USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Cambridge > History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1913 > Part 19
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THE CITY
ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL.
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A HISTORY OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
and to make us at home among them; and my home is still among them, on this side and on that side of the line between the living and the dead, which invisibly passes through all the streets of the cities of men."
Some of these "kindly, gifted folk" have already been described. The others are equally worthy of remembrance, for they made that Cambridge atmosphere that Howells enjoyed. Never was man more fitly named. "for no man ever kept here more perfectly and purely the heart of such as the Kingdom of Heaven is of," than Francis J. Child. His outward appear- ance, too, expressed the inner man as happily as his name. He was short of stature and round of body so that the students affectionately called him "Stubby." His eyes looked through his gold spectaeles with naive simplieity and directness, his thick sunny hair, which never grew gray, curled tightly over his head. His smile was infectious, and his face bore the brightness of inextinguishable youth. With playful humor and profound scholarship he taught the English language and literature and was the world's first expert in the study of English and Scottish balladry. He was a poet in nature, and he wrought with passion as well as knowledge in the achievement of as monu- mental a task as any American has performed. But he might have been less intellectually keen, and yet been precious to those who knew him for the gentleness and the goodness which in him were protected from misconception by a dignity as delicate and a reserve as inviolable as that of Longfellow himself. "He was," wrote Mr. Howells, "most amusingly dramatic in reproducing the consciousness of certain in- effectual alumni who used to overwhelm him at Commencement solemnities with some such pompous acknowledgment as, "Professor Child, all that I have become, sir, I owe to your influ- ence in my college career." He did, with deli- cious mockery, the old-fashioned intellectual poseurs among the students, who used to walk the groves of Harvard with bent head, and the left arm crossingi the back, while the other lodged its hand in the breast of the high-but- toned frock-coat; and I could fancy that his classes did not form the sunniest exposure for young folly and vanity."
John Fiske made Cambridge his home not
only because he had learned to love the town during his college years, but also because he found it the most congenial place for his literary work, and because there he found access to two of the largest libraries in America and many smaller special collections. A residence in Cambridge kept him also in neighborly relations with his publishers and in immediate connections with the printers of his books. As Mr. Fiske's house on Berkeley Street was the resort of those who loved to discourse of history and philosophy and the arts, so the house of Charles Deane on Sparks Street gathered people from all over the world who were interested in matters of genea- logical and antiquarian research. He, and later his own neighbor. Justin Winsor, the libra- rian of the University, were our foremost author- ities on the sources of American history and the maps and pictures, the family records, the original manuscripts and letters, which illustrate it.
Henry James, ranked by no less a critic than Tolstoi as the keenest and most enlightening of American philosophers, lived on Quincy Street in the house now occupied by the Colonial Club, and his two sons have won an even larger fame, William as the foremost of American psychologists, and Henry as a novelist and man of letters. Horace E. Scudder lived on Buck- ingham Street and thence sent out his famous books for children. John Bartlett built a house on Brattle Street just above the Lee house. His indispensable "Familiar Quota- tions" made his name a household word in many American families. Admiral Charles H. Davis and later Colonel Theodore A. Dodge lived in the house on Quincy Street at the corner of Broadway. There Colonel Dodge wrote his treatises on the art of war and the story of many a campaign of the Civil War, and Admiral Davis there prepared the scientific papers that made his name as well known in the world of higher mathematics as in the naval history of the Civil War.
Then there was Joseph E. Worcester, the busy compiler of the great dictionary; William J. Rolfe, the erudite and genial Shakespearean scholar; William W. Newell, the foremost American authority on folk-lore; Alexander V. G. Allen, the biographer of Phillips Brooks and the historian of the "Continuity of Christian
THE CITY
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First Baptist
First Parish Unitariano
First Universalist
old Cambridge Baptist
St.James Church"
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A HISTORY OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
Thought;" and Frank Bolles, who relieved his arduous and remarkable work at the College office by excursions into the country round about Cambridge and into the New Hampshire woods and hills. He was one of the lovers of wild life, whose books have opened the eyes and enriched the lives of our generation.
It is of course the presence of the University that accounts for the Cambridge residence of such scientific leaders as the great geologist, Josiah D. Whitney, the Sturgis Hooper Pro- fessor of Geology, long the head of the United States Geological Survey; of Josiah P. Cooke, the Erving Professor of Chemistry and one of the pioneers of chemical research in this country; of Joseph Lovering, the Hollis Professor of Physics, whose lectures were dominated by a philosophy which kept them free of narrowness or technicality; and Nathanael S. Shaler, the inspiring teacher of ardent nature and remark- ably varied gifts of mind and heart. The Law School brought to Cambridge such famous teachers of the law as Theophilus Parsons, Emory Washburn, who also served as Governor of the Commonwealth; Christopher C. Langdell, who revolutionized the teaching of the law in this country; and his distinguished colleagues, James B. Thayer and James B. Ames. The Divinity School brought to Cambridge such scholars as Charles Carroll Everett, a theologian of exquisitely-balanced mind, keen insight and liberal spirit; Ezra Abbott, the most learned and kindly of Biblical critics, a well-remembered Cambridge figure, "alert, nervous and almost furtively shy, skimming along the walk, his eyes bent on his book, which he read as he walked; the deadly foe of error on the printed page, his own work as faultlessly accurate as his handwriting was unmistakably legible;" and his successor, Joseph Henry Thayer, the editor of the monumental dictionary of the New Testament Greek and the American member of the distinguished company that prepared and published the Revised Version of the Bible. Finally, we should recall the courtly presence of Charles Folsom, who, wrote Mr. Scudder, "well deserved the English title of corrector of the press, but whose chastening for the time seemed scarcely joyous to the printer as he waited impatiently for the proof-sheets which Mr. Folsom carried around in his pocket till he
could, after long search in the libraries of the neighborhood, relieve them of possible errors of statement. Of the same indefatigable temper in exorcising the black art was George Nichols, for whose aid Lowell stipulated when he under- took to edit The Atlantic Monthly. It would be hard to overestimate the value of these two subterranean builders of literature. Their own craft recognized their power; every author whose books passed through their hands blessed them, with occasional lapses, and the reputation which the great printing-offices of Cambridge enjoy is due largely to the standard which these men raised, and to the traditions which they estab- lished."
These are a few of the names among the dead that give distinction to modern Cambridge as a literary center. It would be invidious to dis- tinguish among the living, nor is it prudent, for though some names could be mentioned that may safely now be added to the roll of honor in American letters, who knows what names there are which need but a little more time to carry them into higher niches than now are occupied? The alcove in the Cambridge library which holds the books of Cambridge authors is but a beginning of a literary treasure-house, for there is a contagion of literature, and though Cambridge becomes more urban with each decade, there is that about a bookish community which stimulates literary endeavor. To prove that traditions are well maintained let it suffice to mention the names of Charles W. Eliot, George H. Palmer and Josiah Royce, the phi- losophers; of Edward Channing and Albert B. Hart, the American historians; of William R. Thayer, the biographer of Cavour and the historian of Italy; of preachers and essayists like Samuel M. Crothers, John O'Brien, George Hodges and Michael J. Doody; of writers on social ethics like Francis G. Peabody and John Graham Brooks; of interpreters one to the other of Germany and America like Kuno Francke and Hugo Munsterberg; of critics and inspirers of the literary art like Bliss Perry and George P. Baker; of economists like Frank W. Taussig; of educational guides and prophets like LeBaron R. Briggs; of leaders in the world of science like John Trowbridge and William M. Davis and Theodore W. Richards; of poets like Jeannette Peabody Marks.
THE CITY
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Litt
AVON HOME, 309 MT. AUBURN STREET Home for Destitute Children
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A HISTORY OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
It is true of Cambridge as Emerson said of Boston: "It is not an accident, nor a windmill, or a railroad station, or a cross-roads tavern, or an army barracks grown up by time and luck to a place of wealth; but a seat of humanity,
of men of principle, obeying a sentiment and marching loyally whither that should lead them; so that its annals are great historical lines, inextricably national, parts of the history of political liberty."
THE NEW LECTURE HALL HARVARD UNIVERSITY
THE HEMENWAY GYMNASIUM
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CAMBRIDGE HOME FOR AGED PEOPLE
XI THE OUTLOOK
C AMBRIDGE has not the natural attrac- tions of many of the other towns and cities of the Metropolitan district. Its territory is comparatively flat and in natural beauty it is inferior to the varied charm of Winchester, Medford or Milton. The Cam- bridge streets cannot be compared with those of Brookline, nor the houses with those which cluster on the hillsides overlooking the Chestnut Hill reservoir. What is it that gives Cambridge her prestige? Is it not such institutions, such events, such lives, as those that are recorded in this book? It is the human element in the landscape that gives it its charm. The town where the first college in the land was planted, where the first church council was held, where the first printing - press was set up and the first book printed; the dwelling- place of the Puritan leaders in Church and State, the scene of many of the noteworthy events in the colonial history of New England; the point where the British soldiers began their march to Lexing- ton at the opening of the Revolution; the soil on which occurred some of the hardest fighting of that eventful day; the gathering-place and headquarters of the patriot army during the siege of Boston; the point of departure for the epoch-making battle of Bunker Hill; the place where Washington took command of the American army; the sender-forth of the
first company to be received into the service of the nation in its struggle to destroy slavery and keep the Union whole; an intellectual center unequaled on the hither side of the Atlantic; the home of three of our most famous poets, and the place where so many renowned scholars and men of letters have done their work; a community always plain, simple and democratic in its social habits and believing in intelligence and character above all other things,-it is obvious that Cambridge is a place of which its citizens may well be proud.
It is not the part of an historian to also play the prophet, but the record of Cambridge is not yet ended, and it may be possible at the close of this review of an honor- able past, to point out some of the immediate needs and obligations or the pos- sible future perils of the community. For most people the next thing is more interesting than the last thing. What we want is more fascinating than what we have.
CHARLES RIVER ROAD
Civic pride is a quick soil in which to grow civic patriotism. When men glory in the his- tory of their city, in its beauty, its influence, its famous men and great institutions, it is comparatively easy to inspire sacrifice in order to render the present worthy of so great a past. The great classic centers of civilization and the free cities of the Middle Ages could command the enthusiastic devotion of their people, who
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THE OUTLOOK
were proud of their citizenship. Most Ameri- can cities exist under radically different con- ditions. Their past is not old enough to be overgrown and beautified by legend and ro- mance as ancient castles are with ivy. There is no twilight to stimulate the imagination. There is as little in their past to gratify men's love of the heroic as there is in their present to satisfy the sense of the beautiful. Cambridge is exceptionally fortunate in this respect. But like all Americans its people look forward more readily than backward. It is not simply be- cause of the heroic generations which have gone, but because of those which are to come, that Cambridge appeals to the imagination. The future is more roomy than the past, and we may bave part in its history, for it is even now in the making.
Americans are free to have the kind of civic de- velopment and administration they want. They get the kind of government which they deserve to get. In no other civilized country is municipal gov- ernment so com- pletely within the control of public opinion. Everywhere else there are deeply- rooted habits, long-established customs, much- respected vested rights and cherished prejudices to be dealt with, before any satisfactory frame- work of city government can be set up. In America the situation is absolutely controlled by popular sentiment. There is comparatively white paper to write on. Our cities, therefore, might easily have been made the model cities of the modern world. It is America which ought to have shown the Old World how to live comfortably in great masses in one place. We have no city walls to pull down, or ghettos to clear out, or guilds to buy up, or privileges to extinguish. We have simply to provide, in our own way, according to the latest experience in
WELLINGTON SCHOOL
business, art and science, the facilities, comforts and conditions which will enable large bodies of free men to live contentedly together within a certain more or less artificially restricted area.
The problems of transportation, light, water, fire and police protection, health, education, recreation, are all fundamental to city life. These services are the life-blood of the com- munity. The law recognizes the rights of individuals to control many of these enter- prises, but humanity is more important than private gain. The citizens of Cambridge must increasingly give attention to the things that are beyond the immediate necessities of today and plan their city so as to destroy what is ugly, promote what is beautiful, protect the poor, educate the chil- dren and upbuild the convenience and well-being of the entire com- munity. In Cam- bridge, as in most American cities, there is a com- plicated division of responsibility about these mat- ters. The munici- pality is almost solely responsible for the assessing and collection of taxes, for the care of the streets, side- walks, bridges and public buildings, for the supervision of elections and the registry of voters, for fire and police protection, for the supply of water, for the sewers and drains, and for various minor services of a public nature such as the collection of ashes and garbage, the inspection of milk and other foods, the issuing of licenses and the verification of weights and measures. The city is primarily responsible for the care of the public health, for the educa- tion of the children, for providing parks, play- grounds and opportunities for recreation, for the relief of the destitute and for the mainte- nance of cemeteries; but in all these functions the public agencies have the aid of many private institutions and volunteer organizations. Trans-
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A HISTORY OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
portation facilities, lighting, telephone and tele- graph service, and all building operations are in Cambridge carried on by private corpora- tions or individuals under more or less municipal supervision or restraint.
The administration of the city is vested in a mayor and a city council consisting of a Board of Aldermen of eleven members and a common council of twenty-two members. The schools are in charge of a special school committee of five members. The various functions of the city govern- ment indicated by the names of the different depart ments : Executive, City Clerk, Treasury, Auditing, Mes- senger, Law, Engineering, Fire, Inspection of Buildings, Health, Police, Street, Asses- sors, Electrical, Inspection of Animals, Bridge, School, Ceme- tery, Public Library, Water Works, Park, Registry of Votes, Over- seers of the Poor, Sinking Fund, Soldier's Aid, and various special trusts or inspectorships. This list indicates not only the variety of the functions discharged by the municipality, but also by its omissions it reveals how many public needs are still left to be met by private initiative.
As Cambridge has become more densely populated, all the problems of administration multiply in number and complexity. A mis- take is further reaching; it has a longer leverage; and as efficient government grows more essen- tial it becomes increasingly difficult. To ad- minister the affairs of a village of a thousand
inhabitants requires only ordinary intelligence and integrity, but the government of a city of a hundred thousand people demands expert knowledge, ability and character of the highest order. Cambridge has almost always been able to command the services of high-minded men to serve the public interests and there is a well-established tradition of efficiency in most of the city departments.
The street plan of Cambridge grew naturally and followed the lines of public convenience. It escaped the miserable check- erboard plan of so many unfor- tunate Ameri- can cities. The main arteries radiate from the principal bridges and while rea- sonably direct are by no means monotonous. The curves of Brattle Street following the original lines of the river and the marsh are pecu- liarly charming. Massachusetts Avenue turns not infrequently and opens op- portunities for vistas and for the location of handsome buildings denied
WARE STREET
to a perfectly straight street.
Cambridge is also fortunate in the charac- teristic names of many of its streets. The hopeless prosaic system of numerical or alpha- betical names has been completely avoided. The local color has been preserved. Many of the street names, as we saw in the opening chapter of this book, preserve the local history and traditions, remind us of the men and women of distinction who have lived in Cambridge and record the community's interests and admira-
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THE OUTLOOK
tions. It would be a good plan if simple and permanent tablets setting forth briefly the careers of the men for whom the streets are named could be placed at the corners of many of the streets.
There is, however, a present peril which should be promptly met. In the newer parts of the city real estate speculators are laying out new streets without any regard to beauty or right adjustment to the neighboring streets. Patchwork improvements which disregard the plan of adjacent districts will soon disfigure what might be a well-designed and interrelated street design. The city needs to take such situations in hand and to avoid the oversights and mistakes that will follow inaction. The Engineering De- partment should forestall the action of private owners and adopt a com- prehensive plan for new streets. It is increasingly difficult to remedy a bad plan after it has once been adopted.
American cities have expended a great deal of energy and money in curing the mis- takes of the past. They need to give more attention to preventing the unnecessary repetition of the same evils. The future should not be taken at haphazard. Too often the municipality is listless or inert. Railroad approaches must be made right; grade crossings eliminated; adequate highway lines established; public buildings conveniently grouped; open spaces secured. In order to do this it is indispensable to recognize the value of expert judgment. "The people," said John Stuart Mill, "should be masters employing servants more skilful than themselves."
ยท The main highways of Cambridge are subject to unusually severe treatment. They must carry not only the largest traffic of the city
HARVARD SCHOOL
itself, but an enormous amount of traffic which simply passes through the city. Automobiles, trucks, market wagons, expresses and pleasure vehicles of all kinds use the Cambridge streets in passage to and fro between Boston and the towns and cities lying to the west and north. The towns that are thus accommodated pay nothing toward the maintenance of the Cam- bridge pavements and bridges and the wear and tear is excessive. The best and most expensive pavements must be used in Cambridge if its streets are to be kept in decent order, and these pavements must be constantly kept in repair and thoroughly cleaned. In 1911 a special commission made a comprehensive report to the City Government and laid out a plan of action for ten years ahead.
The report of the Commission recommends the construction in the near future of a much larger pro- portion of durable pavements than have been previ- ously provided and the provision of several well- paved parallel thoroughfares. It recommends the prompt and thor- ough repair of defects in the street service and the strict supervision of the excavation and refilling of trenches. It advo- cates systematic, frequent and thorough clean- ing of the streets and the adoption and efficient execution of scientific methods of dust laying. The adoption of these recommendations will add greatly to the comfort of the people.
The schools have always been the special pride of the city. A complete course of edu- cation is provided from the Kindergarten up to the High and Latin Schools. There is a school for training teachers, a famous manual training school, and thirty-one grammar and primary schools. The buildings are for the most part modern and satisfactory in regard
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A HISTORY OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
to lighting, ventilation and safety from fire. ladder companies. There is a force of ninety- Some of the old buildings need more or less two permanent men and forty-six call men. reconstruction. A few of the buildings are In the Police Department there is also a grati- fying condition. Cambridge maintains a larger police force than almost any other city of its size in the country, not because it is conspicuous for crime, but because it believes in adequate protection. The Department consists of a chief, four captains, four inspectors, eight lieutenants, twelve sergeants, one hundred and two patrol- men, twenty-two reserve patrolmen, eight wagon and ambulance drivers and two matrons. without proper yards, but in the majority of cases there is ample room for the play and physical development of the children. The school buildings should be further used as social centers, and as soon as financial arrangements can be made the facilities the buildings offer can be more largely utilized in the evenings. By arrangement with Harvard College, free tuition in their freshman year is offered to Cambridge boys from the High and Latin School whose parents
E
HOUGHTON SCHOOL
cannot afford to pay their expenses in college; and the university athletic fields are as far as possible offered as playgrounds for Cambridge children in summer. The policy of the School Board has been almost always broad-minded and far-sighted and devoted to the welfare of the children.
The public library is an important factor in the educational life of the community. It co-operates closely with the schools, maintains traveling libraries and deposit stations in differ- ent parts of the city, and substantial branches in East Cambridge and in North Cambridge. The total number of books is a little less than one hundred thousand, and the circulation is more than three times that number.
The fire fighting force of the city is adequate and competent. The Department as now organized consists of seven steam engine com- panies, four chemical engine companies and four
In health statistics Cambridge ranks among the highest of American cities. The Water Department has always been ably administered and the water supply is pure and wholesome. The record of Cambridge brings additional testimony to the fact that even in a densely settled community urban conditions are usually better for health than country conditions. Cam- bridge has an entirely satisfactory system of sewerage. It maintains a hospital for contagious diseases and a special tuberculosis hospital. The Cambridge Hospital with its contagious wards and the Stillman Infirmary of Harvard College are under private control, but available for the use of many citizens. The District Nursing Association is another private corpora- tion which greatly aids in preserving the high standards of health and promoting sanitation.
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