USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newburyport > Waban, early days, 1681-1918 > Part 11
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At the present time there passes through the post office each day one ton of mail for delivery by the carriers. The per- sonnel has increased to fifteen employees.
HISTORY of the WABAN LIBRARY
DR. FANNY M. MCGEE
Dr. Fanny McGee was one of the first women physicians in Newton. She received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from Tufts Medical School in 1897, after graduating from the Newton High School in 1894. She has lived in Waban since 1889; she served the Waban Branch of the Newton Library for twenty-eight years, from October 1, 1911, until October 1, 1939, at that time continuing her work at the main library in Newton.
In the early days of our town, people went to the main library or had their books sent to the nearest station, which for some of us was Mr. Billings' drug store at Upper Falls. In April 1892, at the request of the residents, the Newton Free Library established a station at the grocery store in the old block on Wyman Street. This meant that a basket was delivered there three times each week with books requested by borrowers, who could call for them there and return them, and send re- quests for new ones in the same way. This was the first library service in Waban. The first recorded circulation for Waban was 1107, in the library report of that year. After 1902, the station was in Mr. Conant's store on Beacon Street. These baskets were brought by horse and buggy, driven by Richard Leonard and Timothy Shannon ("Tim"), who later became chauffeur. These two men served the library for many years, and were great favorites with everyone, especially at the branches, where their visits were an event.
The next advance was in 1908, when a deposit of books was placed in the post office, on shelves given by the Pillsbury
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School. Here people could choose books and have them charged by Mrs. Conant. Now the circulation rose to over 4000.
From this time on, efforts were made to establish a branch. Miss Thurston, head librarian, and the trustees were interested and helpful. The town was asked to furnish a reading room and run it for three months. The funds for this were given by the Improvement Society and Woman's Club, and arrangements were made by a committee of ladies, with Mrs. Pingree as chairman. In October 1911, the reading room was opened in Mr. Rhodes' drug store, and on January 1, 1912, the Waban Branch became a part of the Newton Free Library system. It was my privilege to be the first branch librarian, and to continue in the position for twenty-eight happy years. Then I went to the main library, and Mrs. Alice McMullin took over the duties that she is so successfully carrying on.
The circulation for 1912 was 7400. From that time there has been a fairly steady rise. In 1942 it was 52,537, and this year of 1944 promises to go far beyond that figure. The chil- dren's circulation has always been large in proportion to the whole circulation.
In ten years we had outgrown our pleasant quarters in the drug store, and it was with mingled regret and pleasure that we moved into a room in the new Angier schoolhouse in 1922. Here we had a much larger collection of books. The town gave a goodly sum of money for reference books and standard fic- tion. This was the foundation of the fine reference library that the branch has now.
After a few years the room was needed for school pur- poses, and we moved into a small room and carried on for some months until another large room was ready for us in the base- ment. This was fixed up for us by our fairy godmother, the Woman's Club, and we got along nicely for several years.
By this time the residents had learned to depend on the branch and wanted a permanent home for it. The building
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HISTORY OF THE WABAN LIBRARY
project was started in 1928 by the Improvement Society and Woman's Club. The Waban Public Library Association was formed. The members were Mr. Charles A. Andrews, Mr. John T. Croghan, Mrs. Dana M. Dutch, Mr. Donald M. Hill, Mr. Nelson H. Marvin, Mrs. Wellington Rindge, Mrs. George F. Reinhardt, Mrs. Philip L. Warren. To their efforts were due the success of the project.
The land was given by the Waban Land Trust, and the residents of the town responded with the greatest generosity to the appeal for funds. The building was designed by the firm of Densmore, LeClear and Robbins, the senior members of which were Waban residents. Many of the furnishings were memorial gifts. The fine shrubs surrounding the building were a gift from the City of Newton. The building was dedicated and presented to the City of Newton in May, 1930.
These last years have been saddened by the absence of so many of our young people who are serving in the war. This spring (1944) tablets were placed in the library with the names of all our people in the Service. When they return to their home city and we have peace again, we can expect a steady increase in the use of this truly community library, and some well-planned expansion of the building to take care of this growth; for ready access to worthy books is an integral part of the best traditions and standards of New England in general, and of Waban in particular.
ROGER WALCOTT SCHOOL, 1908
THE FIVE WABAN SCHOOLS
MARGARET D. STONE
Under ideal conditions a school is organized, with its materials and methods of instruction, when it is needed by the community, and I imagine Edwin P. Seaver felt this need more than any other parent in Waban. He was Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools and lived in a comfortable old house on Woodward Street with his delightful wife and six "Waban Warhoops."
At first Beacon Street was made a dividing line for school districts. The children living on the Locke side were sent to the Lower Falls to school and those living on the Collins side went to Upper Falls, no matter which was nearer. The Seaver chil- dren went to Newton Highlands. The High School children were collected from Upper and Lower Falls and Newton High- lands by a barge; those from Waban went by train.
When there were thirty or more children in the little community of Waban they had their lessons in Collins Hall situated on what is now Wyman Street, back of the railroad station. The hall was over Moulton's store, which included the post office. Little Mr. Thompson was in charge and Bert Blaney was his assistant. The three small bay windows of the hall in the once attractive brown-shingled building can still be seen peering over the fringe of small stores which now form the lower part of the building and spoil its rural architectural charm.
Movable seats were provided for the children by the Waban Improvement Society and Miss Harriet Colburn was engaged by the School Committee in November 1890, as their
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first teacher. Bert Blaney was their friend and cheerfully tied sticks of candy to the end of a string lowered from one of the little bay windows "when teacher's back was turned."
In this same year Mr. Seaver and Mr. Aldrich, Superin- tendent of the schools of Newton, worked together to provide a school building in which the ever increasing number of chil- dren could acquire knowledge, creative power, a love of nature, and the enjoyment of beauty. The result was the Waban School, a small wooden building of four rooms on Belgrade Road (constructed for the purpose and later discarded), oppo- site the Collins-Gould house. The school opened September 1891. At first only two rooms were finished; the older children were assigned to other schools. Miss Theodora Chase and Miss Mabel Langley were the first two teachers.
In Miss Langley's room Sancho Panza, Roy Harlow's dog, was truly a member of the class. He bolted whenever a train approached, chased along with the engine, barked himself hoarse and returned to the schoolroom well satisfied with him- self. No pupil paid any special attention to him, he was just part of the furniture.
As the school grew, Mr. Aldrich felt the need of a strong teacher to act as head of the building. Again he talked the matter over with Mr. Seaver, saying the big boys were hard to manage. "Who are the worst boys?" asked Mr. Seaver, and Mr. Aldrich had to answer, "Your boys." With a hearty laugh Mr. Seaver said, "Go ahead, I am ready to back you." Mr. Aldrich selected a teacher of real ability and great force, Miss Eliza Dinnie. Miss Dinnie was pretty, with snappy black eyes, friendly, just and beloved by all the children including the young Seavers. She anticipated Progressive Education by intro- ducing experiments in physics, health building with Indian clubs (probably Chief Waban's subtle influence), and estab- lishing a "school museum" by having the children contribute curios and foreign objects from all over the world.
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THE FIVE WABAN SCHOOLS
MISS MORSE AND MISS DINNIE
Courtesy of Miss Mary Morse
Also in 1892 came Miss Mary Morse, who taught four of the six grades; Miss Dinnie taught the older ones. Miss Morse taught here from 1892 to 1895. Miss Ida Collins (later Mrs. Philip Dresser) was the first art teacher in Waban, being Supervisor of Art in all the Newton schools. The happiness of the children was greatly increased by the fascinating field trips to acquaint them with flowers and birds - the fringed gentian which grew in Gould's meadow, the rhodora, the fringed polygala which grew on the same drumlin as that oc- cupied by Chauncey McGee's house, and the big pink mallow growing along the Charles River. They learned to know the scarlet tanager, the oriole, and the sweet singing wood thrush. One Arbor Day was celebrated by the planting of the white birch, now headless, which still stands on the school grounds. Miss Morse's pupils engineered that feat, while Miss Dinnie's were responsible for the planting of a horse chestnut which
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died. Mr. Saville, at the school one day, saw the birch and asked Miss Morse, "Isn't it suspicious to plant a birch tree at the schoolhouse door?"
One winter day three boys, about ten years old, were "run- ning tiddlies" on the pond in the hollow where the Episcopal Church now stands. One was Cornelius Mehigan, one John Mulligan, and was the third a Troy? Suddenly they all went through the ice. The water was over their heads, but they screeched and held on to each other and to the edge of the ice. Miss Dinnie, returning from lunch, saw their plight and called to Zeke, a City Farm man who happened to be driving by, to get the reins off his horses. Zeke was quick with the reins, but when he got there said, "One at a time, now." However, all three grabbed the reins at once and were "pulled out by one mighty heave," so with Zeke and the reins Miss Dinnie rescued them just in time. At least one dried off at the Gould's.
CLASS OF 1891, WABAN SCHOOL Courtesy of Miss Eleanor Dresser Standing: Hugh Davis, Richard Saville, Bob Dresser, James Shields, Miss Dinnie, Henry Seaver, Amasa Gould, Fred Woodward, Willie Shields.
Middle row: Julia Leary, Pauline Stone, Eleanor (Millie) Dresser, Ethel Woodbury, Lizzie Quilty, Sam Seaver.
Front row: Charlie Flint, Unknown, Mortimer Ferris, Cyrus Ferris, Charlie Saville, Martin Leonard, Jack Davis.
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THE FIVE WABAN SCHOOLS
In 1903 the Waban School was named the Roger Walcott School. Here are some of the thoughts and feelings of a little girl called Jane Bacon while she attended that school:
"Skuffing through the dead leaves across the old park on the way to school - in winter facing the blast of icy wind be- side 'the tennis court fence,' and scurrying over the wooden bridge, by the swaying tamaracks, by the church, to be blown like a leaf around the coldest corner in Waban to the old Roger Walcott School. The fascination of the rainbow in colored papers cut into designs in kindergarten - a rainbow worship-
CLASS OF 1905, ROGER WALCOTT SCHOOL
Courtesy of Anna Webster Savary
Standing: Clarence Cutler, Henry McConant, Marjorie Rice, Helen Wiley, Esmond Rice, John Scott.
3rd row, sitting: Blanche Farrington, Justine Davis, Miss Thrasher Chester Childs, Evelyn Comer.
2nd row, sitting: Katherine Horgan, Francis Southwick, Katherine Ferris, Harcourt Davis.
1st row: Dorothy Winchester, Anna Webster, Catherine Oakes.
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per was I (and still am) - being filled with amazement at Miss Nye's pan of tadpoles - the prideful days when I 'got a star' on my paper - longing to be a school teacher so I could possess a little box of stars - '100' in arithmetic, my never-reached goal - the smell of the straw lunch-baskets, sandwiches in a damp linen napkin - running away from school the first day, being chased and brought back in tears -taking huge dewy pink tulips, picked by my mother, to Miss Lincoln on a spring morning - longing to be old enough to 'have ink,' the smell of that ink and how black it looked when spilled! The beautiful squeak the chalk made on the blackboard and the tallest boys fighting to be allowed to erase - drawing Sun- bonnet Babies (so easy; no faces) - making valentines, 'To One I Love' - May Basket time (someone always upset the glue). The first line I learned to read, 'I have a ball' - watch- ing Mr. Klocker 'ring the bell' in the hall - drying wet feet around the register - the joy of being allowed to sit on the grass at recess and eat lunch with 'the big girls' - the sand box villages and modeling in clay - 'To a Fringed Gentian. Thou blossom bright with morning dew' - droned out in unison by the class, while outside was Freedom and buttercups swaying in the wind on 'the field' - the sixth grade boys breaking a window now and then with a baseball and Jo Klocker's rage - terror of Mr. Miller, the principal, and the day he roared with laughter when I, sparring for time and shaking like a leaf, asked if William Lloyd Garrison was a colored man - the day Mr. Berry asked who painted a certain canary, and thinking, as usual, that I had done something wrong, I burst into tears because it was mine; then he told me that he had asked be- cause it was the best. And at Christmas, 'Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem' through every verse to 'Our Lord Emmanuel' - the oblong piano - Miss Thrasher's pitch pipe, blown with ceremony before a breathless class to get what was laughingly called 'the key' (a lot of good it did!) - 'Columbia, the Gem
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THE FIVE WABAN SCHOOLS
of the Ocean' sung in trebles wondrous to hear - the terror of being late to school (that was real terror) - 'getting a drink' at the marble-lined tap in each room - smell of varnish after summer vacation - the boys' well-chewed licorice root, hustled into their desks at a second's warning - the ghastly discomfiture of having my father visit school - the two big desks and chairs which always preceded the advance from room to room of Fred Webster and Chester Childs (always in the back row) - the two little ones for Buffums and me (always in the front row). 'Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory' - yes, 'In the beauty of the lilies' - we sensed that beauty then and never forgot it. Then the flower record; the race to 'bring in'
MISS IDA MAY THRASHER
"Ida May Thrasher. Teacher at Roger Walcott School from 1899 to about 1920. A noble, true, good woman who did her best to teach high ideals and honest living. She worked from assistant first grade teacher up to eighth grade and then became Principal. Died December 13, 1927." (This was written on the back of her photograph by Mrs. Southwick.)
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the first violet. (Arty Southwick always brought in the first and usually the only hepatica, a dark secret where he found it.) The bird list and hot arguments with the whole class emitting bird calls - 'bird walks' taken by a riotous class trooping behind Miss Thrasher down the old Indian trail to the shining river - hard-boiled eggs and a tiny package of salt, always leaking. Memorial Days, always a sweet old G.A.R. man, smell of gunpowder, boom of Civil War guns, flags through the smoke of battle and our eyes sticking out in awe, then Sousa's 'Stars and Stripes Forever,' rendered after days of practice, as Sousa never heard it; always a bunch of lilacs presented by a freckled, widely-grinning child in a crisp starched 'blouse.' Afterwards walking down dusty Woodward Street with the old soldier on his way back to Newton High- lands on foot in the heat, the dust settling powdery on the navy blue uniform and the limp bouquet of lilacs in his hand. I never hear the 'Stars and Stripes Forever' without thinking of a tired old soldier walking down a dusty road in the heat. Well, no need to go on - these are memories of school days in old Waban."
Time marches on! The children outgrew the Roger Wal- cott School and a fine, modern, red-brick elementary school- house of the twelve-room type was erected on the same land. It included a spacious kindergarten, with rugs, fireplace, and attractive window seat; doctor's and nurse's offices, sewing, cooking, and Sloyd rooms and an adequate gymnasium. The cost of this building was $330,000. When it was ready for occupancy the old four-room wooden structure was demolished and the landscaping completed. The fine playground was for- merly part of the old Poor Farm. On May 15, 1911, a Mass Meeting at Pillsbury Hall was called by Mr. Bacon, president of the Improvement Society, to discuss a playground and buy- ing land from the "City Farm Syndicate." The purchase of the land was promptly assured.
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THE FIVE WABAN SCHOOLS
In November 1921 appropriate exercises were held in the new auditorium to open the school and to honor Lt. Albert Edgar Angier, for whom the school was named. He lost his life on September 14, 1918, at Revillon in France in the First World War, the only Waban boy who did not return.
Thelma Stanley, class of 1922, led in the singing of the National Anthem and the Angier School Orchestra made its first public appearance under the direction of Miss Grossman of the West Newton Music School. John White led in pledg- ing allegiance to the flag, after which Dr. C. H. Cutler, of the Union Church, offered prayer.
WABAN KINDERGARTEN WITH MISS AMY HARDING NYE AROUND 1904
Courtesy of Mr. Roger Hall Bacon
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The unique part of the program was the dedication speech by Saville Davis, president of the class of 1922. He said, "The pupils of the Albert Edgar Angier School are deeply appre- ciative of the gift of this beautiful building which the citizens of Newton have dedicated to the cause of education. We, more than any others, will directly benefit by it. Indirectly, you, the citizens of Newton, will see that you have made a wise investment. As a token of our present and future gratitude we do solemnly vow that we will protect the building and will cherish for it a fair and noble name."
One part of the evening's exercises was especially impres- sive when Jimmie Marsh, a little sixth grade boy, proposed "a silent tribute of one minute to him for whom our school is named." Jimmie was a little friend of Albert Angier and was proud to honor his "hero."
The Two Private Schools
About 1895 Mr. Charles E. Fish remodeled the ornate Edward Jackson Collins house on Beacon Street for a boys'
WINDSOR HALL SCHOOL. - Eastern Exposure. A Preparatory School for Girls. Dr. Charles H. Clark, Principal, Waban. Mass. Before the block was built
Courtesy of Mr. Winthrop Rhodes
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THE FIVE WABAN SCHOOLS
school and called it Waban House. This large mansion, with lawns and stately elms, provided pleasant schoolrooms, living rooms and a sunny dining room overlooking the Charles River valley. The barn was adapted for a gymnasium and manual training shop. The activities included a football team, track team, gun and bicycle clubs.
Mr. and Mrs. Fish and their delightful daughters, Larah and Elizabeth, were a happy addition to Waban, as were also a number of glamorous (or so the girls thought) "college" boys who attended the school and entered into the social life of the community.
The boys of the school assembled every day for a noon service in the Church of the Good Shepherd conducted by the Rev. William Hall Williams, first rector of the church. Some of the school boys sang in the church choir on Sundays.
The imposing Frederick A. Collins house was also refitted to provide dormitories for fifteen boys and assistant teachers, and was called Eliot Hall. This is the big white house with four Ionic columns still standing on Beacon Street. At that time it was surrounded by beautiful maple trees and had a tennis court on the west side.
One of the Hano houses, 152 Waban Avenue, was called Nonantum Hall and was used for another dormitory. The house at 34 Collins Road was the Phi Omega Psi Society House.
After awhile John H. Pillsbury took the school over. His aim was "to supply an ideal home school for boys" and adver- tised to develop "well-rounded, manly character, symmetrical physical development and thorough intellectual training." We hope the boys who attended this school were able to acquire these attributes.
While the Fish School was popular and successful, Charles H. Clark opened the Windsor Hall School for Girls in 1897. He reconditioned the William C. Strong house on the west side
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of Windsor Road, originally the Strong barn, and accommo- dated both boarding and day pupils. Several Waban girls at- tended; among them Jessie Gould, Maola Dresser, Sibyl Stone, Kathie Kimball, and Josephine Campbell. Dorothy Strain lived there with her companion. They kept a horse and Mr. Strain's negro valet, Binns, came out from Boston every day to drive Dorothy and her friends around the country. A private kinder- garten, taught by Miss Amy Nye, was conducted in the school.
The children of Waban have ventured forth from their schools, starry eyed, in quest of what lies beyond their little town, to fame, valiant deeds, and high undertakings.
THE LUNCH BASKET BRIGADE. WINDSOR HALL SCHOOL, 1898 (Miss Nye, holding Janie Bacon by the hand)
WINDSOR HALL PRIVATE KINDERGARTEN, 1898
CHILDHOOD MEMORIES
PAULINE STONE HILL
In 1892 there were in Waban only about thirty or forty children between the ages of five and fifteen. Except at the public school, and a sparsely attended Sunday School held in Collins Hall, these children were seldom gathered together although there was much in the way of entertainments, dancing classes, card parties, etc., for the older people.
Mrs. Shepley, a gracious and public-spirited lady who lived in the big house on Beacon Street next to where the Neighborhood Club was afterward built, proposed that some- thing should be done "just for the children." A May Party
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was decided upon with a real Maypole, a little entertainment, and of course ice cream and cake.
Several ladies helped Mrs. Shepley with this party, among them the "faithful three," Mrs. Flint, Mrs. Harlow, and Mrs. Robinson, who cheerfully came down "the Hill" Sunday after- noons, and carried on a children's Sunday School in the hall.
For weeks before and afterward "the May Party" was the chief topic of conversation among the children, and the re- hearsals were so hilarious no one expected the Maypole would ever be wound successfully. But it was - the children were all serious enough when the actual day came, and all went well, especially the refreshments which were served at big tables in the empty store under the hall, afterwards the scene of the efficient labors of Lee Quon.
A thunderstorm on a hot June day provided much excite- ment for the Waban school pupils and their teachers, Miss Dinnie and Miss Morse. The storm came up just as the after- noon session was about to begin, and lightning struck the flag pole, shattering it so that charred splinters were found in the yard afterward, and stunning Michael Cummings, the janitor, who was in the basement at the time. No other damage was done, and lessons were resumed when some of the children in- sisted they smelled smoke. Miss Dinnie, always equal to any occasion, sent one of the boys to ring an alarm. At that time the key of the fire-alarm box was in charge of Mr. Whitten the superintendent of the almshouse. He was extremely portly and slow-moving and was taking his afternoon nap. It was some time before he could be made to understand what was wanted and why. Fortunately the firemen found nothing burning, so the episode closed, to the regret of the pupils who (of course) hoped for a holiday while needed repairs would be made. Two or three years after this the almshouse was moved from Waban, and keyless fire-alarm boxes were installed in the town.
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CHILDHOOD MEMORIES
Dear papa, It has rained just a few drops to-d ay. Lewis and I have been coast ing all the morn ing in the cart. Evelyn, Irene, Dorothy, Kather- ine Wardwel,
Katherune Okes,
and Lewis and I were playing. Irene had her cart and turcicl and Katherine Wardwel had
her turcicle and we had our cart.
The woods in front of Dorothy's house was on fire to-day but no fire dep- artment came. The fire spred way over to the aqueduct and then stoped and
it went over in front of Mrs.
Wood's house only
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