Cambridgeport History: Magaret Fuller

This Memorial Day weekend, as the neighborhood pauses to remember those who have served to defend our country, we might also spare a thought for a giant among C-port's native sons and daughters: women's rights advocate, pioneering journalist, leading Transcendentalist and literary critic Sarah Margaret Fuller.

May 23rd marked the 200th anniversary of Fuller's birth in 1810 in what was then Cambridgeport (now the Area IV neighborhood of Cambridge), just a few short blocks from Central Square on Cherry Street. Dina Harris penned a great column in the Cape Cod Times to mark the occassion, unearthing Fuller's amazing legacy, which has not diminished but has faded in the 160 years since her death. (An amazing life ended in dramatic fashion in an 1850 shipwreck off of Fire Island, NY.) Her account adds to numerous others in summarizing Fuller's contributions to journalism, to feminism, to philosophy, and to much else. Harris captures the unique blend of qualities in Fuller by quoting Edgar Allen Poe: "Humanity is divided into Men, Women, and Margaret Fuller."

Her childhood house on Cherry Street is now a National Historic Landmark, and since 1902 has served the city's most vulnerable residents by providing needed shelter and services. Today the Margaret Fuller House is a community institution with a "busy food pantry, an out of school time program for children, summer camp, outreach to young adults at risk, heath related programs for seniors and men of color, community organizing, and an open computer center and free technology classes. We host community-wide events, financial, exercise, poetry writing, drumming and other classes and welcome the Area IV community to meetings and local gatherings." (from the MFH website) The organization is marking 2010 with a year-long celebration of Fuller's legacy.

Image of Fuller from Wikipedia.

C-Port Scene: The Spectacular Shell Sign

Photo by Flickr user EandJsFilmCrew. Used with Creative Commons License.

This installment of the C-Port Scene doubles as a public announcement.

Everyone knows about the "Spectacular" Shell sign where Magazine meets Memorial down at the tip of C-port. But did you know it was over 75 years old? Did you know it has been on the National Register of Historic Places for over 15?

Next week, City Council will hold a public hearing to consider a proposal by the Cambridge Historic Commission to designate the sign as a Cambridge Landmark. Read the history of the sign and the bygone era of "spectacular" neon signage in the Commission's Landmark Report. The hearing details:

Wednesday, 11/18, 4:30 p.m.
Sullivan Chamber, City Hall
795 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd floor

See the C-port You Never Knew

Cambridgeport History Day is Coming!

Cambridgeport
Originally uploaded by thewhiterabbit11

Details on the upcoming events on October 3rd from the organizer, the Cambridgeport History Group. This is shaping up to be a really fantastic weekend for the C-port community:

“If This House Could Talk..." invites residents and visitors to explore the intimate history of this rich neighborhood. On October 3 and 4, Cambridgeport neighbors and businesses will display original signs sharing choice tidbits about events—contemporary or historic, personal or public—that happened in their buildings. Cathie Zusy, the project’s organizer, hopes that “neighbors will stroll around, discovering great stories that took place just around the corner.” [ed: I saw my first "If This House Could Talk" sign this morning at Dana Park... anyone seen others up yet? Residents eager to put up a sign can contact Cathie at 617-868-0489 or at cathzusy@aol.com]

Saturday, Oct. 3rd activities:

(pick up a map of historic sites and a list of sign locations anytime 10am-5pm at Dana Park)

Noon: Rededication of Fort Washington Park, the only survivor of a chain of small forts ordered built by George Washington in 1775 to defend against the British occupiers of Boston. Gardner’s Regiment, a local group of Revolutionary War re-enactors, will be encamped at the fort from 11am to 2pm and will participate in the rededication

1:00-2:30pm: Charles Sullivan, Executive Director of the Cambridge Historical Commission, will lead a walking tour of Cambridgeport, starting at Fort Washington and ending at Dana Park

2:30-5:00pm: local community groups will provide entertainment and activities for children and adults, including:

• Sidewalk Histories—Brookline Street Mosaics, the Cambridge Poet Populist Program, and Dana Park Quotes (Cambridge Arts Council)
• A Mystery History Photo Contest (Cambridge Historical Society)
• History Rubbings (Gallery 263)
• “Memory Lane: Walking Routes Celebrating Cambridge Women’s History!,” self-guided tours of Cambridgeport (Cambridge Women’s Commission)
• Collage Houses: An Art Project for Kids (Hazel Ryerson)

4:00-7:00pm: the Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association will hold its annual potluck dinner at Dana Park. Neighbors are invited to bring a dish and enjoy music by local musician Ken Field’s Revolutionary Snake Ensemblette.

If you have questions, e-mail: cport@cambridgehistory.org or call the Cambridge Historical Society at 617-547-4252.

MIT Plans Glassy Addition to Old Memorial Drive Model T Plant

Recently, MIT shared the plans for the redevelopment of some of the neighborhood's significant buildings. Among these, the Institute has new plans for the historic Model T plant down at 640 Memorial Drive, by the BU Bridge rotary. (Photo at left by Flickr user rnolan1087).

The building harkens back to Cambridge's days as a center for car manufacturing, detailed in Chaim Rosenberg's fascinating Goods for Sale, a 2007 book on the Massachusetts Industrial Age. According to Rosenberg, 640 Memorial was one of thirty plants that Henry Ford built to mass produce his Model T at the dawn of the 20th century. By 1926, the plant was already too small to assemble cars and trucks, so a larger factory was built at Assembly Square (now closed).

MIT acquired the building in 1956. In the years since, it was used first by the Polaroid company, and more recently, bustling with the active and growing biotech industry. Along with a lot of other Research and Development space in the city, it has been difficult to find and keep tenants in the current economy. In response, the MIT Investment Management Co. (the MIT group that manages the Institute's income-producing and tax-paying commercial properties) is now planning a renovation and addition to the property, as seen in the before/after images below.

At a public meeting with the neighborhood, officials from MIT explained that the addition would be built over part of what is parking lot now, and would not affect the curved facade that faces Memorial Drive, or the one-story portion of the building on Brookline Street. It would primarily be visible from the north, along Waverly Drive. MIT has been encouraged at this early stage by the City's consultants to use a modern, glass curtain-wall facade, to distinguish the addition from the historic structure. In any case, it may be awhile before there's any activity on the site, as MIT wants to identify a firm to occupy the full building so that it can tailor the build out for a specific tenant.

Image courtesy of the MIT Investment Co.