The Alice K. Wolf Papers Are Now Available

A delegate badge from the 1988 Democratic National Convention in the Alice K. Wolf Papers.

We are pleased to announce that the Alice Wolf Papers, 1963-2011 are now available for research.

History
Alice Koerner Wolf was born December 24, 1933, in Austria. Her Jewish family left Austria in 1938 because of Nazi persecution and immigrated to Brighton, Massachusetts. She attended high school at Boston Girls’ Latin School. Wolf received her B.A. in Experimental Psychology from Simmons College in 1955. Her first professional job was with MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, where she conducted research using the Memory Test Computer. She later worked for several technology companies before shifting her focus to politics. Wolf earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1978.

Wolf has been an active figure in Cambridge, state, and national Democratic politics for more than five decades. Wolf’s interest in public service and politics began with her involvement in the Parent Teacher Association at Peabody School. She then was elected to the Cambridge School Committee, serving from 1974 to 1982. She lost her first election to Cambridge City Council in 1981, but won in 1983 and four more times after that, serving from 1984 to 1994. She was elected the Vice Mayor of Cambridge from 1988 to 1989 and the Mayor of Cambridge from January 1990 to January 1992. Wolf decided not to seek reelection in 1993 and instead set her sights on a higher office. She won her first election to the Massachusetts State House of Representatives in 1996, and served in that body until her retirement at the conclusion of her term in January 2013.

Wolf’s major areas of interest include services to the poor and homeless, education, affordable housing and rent control, elder services, child and family services, and gay and lesbian issues. She has received many awards and honors for her public service activities, including an honorary doctorate from Wheelock College in 2001.

Wolf married Robert Wolf and they are longtime residents of Cambridge and have two sons.

Collection Overview
The collection contains correspondence, reports, meeting minutes, news clippings, and printed materials related to Alice Wolf and the various public offices she held throughout her political career as well as materials related to local, state, and national Democratic politics more generally. The collection also contains photographs, audiovisual materials, and realia related to Wolf’s career. All phases of Wolf’s political career are represented, with the City Council tenure documented most thoroughly. Most of the material from her tenure as Massachusetts State Representative relates to elections. There is relatively little material related to Wolf’s activities outside of politics and public life, though some biographical materials are included

The Library 21 Records Are Now Available

Cambridge Public Library Annual Report 1990/1991 available in the Library 21 Records.

We are pleased to announce that the Library 21 records, 1989-2001 are now available for research.

History
Library 21 was a citizens’ advisory committee appointed by the Cambridge City Manager in May 1996 to make a comprehensive study of the needs of the community in re-conceptualizing the Cambridge Public Library for the 21st century. The committee was composed of Cambridge residents and city officials. It was co-chaired by Nancy Woods and Richard Rossi. Its goals were to 1) identify the roles and services for a new library system and 2) translate those into physical requirements for a main library building. Library 21 presented its recommendations in a report to the City Manager that focused on public education and outreach. They concentrated during this process on surveying and gathering input from the residents of Cambridge for what services and programs they envisioned for the new library. Their interim report positioned the Committee as advisors to the City Manager during the creation of the new library in order to impart the knowledge they gained during their two-year studying of the community and its connection to the library.

Collection Overview
The collection contains organizational records from the Library 21 committee. It includes information on committee members; meeting agenda, minutes, and planning materials; background research and reference materials; media coverage; information on community involvement; and information on various aspects of study, including site selection

Cambridge 2000 Records Are Now Available

A scrapbook page chronicling some of the events in 2000, available in the Cambridge 2000 Records.

We are pleased to announce that the Cambridge 2000 Records, 1999-2001 are now available for research in the Cambridge Room.

History
The Cambridge Arts Council coordinated a series of activities and events to celebrate the millennium in 2000. It held a series of four light celebrations created by Spectaire, a collaborative of light artists. The celebrations were The Beaconing (January 22, 2000), Light Parade (May 13, 2000), Skyward Light (September 23, 2000), and Illuminated Word (December 7, 2000). An additional event was “Curious Doings in Cambridge Crosswalks,” which featured performers from Behind the Mask Theatre and volunteers from city departments and sought to raise awareness about public safety. It produced a series of quarterly calendars under the title “2 thousand things to do in Cambridge in 2 thousand.”

Collection Overview
The collection consists of calendars, images, magnets, media coverage, slides of words and poetry used as outdoor library wall projections in the “Illuminated Word” event, T-shirts and other promotional materials, the City’s 2000 Annual Report featuring the celebration, and a cassette tape of two interviews of light artists that appeared on WBUR and WRK

The Elizabeth Jamison Hodges Papers Are Now Available

A draft of a title page of Hodges’ book, The Three Princes of Serendip, which can be found in the Elizabeth Jamison Hodges Papers in the Cambridge Room.

We are pleased to announce that the Elizabeth Jamison Hodges Papers, 1908-1999 are now available for research.

History
Elizabeth Jamison Hodges was born in Atlanta, Ga. in 1908 to William Lemmon Hodges and Elizabeth Jamison Hodges (1884-1980), the oldest of three children. Schooled in the Boston and New York areas, she graduated from Radcliffe College (A.B. 1931) and Simmons College (B.S. 1937). She was a librarian at the Boston Public Library (1937-1941), the Detroit Public Library (1941-1943), and at public libraries in Arlington, Watertown, Leominster, and Belmont, Mass. After World War II, following in her father’s footsteps (who was a major in the army), she was the Command Librarian for the Third Army in Germany, establishing libraries for American occupation troops. In the 1960s she travelled to Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka) to collect material for two of her children’s books: The Three Princes of Serendip (New York 1964, illustrated by Joan Berg) and Serendipity Tales (New York, 1966, illustrated by June Atkin Corwin). She published two other children’s books: A Song for Gilgamesh (New York, 1971, illustrated by David Omar White), and Free as a Frog (New York, 1971, illustrated by Paul Giovanopoulos). She was also a New York Times Children’s book reviewer. She taught creative writing at the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement for 20 years. She died on October 21, 1999 in New London, NH.

Sources:

The John J. Moss Diaries Are Now Available

A page from the John J. Moss Diary, which can be found in the John J. Moss Diaries, 1950-1951 at the Cambridge Room.

We are pleased to announce that the John J. Moss Diaries, 1950-1951 are now available for research.

History
John J. Moss was born on March 20, 1935, in New York. He received an A.B. from Columbia in 1956 and a law degree from Harvard University in 1958. He practiced as a lawyer and lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for a number of years on streets including Chauncy, Everett, and Ware. As a youth he was actively involved in the Boy Scouts of America.

Collection Overview
The John J. Moss diary offers a detailed handwritten account of Moss’ trip to the World Scout Jamboree in Bad Ischl, Austria, in 1951. As they travelled by boat across the Atlantic and across Europe to arrive in Austria, it is also a personalized and detailed account of post-war Europe, visiting places such as Italy, France, and Algeria. Sketches by Moss are present throughout as well. Several newspaper clippings, now copies in the collection, and a photograph were inserted into the diary, as was a smaller Scout-issued diary containing narration of Moss’ trip to the National Jamboree in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in 1950. The collection also includes a small number of envelopes featuring stamps or cancellations that Moss appears to have collected (and evidently feature some of his past addresses). One letter appears to be sent to him from a friend in Brazil and contains cut out for the American Corporate Liberties Union.

The Cambridge Hispanic Commission Records Are Now Available

 

A flier for the Primer Foro Latino festival, which can be found in the Cambridge Hispanic Commission Records. 

We are pleased to announce that the Cambridge Hispanic Commission Records, circa 1993 – circa 1995 are now available for research.

History
The Cambridge Hispanic Commission was a grass-roots, non-profit organization that was committed to serving as a voice for the concerns of the Hispanic community of the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The CHC also advised, provided input, and promoted and assured their participation in all levels of governance and city and school affairs. The CHC promoted, facilitated, and advocated for the development and empowerment of members of the Hispanic community. They also advised Cambridge officials on improving communication between the city and its Hispanic population on issues such as education, fair employment practices, housing, and health care access.

Collection Overview
This collection contains records that cover the Cambridge Hispanic Commission’s commissioners, agendas and memos, meeting minutes, activities, sign-up sheets, committees, information and jobs, media and out-going correspondance. There are also records on by-laws, Cambridge Public Schools, the Immunization Action Project, the Festival “Amaru Alcarza,” and Foro Latino. The collection also contains newspaper articles that relate to the activities of the Cambridge Hispanic Commission. Parts of the collection have been marked as closed due to containing sensitive personal information preventing them from viewed by the public.

Calling all Cambridge Protesters

Signs at Cambridge City Hall during the Unity Rally on 6 February 2017. Courtesy of the Cambridge Chronicle.

Did you go to the Unity Rally at Cambridge City Hall on February 6th?  Did you go to the “Not My President” vigil this weekend?  If so, we want your signs.  The Cambridge Room is actively signs and other protest ephemera related specifically to Cambridge protests.  For more information about how you can donate signs please contact us here.  Help us build our collection!

The Economy Club of Cambridge Records Now Available

75th Anniversary Banquet Dinner of the Economy Club of Cambridge, 24 November 1947.

We are pleased to announce that the Economy Club of Cambridge Records, 1872-1988 are now available for research.

History
The Economy Club of Cambridge was a social, debating, and diner club founded in 1872. Its membership was long restricted to men who lived in Cambridge and its original purpose as a “non-sectarian and non-political” group was the study and discussion of economic, social, political, and historical questions.

On November 6, 1872, Clarence H. Blake, William Pearson, Clair Whittemore, and George Whittemore formed a secret society called the Four Socials for the purpose of “social intercourse and also to improve in Literature.” Four Socials was limited to the four originating members who met in each other’s homes. The following year, two additional members were invited to join and the name of the secret society was changed to the Mutual League of Friendship. The fortnight dinner meetings were dedicated to reciting literature, singing, and listening to music. In the fall of 1876, the club held its first “Ladies’ Night”, and in 1878, the club adopted the motto, “Commune Bonum,” meaning the common good.

The club remained a secret society until 1879, when the Mutual League of Friendship became a debating society and meetings took place in halls like the Prospect House or the G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) Hall rather than in member’s homes.

In 1885, the society adopted a new name, the Economy Club of Cambridge. The 75th Anniversary Program of the Economy Club of Cambridge (1947) defines the meaning of the club’s new name as: “the word ’economy’ being understood as it is used today in schools which teach Economics.”

Debating became the foundation for the meetings and topics ranged from the local (such as the abolition of Cambridge’s Common Council) to the international (such as the Panama Canal). The club held joint debates with similar, local societies such as the Cambridge Prohibition Club, the Young Men’s Republican Club of Somerville, and the Harvard Democratic Club. Guest speakers delivered lectures and scientists gave demonstrations. In 1911, the Economy Club of Cambridge openly supported the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) move from Boston to Cambridge.

Membership has included state and city officials, judges, academics, business people, and professionals. By 2009, the once large membership (over 100) membership had dwindled dramatically to 15 active members. The club continued to meet six times each year at the MIT Faculty Club for drinks, dinner, and the presentation of a guest speaker.

Collection Overview
The collection contains records of the Economy Club of Cambridge including the organization’s founding documents and subsequent amendments; business records and ledgers; bank checks, bank statements, and check registers; membership applications; meeting programs (that include dinner menus), including anniversary events; book of resolutions (labeled “roll book”); correspondence; minute books; two scrapbooks; and three photographs. It also includes two record books kept when the club went by the name “Mutual League of Friendship.”

Search our Digital Collections

Did you know that the Cambridge Room has made available over 350 digital items from our collections?  You can easily search and browse them on our new Flickr site.  Be sure to check back often because we add more digital items all the time.  As always, we will announce new digital collections here first.

 

A New, Better Way to Search Our Collections

Did you know that the Cambridge Room has 145 unique collections and is growing?   The descriptions of these collections are now easily searchable on our new database.  You can keyword search or browse by collection or subject.  Be sure to check back, we add more collections to the database all the time.  And, we always announce new collections here.

The Cambridge Room collections focus on the social and political history of Cambridge from the mid twentieth century to the present.