USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Melrose > Melrose, Massachusetts, 1900-1950; commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the town of Melrose and the fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the city of Melrose > Part 8
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JAPANESE NAVAL BANNER PRESENTED TO MELROSE HIGH SCHOOL BY REAR ADMIRAL FORREST SHERMAN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THE ARTISTS
In Melrose, the emphasis has been upon music rather than upon the other arts, and not without considerable native talent. The first musical organization in the City was the MELROSE MUS- ICAL ASSOCIATION, organized soon after Melrose became a separate town, under the leadership of Henry E. Trowbridge, with Andrew J. Morse as president. This organization flourished for many years until it died down in 1872. It was revived as the MELROSE CHORAL SOCIETY under the direction of S. B. Whitney, and fur- nished concerts for the Melrose Lyceum in 1893-1895.
The MASONIC CHORUS, led by Sidney Howe, had been meet- ing at the home of William A. Waterhouse on Youle Street, the Master of Wyoming Lodge, and at the Melrose Club in 1890- 1891. On October 19, 1892 they organized a larger group which they named the AMPHION CLUB OF MELROSE, with Thomas L. Cushman, then conducting the Orpheus Club in Springfield, as chairman of the voice committee, and Ephraim Cutter, Jr., as conductor, with sixty singing members, later increased toeighty, and two hundred associate members. On August 10, 1894, the Amphion Club was incorporated, with Charles C. Barry as presi- dent, William A. Waterhouse, vice-president and Sidney Howe as secretary. The first concert was held in the Town Hall on Feb- ruary 2, 1893 with forty-six singing members. The concerts were continued in the City Hall until December 5, 1912, when they moved to Memorial Hall. Concerts were also held in Symphony Hall in Boston, and in other adjoining cities.
Ephraim Cutter remained as conductor for twenty-four years, when failing eyesight forced him to give up his position on Novem- ber 23, 1916. At the following concert on February 8, 1917, at which Arthur B. Keene of Lynn was conductor, Mr. Cutter was invited to conduct his own composition entitled "Farewell" at the end of the concert, after which, amid great enthusiasm, he was presented with a gold watch by the President, Franklin P. Shumway. At his funeral in April 1923 at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. J. Frank Wellman on Franklin Street, a large delegation from the Club attended and sang his "Farewell." It was sung again as a memorial to him at the next public concert.
Elmer Wilson became conductor on April 15, 1920, and on
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December 4, 1913, Angus Winter became pianist, succeeding Grant Drake who had been pianist from the time of the Club's organization until his retirement on May 1, 1913. About 1930 Mr. Wilson was followed by Professor James R. Houghton, who retired in 1949 with no successor appointed. Dean W. Hanscom was chosen as guest conductor for the autumn concerts in 1949. Mr. Winter as pianist was followed by Robert Ewing and he by Herbert Irvine.
The Amphion Club is a member of the New England Federa- tion of Men's Glee Clubs. In 1949 the president was Philip M. McDaniel, the vice-president Frank J. Adler and the secretary William E. Cragie.
The CHAMINADE CHORAL SOCIETY was organized January 11, 1900 with twenty-five women members and Mrs. Josie B. Tyler as conductor. Its first public concert was given on April 23, 1901. Since World War I it has given no concerts, but continues as a social group, meeting annually at the home of the president, Mrs. Mabel Clark, on Howie Street.
The first MELROSE ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION was organized with ten members under Elmer D. Sherburne, and held its first concert in the City Hall on March 27, 1903, but died out in 1911. The present Melrose Orchestral Association, which had no con- nection with the earlier organization, was organized by Frank B. Gray and Harold A. Sewall and held its first rehearsal in the Young Men's Christian Association hall in September 1918, with thirteen members. The first concert was held in Memorial Hall December 10, 1918 with forty-five members, of which twelve were professional, Wadsworth Provandie as soloist, and Elmer Wilson conductor. The membership increased to seventy-seven.
The Orchestral Association was incorporated October 15, 1919, with Victor A. Friend as president, Leon F. B. Smith, vice- president, Eben M. Taylor, second vice-president, Mrs. Adelaide Vittie, treasurer, Harold A. Sewall, assistant treasurer, and Frank B. Gray, secretary.
Elmer Wilson resigned as conductor in March 1928, and on July 2, 1928, George Brown became conductor. His first concert was on December 11, 1928. Mrs. Irene Taylor was first concert mistress until 1930. The program books since November 1927 have been written by Mr. Sewall. The Association has given several out-of-town concerts, besides those in Melrose, and has also been broadcast on the radio.
The MELROSE CHORAL SOCIETY, organized in 1919 for larger
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group concerts, had a directorate drawn from the Amphion Club, the Orchestral Association and the Chaminade Society, with E. M. Taylor as president and Elmer Wilson as director, but later disbanded.
The BEETHOVEN SOCIETY OF MELROSE was organized October 4, 1927 by Mrs. Constance Bevan Whitcomb, Archibald M. Hume and Mrs. Alice W. Eldridge, with Mrs. Whitcomb as president and Mrs. Eldridge as vice-president. The original thirty-five mem- bers have since increased to fifty, holding monthly meetings between October and May at the members' homes, with one guest night each year. Programs are furnished by the members with occasional guest artists. The president in 1949 was Miss Marjory Berry, with Mrs. Hortense Williams and Mrs. Donna Adler as vice-presidents, and Mrs. Gladys Hawley as secretary.
The MELROSE CITY BAND, organized September 20, 1900 with nineteen members, Elmer O. Goodridge as president and A. M. Quimby as leader, gave its first concert on Melrose Common August 2, 1901. The MELROSE CADET BAND, organized in March 1901, with George H. Glover as leader and twenty-one members, also gave concerts and led in parades. Dow's ORCHESTRA, organ- ized in 1898, with ten members and Richard E. Dow as leader and manager, and TRIPP's ORCHESTRA, with ten members and Harry L. Tripp as leader, have long since disappeared.
Among the individual musical artists in Melrose, the most outstanding is ALICE GERALDINE FARRAR, born in Melrose, Febru- ary 28, 1882, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney D. Farrar, both non-professional singers. She sang at home and in church, and when twelve years of age began regular vocal studies in Boston, later in New York and Washington. After singing in concerts in New York and Washington, and turning down an offer from the Walter Damrosch Opera Company, she sailed with her parents for Europe in 1899, where she studied in Paris and Berlin. At the age of nineteen she made her debut at the Berlin Royal Opera as "Marguerite" on October 15, 1901, and in 1902 began a three year contract to sing in Berlin. She also sang in Paris, Monte Carlo, in Salzburg at the Mozart Festival, in Munich at the Wagner Festival, and in Stockholm in 1904, where she was decorated by King Oscar. In 1906 she returned to the United States and became a member of the Metropolitan Opera Company, mak- ing her American debut November 26, 1906. On January 28, 1908, she gave a concert in the City Hall in Melrose under the auspices of the Highlands Congregational Church, with Grant Drake as
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accompanist and the Adamowski Trio assisting. Many persons from Malden and other cities attended. Following the concert she graciously held a reception for her old friends and acquaintances, with her parents and Mrs. Kate Douglas Wiggin, a personal friend, in the receiving line.
She went to Europe again, but returned in 1914 at the out- break of World War I, and entered the movies in Hollywood in 1915. On February 8, 1916, she married Lou Tellegen, a movie actor, the son of a Greek father and a Dutch mother. Hearing that she planned to visit Melrose to show her husband her home city, Mayor Charles H. Adams planned a public reception for them on March 11, 1919 at Memorial Hall. The schools were let out a half an hour earlier, and a crowd of about four thousand crowded the auditorium. After some delay the couple arrived and were given an address of welcome by the Mayor and two bouquets of roses by the Elks and by the welcoming committee. Mr. and Mrs. Tellegen embraced and kissed, but Mr. Tellegen had no opportunity to see the City.
Miss Farrar retired from the movies in 1920, and from the opera on April 22, 1922. Her mother died in 1923, and she was divorced from her husband shortly afterwards. She retired from the concert stage at Carnegie Hall in New York on November 22, 1931. Her home is in Ridgefield, Connecticut.
ELENA KIRMES, the daughter of Victor C. Kirmes, the City Clerk, after three years in Europe, where she sang at La Scala in Milan and San Carlo in Naples, returned home in October 1909 and made her American debut at the Boston Opera House on December 4, 1909, as "Santuzza" in "Cavalleria Rusticana." A large number of Melrose friends were present and she received flowers from the Horace Mann School and congratulations from Geraldine Farrar. In 1915 she was with the Mancii Italian Opera Company touring South American cities.
LOUISE ESTELE BERNHARDT, the daughter of William L. Bern- hardt of East Wyoming Avenue and a graduate from the Melrose High School, studied in Boston and New York, won the Walter N. Naumberg Musical Foundation competition in 1930, and first prize for contralto in the 1931 contest of the National Federation of Music Clubs, followed by a concert tour, a season with the American Opera Company, and then sang in Boston as a member of the Chicago Opera Company. She gave a recital in Boston on January 10, 1933 as a mezzo-contralto. On March 31, 1933, she married H. Stanley Hillyer of New York and went to live in
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Darien, Connecticut. On April 12, 1940, she gave a recital in Melrose in Memorial Hall.
On December 27, 1912, WADSWORTH PROVANDIE made his debut as a baritone singer in Verdi's "Rigoletto" at the Opera House in Turin. He had been preparing for an operatic career for three years under DeReszke, and later became a teacher of the voice in Boston.
FLORENCE GUPTIL was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and came to Melrose in 1934; was a member of the choir in the Unitarian Church, studied voice 1937-1942 and was chosen from one hundred sixty contestants for membership in the Philadelphia Opera Company; spent two summers in light opera in the Paper- mill Playhouse in Millen, New Jersey. She makes her home in New York, working in concert and light opera.
Among the instrumentalists may be mentioned GEORGE BROWN, cellist and conductor, who was born in Chelsea April 7, 1901, came to Melrose in 1908, graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1922, soloist with the Peoples Sym- phony Orchestra December 9, 1923, conductor of the Harvard University Orchestra in his senior year 1924-1925, and made his professional debut at Jordan Hall on November 10, 1926. He organized the Bach Brandenburg Concert Group in Cambridge, in 1939 was conductor of the Andover Community Orchestra, and later became Assistant Professor of Music in Yale University.
ELLINOR BENEDICT, cellist, was born in Melrose in 1921, graduated from the High School and Radcliffe College, was a pupil of Carl Webster in Boston, awarded first prize by the Massa- chusetts Federation of Music Clubs for the fourth time in June 1938, and a scholarship from the Musical Guild of Boston. She was a soloist in the Pops Concert, a member of the Beethoven Society of Melrose and a soloist with the Orchestral Association.
Mention may also be made of SUSAN B. WELLS, a violinist who maintained the Melrose School of Music on Emerson Street for many years before her death.
MISS FRANCES D. MONT of Cottage Street has maintained a school for instrumental music for a number of years. Although a trumpet player, she organized a trio with Miss Retta Wilson as pianist, Mrs. Marjorie Piper as violinist and herself as cellist.
Among the graphic artists may be mentioned GEORGE F. WING on East Foster Street, who has been teaching drawing and painting in Melrose for over twenty years, with exhibi- tions at the Copley Society and the Library.
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MRS. CORA CUTTER WELLMAN Of Franklin Street, the daughter of Ephraim Cutter, Jr., former conductor of the Amphion Club, has specialized in flowers and still life in oil, and has exhibited at the Copley Society and Boston Art Club.
MISS GERTRUDE G. HUNT of Franklin Street was winner of the Richard Mitton Memorial Medal and a prize in the Jordan Marsh Annual Exhibition of New England Artists with a work in pastel.
CHARLES M. Cox was well known as an amateur painter, and was an organizer of the Boston Businessmen's Art Club.
ARCHIE GITTES, who had studied for some years in Spain, returned to Melrose in 1948, had an exhibition in the Library, and is teaching.
The only organization of the graphic artists in Melrose was the Melrose Art League, which later disbanded. Royal Barry Wills, an architect with a national reputation, was president.
ROYAL BARRY WILLS, born in Melrose August 21, 1895, grad- uated in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology in 1918, and after working with some firms of designing engineers, began as an architect in 1925. He was a winner of a number of architectural prizes in national competitions, wrote several books and articles on architecture and is a member of several architectural societies. His home is on Oakland Street.
In literary work, MRS. NELLIE E. FRIEND, the wife of Victor A. Friend, is the author and publisher of several books, one on advice to parents, three on ideals for youth, and in 1945 she published "The Triumph of Living" which is now selling in its second edition. She has also written a book of essays, "The Tapestry of Eternity." REV. A. WILLARD JACKSON, who spent his later years in Melrose, was the author of several religious books. There is also ELBRIDGE HENRY Goss, who wrote, besides his "History of Melrose," a number of historical studies, includ- ing a "Life of Paul Revere."
The SCRIBBLERS, a social and literary group of ten women, half from Wakefield and half from Melrose, was organized in 1932 for the writing and study of poetry. They meet at members' houses during the winter months.
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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THE MILITARY
Although the Town of Melrose had placed an American Flag Window in the Highlands Baptist Church in 1895 in mem- ory of the soldiers and sailors who had died for their country, nothing had been done toward the erection of a public war memo- rial. In 1896 a committee of the G.A.R. Post was appointed and meetings held to plan for such a memorial, but nothing came of the effort. In 1901 the G.A.R. Post proposed the erection of a Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Wyoming Cemetery, and on August 2, 1902 this monument was dedicated with a public cere- mony, the G.A.R. in charge. It consists of a base of Quincy gran- ite bearing the dates "1861-1865," surmounted by three Parrott Rifle cannons 9.5 feet long, following a design by Virgil W. Fuller.
Following a period of suggestions, a preliminary meeting was held in July 1909 to organize a Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Association in Melrose, and a committee was formed with Charles H. Adams as chairman. On July 17, 1909, Mr. Adams reported that the necessary authority had been obtained from the State House, and a constitution and by-laws were adopted with Levi S. Gould as president.
Plans were drawn, construction arranged, and on Memorial Day, May 30, 1912, the cornerstone of Memorial Hall on Main Street, just north of City Hall, was laid with Masonic ceremony. The G.A.R. Post with their wives, the Mayor and City Govern- ment, the Masons, clergy and Memorial Association officers were given seats of honor.
The same evening, when workers for the Association met to hear that the last $20,000 had been raised, a wild scene of enthu- siasm resulted, with cheering that could be heard in the street outside.
The building was made possible largely through the efforts and generosity of John C. F. Slayton, who contributed over a quarter of the cost, provided the granite from the old Court House in Boston, the interior furnishings, the piano and stage equip- ment. The building committee included, besides Mr. Slayton, Charles M. Cox, Charles Barry, Clarence T. Fernald and Victor A. Friend.
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HONOR ROLL, WORLD WAR II, MAIN STREET
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The front of the building is occupied by a G.A.R. hall and ladies' parlor, with a kitchen and banquet hall, cloak rooms and toilets in the basement, while the back of the building holds an auditorium for eleven hundred persons, equipped for dramatic and concert purposes.
Memorial Hall was dedicated December 14, 1912, by Mayor Charles E. French, Mayor-Elect Oliver B. Munroe, four ex- Mayors, the Aldermen, the building committee and the clergy, with the Fifth Regiment Band furnishing the music. The G.A.R. Post, the Woman's Relief Corps, the Sons of Union Veterans, Daughters of Veterans and Sons of Veterans Auxiliary paraded from their old quarters on Main Street to the new building. Levi S. Gould presided. Memorial Hall is now occupied on occasion by the Sons of American Veterans and its Auxiliary, and by the American Legion and its Auxiliary.
On January 14, 1919, a flag was presented to Memorial Hall by the Melrose Lodge of Elks, which paraded from their Home on Myrtle Street to the Hall, where a large celebration was held. The United States District Attorney, Thomas J. Boynton, was the orator.
On January 22, 1919, John C. F. Slayton presented an organ to Memorial Hall, with an additional $10,000 for upkeep, as a memorial to the men of Melrose serving in World War I. The organ was dedicated November 13, 1919, with a recital by Dr. William C. Macfarlane. The special guests included the G.A.R. Post, service men of World War I, Ex-Governor John L. Bates and the Aldermen. Mayor Charles H. Adams accepted the gift for the people.
On October 29, 1924, the State Inspector of Buildings closed Memorial Hall as dangerous, upsetting a number of scheduled affairs. The rear wall was declared insecure because of a weak foundation, and the organ had been damaged by settling. Repairs were made soon afterwards.
Little public notice seems to have been given the outbreak of World War I, further than some editorial comment in the Free Press on the regrettable carnage. A day of prayer for peace was observed on October 4, 1914, called for by President Wilson. On March 23, 1915, the Melrose Woman's Club organized a peace meeting in Memorial Hall, with an address by Dr. Charles R. Brown of Yale Divinity School.
On March 21, 1916 a meeting of about fifty persons was held in Memorial Hall to consider suggestions for a League to Enforce
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Peace, and a committee was named to organize a mass meeting. This was held on April 4, 1916, with Mayor Charles H. Adams presiding. A number of speakers and a musical program was provided.
The Free Press in April 1916 noted the increasing interest in the Military Training Corps Association, and the recruiting for training in Plattsburg, New York, and also in Navy training.
On June 24, 1916, a meeting was held by Mayor Charles H. Adams in G.A.R. Hall, to organize a committee of finance and relief for the families of the thirty-one Melrose men who had gone to the war in Mexico. This was supported by many organ- izations.
The drift toward war in Europe was recognized by the Free Press on March 9, 1917. On April 1, 1917, a patriotic rally was held in Memorial Hall, crowded as never before, under the aus- pices of Mayor Charles H. Adams, John C. F. Slayton and James W. Maguire of the Committee of Safety. Reserved seats were occupied by the Melrose Military Training School under Captain C. D. Hess, the Richardson Light Guard of Wakefield, and Com- pany C, Massachusetts 6th Regiment, Lieutenant Fred H. Rogers in command. On the stage were seated the G.A.R., Sons of Vet- erans and a division of Boy Scouts. Mr. Adams and Mr. Slayton made patriotic addresses, stressing the serious situation of the country and the necessity for protecting American interests at home and at sea. An editorial in the Free Press noted that "The war is now practically upon us; for how long is an unknown mystery of the future."
In June, 1917, the Home Guard of sixty men was organized as Company E of the 12th Regiment of the Massachusetts State Guard, with Benjamin R. Vaughan as captain, Charles P. Hess as first lieutenant and H. S. Tobey as second lieutenant. At the time of the policemen's strike in Boston, the Home Guard was called out for riot duty from September 10, 1919, to December 21, 1919, and was disbanded the following year.
In August 1917 examinations for the military draft were being held. Camp Greene near Charlotte, North Carolina, was designated for New England troops. Work on surgical dressings began in September 1917 and in October a house to house Liberty Loan drive was made.
Melrose sent twelve automobiles and two truckloads of clothing to the victims of the explosion in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which occurred about the same time.
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In spite of bad weather, a large number of citizens gathered in Memorial Hall and City Hall for the dedication of the City Service Flag on April 21, 1918. Seats were reserved for the G.A.R., Auxiliaries, State Guard, Home Guard and others. Lieutenant- Governor Calvin Coolidge represented Governor McCall, who could not come. There were six hundred twenty-six stars on the flag.
The total enlistment in Melrose included eleven hundred men, of whom thirty-two were killed in service - four yeomen, sixteen nurses and twenty-four Young Men's Christian Associa- tion workers.
The first Melrose man to die in World War I was Arthur Samuel Hunt, son of Mrs. Elizabeth Hunt of 53 Larrabee Street. He had enlisted in Australia and died of wounds October 1, 1917. William Boylen and Harold O. Young were the first Melrose men in the American forces to be killed in the war.
The report of peace was received at 4.00 A.M. on November 10, 1918 and was greeted with great enthusiasm. John F. Keating as president of the Board of Trade was designated chief marshal of the parade and demonstration held at 7.00 P.M. Memorial Hall was packed, and John C. F. Slayton presided, with a number of speakers.
On February 1, 1919, a reception was held for the returning soldiers and sailors at Memorial Hall, with Dr. John Dike pre- siding and giving the first address, followed by Mayor Charles H. Adams and Lieutenant-Governor Channing H. Cox. On March 14, 1919, a Victory Jubilee and a second reception for returning service men was held in Memorial Hall. Then came the problem of finding employment for the returning service men, and a bureau was opened for this purpose in City Hall.
On September 21, 1919 a memorial tablet in honor of the Melrose service men killed in the war, thirty-two in number, was erected on the lawn of Memorial Hall according to a design by Architect Lewis A. Dow. Mayor Charles H. Adams presided, and Major General Clarence R. Edwards, former commander of the 26th Division, made the address. A permanent bronze tablet was unveiled in Grand Army Hall, November 11, 1949.
As in 1914, the United States was slow in getting into World War II in 1939, but on October 16, 1940, two thousand two hun- dred twenty-two men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty- six were registered for selective service, with no refusals as in 1917. John J. Lynch was the first Melrose man drafted.
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The aluminum drive in July 1941 organized by the American Legion Post No. 90 resulted in a total of six thousand three hun- dred eighty pounds, collected by the Boy and Girl Scouts and the Fire Department.
In August 1941, one thousand persons had volunteered for home defense work in Melrose, and on September 8, 1941, the Women's Defense Training School was opened under the leader- ship of Mrs. A. Leslie Brown for training in mobile canteen work, motor corps work, and women air raid wardens.
A test run of the air raid warning signal was made on December 13, 1941 at 1.00 P.M. Blackout signals were organized as required by the Government Executive Order of January 8, 1942. The newly formed Melrose Company M, 23d Infantry, Massachusetts State Guard, special weapons unit with forty- three men and three officers, composed mostly of married men, had their first tour of duty guarding the railroad bridge over the Concord River in January 1942. A blackout test was held in Mel- rose March 10, 1942. War-time rationing of sugar began April 28, 1942, for trade and institutions. Gasoline ration cards were issued May 12 to 14, 1942. On May 15, 1942, a drive for salvage, except paper, was held, and in the following October another drive col- lected three hundred twenty-three tons of scrap. Blood donations, a war bond drive for ten per cent of wages, and a "Write a Letter" campaign for letters to service men were held during the year.
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