USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > Tercentenary history of Newton, 1630-1930 > Part 36
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Merchants were finding it desirable to organize in associations for acquaintance and mutual profit. As early as 1921 a Building Trades Association was formed by one hundred builders and contractors in Newton, Waltham and Needham, who employed thirty-five hundred men. Back in 1913 forty-five business men in the village of New- ton had organized the Newton Business Men's Association to gather and circulate information of mutual use, and to promote the growth of the community. After holding several monthly meetings the Association appointed a committee to report on the advisability of a board of trade
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for the whole city. It was felt that business men every- where in the city would profit from such an association, and the Board of Trade was soon organized with the pur- pose of advancing civic and social as well as economic wel- fare. It was believed that the Board could become a leader for wise community development, and could be a medium for the adjustment of relations between the city, the county and the state.
In 1920 the Board of Trade had two hundred and sixty-four members and published a monthly bulletin, but a year later it seemed best to reorganize as the Newton Chamber of Commerce. Under its new name and with a paid secretary the Chamber brought together its seven- teen hundred members for better acquaintance and coöp- eration and for the enjoyment of an annual outing. It studied municipal needs and expenditures. It aided in the revision of building and traffic codes and in plans for zon- ing ordinances. It gave assistance to home seekers and advised retail business houses which were considering a location in the city. It secured the acceptance of six new streets in a single year. It encouraged the city government to replace worn-out water mains, to improve the fire and police signal systems, and to raise the standing of Newton in these respects as compared with other cities. The New- ton Progress was started as a newspaper organ, but after a few years the paper was sold and continued under private auspices as a community news sheet.
In 1926 the merchants of Newton Corner again organ- ized a local association under the name of the Newton Busi- ness Associates, and a little later the merchants of West Newton formed a similar organization.
It was in accordance with the new spirit of business that service organizations should spring into existence. After prolonged consideration it was decided that a Rotary Club was desirable, and business men who joined it in 1923
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enthusiastically accepted its principles of fair dealing and high standards of service. It held weekly meetings, when the members enjoyed a luncheon together with songs and speeches, welcomed members of other clubs who happened to be in town, and provided a stimulus which lasted until the next meeting. Not to be outdone in this field of asso- ciation a group of men with similar purpose formed a Kiwanis Club for Newton in 1926, opening its member- ship to professional as well as business men whose main interests are in Newton. The national organization was only eleven years old, and its initial enthusiasm still effer- vesced in its new centres. The local Club made the less fortunate children of the community its special care, and in particular built a sun porch to the Peabody Home for Crippled Children at Oak Hill.
Club life in the city had its ups and downs. Some of the older clubs had seen their best days, but there seemed to be room for new organizations from time to time. Coun- try clubs were popular. The Woodland Club completed its large brick building in 1923. It measured one hundred and fifty-two by sixty-two feet, and contained twelve sleeping rooms. The Albemarle Golf Club purchased many more acres to extend its course, raised its membership limit, built a new clubhouse, and was able to invite the cham- pions of the country to play. The Club's four-ball team in 1929 won the championship of the Metropolitan League, and the Club numbered six hundred members. On the extreme south side of the city the new Charles River Coun- try Club secured twenty-three rolling acres, prepared golf grounds and erected a clubhouse. These clubs pro- vided opportunity for social gatherings both large and small. A good feeling of sportsmanship and friendly rivalry existed among the Newton golf clubs, and an informal organization of their officers met occasionally to compare administrative methods. Men were making money fast,
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and even large membership fees did not shut them out from club membership. Women as well as men were specu- lating to improve their fortunes, and the mild dissipation of the clubs was pleasing. The athletic features attracted many, especially of the young people. Recreation moved at a faster pace than formerly. New fashions in amuse- ments kindled excitement. New dances enlivened the assemblies; greater freedom in clothes, bobbed hair, and the latest toilet inventions transformed age into charming youth; jazz music was equally popular at club parties and at Norumbega Park. Moving pictures were being im- proved astonishingly, and furnished nightly entertainment for the rank and file of the people who had no means of initiation into the exclusive clubs. Nothing could keep them from enjoying the same fashions and the same liber- ties. And after the movies, the pianolas, the victrolas and jazz, came the radio to bring into the home almost any kind of musical or histrionic diversion one might wish, until an aerial device loomed above almost every dwelling.
The playgrounds provided the opportunities for ball games and for unorganized play. The Saxony Worsted Company at Nonantum set apart an athletic field on Cali- fornia Street for the benefit of the local youngsters. The Burr playground at Newton was put in good order and gave an outlet for the energies of the boys and girls in that section of the city. The Mayor for several years in his inaugural address urged the extension of some of the smaller playgrounds and it became possible to enlarge them. These open areas provided space for baseball, and the adoption of daylight saving time during the war and after- ward made possible matched games after the day's work was over. A new arrangement was the Newton Twilight League which supplied healthy rivalry among the players. The confinement of the week in business and industry made people prize Saturday afternoons and Sundays for
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recreation, especially in the summer season. The reaction against puritan restrictions long since had broken down conventions and threatened to make old-fashioned laws meaningless. Almost everybody who could took to the motor trails, and club members thronged the golf greens. It seemed only fair that those who could not enjoy these diversions should be permitted their own kinds of sport on Sunday. The demand culminated in legislative action, which empowered local communities to abolish legal restric- tions, and the Newton authorities yielded to the pressure and relaxed the rules.
The Newton High School was winning an enviable reputation in athletics. Coach "Allie" Dickinson seemed to have a knack for training successful teams in baseball or football. Whether in the league of a half dozen suburban high school teams or in the annual keen rivalry with Wal- tham the Newton boys were remarkably successful. After the football championship had been won in the fall of 1921 the coach was lauded at a testimonial banquet. Great was the sorrow when death claimed him a few years later. In March, 1924, Newton High School won the interscholastic hockey championship of the United States and Canada with a score of seven to three against Huntington Academy of Quebec in a game played in the Boston Arena.
The Newton Boat Club reached its fiftieth year of existence with the reputation of being a most exclusive social organization. An honor which came to Newton boating circles was the election of Louis S. Drake as com- modore of the American Canoe Association for 1929-30. It was he who for twenty years was the foremost canoe racer in the country, and was helmsman of the famous Wawbewawa Canoe Club of Newton. Other organized groups in the city were celebrating their half century. Representative of the literary organizations was the Every Saturday Club, which celebrated with a banquet and en-
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joyed addresses and songs. Of another sort were the Knights Templars, who held a religious service on Sunday, listened to an historical address, and dined and danced at the Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston on Monday. The Hun- newell Club and the Daughters of the Revolution marked their twenty-fifth anniversaries by suitable celebrations.
Whether or not it was due to the patriotism generated by the war, the patriotic societies grew in strength and multiplied. By 1920 the Daughters of the American Revo- lution were ready to organize on the south side of the city. The Lydia Partridge Whiting Chapter was formed at New- ton Highlands. Six years later the original chapter brought together fifty young people at West Newton and organized the Old Ironsides Society, Children of the American Revo- lution. The young people entered into the arrangement, elected their officers, and started in to maintain the high standards which the fostering organization expected of them. The Sarah Hull Chapter, Daughters of the Revolu- tion, expanded also by creating a new chapter at West Newton, which was named the Nathan Fuller Chapter.
Women's clubs in the different villages increased in number and in membership, and some of them were ambi- tious enough to build clubhouses. The spirit of the times, with its new appreciation of the liberties and opportunities offered to women, encouraged the study of the obligations of women in civic and social life, in education and philan- thropy. One of the most successful organizations was the Newton Centre Woman's Club. Existing from 1887 and increasing from a charter membership of twenty-six to its limit of seven hundred, the Club felt it necessary to acquire a clubhouse of its own. This was made possible through the cooperation of its friends. The heirs of Mellen Bray donated to the Club the valuable corner lot opposite the Baptist church, a site ideal for a community organization. It was possible to secure banking assistance to finance
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construction, and in 1922 the Club dedicated its house with appropriate exercises on a winter Sunday afternoon. The brick building itself was outwardly attractive, the grounds were suitably adorned, and the interior appointments were admirable. A cheerful auditorium, adapted for public as well as club use, a reception room adjoining, and a small hall on the second floor, provided quarters for club meet- ings and classes, while on the basement floor was a large banquet room with a kitchen. The expense of carrying such a building made it necessary for the Club to devise ways and means of making money, such as the introduc- tion of moving picture entertainments several times a week, which were maintained until in 1930 they were no longer profitable. This attempt to get an income commer- cially made it an open question whether the Club should pay taxes. Disagreements of opinion with the city neces- sitated carrying the case to the Supreme Judicial Court, but the Club won its contention that it should be exempt from taxation as a literary and charitable organization. The Club accordingly took heart and went on its way with optimism and in the spirit of harmony which had pre- vailed through its history.
The Woman's Club of Newton Highlands was a younger organization, but it too was able to provide a house for club needs. Although there had been five study clubs actively at work in the village for a number of years, it seemed in 1916 that the time had come for a larger and more inclusive village organization. In a cooperative spirit the presidents of the five societies met together and issued a general invitation to the women of the Highlands with the result that nearly one hundred and fifty women responded. The Club was organized on the usual lines laid down by the State Federation. The purpose of the organization was assumed as charitable, social and intellec- tual, and committees on home economics, civics, educa-
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tion, social relations, and hospitality were appointed, the chairmen constituting the executive board together with the club officers. Two meetings a month were planned through the season of seven months. The Club promptly joined the city and state federations, and at once found itself pushed into the war work which was so insistent dur- ing the next two years. The members subscribed to Lib- erty Bonds, appropriated money from the club treasury for the entertainment of men of the Navy, sent the pro- ceeds of a musical afternoon to Poland, and in other such ways met their obligations of the time. With the return of normal conditions and the growth of membership new com- mittees were appointed on art, horticulture, music, dra- matics, public health, and such wider interests. Classes were organized in arts and crafts, cooking and dressmaking, and in such high-brow subjects as French and astronomy.
Almost from the beginning the need of a central meet- ing place was felt, and in 1920 the Club started a building fund. Six years later the art committee was compelled to vacate the Barn Studio where it had been meeting, and this brought to a focus the demand for a club building. Through the generosity of Seward W. Jones a lot of land on Columbus Street near the centre of the village was made available, and a modest brick structure was erected and called the Club Workshop. The expense of the build- ing was only ten thousand dollars, a sum which was raised by subscription and various activities. The Workshop was opened in 1927, and proved large enough for all com- mittee and class meetings, conferences, and small lecture gatherings, in fact for everything except the semi-monthly meetings of the whole Club. Late in 1928 all indebtedness on the building was wiped out, and the Club found itself prosperous in every department.
In the spring of 1914 five members of the Auburndale Review Club sensed the fact that the community of which
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they were citizens was no longer a small village of a few spacious houses, but a place of many homes whose mem- bers had no outlet for a common interest. The result of this vision was the organization of the Auburndale Woman's Club by one hundred women who hoped by that means to promote united thought and action for service in the com- munity, and in time to erect a clubhouse. The number of members increased speedily to three and then four hun- dred. For broader inspiration the city, state, and national federations were joined. For several years meetings were held in the churches and halls of the village, but bazaars, fêtes, and teas were given to raise money for a clubhouse. The most unique methods used were the writing of a his- tory of Auburndale by two of the club members, and the designing of a dress pattern by another member. From these ventures royalties were received which netted a con- siderable sum.
During the war the members of the Club devoted their energies to work for the soldiers and for French relief, and spent for supplies much of that which had been saved for a clubhouse. It was not long before the hope of a club- house merged with a larger venture, that of a community centre. The Club has engaged in the usual activities of such organizations, worked through similar committees, and followed the customary procedure in its meetings, but it has taken pride in certain of its activities which are less common and which have won it praise. Its classes range from hooked rugs to swimming, with plenty of culture in between. It has maintained a book exchange which has made the members acquainted with the best sellers in literature. Its members have relieved tired mothers by supervising playgrounds on certain afternoons. Coopera- tive buying has been tried successfully as an experiment. The educational committee instituted story telling to chil- dren at the branch library. The community service com-
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mittee has helped to make clean-up work effective, to supervise moving pictures, and to lessen the moral dangers of parks and road houses. The Club is especially proud of the honorable mention which it received from the General Federation for its service to the community.
Two auxiliary groups are affiliated with the Club. The pioneer Juniors blazed a path for such organizations in the state, and were honored by the State Federation. A Business and Professional Woman's Club recently formed is promoting friendship, loyalty and service among those whose working time does not permit their constant attend- ance at day meetings.
Two of the village women's clubs were developments of earlier organizations, which were remodelled to match the newer standards of such organizations. The Newton- ville Woman's Club in the year 1919 took the place of the Newtonville Women's Guild, which for a quarter of a cen- tury had been active in philanthropy and had carried out social and intellectual programs. Under the new conven- tionalized form the Club has grown from forty to four hun- dred and fifty, with honorary and associate members num- bering about thirty. Regular semi-monthly meetings have brought speakers from outside as a rule, though occasional afternoons have been given to music and dramatics pro- vided locally. Special activities have been an annual Christmas party with about fifty children as recipients of club gifts because it was feared that otherwise they would have none. An art exhibit of Newtonville artists is an annual event. A Club Bulletin is published monthly dur- ing the season, which serves as a stimulus to individual interest and attendance. The usual committees direct the activities of the members from conservation and education to hospitals and hospitality. The Club never has been very ambitious to own a home, but a housing fund has been started by way of a reminder that a clubhouse is a proper
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goal. A guarantee fund of one thousand dollars assures a scholarship in college, which has been available for New- ton girls since 1925.
The Newton Upper Falls Woman's Club is the out- growth of the Pierian Club, which was formed with twenty- two members in 1896 as an inspiration to personal culture and community service. Its subjects of study included literature, history, travel and the ocean, and such other topics as appealed to program committees. It contributed to philanthropies, held social evenings and musicales, and sometimes invited the men. Its membership was limited to the capacity of the homes of the members. It was the activity of women during the war which aroused the women of Upper Falls to a conviction that the time was ripe for the creation of a real community club. The necessary action was taken, new officers were chosen, and the gavel was transferred from the chairman of the old Pierian Club to the first president of the new Woman's Club. As an organized centre for progressive thought and action the Club constituted the usual committees and arranged the programs of its meetings without upsetting the conven- tions or alarming the community. A press chairman pro- vided for publicity. Lectures, readings and musicales, and discussions of current topics stimulated a lively interest in the regular meetings, which were held at the Emerson School on alternate Mondays through the season.
The existence of the federations of women's clubs, city, state and national, was of great value to local organ- izations. They supplied an incentive to high endeavor and a healthy rivalry among the clubs in different localities. The city federation brought together to its regular meet- ings representatives from the different villages, and the experiment of luncheon conferences of the presidents of the Newton clubs was successful in drawing the clubs closer together. In 1907 a bazaar was held on an ambitious
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scale which resulted in net proceeds of two thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. Half of that sum was con- tributed to the purchase of the Claflin estate. The New- ton Hospital was able to expand in an out-patient depart- ment through the generosity of the Federation, and later it became a tubercular camp. The Federation aided ma- terially in the organization of the charitable work of the city, and made possible the School Dental Clinic. It made substantial annual contributions to the Newton Welfare Bureau, and engineered the distribution of Christmas seals. An annual entertainment was given for the promo- tion of social service, and pageants and patriotic fêtes were given. The Newton Federation took an active part as an organization in war work, and encouraged its mem- ber organizations to work with unflagging zeal. After the war there was less need of engaging in social work, and the Federation gave its special attention locally to problems of health and Americanization. Five hundred foreign mothers and their children gathered in the Armory for entertainment, and contacts were established with them in their homes. A thrift campaign was undertaken, and in 1920 a thrift exposition was given in the Armory. The Federation was active in studying and promoting educa- tional improvements in the schools and in the various problems of good government. Such a clearing house of opinion and spur to continual activity has proved to be one of the most effective means of raising the standards and widening the vision of women in the present day. The Federation never has been sectarian or partisan, but has been concerned with the welfare of the whole people. Its main object has been to secure better acquaintance and cooperation among the women's clubs of the city.
Aside from such organizations as these the women of Newton busied themselves with church activities and related matters. The Young Woman's Christian Associa-
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tion had a flourishing existence from the time of its organi- zation in the decade following the war. Mindful of its forebears, it provided social and educational features, maintained a girls' reserve, and put some of its vigor into basket ball teams. In 1925 it organized a Blue Triangle Club for Business and Professional Women, a club which broadens acquaintance and develops friendships by means of weekly suppers. The Association plans afternoon gath- erings for women whose arena of service is in the homes, arranges gymnasium classes one evening a week, and holds afternoon classes for girls in the gymnasium. The numer- ous responsibilities of the Association required the employ- ment of several secretaries. In 1929 the Newton Asso- ciation merged with the Boston Association with the expec- tation that larger results would come to the young women of Newton.
Newton women were in sympathy with the Young Men's Christian Association from the beginning of its existence in the city, and by 1895 they were organized in a Woman's Auxiliary with fifty members, a number which increased with the years until two hundred and seventy- five were enrolled. The Auxiliary found its function in aid- ing the men's Association, especially on those gustatory occasions when their appetites were registering well but their manual efficiency was below par. The Auxiliary specialized in providing suppers for the boys. It took keen interest in Camp Frank A. Day at East Brookfield, help- ing to furnish the camp. It undertook the arduous task of taking care of forty boys from Boston in a day's outing once a week through the summer. It raised money for these objectives by carrying on fairs and staging fêtes. Obviously without such auxiliaries the success of such organizations as the churches, the Young Men's Christian Association, the benevolent fraternities, and the improve- ment associations would seem problematical. The his-
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torian may well pause to give the honor that is due to the community housekeepers of Newton.
Unquestionably the war cultivated community con- sciousness as nothing else had in Newton's history. Women who met on different social levels and belonged to different clubs and churches were banded together for a common purpose. It was inevitable that the query should be raised why it was not feasible to combine their energies for com- munity purposes in peace time also. It was with this demo- cratic motive that the Newton Community Club of women came into existence in the spring of 1919, and was admitted speedily into the women's federations. The object of the Club was declared to be to broaden and strengthen the moral, social, and intellectual life of its members and through them to make itself a power for good in the com- munity. With five hundred and twenty-two charter mem- bers and an annual fee of three dollars the Club was able from the start to finance charitable enterprises on an effec- tive scale. The methods of the Club have been in general those of the older women's clubs, but the large membership made it desirable to divide for social intercourse and the raising of financial quotas into groups of twenty-five mem- bers who met regularly, besides the semi-monthly meetings of the whole Club in the auditorium of the Underwood School. The democratic character of the Club is evident from the provision of the constitution that any woman in the community of Newton and the adjacent parts of Water- town and Oak Square is eligible to membership.
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