USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Boston of to-day; a glance at its history and characteristics: with biographical sketches and portraits of many of its professional and business men, 1892 > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72
---
--- ------ -
BOSTON OF TO-DAY.
57
Vendome, by J. F. Ober and George D. Rand ; and the main section of the Art Museum, by Sturgis & Brigham. Later noteworthy work is that of William R. Emerson, in the Art Club ( 1882), the first Back Bay club-house designed especially for club uses,
tory Society and the Horticultural Society, repre- senting the industrial and fine arts, their purpose being to institute a Conservatory of Art and Science. Although this enterprise was not suc- cessful, the Legislature declining to grant the pe-
.
7 717/01
-
HOTEL VENDOME.
but the second established in this quarter (the St. Botolph, occupying the stately dwelling of the late Henry P. Kidder, No. 2 Newbury street, being the first) ; George T. Meacham, in the New Hollis- street Church (1884), now the South Congrega- tional ; Sturgis & Brigham, in the building of the Young Men's Christian Association (1883) ; Van Brunt & Howe, in the Harvard Medical School (1883) ; McKim, Mead, & White, of New York, in the magnificent Algonquin Club-house (1886) ; the late John Sturgis, in the Athletic Club-house (1888) ; W. G. Preston, in the Charitable Mechanic Exhibition building (1881) ; and McKim, Mead, & White, in the new Public Library, now building.
Before building on the "new lands" was begun, an association of gentlemen who called themselves the "Committee of Associated Institutions of Science and Art" was formed ( 1859), to secure from the State a grant of land here for buildings for various institutions, among them the Natural His-
tition for land, it led directly to the establishment of the Institute of Technology, one of the earliest technical schools in the country, and to-day the foremost institution of its kind. In 1860, the year following the rejection of their petition, the com- mittee gave their indorsement to the memorial from Professor William B. Rogers, for the establish- ment of " a school of applied sciences, or a com- prehensive polytechnic college, fitted to equip its students with the scientific and technical principles applicable to industrial pursuits." This also failed in the Legislature of 1860, and then Professor Rogers outlined to the committee a plan for the formation of an Institute of Technology having " the triple organization of the Society of Arts, a Museum or Conservatory of Arts, and a School of Industrial Science and Art," which they at once most heartily forwarded, in cooperation with a com- mittee of representative citizens. Professor Rogers was made chairman of the latter committee, and
... . .. - -----
:
58
BOSTON OF TO-DAY.
as a result of his energetic action an act of incor- poration was obtained early in 1861 and a grant of land secured for the buildings of the institution, and also for that of the Natural History Society, then established in Mason street.
Of the ground granted, which is bounded by Boylston, Berkeley, Newbury, and Clarendon streets, the Natural History Society has the easterly one- third and the Institute the remaining two-thirds. The Natural History building was the first built. It was finished in 1864. Of generous proportions, a structure of freestone and brick, it is sedate and elegant in style and finish. The façade is embel- lished by Corinthian columns and capitals. Over the entrance is carved the society's seal, which bears the head of Cuvier; on the keystones of the windows are carved heads of animals, and a sculptured eagle surmounts the pediment. The building faces Berkeley street, standing well back from the thoroughfare, within ample well-kept grounds. The lecture-room and the library, the latter containing a fine collection of 15,000 volumes, and rooms devoted to geological and mineralogical specimens, occupy the first floor; and on the second is the large exhibition hall, sixty feet high, with balconies, and other rooms in which is dis- played the extensive collection of birds, shells, insects, plants, skeletons, and various objects 'of interest to students of natural history, gathered by the society during its sixty years of honorable existence. The Museum is open to the public on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The society holds frequent meetings, and provides lecture courses in the season. In its laboratory instruction is given to classes of the Institute of Technology and the Boston University, and there is also a class com- posed of teachers in the public schools. The cost of the building was $100,000. The society has been generously aided by gifts of money and be- quests. The greatest benefactor was the late Dr. W. J. Walker, of Newport, R.I., whose gifts during his lifetime and by his will reached the substantial sum of $200,000.
The Institute of Technology was organized with Professor Rogers as president immediately after the act of incorporation was obtained, and the School of Industrial Science was at once es- tablished, so that it was well under way when the main building was completed in 1866. In mate- rial and design this is similar to that of its neighbor, the Natural History Society. It also is of pressed brick with freestone trimmings, and of dignified style. An impressive feature is its entrance, reached by a noble flight of broad stone steps.
The development of the Institute was so rapid that the first building was early outgrown, and in 1884 the second building, next beyond on Boylston street, designed by C. Fehmer, was erected. The exterior of this is severely plain, with no attempt at architectural effect ; the skill of the architect is seen in the design of the interior, which is admirably arranged for the special purposes of the building. It is mainly devoted to the depart- ments of chemistry, physics, electricity, and archi- tecture, and to instruction in language. In the basement is a photometric room ; also a laboratory for the architectural department, where experi- ments may be made with limes, mortars, and cements, and problems worked out in the actual materials of construction ; and on the third floor is a laboratory of sanitary chemistry. The older building is now used by classes in mathematics, literature, history, political science, geology, miner- alogy, and biology. In the basement are thoroughly equipped mining and metallurgical laboratories. The offices of the Institute are still in the main building ; and in the large audience-room, Hunt- ington Hall, where the graduation exercises are held, the Society of Arts has its regular meetings. The third large building of the Institute, on Trinity place, known as the "Engineering Building," was completed in 1889. It is devoted to the en- gineering laboratories, and to instruction in me- chanics and hydraulics and mechanical and civil engineering. On Garrison street are the series of workshops, with the quarters of the Lowell School of Design (erected in 1885) ; and on Exeter street, the Gymnasium and Drill Hall.
The Lowell School of Practical Design was established in 1872, by the trustees of the Lowell Institute, for the purpose of " promoting industrial art in the United States." The corporation of the Institute of Technology assumed the conduct of it. The school occupies a drawing-room and a weaving-room. The latter affords students an opportunity of working their designs "into actual fabrics of commercial sizes and of every variety of material and of texture." It is supplied with two fancy chain-looms for dress goods, three fancy chain-looms for fancy woollen cassimeres, one gingham loom, and one Jacquard loom. And the school is regularly provided with samples of all the novelties in textile fabrics from Paris.
The Institute as now constituted embraces the School of Industrial Science, devoted to the teach- ing of science as applied to the various engineering professions, as well as to architecture, chemistry. metallurgy, physics, biology, and geology; the
----- --
F
COPLEY SQUARE.
- .
--- -- - - -
-----
-
60
BOSTON OF TO-DAY.
Subsidiary School of Practical Design; and the Society of Arts, whose meetings are held semi- monthly and whose Proceedings are annually pub- lished. Courses of a less technical nature than the regular ones (each covering four years), as a preparation for business callings, and a course preparatory to the professional study of medicine, are also given. The School of Industrial Science has become the prominent feature of the work. The development and growth of the institution since its foundation, a little more than a quarter of a century ago, have been extraordinary. The school opened in February, 1867, with 27 pupils ; the number registering in 1891 was 937. At the beginning the professors, instructors, and pupils were comfortably quartered in a few rooms. To- day the Institute has four large buildings, and is yet crowded. The professors and other offi- cers of instruction at the start could have been counted on the fingers of one's hands; now there are more than a hundred. Professor Rogers 1 lived to enjoy the full fruition of his noble work, and he died literally in harness within his beloved in- stitution, and on the very day and hour of the graduation of one of the largest classes it had sent out, - a day in June, before a distinguished au- dience, just as he was beginning the delivery of his annual address. The Institute is fittingly called his monument. Succeeding him as president, Gen- eral Francis A. Walker has brought the institution by rapid strides to its present unrivalled position.
A most effective group of buildings is that sur- rounding Copley square, with Trinity at the left as the square is entered from Boylston street ; then the Museum of Fine Arts ; the new Public Library, along the Dartmouth-street end; the Old South Church beyond ; and the picturesque line at the left, on Boylston street, from the ivy-clad Chauncey Hall, near the Dartmouth-street corner, and the Second Church and chapel adjoining. The placing of Dallin's equestrian statue of Paul Revere in the middle of the square one day yet to be named, is expected to give the finishing touch to this en- closure.
The Art Museum building now forms an irregu- lar square or quadrangle surrounding an interior court to be laid out as a garden. Ultimately it will cover twice the present area, by successive exten- sions towards the south. The oldest part is that which faces the square : this was completed and opened to the public in 1876. Three years later
the eastern section was completed. The newest part, and the most important, doubling the capacity of the Museum, was finished early in 1890, and opened, after a complete rearrangement of the treasures of the institution, on the 18th of March. Built in the Italian-Gothic style, of red brick, dec- orated with elaborate red and buff terra-cotta de- signs, the exterior of the building is rich and unique. The mouldings, copings, and all the ornamental work were imported from England. The two large reliefs on the Copley-square façade represent, that at the extreme right of the entrance "The Genius of Art," and that at the left " Art and Industry " united. Among the figures in the " Genius of Art," representing the nations paying tribute to Art, America is personified by a female figure holding in her hand Powers' "Greek Slave." Art and In- dustry are personified by figures in relief. The heads in the roundels are of artists of distinction and of patrons of art, the representative Americans being Copley, Crawford, and Allston. The project- ing portico, enriched with polished marble columns, at the main entrance to the building, adds to the effectiveness of the façade. The newest part con- sists of the two parallel wings extending southward from the Copley-square front and connected by a corridor 24 feet wide and 210 feet long at their 'southern extremities. This part covers about 12,000 square feet, and cost about $220,000. The plans were prepared by the late John H. Sturgis, and developed by his successors, Sturgis & Cabot. Al- though but about twenty-one years old (organized in 1870), the Museum now ranks among the most im- portant in the world. It contains the best Japanese art exhibit, and is the third in rank in casts of classic sculpture.
The first floor of the Museum is entirely devoted. to the department of antiquities and casts, under the direction of Edward Robinson, which occupies six- teen rooms and galleries. At the right of the Copley-square entrance are, first, the Assyrian and Egyptian rooms. A large portion of the exhibits in the latter are antiquities of great value, dating as far back as 4,000 years B.C. The nucleus for this department was the C. Granville Way collection, given to the Museum in 1872 ; later it was strongly enforced by the acquisition of sculpture collected by the late John Lowell, and more recently still further enriched by the colossal fragments given by the Egyptian Exploration Fund. The " Archaic Greek Room " adjoining is devoted exclusively to casts of Assyrian and Egyptian antiquities : next are the two " pre-Phidian " rooms, containing examples of early Greek art ; then another room, filled with antique
Professor Rogers retired from the office of President in 1970, when he was succeeded by Professor John D. Runkle ; but in 1; he was reappointed to the position. He died in June, PS2.
1 2 -
1
----
-
:
61
BOSTON OF TO-DAY.
busts and portrait statues ; and beyond this the large hall, nearly square, called the " Parthenon Room," in which are displayed reproductions of the bas-reliefs from the frieze and fragments of the sculptures of the pediments of the Parthenon. Passing into the south wing we come to the mag- nificent gallery in which are displayed the many examples of the best Greek sculpture of the post- Phidian period ; and from this, in the east wing, opens the other large and lofty hall, containing the splendid collection of Greek architectural frag- ments. Then in order are the small rooms, con- taining numerous casts of Gothic and Moorish work, mostly architectural details ; the three rooms devoted to original Greek and Roman antiquities ; that con- taining casts of works of the Italian Renaissance ; and the two rooms designed for the display of French, German, English, and other modern sculptures.
On the second floor are the picture-galleries and the display of Japanese art. Starting at the left of the hall, instead of at the right as on the floor below, the five galleries of oil paintings extend in a suite to and along the eastern section of the quadrangle. The collection in the First Gallery is a rich array of paintings of the various schools, Turner's "Slave Ship," lent by Mr. Sturgis Lothrop, and Paul Vero- nese's " Marriage of St. Catherine," lent by Mr. Quincy Shaw, occupying the midde on either side. The Second Gallery, formerly the " Allston Room," is now devoted to representative works of the early American painters. Those of Copley, Allston, and Stuart are most effectively grouped on three of the walls, and the rest of the space is filled by paint- ings by Trumbull, Page, Newton, Smibert, Peale, Healy, Alexander, and Ames. The collection in the Third Gallery, now known as the " Dutch Room," for some years especially noteworthy, has been per- manently strengthened by the addition of the ten pictures from the San Donato collection, which be- came the property of the Museum in 1889 ; the Fourth Gallery is the " French Room, " and the Fifth is largely devoted to works of modern Ameri- can painters, with a sprinkling of French pictures crowded out of the French Room. Here are repre- sented William M. Hunt, his " Niagara " and the " Girl at the Fountain " conspicuous in the collec- tion ; George Fuller, Elihu Vedder, Abbott Thayer, William Lafarge, Foxcroft Cole, Thomas Robinson, John B. Johnson, George Inness, S. S. Tuckerman, F. P. Vinton, Charles Sprague Pearce, Frank Hill Smith, J. J. Enneking, Louis Ritter, I. M. Gangen- gigl, Mrs. Sarah Whitman, and others. In the water-color gallery, adjoining, the interesting work
shown is mostly by local artists. Connecting with this room are the cabinets devoted to engravings.
Passing from the Fifth Gallery into the long cor- ridor of the south section of the building, the Fenellosa collection of several hundred scroll paint- ings from Japan (the gift of Dr. Charles G. Well) is seen hung on the walls; and in cases near the windows is Professor E. S. Morse's famous and un- equalled collection of Japanese pottery, containing nearly 4,000 pieces, good examples of every province where pottery is or has been made, of every maker's " mark, " and of the early and late styles of each maker. This has now become the property of the Museum through purchase. Turning into the Dart- mouth-street section the great room is reached in which is displayed Dr. W. Sturgis Bigelow's magnifi- cent Oriental art collection, composed of Japanese lacquers, curios, bronzes, swords, and sword-guards, wood carvings of various sizes, silk dresses and silks, and other interesting objects. The curious collec- tion of coins and electrotype reproduction of coins is displayed in the room adjoining ; and in the next the metal-work, an imposing array of brass, copper, iron, gold, silver, and bronze objects. In the large West Room, where now only pottery and porcelain are displayed, are rare examples of the fictile art from early times to the present ; and most interesting is. the collection of tapestries and embroideries in the " Gallery of Textiles," the work in the Lawrence Room, and in the Wood Carving Room."
The quarters of the School of Drawing and Paint- ing are on the third floor in the Dartmouth-street wing, and in the basement are the library and read- ing-room adjoining for the use of students, and the offices of the curator, Charles G. Loring, and his assistants. The Museum is open to the public every day, on Sundays free. The corporation is administered by a board of trustees, upon which are represented the Boston Athenaeum, the Institute of Technology, and Harvard University ; also ex officiis the mayor of the city, the superintendent of the public schools, a trustee of the Lowell Institute, the chairman of the trustees of the Public Library, and the secretary of the State Board of Education.
In the great Public Library building the city pos- sesses the monumental edifice which it was the desire and aim of those charged with the work of construction to produce. It is at once a thoroughly finished building, fashioned after the best models, and an architectural ornament upon the possession of which the people, whose property it is, may well felicitate themselves. A great structure, in the style of the Italian Renaissance, quadrangular in shape, facing three streets, and surrounding a court,
-
---
..--
- ---
- -
62
BOSTON OF TO-DAY.
covering with its broad platform, and exclusive of the court, an acre and a half of ground, - it is de- signed with such skill and taste that the effect of the whole is one of dignity and stateliness. The chief architectural merit of the work consists in its elegant proportions and the purity of its style. The mate- rial used in its walls is granite quarried in Milford, Mass., having a slight pink tinge which gives it a peculiar warmth lacking in most granites; and the roof is of brown Spanish tiles. The masonry is laid with rustic joints, and the ornamentation of the exterior, as is always the case in this style of archi- tecture, is very reserved in the lower part of the building, becoming more elaborate as it approaches the roof. The string course, for instance, is much enriched by a single band of carving, while the cornice is an elaborately designed feature. The windows below the string course are square-topped, of large size, affording ample light for the working- rooms of the library. Above the string course great arched windows run around the three sides of the building, giving the effect of a magnificent arcade supporting the heavy projecting cornice. The same scheme is carried out in brick lines around the court. The main entrance in the middle of the Copley-square front, topped with a round arch over which is the great medallion of the seal of the library, by Augustus St. Gaudens, is ap-' proached by the broad easy steps from the sidewalk, and is eventually to be set off with magnificent sculptures. About the doorways is some beautiful carving, the work of John Evans, a Boston carver ; and the vestibule of solid blocks of pink Knoxville marble, paved with the same material inlaid with rich Levanto marble, harmonizes well with the stone at the entrance. From the vestibule an unob- structed view of the entrance hall and the grand staircase is had. The great feature of this hall is its high, vaulted ceiling of rich mosaic work of colored marble most artistically blended. Into this the
names of men identified with Boston who have been eminent in letters, art, science, law, and public work are wrought. The first group on the right embraces those of the great anti-slavery leaders and philanthropists, such as Sumner, Phillips, Gar- rison, and Mann. Next is a group famous in science, such as Gray, Agassiz, Bowditch, and Rumford. Then a cluster of names famous in art and architecture, - Copley, Stuart, Allston, and Bulfinch ; on the left, as the hall is entered, those of the historians Motley, Prescott, and Bancroft ; then eminent names in law, - Story, Shaw, Webster, and Choate ; next to the grand staircase those of the preachers and moral leaders, - Eliot and Mather,
Channing and Parker ; and on each side of the cen- tral arch those of authors, philosophers, mathemati- cians, and statesmen, such as Longfellow, Hawthorne, Adams, Peirce, Emerson, and Franklin. The floor of this great entrance-hall, like that of the vestibule, is in white and Breccia marbles, but further enriched by brass inlay. The first inlay is an inscription giving the dates of the foundation of the library and of the erection of the present building, encircled by a wreath ; and at either corner of the square in which it is placed are crossed torches, with the flame bright and vigorous, signifying the purpose for which the library was established and the building erected. The design in the middle of the floor is composed of the library seal, with the signs of the zodiac, each in its own square of marble ; and that at the foot of the grand stairway is a wreath of laurel enclosing the names of the generous bene- factors or promoters of the Library, - Bates, Vattemare, Everett, Quincy, Bigelow, Winthrop, and Jewett. On either side, guarding the stairs, are the great marble lions by Louis St. Gaudens, memorial gifts of the Second and Twentieth Regi- ments, Massachusetts Volunteers; and over the stairway springs a great arch of Echaillon and Siena marbles. The broad stairs, themselves of Echaillon marble, with the side walls of Siena, constitute a most impressive feature. The great Bates Hall, on the second floor, extending entirely across the Copley-square front, is a magnificent piece of architectural work, with its lofty barrel- vault ceiling, giving fine wall and ceiling surface for decoration. Upon the decorative work of the in- terior of the delivery-room, illustrating the search after the Holy Grail, or the beginning of modern literature, the skill of Edwin A. Abbey has been employed ; John S. Sargent's contribution is a great mural painting, " The Dawn of Christianity," as re- vealed in the Old and New Testament, which will find a place at either end of the great staircase-hall on the special library floor. Some idea of the ex- tent of the new building can be gathered from these figures : the superficial area of the flooring is 4 acres ; the stacks are built to hold 20 miles of shelving, and can be greatly increased as more room is needed. The old library building on Boylston street was built to accommodate 220,000 books, and afforded 6,868 square feet of room for students and readers ; the new building is built to contain 2,000,- ooo volumes, with 32,900 square feet for students and readers. The total cost of the new building is estimated at $2,218,365 ; the old building cost. when completed in 1858, six years after the library was formally established, $365,000. At that time
-
...
От. 20 50100%
NEW PUBLIC LIBRARY.
.
.
64
BOSTON OF TO-DAY.
the library contained about 70,000 volumes ; in 1891 it numbered 557,810 volumes. The new building is fire-proof. The old building has long been overcrowded, and the various special libraries, the Barton, Bowditch, Prince, Ticknor, Parker, and others, were not easily accessible ; in the new build- ing, separate rooms are provided for these collec- tions.
The Harvard Medical School building, on Boyl- ston street, next beyond the new Public Library, and occupying the large lot between that and Exeter street, is an imposing pile, with effective exterior and admirably arranged interior. Its brick walls are relieved by the red sandstone mouldings and lintels with the decorative panels of terra-cotta ; and the flat roof covering its four stories is finished by a sky-line of stone balustrades and low gables. The main front has three .pavilions, of which the central is slightly recessed. The principal en- trance, by portico and steps, opens into a great waiting-hall, divided into two parts by an arcade of arches supported by polished granite columns. That part towards the rear is the staircase hall, from which iron stairs extend to the top of the building. The principal rooms on the first floor are the faculty-room, the library, lecture-room, and a read- ing or study room, with the luxury of a smoking- room adjoining. In the second story is the great laboratory for general chemistry, and half stories connected with it subdivided for special laboratory service and study ; the physiological laboratory, with connecting rooms and private laboratories for the professor and his assistants; and the general lecture-room, a great hall with sloping ranges of seats for the students, and an ample experimental table and hoods. In the rear is the large prepara- tion-room, reached by private stairs and passages, for the use of the professors. On the third story at the front is the valuable Museum of Comparative Anatomy, the original collection of which was given by Dr. John Collins Warren ; and in the south-east corner, the anatomical theatre, occupying the height of two full stories. Subordinate lecture and recita- tion rooms occupy the western third of this story. In the upper story are the laboratories of the patho- logical department, and for anatomical study, a smaller theatre for anatomical demonstration, and rooms for special investigations and experiments. Ample provision is made for ventilation and for the escape of chemical fumes from the hoods in the various laboratories. The flat roof is conveniently designed for certain out-door experiments. The structure is practically fire-proof throughout. It cost a quarter of a million dollar, and this was
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.