warren (John Charles was Frederick’s nephew/stepson), and applied to the Brookline Preservation Commission for a demolition permit, which quickly imposed an 18- month demolition delay. BPC staff researched the properties and ultimately proposed the creation of the Richardson/Olmsted Local Preservation District that was approved at Brookline’s fall 2021 town meeting. The new district comprises 25 Cottage, 16 and 222 Warren (residences of John Charles), and 99 Warren Street known, the senior Olmsted’s house and studio.
Richardson freely adapted elements of the Romanesque in his own designs; other architects did the same with Richardsonian Romanesque, using Richardsonian elements in their own fashion. Tune in next week for a survey of Richardsonian Romanesque buildings in Cambridge–none of which were designed by the great architect.
It’s time for a historic building spotlight! We are featuring the former filling station at the corner of Concord Avenue and Walden Street in North Cambridge. Today, the building has a whole new look.
Concord Avenue near the corner of Walden Street, facing east. September 6, 1933.
In the early twentieth century, Concord Avenue served as a main transportation route, though the area had evolved from its early rural roots to a more suburban character. The advent of the automobile as a mode of transportation for the average person opened up this area to further residential development. Fresh Pond and Kingsley Park were also major draws for day-trippers taking a drive into the countryside. With people and cars came the need for fueling stations. The gasoline station at 299 Concord Avenue was one of 8 gas stations to be built along Concord Avenue between 1905 and 1930.
Rotogravure originally printed in the March 8, 1925 edition of the Boston Traveler as part of the series “Colonial Filling Stations of Boston.”
As an example of an early gas station, the Colonial Filling Station at 299 Concord Ave was built in 1924 for $7,000. The building was designed in the Colonial Revival style and executed by Boston-based consulting engineer Allen Hubbard. Born in 1860, Hubbard spent his early life in Westfield, Mass and later became the town’s first major league baseball player. Hubbard attended Yale to obtain an engineering degree and became the college’s baseball team captain. Soon after his graduation in 1883, Hubbard left his baseball career behind and worked as a bookkeeper and engineer for contractors in Boston before forming a business partnership with Hollis French in 1898. Throughout his career, Hubbard would consult on various large-scale engineering projects, including the Boston Public Library.
Allen Hubbard in his Yale catcher’s uniform (via adonisterry.tripod.com)
Hubbard’s design for the hip-roofed structure was elaborately detailed with dentil moldings, a Federal-style doorway with elliptical fan light and side lights, round-arched windows with lancet-arched muntins, red roofing shingles, and a wood balustrade at the roof peak. The masonry detail further embellished the station, with arched brickwork over the windows and a soldier course of bricks at the base, topped by a course of headers. A large sign band filled the space between the doorway and the cornice.
299 Concord Ave ca. 1973-74. Photograph by Richard Cheek.
The station went through a series of owners over the decades. A garage bay for automobile servicing was added in 1938. When the building was surveyed by the CHC in 1973, it was in nearly original condition and one of the oldest surviving of its kind in Cambridge. By 1978, gasoline services had ceased, and the building was converted to office use. Then-owner Cambridge Alternative Power Co., Inc. (CAPCO) undertook major alterations to and built an addition. Subsequent projects included the construction of a windmill and solar greenhouse.
299 Concord Ave in October 1982. Photograph by CHC staff.
In 2003, the CHC received an application to demolish the former gas station and its additions to make way for new construction. Rather than demolish the structure, an updated proposal was submitted in which the new design would preserve the original fabric of the façade to the fullest extent possible.
299 Concord Ave 299 (June 4, 2003)
View of work on façade (August 4, 2005)
Today, the original filling station façade can be seen from Concord Ave.
View north from Concord Ave via Google Street View (October 2017)
SOURCES
“1883 Yale Baseball Captain Added to the Bulldog Club Posthumously” article by Dan Genovese (The Yale Newsletter, Winter 2005) Cambridge Public Library Online Newspaper Database CHC survey files
View of St. Augustine’s African Orthodox Church, 1964.
On February 22, the Cambridge City Council unanimously voted to designate St. Augustine’s African Orthodox Church a Cambridge Landmark. This designation recognizes only a select number of individual properties that are important to the City as a whole, protecting them so that their unique qualities are maintained for the benefit of all the residents of Cambridge.
Located at 137 Allston Street in Cambridgeport, St. Augustine’s African Orthodox Church is owned by the Trustees of The St. Augustine’s Mission. The church is also the home of Black History in Action for Cambridgeport (BHAC), a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting programs focused on sharing Black culture, arts, history, and education with the general public. BHAC’s mission is to sustain and revitalize St. Augustine’s as a neighborhood center for assembly, empowerment, and outreach.
View of St. Augustine’s African Orthodox Church with recently completed new roof.
The property was originally part of the estate of Mrs. Washington Allston [Martha Remington Dana Allston] as drawn on a survey by William A. Mason and W. S. Barbour dated May 1, 1862 and filed in the Middlesex County (South District) Registry of Deeds, Plan Book 33, Plan 5. The rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Central Square, Rev. Edward M. Gushee, acquired the property in 1886 to construct a mission of St. Peter’s. Rev. Gushee died in 1917 and bequeathed the property to his son Richard, an Episcopal minister in California. A new priest was appointed by the Diocese of Massachusetts, but the congregation dwindled over the next few years and could not sustain the church financially even though Rev. Richard Gushee continued to own the property. In 1927 Rev. Gushee sold the property to Central Square furniture dealer Morris Bobrick, who may have intended to use the property for storage but who defaulted on his mortgage. The property was bought at auction by Nettie E. Fernandez who in turn sold it to individuals associated with the African Orthodox denomination in 1931. The St. Augustine’s property continues to be owned by the trustees of The St. Augustine’s Mission.
Allston Street was named for Washington Allston (1779-1843), an artist who pioneered America’s Romantic movement of landscape painting. He married Martha Remington Dana, the daughter of Chief Justice Francis Dana, who owned most of the property in this area. Allston Street is a through street parallel to Putnam Avenue and intersecting with the main thoroughfares in the neighborhood, including Magazine, Pearl, and Brookline streets. The neighborhood is characterized by dominant north-south streets, uniform intervals between the cross streets, and sustained setbacks. Only on four streets – Green, Franklin, Allston, and Putnam – can one traverse the entire area in an east-west direction. Early building locations appear to have been determined by land elevation or proximity to Central Square. In 1830 there were only three cross streets; in 1854 there were six; and by 1873 the current street layout was virtually complete. South of Allston Street is a slightly elevated and once heavily wooded area known in the 19th century as Pine Grove. In 1838 Edmund Trowbridge Hastings (1789-1861) and other Dana heirs laid out the Pine Grove subdivision with 131 house lots on Allston, Chestnut, Henry, Waverly, Sidney, Brookline and Pearl Streets. The original plan included a residential square around Fort Washington and another on Brookline Street that became today’s Hasting’s Square. Although some lots were sold, the area was too isolated to attract development even after the Cottage Farm (B.U.) Bridge was completed in 1851. Martha Allston’s land on the north side of Allston Street (including the site of St. Augustine’s Church) was subdivided in 1862 but remained substantially undeveloped until the 1880s, when the neighborhood began to fill up with one- and two-family houses. Construction of the Morse School in 1890 spurred development, and by 1910 the neighborhood was complete. It remains essentially unchanged today, although the school was demolished in 1957 and the site became a park.
From the founding of Cambridge in 1630 to the construction of the West Boston (now Longfellow) Bridge in 1793, only three families lived east of Quincy Street on “the Neck,” a marshy, wooded peninsula formed by the Charles and Millers rivers. The opening of the bridge spurred development. By this time two Cambridge men owned most of the land in Cambridgeport: William Jarvis controlled properties north of Massachusetts Avenue and Justice Francis Dana to the south. (Much of the rest – and all of East Cambridge – fell to Andrew Craigie.)
Jarvis was the U.S. Inspector of Revenue. Dana, who descended from an old Cambridge family and resided on a large estate on Dana Hill, served as Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1791 to 1806. The two men worked with the Proprietors of the West Boston Bridge to lay out Massachusetts Avenue and Main Street but did not otherwise develop a master plan for the area. Justice Dana developed his holdings slowly and carefully. In 1798 Jarvis was convicted of misappropriation of customs duties; the federal government seized his properties and sold them off to multiple owners.
Justice Dana died in 1811, and his heirs continued to develop Cambridgeport in the same careful pattern. What is now Allston Street was a part of Justice Dana’s estate left to his daughter, Martha Remington Dana Allston (Mrs. Washington Allston).
St. Augustine’s African Orthodox Church was built in 1886-87 as St. Philip’s, a mission of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Central Square. The remote site was chosen to attract parishioners from the surrounding neighborhood who found it difficult to get to church in Central Square. It was the first house of worship to open in the former Pine Grove neighborhood and attracted so many worshipers that it needed to be enlarged two years later.
St. Philip’s was designed by the New Bedford architect Robert Slack, who oversaw both the original construction and the 1888 expansion and worked with the local builders Kelley & McKinnon. Talented and prolific, Slack did not specialize in one style; he designed private homes, churches, and institutions, including a new wing at Harvard’s Peabody Museum.
The church is reminiscent of an English village chapel but is distinctly American in its wood construction and simple expression. The exterior was shingled and stained dark red with trimmings of dark blue. The 50-foot-tall tower was surmounted by a gilded cross and enclosed a bell made at the Meneely foundry in Troy, New York. The main entrance was through a foyer on the right front. The interior featured an open-timbered auditorium with rows of cane chairs with hassocks for the congregation, double-hung windows with colored lights, and five decorative chancel windows high above the altar. The 1888 expansion involved cutting off the chancel end and moving it back 31 feet and building a section between with a transept on the south side, making the inserted section 31 feet by 34 feet. This increased the overall length from 60 to 90 feet and doubled the seating capacity to about 400. The basement was finished for use as Sunday School and guild rooms.
Image of church after expansion. Note the original side entrance. Cambridge Chronicle, Sept. 15, 1888.
St. Philip’s was a personal project of Rev. Edward M. Gushee, who served at St. Peter’s Episcopal in Central Square until Easter 1888, when he became rector of St. Philip’s. A wealthy, generous man, Rev. Gushee owned the building, presided at services, and was the parish’s sole financial benefactor. Gushee died in 1917, leaving a small allowance to the parish but bequeathing the building to his son Richard, an Episcopal minister in California who apparently had no wish to return to Cambridge. The diocese supplied the parish with a priest for a few years, but the congregation dwindled and could no longer support either a rector or the building. In 1927 Richard put the building up for sale, advertising it as suitable for “storage, church or remodeled for dwelling” (Cambridge Chronicle, August 26, 1927).
In August 1928 Richard Gushee sold the property to Morris Bobrick, a furniture dealer in Central Square who may have used it for storage. Two years later Bobrick sold it to the trustees of a new church, identified in the newspapers as the African Orthodox Society. In 1932 the Cambridge assessors gave the trustees as George Alexander McGuire, Rev. Gladstone St. Clair Nurse, and Elvira Headley.
Historic plaque located on the site.
Bishop George A. McGuire (1866-1934) established the African Orthodox Church in 1921. McGuire was born, raised, and educated on Antigua; he came to the U.S. in 1894 and two years later was ordained an Episcopal priest. He served in numerous parishes and was praised for both his preaching and his organizational skills. In 1910 he attended Boston University’s medical school, but in 1913 he went back to Antigua to nurse his mother.
In 1918 McGuire returned to the U.S. and began to move in a new direction. He campaigned for equal rights for Black Americans and severed his ties with the Episcopal Church to protest its systemic racism and discrimination against Black clergy. McGuire became an associate of Marcus Garvey and worked with Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA); Garvey in turn endorsed McGuire’s idea that true equality and spiritual freedom could only be achieved by an all-Black religious denomination – a church attended by people of color and administered by Black clergy. The bishop broke with Garvey in 1924, probably over the latter’s increasingly radical ideas on racial nationalism.
In the fall of 1921, St. Luke’s African Orthodox Church opened at 252 Green Street (now the site of the Green Street Garage). In 1931 the denomination took possession of the dilapidated St. Philip’s and renamed it St. Augustine’s African Orthodox Pro-Cathedral, with Bishop McGuire at its head. (A pro-cathedral is a church named by a bishop to serve as his seat but which remains under the governance of the vestry.) When Bishop McGuire died in 1934 the African Orthodox Church could claim approximately 30,000 members in thirty congregations in the United States, the West Indies, South America, and Africa.
General Sources
Cambridge Chronicle, June 6, 1887; September15, 1888; January 17, 1930.
Cambridge Sentinel, January 13, 1940.
Cambridge Tribune, June 18, 1887; January 28, 1888.
Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge, Cambridgeport. Cambridge Historical Commission, 1971.
September is National Preparedness Month so we at the CHC want to share some crucial information on emergency management and disaster planning in archival and office spaces. This year’s theme is “Prepared, Not Scared,” which highlights how active planning can facilitate ease in emergency situations.
FEMA’s National Preparedness Month 2019 logo
A disaster plan is the foundation for a confident and successful disaster response. It has many elements that factor in the health and safety of all parties. In an archive, these include the patrons, staff, as well as the collections; human safety is always the paramount concern. Archivists have been trained in merging broader disaster plans with unique archival factors. An archival repository’s disaster plan’s various components include: an updated emergency information sheet of internal and external contacts, a communication plan, a list of delegated disaster response team members, collection salvage priorities, recovery supplies, as well as pertinent forms and inventories.
It is important to keep in mind that a disaster plan is a living document that must be updated regularly. An outdated list of bygone local help and recovery vendors is unhelpful in the here-and-now and especially tomorrow. Don’t forget that disasters and emergencies are not pre-planned; you will never know if or when you will be faced with a situation but you can guarantee your level of preparedness.
Graphic from Cambridge Fire Department’s E.P.A.C. webpage
This preparedness is part of a larger cycle of emergency management. The first step to consider is Mitigation, which is the time when you perform risk assessment of what is most likely to happen. With that in mind, you can develop prevention practices, such as fire, water, mold, and pest prevention (the big 4 in archives). From there, archiving Preparedness becomes a long and laborious process. However, taking the time to consider plans and procedures and performing drills can help save lives and minimize damage. When you know what to do in a given situation and who to call, your Response and Recovery are much more efficient and successful.
1997 flood at the Records Centre of the Archives of Ontario. Image credit: Archives of Ontario found in “Markings: Your Archives Interchange” Vol 27 No 4, Winter 2007.
In the event of a disaster consider: Who do you call? What volunteer assistance or professional conservators are available to you? Who should you build relationships with? Who are your local emergency responders? What is the state of your insurance and financial status? How will you ensure safety of people and collections? Which items should be prioritized? How can you reinstate normal activities?
Archives are faced with many possible forms of disaster and they are particularly susceptible to irreversible damage.
Official military personnel file damaged from National Personnel Records Center fire on July 12, 1973. Image credit: National Archives photo found in Lawrence, Kerry. “Archives Recalls Fire That Claimed Millions of Military Personnel Files.” National Archives News, July 23, 2018.
Along with institutional external concerns, such as flooding and fire, archival holdings face agents of deterioration, like pests, mold, UV rays, and pollutants. Archival holdings generally consist of unpublished unique records of human activities. Sometimes there is only a singular copy of evidence for an event or action. Due to this historic and irreplaceable tendency, once a record is lost, it may not be able to be replaced. Therefore, archives must dedicate time and effort to planning and training. You would be surprised at what can be saved or recovered when archives have evaluations and triage plans in place. There are many successful salvage options; knowing which works best in a given situation is a huge time-saving benefit. Archivists utilize many resources in this decision-making process, such as the National Park Service’s “Conserve O Grams”
National Park Service Conserve O Gram logo
We at the CHC archives are constantly contemplating our disaster planning and response. Awareness is a key component to formulating strong preparedness in any situation in any place. Therefore, we are doing our part in distributing information about ways in which you can personally become more prepared. Check out the national and local resources we’ve compiled below:
FEMA’s 2019 weekly themes
All this month FEMA is showcasing weekly themes to make the preparedness process easy to tackle. Check out their social media presence as well as their website to learn how you can become more prepared for any emergencies thrown your way: check them out here
In Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), the Boston Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management, and Cambridge’s E.P.A.C. (Emergency Preparedness and Coordination)offer fantastic resources for how you can achieve your own level of preparedness. Learn about: insurance and financial planning, which natural disasters you are most susceptible to and how to sign up for area alerts, how to communicate with your family and Community Emergency Response Teams, and where to take classes on lifesaving skills. You can also learn about how to get your kids involved with #YouthPrep on Twitter.
This blog post was authored by our spring Simmons University archives intern, Brittany Fox.
Sometimes the life-cycles of records must come to an end. Despite unremitting efforts to preserve our holdings, the nature of the material can lead to irreparable damage. Recalling that April 21-27 was Preservation Week, today we are highlighting how sometimes items must be removed from a collection to protect the safety of other records.
Certain negatives from our Cambridge Engineering image collection have deteriorated due to improper chemical processing during their creation. The negatives have seized, buckled, and bubbled, which has compromised their physical integrity. There is no way to stabilize this type of deterioration and the mutation can cause damage to other negatives in physical proximity. When negatives undergo this type of decay, they can give off acetate gas. This anomaly, also known as Vinegar Syndrome due to its vinegar-like smell, can initiate similar decay in nearby negatives. Therefore, we have decided to discard these negatives.
But fret not, we have digitized and saved them as high-resolution images. Although they will no longer be preserved in their original form, we have maintained access to the content through digitization. Print copies have also been created as a backup precaution.
Scanned version of negative, 33-35 Pearl Street
Mass Ave at Everett St
While the preservation of our negatives is a major priority, it is also important to learn about their context as well. They were part of a collection of over a thousand 5” x 7” negatives dating from the late 1920s through the 1960s that were given to the Commission by Cambridge former City Engineer James Rice in the early 1980s. Between the 1920s and 1940s a member of the City Engineer’s staff functioned as the city’s official photographer, collaborating with the City Solicitor, the Department of Public Works, and the Cambridge Police Department. Whenever a citizen filed a claim or directed attention toward an issue or hazard that arose in the city, such as potholes, dangerous sidewalks, and motor vehicle accidents, the City Engineer send a photographer to the site. These photographs were used when the complaints were taken to the city courts to be rectified.
Graflex Speed Graphic Camera
The negatives were acquired by the CHC along with the City Engineer’s Graflex Speed Graphic camera. In order to make an image the photographer would have inserted a sheet of unexposed film into a film holder in the darkness of a light-proof bag. Once secure so that no light would inadvertently expose the negative, the film holder would be inserted into the camera. A film holder could accommodate two pieces of film, so to make a dozen images the photographer would have to prepare and carry six bulky film holders. This particular type of camera has a focal plane shutter and a removable dark slide. It was meticulous work to get just one photographic negative and we have hundreds in the collection! Executive Director Charles Sullivan took several photos with this camera for publication in the Commission’s 1988 book, East Cambridge. Large format film and photo-processing labs are difficult or impossible to find today, so the camera will probably never be used again.
Some of the damaged negatives pulled from the collection exhibit automobile accidents, buckling sidewalks, and an exposed pipe in a giant hole. While they were intended as evidence for court hearings, the images also have secondary uses. They incorporate everyday snapshots of life in Cambridge between the 1920s-1940s, from the fashion of the passersby to the models of the cars. While these few images do not tell a very broad story, the collection in its entirety has a high future research value.
Automobile crash, Belmont and Bird St.
If you are interested in this collection or any of our other resources, please make a research appointment at histcomm@cambridgema.gov. Our research hours are: Monday: 4:00-7:00 pm | Tuesday: 2:00-4:00 pm | Wednesday – Thursday: 9:30-11:30 and 2-4 pm.
April 21-27 is Preservation Week, seven days in which libraries, archives, and other institutions are encouraged to “highlight what we can do, individually and together, to preserve our personal and shared collections,” through events, activities, and resources on preservation.
To celebrate, we are reblogging this post from 2017 on preservation methods in the Cambridge Historical Commission archives and library.
Do you have personal collections, like old photographs, documents, scrapbooks, videos, flash drives? What would you like to see about preservation on this blog?
We are back with the latest installment of our blog series on the wonderful CHC volunteers. Today we would like you to meet volunteer (and former staff and Commission member) Allison Crump.
How long have you been with the Cambridge Historical Commission?
I came to the Commission as an Audubon summer intern in 1975, while attending the Columbia Preservation program. After graduation, I joined the staff for several years. Later I was an appointed member of the Commission for 20 years. Now I’m retired, I’m back to my roots!
What collection have you been working on? Tell us more about it.
The City Clerk’s archives include several boxes of applications to the Cambridge City Council for permission to move structures, which was once a common practice. The applications I am working with date from 1870 – 1910; these are the ones we have found, but there may well be more. [Editor’s note: We are calling this the Building Removals Collection. Allison has been going through the applications in search of the original and subsequent – post-move – locations of these structures.]
A building removal form for a property at Broadway and Main, 1888
What is the importance of the Building Removals Collection?
When I am successful at determining the original and subsequent locations, it’s a view into development patterns, as demands for more modern, larger structures in high-value locations created surplus structures available for re-use in various ways, often in areas newly subdivided for development.
What’s challenging is that descriptions of the sites are not always precise, and even when street numbers are used, these have often changed over time. In some cases, approved removals appear to have never occurred, or were subject to multiple applications as proposed routes or locations shifted. Another interesting aspect is the activity of specific moving firms at different periods.
It’s most satisfying when the survey files have speculated that a building was moved to its current location, and the removal files tie it to an original site.
Example of a completed building removal research form (completed by a former CHC staff member)
What is your academic and career background?
In undergrad, I majored in history and art history, specializing in architectural history. After Columbia and working at the Commission, I gradually migrated into affordable housing and nonprofit finance as my professional focus. It’s fun to be back in the research game.
How long have you lived in Cambridge?
Over 40 years. But I’m still a newcomer, and would never presume to describe this as my hometown. My kid’s a native, though, so that gives me some standing.
What is your favorite thing about historic preservation? (or, your favorite building in Cambridge?)
I’m most interested in the flexibility of structures to adapt to changing needs over time. That makes it possible to maintain continuity and context in the built environment, even when their original purpose has been superseded. It’s also deeply satisfying to witness the extent to which preservation values have become accepted and see individual buildings, streets and neighborhoods which once seemed doomed, now in good repair and no longer threatened. The block of Broadway between Prospect and Inman Streets is a great example of this phenomenon.
