on fellow ous L g ulletinH e Volume 9 No. 1 A Newsletter of the Friends of the Longfellow House and the June 2005 Garden Fundraising Campaign NearsB End: Rehab Well Underway fter a three-year capital campaign to formal garden, except for Araise funds to rehabilitate Alice Long- the flowering apricot. The fellow's garden, the Friends of the Longfel- Hutcheson gate is once low House have virtually achieved their again in line with the per- million-dollar goal. Most of the rehabilita- gola, and the lattice fence tion work is now complete or underway. has been returned to its Major improvements have occurred in historic location. The path- all sections of the grounds of 105 Brattle ways have been widened to Street, including the welcoming forecourt their original dimension. in front of the House, Alice’s sitting gar- Yet another significant den, the East Lawn which has been the site change has taken place of many events, and the Colonial Revival alongside the formal gar- formal garden in the rear. den. In order to recreate Visitors to the newly renovated formal the natural screen between garden will notice the most dramatic the Longfellow property changes. Perhaps most striking, the miss- Looking through the pergola towards the carriage house, 1905 and the neighbors, a num- ing Colonial Revival pergola, designed by place of the spirit” and a “place of inspi- ber of pine and spruce trees had to be the landscape architect Martha Brookes ration and promise,” as Hutcheson wrote removed because, through lack of pruning, Hutcheson, has been reproduced and once in her 1923 book The Spirit of the Garden. they had grown too high and their roots again provides not only a focal point but Gardeners have planted all the replace- had invaded the garden. A newly planted also a private and shady spot, a “resting ment ornamental flowering fruit trees in the (continued on page 2) Hutcheson’s Design Rehabilitated for Its Centennial Anniversary his year marks the centennial of the Timplementation of Martha Brookes Hutcheson’s design for the formal garden behind the Longfellow House with the installation of many of its original elements. Alice Longfellow, the poet’s oldest daughter who lived on in the House after her father’s death, hired landscape architect Martha Brookes Hutcheson (1871Ð1959) to re-establish the formal garden that she had known since childhood. She engaged Hutcheson to base her plan on the Persian design of her father’s flower garden, drawn up in the 1840s by English landscape gar- dener and florist Richard Dolben. Martha Brookes Hutcheson wrote in a Aerial view of the Longfellow House formal garden, 1935 letter in response to the Historic American originally planned, for sentiment, which to visitors as she grew older.” Building Survey in 1936, “The Longfellow pleased Miss Alice Longfellow very much. A young landscape architect at the time, Garden at Cambridge I overhauled entirely. Then I added arbors, gates, fence, etc. mak- Martha Brookes Brown (later Hutcheson) It had gone to rack and ruin. I reset box in ing of it a garden which Miss Longfellow had attended both M.I.T and Harvard’s the Persian pattern which the poet had could go to, and, if she chose, close gates (continued on page 2) 1 - Garden Rehab Well Underway (continued from page 1) VWX screen consists of pines, serviceberry trees, sional planting scheme. There are no extant holly trees and shrubs, and junipers. drawings or plans for the Hutcheson garden, Friends of the Longfellow House Numerous smaller plantings are now but there is considerable photo documenta- Board of Directors installed in the formal garden. Bordering tion offering much visual information. The Barclay Henderson, President the paths is a boxwood hedge, composed of Longfellow House collection, however, con- Robert Mitchell,Treasurer 1700 little-leaf Korean boxwoods. Many tains extensive archival documentation for Frances Ackerly Peter Ambler varieties of roses are in the ground along the Shipman garden rehabilitation, which Hans-Peter Biemann with Hungarian lilacs and bush honey- replaced the plantings yet respected and did Gene A. Blumenreich suckle. This spring and not reconfigure Hutche- Polly Bryson summer 1200 perennials son’s earlier garden design. Dick Dober will be added. Much care The Brattle Street fore- Fran Folsom has been taken in choosing court in front of the Diana der Hovanessian flowering plants “to repli- House also displays some Carol Johnson cate the original palette,” striking improvements. Sarah Jolliffe said Mona McKindley, an Besides planting replace- Linda Kime NPS gardener who has ment elms for the trees Layne Longfellow worked on this project. that had died and widen- Heather Moulton Laura Nash A small portion of the ing the front walkway and Lynne Spencer work on the formal gar- other paths, McKindley den remains. Next spring and the NPS team have Advisory Board and summer McKindley once again planted roses in Ruth Butler says they will plant many position to climb the LeRoy Cragwell annuals and bulbs and House facade’s white pi- Diana Korzenik what she calls the “fussy” lasters as they did histori- Richard Nylander perennials. In 2007 visi- Alice Longfellow with her nurse, 1920s cally. They have also re- Stephen D. Pratt tors will finally see everything in place and placed the climbing vines on the portico. Marilyn Richardson Marc Shell all plants blooming. The Park Service chose to rehabilitate the Charles Sullivan The current formal garden rehabilitation formal garden to reflect work accomplished Lowell A. Warren Jr. is based on a combination of Martha during Alice Longfellow's occupancy of the Eileen Woodford Brookes Hutcheson’s 1904 design of the House from 1904 to 1928.This decision pre- garden’s infrastructure (pergola, fences, box- serves the continuum of garden history, Administrator woods, etc.) and landscape architect Ellen including contributions made earlier by J.L. Bell Biddle Shipman’s plans twenty years later to Henry Longfellow, and captures the impor- Newsletter Committee resuscitate the garden’s aging plantings and tant efforts of the landscape architects who Glenna Lang, Editor, Writer & Designer redesign the beds with a more three-dimen- worked with the family over time. James M. Shea Fran Folsom Martha Brookes Hutcheson (continued from page 1) Laura Nash opq Bussey Institution, a school of agriculture was nevertheless so in keeping with the way National Park Service connected with the Arnold Arboretum. She things were done at the period that I felt it Myra Harrison, Superintendent had started a small practice in in was interesting to reset the box borders in James M. Shea, Museum Manager 1901, and during the next thirty years she the original flower bed pattern so long as Nancy Jones, Education and Visitor Services designed over fifty residential gardens in Longfellow, himself, had done it originally. Paul Blandford, Museum Educator Vermont, , Rhode Island, I felt that it was a way in which one of my Anita Israel, Archives Specialist , and . In 1920 she was generation could pay him an homage. This David Daly, Collections Manager one of the first three women to become full pleased Miss Longfellow very much.” Lauren Malcolm, Museum Technician members of the American Society of Hutcheson’s critically and commercially C. Sue Rigney, Planning & Communications Landscape Architects. successful book The Spirit of the Garden was Liza Stearns, Education Specialist “I regret having to write you that there widely praised for its illuminating discussion Ed Bacigalupo, Chief of Maintenance Scott Fletcher, Facility Manager was no original plan of the Longfellow Gar- of the principles of garden design. It was den when I took it in hand,” Hutcheson one of the first books to encourage the use Printed by Newprint Offset, Waltham, Mass. continued in her letter. “I added all arbors, of native American plants and conservation gates, etc. but I based the flower beds on the of America’s “vast natural beauty.” The Spirit ghost of those which existed, as Miss of the Garden contains many photographic 1234 Longfellow told me that her father, the illustrations of European and American gar- All images are from the Longfellow National Historic poet, had laid out the original plan, taking dens, several of which were designed by Site collections, unless noted otherwise. the flower bed shapes from a Persian pat- Hutcheson—including photos of the for- tern. Though I thought it an ugly idea, it mal garden at the Longfellow House. - 2 Interview with a Longfellow Descendant…Mary Hunting Smith Mary Hunting Smith is a great grand- for many, many years after that. MS: Uncle Harry Dana was the only daughter of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. LH: What did you do for them? person who was here. I may have stayed Her mother was Priscilla Thorp Smith, MS: I did everything. I started out as here when Aunt Alice was still alive, but I youngest daughter of Anne Longfellow secretary in the program department, and don’t remember her. I do remember Uncle Thorp whom the poet immortalized as when I finally left, I was assistant manager. Harry. He was in the back quarters some- “laughing Allegra” in his poem “The Chil- I worked my way up through all kinds of where with his big library and his papers. dren’s Hour.” As a young girl, Mary Smith other jobs in the orchestra. I was with them He sort of terrified me actually. I don’t was often pictured in photographs taken in almost twenty years. And then I moved to think he was very fond of children. He did- the garden (see photos on pages 9 and 10). New York and worked for a music pub- n’t know what to say to me, and I certainly She shared her reminiscences and walked in lisher and for the New York Philharmonic didn’t know what to say to him. When we the garden with us at the Longfellow House. for a while. I was the registrar at the Juil- stayed, we didn’t see him unless he wanted Longfellow House: Were you born here liard School for about ten years. to be seen. in Cambridge? LH: To backtrack a bit, was it unusual LH: There are a number of beautiful Mary Smith: No, I was born in New for a woman to join the navy when you did? pictures of you in the garden. York City. I was brought up in the Village Were you sent overseas? MS: I remember the old garden, but I on MacDougal Street until I was about six, don’t remember these things the pictures and then we moved to Greenwich, Con- are of, although I remember hearing about necticut, which is where I grew up. Mr. Gaffney. I see you have boxwood in the LH: Who were your parents? new garden. Boxwood is what I remember MS: My mother was Priscilla Alden about the old garden. When the sun was Thorp. There were five Thorp daughters, warm, the box would smell wonderful. I’m and she was the youngest. My father, A. glad that there’s still boxwood there. Calvert Smith, grew up in Omaha, but his LH:Was the garden a special part of the family came from Quincy, Massachusetts. House in your memory? They’re related to John Hancock. My grand- MS: It was somewhere they took me out father was a railroad man with the old to play, so I did spend time there. I was five Northern Pacific. He traveled a lot and was or six when these pictures were taken. Then based in Omaha in the early days. when I was older, I’d walk out there.The LH: What brought your father to New thing I know about, although I never went York City? to one, was the fairs they used to have. I MS: First he was a reporter on the old talked to Carol Bain [neighbor and child- New York Sun, and then after he got married, hood friend] when she was here last sum- he got into investments. He was on Wall mer for the Longfellow’s teddy bear’s one- Street for a long time. MS: Well, a lot of women were going hundredth-birthday celebration [during LH: And you attended Radcliffe College? into the navy in World War II. I did some- the Summer Festival’s “Family Day”]. She MS:Yes, I did. My mother went to Rad- thing called communications, which is said the only thing that’s missing is the cliffe, and Frankie [my sister] and I both mostly unmentionable because we’re not pony rides they used to have up and down went to Radcliffe. I started out to do biol- supposed to talk about it. The army WACs the driveway when they had the fairs. ogy and discovered that I had to do years went overseas towards the end of the war, LH: What do you feel is your connec- and years of chemistry and physics, none but the navy WAVES, except for nurses, tion with the House today? of which I ever had and I had no ability for stayed at home. I was stationed in Washing- MS: I think what’s been done here is just at all, so I changed to music. I graduated in ton. There were a lot of women, and we marvelous. It looks the way it always looked the music department. Music was one of worked watches around the clock. except that things have been replaced that the earlier departments at Harvard where LH: While you were growing up, did needed to be replaced. I was awed by the men and women took classes together you visit Cambridge and the House? fact that they did the drapes and the car- —probably because most of the men were MS: My grandparents lived down the pets and copied what was there before. The off in the war. street from the House at 115 Brattle Street, family looked around for things from the LH: What year did you graduate? and we came quite a lot to visit them. I used House still in their possession. I had Uncle MS: Well, I’m in the class of ’44, but I to stay there for Christmas. Some time later Charley’s square sake warmer, which I was graduated in ’43 and went into the navy so I we spent time here at the House on our way happy to send back for the collection of his got out early. I was in the navy until ’46, and to Maine, where we went for the summers. Japanese memorabilia. I’m just delighted in by this time my father was at Harvard. He The family had an island off Mt. Desert, your archives. They’re so impressive. You was the secretary to the corporation and the which Grandpapa Thorp had bought, be- have so much information and so many assistant to President [James Bryant] Co- tween Southwest and Northeast Harbors. good photographs. To have a place where nant. My parents had moved to Cambridge On our way we would stop off for the the family pictures and documents can be while I was at Radcliffe, so after the war I night sometimes and stay in the House. I kept is just wonderful, and of course I’m came back to Boston. Soon enough I got to slept in the wedding ring room once. thrilled to have helped identify some of the work for the Boston Symphony, which I did LH: Who was living in the House then? people in the pictures. 3 - Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House: A Landscape Through the Years he garden rehabilitation project has land to Harvard College for its Botanic Gar- it would be important to secure the land in Tprovided an opportunity for the NPS dens in 1805. The most advanced horticul- front, for the view would be ruined by a staff and researchers to contemplate the tural information and material was essen- block of houses.” By the time the Longfel- changing appearance and use of the land tially at their back door, and Botanic Garden lows arrived, properties had been subdivided upon which the House sits through hun- records indicate that Madame Craigie fre- and owners no longer farmed their land. dreds of years of history as well as its quently purchased plants there.” In an 1843 letter to his friend the Ger- importance to the Longfellow family. The Henry Longfellow got to know the man poet Ferdinand Freiligrath, Longfel- parcel varied in size and shape, but contin- widow Elizabeth Craigie when he first low de scribed his new property and his ued in Henry Longfellow’s time to stretch became her tenant in 1837. Soon after he feelings for it: “We are living at my old from his house on Brattle Street, just a wrote of her: “She was eccentric to the last: lodge in Cambridge. All literary occupation quarter of a mile west of Harvard Square, rose late in the morning and sat up at night. is however suspended. I am as idle as a lord, to the Charles River. Her dress was a turban and usually a slate- and have some idea of what a man’s life Evidence suggests that Native Ameri- must be who can neither read nor write. I can groups were present on the site as early have taken to planting trees and other as 4,500 years ago. The garden rehab rural occupations, and am altogether enabled archeologists to examine the rather a useless individual. To be more grounds of the House. They discovered particular, we have purchased an old remnants of a Native American hearth- mansion here, built before the revolution, site and related artifacts under the drive- and occupied by Washington as his head- way. The site’s proximity to the Charles quarters when the American Army was in River would have made it a desirable place Cambridge. It is a fine old house, and I for indigenous people to live. have a strong attachment from having In preparation for the installation of lived in it since I first came to Cambridge. new elm trees in the forecourt, an archeo- With it there are five acres of land. logical crew uncovered the stone founda- “The Charles River winds through the tion of a building from the early 18th cen- meadows [in front] and in the rear I yes- tury. Close to the street but at a different terday planted an avenue of Linden trees, angle than the present house, this earlier which already begin to be ten or twelve foundation may have been part of the feet high. I have also planted some house of Colonel John Vassall, one of acorns, and as the acorns grow for a Cambridge’s largest landholders, who had thousand years, you may imagine a whole bought this six-and-a-half-acre house lot line of little Longfellows, like the shad- and ninety adjacent acres for farmland, owy monarchs in Macbeth walking under salt marsh hay, and fruit orchards. Looking out front door of the House towards river, c. 1900 their branches, through countless genera- His son Major John Vassall demolished colored gown…. She used to say she saw tions, ‘till the crack of doom,’ all blessing his father’s house and built up the terraces God in nature…. She had a passion for the man who planted them.” upon which he constructed the current flowers and cats—and in general all things Alice Longfellow later described her House in 1759. This Loyalist family lived living. When the canker-worms came spin- father’s pleasure in the House’s grounds: here until 1774, when they fled to Britain. ning down from the elm-trees, she would “He was much interested in planting new George Washington used the property as sit by the open window and let them crawl trees and shrubs, and laying out an old his headquarters from July 1775 until April over her white turban. She refused to have fashioned garden. The plan of the some- 1776. Nathaniel Tracy bought the House with the trees protected against them and said, what elaborate flower beds was his own its six-and-a-half-acre lot and the surround- ‘Why, sir, they have as good a right to live design, surrounded by low borders of box, ing 140 acres. He remained until 1786. as we, they are our fellow worms.’” and filled with flowers. He was not a When Andrew and Elizabeth Craigie From Mrs. Craigie’s heirs, Nathan Ap- botanist nor a student of flowers, but he lived in the House from 1791 to 1841, they pleton purchased the House and five acres of found a little amateur landscape gardening added greenhouses. “The Craigies trans- land as a wedding gift for his daughter Fanny a very agreeable pastime. Behind the garden formed their property into a picturesque and her new husband, Henry Longfellow. was a path shaded with tall pine trees, and farm, or ferme ornée, adorned and embellished When her father was considering buying the was one of my father’s favorite walks. There with fixtures and plant materials, both exotic property, she wrote to him in September was a small green summer house, and a rus- and indigenous,” wrote Catherine Evans in 1843, “We have duly considered and dis- tic bridge over a little brook that flowed the LNHS’s 1992 Cultural Landscape Report. cussed the question of remaining here, and I through the garden. He devised a rustic “Craigie’s improvements to both the man- think that, all things considered, we could stairway, and a platform with seats in an sion and grounds were so grand the prop- not do better elsewhere. The house is large apple tree, where many pleasant hours were erty was commonly referred to as the ‘Castle enough to introduce every modern comfort spent taking the after dinner coffee on Craigie.’ The Craigies also supported the we should desire, and there is no position in spring afternoons among the blossoms, or development of horticulture in the Boston Cambridge that can compare with it for the talking with friends: while to the children area. Andrew Craigie donated three acres of views and air…. If you decide to purchase, it was the favorite spot of all.” - 4 ook ack at the apital ampaign for the arden ALBCCGhen the Friends of the Longfellow ticity as the House. At a Friends board meet- Susan Wood, a financial planner and consul- WHouse initially undertook the pro- ing in 1999, she first raised the idea of a cap- tant, was drafted to head the committee. ject to fund the rehabilitation of the ital campaign for the garden. “At subsequent “Susan transformed it from a breakfast party Longfellow NHS grounds and gardens, the board meetings, I would raise the idea, and I to a well-organized movement with agendas, five-year-old group had more enthusiasm kept persisting,” said Ackerly. budgets, and contacts,” Henderson stated. than experience at conducting a capital When Barclay Henderson became presi- The Friends had never conducted a campaign. Nonetheless, the Friends mobi- dent of the Board of the Friends of the fundraising campaign for a large project lized with energy and inventiveness and in Longfellow House in June 1998, he named before. “We had a steep learning curve. This three years raised almost $1 million. Many the garden as one of his main interests. “I was a capital campaign without the institu- individuals contributed time and money to hoped rehabilitating the garden and bring- tion or the infrastructure,” said Wood. Board a campaign that proved a successful collab- ing it back to its former glory under my member and Harvard Business School senior oration between the Friends and lecturer Laura Nash added, “Ev- the National Park Service. ery aspect had to be hammered Background out and invented. Some people Between 1991 and 1997 NPS had worked on larger campaigns historic landscape architect Lau- with more precedent or a large ren Meier oversaw the research staff. No one was used to doing and writing of the three-volume the legwork themselves. We had Cultural Landscape Report for no mailing list other than the the National Park Service. It Friends’.” The monthly breakfast described the history of the meetings continued for several Longfellow House landscape years. “The Friends had to decide and the existing conditions, ana- how to budget, how to spend lyzed the significance and his- money as they went along,” Nash toric integrity of the landscape, continued. “We had to define and proposed three alternative what the Friends would be able to treatments. The first possible Board Members Frances Ackerly, Barclay Henderson, and Susan Wood with take on and to work out the treatment of the existing land- NPS’s Supt. Myra Harrison, Director Fran Mainella, & Jim Shea, 2004 respective roles of the Friends and scape was to do nothing at all. The second chairmanship would be my legacy to the the Park Service, keeping in mind their rules called for a rehabilitation of the garden and Longfellow House,”he reminisced. Hender- about fundraising.” grounds with small changes as necessitated son had a longstanding connection to the At an early meeting, they passed out by the availability of plants and materials, garden and grounds as the person who made pieces of paper and asked people to write and the third choice was for a restoration the summer festival possible for many years. down what they could contribute. “It came of exactly what had been there previously. His wife, Minako, a landscape architect also out to about $60,000,” according to Hen- The NPS decided on rehabilitation. active in the Massachusetts Horticultural derson. “This was enough to get us started Initial idea for the project Society and public garden efforts, had an and also hire a consultant, because we our- Frances Ackerly, a distinguished educator influence on his interests. Together they selves did not have the qualifications to and one of the founding Board members of have traveled to various parts of the world raise a million dollars.” the Friends of the Longfellow House in to look at significant and historic gardens. The help of professional fundraisers 1994, was the inspiration for the garden reha- Beginning to implement the idea Jane Bowers, the first professional con- bilitation project. She thought the garden “I remember Frances standing up and sultant hired by the committee, felt it was rehab was “something the Friends ought to raising the flag and saying we’re going to important that the Board support the cam- do” since it would be difficult for the Park charge up that hill,” said Henderson. Begin- paign, and she was impressed by the initial Service to do by itself because of the sub- ning in 2000, members of the Board—Polly outpouring. Bowers shaped the initial case stantial funds needed. To her, the garden and Bryson, Charlotte Cleveland, Nancy Frey- statement, and defined the needs of the grounds seemed an important part of the berger, Barclay Henderson, Lynne Spencer, campaign and the stages of the rehab and Longfellow House and would complete the and Susan Wood—met once a month over fundraising. “Jane was instrumental in get- historical setting accurately. She was both- breakfast at Frances Ackerly’s house and ting us off the ground,” said Henderson. ered to think that visitors to the House formed a Capital Campaign Committee. The “Among other things, she taught us how to would not know that “the grounds were not group drew in people who hadn’t volunteered ask for money. None of us felt comfortable historically correct,” and she sought to bring for committees before, and it grew over time doing that, but she would sit us down and the landscape up to the same level of authen- to include about a dozen Board members. (continued on next page)

5 - rehearse us. It was great.” archives—were treated to a tour by the Park Dear Readers, In the spring of 2002, the committee Service. They were often astounded by the Several years ago, the dream of hired consultant Judy Green, who had variety and extent of the House’s holdings. recreating the Longfellow landscape helped the Harvard Lampoon’s capital “We also piggybacked with the House seemed a distant possibility, and the campaign, to assist with the implementa- events that might mesh with the garden, needed funds seemed far beyond what tion of the fundraising plan. “Judy was such as Family Day, to publicize the capital the Friends of the Longfellow House effective after we had gotten something campaign,“ said Nash. might be able to raise or the National going. She came up with lists of contacts Building the pergola Park Service could ever muster. and instructions for how to approach The committee decided that if people Nonetheless, buoyed by the vision- them,” said Henderson. “She was super- could begin to see actual improvements in ary leadership of President Barclay organizational,” added Wood. the garden, they would be more inclined to Henderson, the Friends decided the A professional landscape architect who contribute. Board member and architect grounds were too important to the works on historic garden spaces and a Board Peter Ambler led the Pergola Committee. In House to retreat from this challenge. member, Carol Johnson helped the commit- early 2001 “Bill Ackerly stepped up at a time They formed a capital campaign com- tee understand the garden’s historical signif- when we really needed it,” stated Hender- mittee, ably led by board member Susan icance and its importance to the commu- son. William Ackerly, a prominent psycho- Wood. The committee achieved its nity through discussions and a field trip to analyst and Frances’s husband, jumpstarted impressive fundraising goal, the results the Codman House in Lincoln to see the the implementation of the garden project of which we celebrate with this issue. pergola they had rebuilt. Garden historian with a $200,000 gift he had received in his Today the pergola, paths, boxwood, and Radcliffe Institute faculty Judith honor from the Richard B. Simches estate. other shrubs, and trees are in place. Tankard joined the Garden Subcommittee With this most generous contribution This spring/summer and next, the her- and gave an informative presentation which the Friends contracted Walpole Woodwork- itage roses and extensive perennials will conveyed the unique qualities of the garden ers to build the pergola, the dramatic visual be introduced. Some cultivars are so and its features. “We used this to inspire us proof that the garden rehab was underway. rare that it has taken serious detective when we approached donors,” said Wood. Walpole Woodworkers also contributed by work to locate growers, but by the fall Fundraising events lowering their initial bid and donating part of 2006, the full garden will be planted. The capital campaign was officially of their services. The Park Service based In succeeding summers, as the garden launched in September 2002 at the thirti- construction drawings on period pho- begins to flourish, the lavish Colonial eth-anniversary celebration of the NPS’s tographs, pergola remains, and archeology Revival concept will unfold. Then we’ll stewardship of the House. The garden com- by NPS’s Steven Pendery, and NPS’s experience fully the garden Alice Long- mittee greeted the array of prominent Richard Chilcoat supervised construction. fellow created a century ago, in mem- guests—Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Critical support ory of her father and recalling the David McCullough, and Keith Lockhart— “There were some other breathtaking flower garden he’d planted. with tables displaying informational posters donors,” said Wood. In addition to Bill The National Park Service accepts and bags of tulip bulbs announcing the cap- Ackerly, “without Barclay Henderson and this remarkable gift with enormous ital campaign. Bobbie Greene, director of his support through the Henderson foun- gratitude to its many donors, whom Save America’s Treasures, stopped by these dation, we wouldn’t have gotten going.” we and the Friends honor with this tables and learned of our plans. In 2003 Save America’s Treasures (SAT), issue of the Bulletin. This private gar- A series of intimate fundraising “break- a national public-private initiative which den is now a unique public one and a fast teas” began in the winter of 2002-3. funds preservation projects, delighted the permanent part of the Longfellow The Friends and NPS had compiled a list Friends and the NPS with a $200,000 dona- experience. We commit to its careful of people from Cambridge who were active tion, their first-ever grant for a landscape maintenance as long as we are stewards in other garden initiatives, historic preser- rehabilitation. “Bobbie Greene saw the gar- of the Longfellow legacy, and know vation, or educational projects, and local den display at the thirtieth-anniversary that millions of visitors will be in- businesses. From this list the Friends event and encouraged us to apply for a Save structed and refreshed by its beauty. invited a handful of people each time to America’s Treasures grant,” said Wood. Even Myra F. Harrison chat informally in the carriage house and though SAT had previously given grants Superintendent view drawings of the garden past and only for restoring structures or for collec- National Park Service future. “It was very personalized, very tions, the SAT grant to the garden rehab grassroots,” said Laura Nash, who orga- underlined the historic significance of the nized the teas along with Polly Bryson, Longfellow landscape as a national treasure. Molly Nye, Meade Fasciano, Anne Lowell, “Receiving the SAT grant helped to get and Heather Moulton. Guests—some of other grants,” said Nash. “It helped rein- U whom were unfamiliar with the House and force the value of this project.” Save Amer-

- 6 ica’s Treasures required a matching grant, collaboration with the NPS. “The Park Ser- which was provided by the many individual vice and the Friends worked hand in hand Dear Readers, gifts to the capital campaign. on this project,” said Jim Shea, director of The National Park Service had a Working with the community the Longfellow House, “and you know the detailed historical survey and plan for The next phase of the capital campaign NPS cannot solicit funds.”The NPS helped the Longfellow House garden restora- for the garden involved an outreach to a Friends to organize fundraising events, and tion project going back many years greater number of people, who were invited the Friends used funds to implement the before we became involved in 2000. to cocktail parties at the homes of Heather NPS’s plan. Friends purchased plants that Since Congress had appropriated more Moulton and Barclay Henderson. the NPS ordered, and vetted contractors. than $2 million in funds for rehabilitat- Numerous smaller donations made up NPS regulations and historic district status ing the House, we felt that the govern- the bulk of the campaign. “It was a com- required public presentations to inform the ment was unlikely to fund our garden munity effort with many people participat- neighbors and city of the project. At public project for many years to come. The ing,” said Nash. Longfellow descendants meetings NPS superintendent Myra Harri- Friends had no experience in raising embraced this project, and neighbors and son and several Friends spoke as Cambridge funds for anything and were awed by local businesses contributed. “Our best suc- residents and people involved with the rehab the challenge of a $1 million campaign. cess was stimulating interest one on one.” to apprise neighbors and city officials. Frances Ackerly deserves credit for Friends also reached out to garden clubs Side benefits offering to lead a band of the least and invited them to the carriage house for The capital campaign created interest in qualified fundraisers ever to gather and tea, a slide lecture, and tours. Between forty the Longfellow House and pulled in peo- for making the restoration plan a real- and fifty members of the Cambridge Plant ple not previously involved. “Even people ity. Susan Wood, our Campaign Chair, and Garden Club attended and responded who didn’t give money learned about us— brought the organizing skills and dedi- with a generous donation. The committee the House, the archives, the garden,” said cation necessary, and now five years felt “an informal camaraderie”with and con- Shea. The main committee formed a Gar- later we have a restored garden. tacted other Cambridge organizations—Mt. den Subcommittee, comprised mainly of Even today as I write this note, I Auburn Cemetery, the Cambridge Histori- neighbors who were not Board members. cannot fathom why so many of you cal Commission, and the Cambridge Histor- The campaign also brought in many visi- Cambridge neighbors, local companies, ical Society—a number of whose members tors, and new Board members such as and semi-public agencies responded to came to events and were most supportive. Heather Moulton, who saw to it that the our appeal with such generosity! Surely National Park Service Longfellow garden became one of the stops you had received more professional “One of the pleasures [of the garden pro- on the yearly Secret Gardens of Cambridge solicitations from talented fundraisers ject] was working with the National Park tour, attracting garden lovers from all over. campaigning for deserving projects. Service,” said Wood. “They are a most de- “One of the exciting things to come Nevertheless, the fact that you did lightful group of people—so dedicated, from the campaign was to hear other peo- respond often and generously brought knowledgeable, and keen to educate the pub- ple’s ideas about future uses of the garden encouragement and pride to all of us lic. They see their mission as making history for educational and public purposes,” Nash Friends of the Longfellow House. In meaningful to visitors, and they were equally recalled. “The ways in which the public will the coming years, every time we walk enthusiastic about doing this for the garden.” continue to support this ‘new dimension’ through the beautiful and historically The capital campaign was a monumental to the House will keep growing.” authentic grounds, we will remember with gratitude your wonderful contri- bution that made this piece of ground such a very special place. The Longfellow National Historic Site and all of Cambridge is better for what you have done. Barclay Henderson President Friends of the Longfellow House

The rehabilitated pergola in the formal garden, 2005 W

7 - he riends of ongfellow ouse wish to thank all who contributed their time, energy, and finances to the Capital Campaign: CapitalT FLH Campaign Committee Ellen G. Brodsky q Janet Griffin q Robert Mitchell & Susan Pharr Robert B. Straus Frances Ackerly Helen Lathrop Brooks in honor of Julie Griffin in honor of Dorothy Bell Mitchell in honor of Beth Straus Edith H. Bowers Jacqueline Brown Johanna Gurland Dale & Bob Mnookin Charles M. Sullivan q Hans-Peter Biemann in honor of Isabel Brown & Mark Kaminsky q Ellen & John Moot q Edmund Sullivan & John Schulz q Polly Bryson Polly & Charles Bryson q Marjorie F. Gutheim q in honor of Alice Thorp Michael Sullivan q Charlotte Cleveland in honor of Marguerite W. Bartlett, Theodore Hansen & Sally Howes Heather & Eben Moulton Peter M. Sullivan Elizabeth Hope Cushing Gail Osolin Leo, Ann Murphy, in honor of Laura W. Hansen Jeremy & Lucy Murray-Brown Judith Tankard Meade Fasciano and Caroline M. Bartlett William & Robie Harris q Laura Nash & Thomas Beale q in honor of Ellen B. Shipman Nancy Fryberger Craig & Bettina Burr q Barclay Henderson q in honor of Georgia Robison Beale, Nathalie & John Thompson Barclay Henderson Susan Bush q in honor of Minako Henderson Audrow Nash, and Howard Kennedy Laurence Tribe q Carol Johnson Ruth Butler q Linda Ann Hess Beale in honor of Carolyn K. Tribe Layne A. Longfellow Levin H. & Eleanor L. Campbell Leonora Hollmann q Mr. & Mrs. Larry Nathanson q Harold & Elizabeth Van Buren q Heather S. Moulton Julie C. Carlson in honor of Mr. Gaffney Mary Newmann David & Catherine Vickery Laura Nash in honor of Marian Carlson Thomas & Sylvia Hollmann q & Theodore Smith q Suzanne Vogel q Molly Nye Marshall & Missy Carter q Arch Horst & Kate Kirby q in honor of Frances Ackerly in honor of Ellen Ezorsky Arthur A. Shurcliff Lawrence Cetrulo q Janet Horton q Molly & Joe Nye Alvin & Judith Warren q Lynne Spencer Toni Chayes q in honor of Virginia Horton Françoise E. Paradis, Ed.D. Anna D. Warren Judith B. Tankard in honor of Abram Chayes Keith & Catherine Hughes q in honor of Dianna Morrison in honor of Anne Longfellow Dickinson David Vickery Patricia Cherney Robert & Nancy Hurlbut and Dorri Morrison Lowell A. Warren, Jr. q Frances Wetherell in honor of Madeline Dembicki Choley in honor of Eda Woolson Hurlbut Matthew Pearl q in honor of Stanley Paterson Susan B. Wood, Chair Richard & Patricia Chute q Ann Hutchinson Guest Anna D. Platt and Margaret B. Warren Honorary Members William C. Clendaniel John & Consuelo Isaacson in honor of Anne Longfellow Dickinson Rick Weissbourd & Avery Rimer q William C. Clendaniel Charlotte Cleveland q Margaret Jackson and Anna Warren Allen West q Drew Gilpin Faust Sylvia & John Constable in honor of Susan M. Jackson R. Booth Platt, Jr. q Mr. & Mrs. D.Bradford Wetherell, Jr. q Ronald L. Fleming Anne Cori q Carol Johnson q in honor of Anne Longfellow Dickinson in honor of Priscilla Alden Thorp Smith John F. Furlong Patricia Cosentino q Sarah B. Jolliffe Platt Family Cornelia Wheeler Diana Korzenik Weld Coxe q Eugenia Kaledin q in honor of Anne Longfellow and Josephine Whiteford Pauline Maier Nancy Curtis q Ida Kaplan q Knowls Dickinson Maria Willcox q David Rockefeller, Jr. Elizabeth Hope Cushing q Linda Kime q William & Lia Poorvu q in honor of Eleanora Skinner Calderson Diana Rowan Rockefeller Melanie Dana & Marya Zilberberg in honor of Sarah Wright Almgren Frank Porter q Albert Wilson Alice Wolf Richard & Dawn Dana William & Sheila King Harold I. & Frances Pratt Alice & Robert A. Wolf q Benjamin Zander in honor of Nina M. Dana Lucy Knowles Stephen D. Pratt Susan Wood & Ernest May q Tad & Kathleen Dana Diana Korzenik in honor of Larry Chvany in honor of Nancy Caughey May Individuals & Families in honor of Thelma S. Osgood in honor of Fanny Appleton Longfellow Harriet Provost q Nancy Woods q Anonymous (3) Alice de Berry Brook William & Diane Lam q Caroline Read q Benjamin Woznick Frances & William Ackerly in honor of Deborah Wahrmund John Lampert q Marilyn Richardson in honor of Deborah Doe Speer in honor of Clara King Dickinson, M.D. Richard de Neufville q Morris Lasker Harland & Ann Riker q Dorothy Zinberg and Carita Clark Ackerly Carol M. DeBerry q Selina Little in honor of Irene Perry Morrill Dr. & Mrs. Robert H. Ackerman q Louise M. Des Marais in honor of Judge & Mrs. Bailey Aldrich Joseph & Lee Robbins q Organizations, Foundations, Adams-Hayes Family in honor of Zoe Lassagne Mercier Warren & Jean Little Laura Roberts & Edward Belove & Corporations in honor of Virginia M. Adams Amy Dickinson in honor of Nina Fletcher Little in honor of Dorothy Roberts and Anonymous Layne & Kimberly Ainsworth in honor of Anne Longfellow Dickinson Barbara Lloyd q Eleanor Belove Cambridge Plant & Garden Club q Marianne Ajemian and Mary H. Smith Lotje Loeb q Jack & Edith Ruina q Cambridge Savings Bank Missy Allen Richard Dober q in honor of Arthur L. Loeb Michael & Emily Sapienza Cambridge Trust Company q Blake Allison in honor of Eleanor Lee Dober David Longfellow in honor of Sally Sapienza Computer Breakthrough q Peter Ambler & Lindsay Miller q Robin LaFoley Dong in honor of Catherine Longfellow Katherine Selfridge q Dr. & Mrs. William Appleton q & Mitchell Dong q Layne A. Longfellow q David & Jane Shapiro q Henderson Foundation Sherwood & Caroline Bain Louise Donovan q in honor of Hershel Longfellow James Michael Shea Swanee Hunt Family Foundation in honor of Mary H. Smith Alan & Suzanne Dworsky Longfellow National Historic Site staff & Kathleen Ambrefe Innotec q Philip Balboni Lois & William Edgerly q in honor of George Ryan in honor of Audrey Shea in honor of Laura Nash & Elizabeth Houghteling q Alan & Richard Emmet Yo Yo Ma & Jill Hornor q Henry Shipman Johnson & Johnson Francis Bator q in honor of Diane Kostia McGuire Anna & Michael Magruder q Estate of Richard B. Simches Barbara Lee Family Foundation Richard & Holly Beaty q Lansing & Julie Fair q Pauline Maier in honor of William Ackerly, M.D. Leslie Saul & Associates, Inc. Samuel Beer Meade Fasciano John & Olive Malcolm Joel L. Siner Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in honor of Nesta Bell Weicker and Drew Gilpin Faust Dimitrios & Jennifer Mantzaris Robin Smith q Mainsail Associates Jessica Blanche Hutchinson & Charles S. Rosenberg in honor of our mothers Mary Smith q The Offices at Kendall Square q J. L. Bell Ronald Fleming Joan & Edward Mark q in honor of Frances Wetherell The Philanthropic Collaborative q Harriet Bering q William & Margaret H. Floye q Susan E. Maycock Maura Smith Irving & Charlotte Rabb Hans-Peter & Karen Biemann Nancy & Richard Fryberger q in honor of Carolyn Ross in honor of Ann G. Smith Charitable Foundation q Alfred Bigelow q Suzanne Gallant q David McCullough Mrs. Arthur K. Solomon q Save America’s Treasures Gene & Peggy Blumenreich q Douglas & Michael Gensler Patricia McGrath in honor of Arthur K. Solomon Jean S. & Frederic A. Sharf Fund q Niels Bodecker David & Anne Gergen q in honor of James McGrath, Arthur Solomon Sirius Software q Taylor S. Bodman John & Helen Glancy Penny McGrath, and Virginia McGrath Phyllis & Adam Sonnenschein q Terra Nova Partners in honor of Holly Grinnell, in honor of Richard C. Williams, Jr. Margaret McKeigue q Joseph P. Spang q Thomson Media Willa Bodman, and April Bodman Byron & Mary Jo Good q in honor of John E. McKeigue Lynne Spencer q in honor of Laura Nash Kathleen Born in honor of Filomena Frank DelVecchio William J. Memmer Pamela Steiner q Louise & Rodrigo Botero and Anna Noonan in honor of Laverne M. Memmer Howard & Fredricka Stevenson q Donation designated for a specific Edith H. Bowers Jack & Elizabeth Meyer Carol D. M. Strasburger feature or planting

List as of May 31, 2005.We apologize for any misspellings. Please feel free to contact the Friends about this fundraising campaign. - 8 Use of the Longfellow Garden and Grounds: Then and Now nown for twenty-five years as the site of from 3 to 10:30 p.m. In addition to having by presenting her with a silver cup and read- Kthe Longfellow Summer Festival’s mu- “cooling drinks,” afternoon tea, cake, and ing poems composed for the occasion. sical and literary perfor- supper, one could watch Eleanor Curtis Hopkinson, a cousin of mances, the Longfellow various bands, concerts, Alice Longfellow, lived at the House with House’s garden and and a Punch and Judy her husband Charles Hopkinson—the well- grounds have also played show, ride a donkey, have known painter—and five daughters from a role historically in the one’s fortune told, partic- 1923 to the 1940s during the winter months. public and private lives of ipate in children’s games Eleanor hosted special gatherings at the the Longfellow family. and “athletic sports,” or House, including summer garden events. They have served as the have a silhouette drawn. She may have used these occasions to raise setting for many family Prior to the Social funds for her family’s various charities. gatherings and private Union lawn parties each Harry Dana, who lived in the House events ranging from inti- year, on Memorial Day after his aunt Alice’s death in 1928, contin- mate family traditions, from 1885 to 1905 Alice ued the tradition of both charitable and such as Easter egg hunts, Longfellow invited the educational garden events. Perhaps using to more formal occasions, Radcliffe graduates to her the Social Union lawn parties as his model, such as weddings. Mary house. In 1879 along with he held elaborate lawn fetes from 1929 to Hunting Smith was cap- Sketching in the garden, late 1920s six other women, Alice 1938 to benefit the Cambridge Neighbor- tured with her Easter basket in a charming had founded Radcliffe hood House, a settlement image by a relative. In 1912 the sumptuous College. She was involved house in East Cambridge wedding of Ned Dana, Edith Longfellow with various fundraising for immigrants. He also Dana’s son, was well documented in his efforts for the college and invited“The graduate stu- uncle Joseph Thorp’s photographs. established a traveling fel- dents at Harvard Univer- But the garden and grounds also played lowship for Radcliffe sity and Radcliffe Col- host to a long tradition of public gather- graduates. A number of lege” to attend a garden ings held by the Longfellows for charitable the early Radcliffe com- party “through the cour- and educational organizations. mencements took place in tesy of the Trustees of the The poet’s daughter Edith wrote to her the Longfellow House Longfellow House and older sister Alice on June 4, 1899, “The library followed by tea in the descendants of Henry Social Union Garden Party is to be June the garden. On September Wadsworth Longfellow,” 14th, when we shall have the usual festivi- 22, 1905, Radcliffe alum- reads a printed card in the ties.” A flyer found in the House archives nae from 1885 to 1905 House archives. These not only tells us that it took place “on the commemorated Alice’s in- garden parties were held in grounds of the Longfellow Estate, Brattle volvement with Radcliffe Mary Smith with Easter basket, 1925 July from 1938 to 1949. Street,” but also “Active preparations are being made for a Lawn Party which shall, if possible, excel in variety and attractive- Recent Research at the House ness those of former years.” In 1871 Henry’s brother Rev. Samuel The Longfellow House archives contain over 775,000 manuscripts, letters, and signed documents and Longfellow had been a co-founder of the are used extensively by researchers from around the world. Here are a few recent researchers of the sev- Cambridge Social Union, for which the lawn eral hundred who use the archives annually. party sought to raise money. By the late nine- Members of the American Historical Print Collectors gathered at the House for a teenth century many American communities tour of the print collection and special lecture by Lauren Hewes, consulting curator had set up “social union”organizations where at the Print Council of America. In 1995-1996 Hewes was the chief cataloguer of “restless young men and women might com- the Longfellow site’s collection of over 1200 prints. She illustrated her talk with bine entertainment with intellectual self- many of the prints in the House’s collection. improvement.” By 1889 the Cambridge Social l Union had enough funds to purchase the old Stephanie Kelsch and EmilyWright, a teacher and student from Westwood High School Brattle House and the lot next to it for $9,000 respectively, examined Alice Longfellow’s papers and photos to prepare a first-person to build a multipurpose space (now the Brat- interpretation of the young Alice, which Emily will perform for Longfellow NHS. tle Theater) designed by Henry’s nephew l Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr. (In 1938 Dianne O’Neill, a curator at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, came to examine an the Cambridge Social Union became the engraving of Evangeline by James Faed (1821-1911) after a painting by his brother Cambridge Center for Adult Education.) Thomas Faed (1826-1900). The gallery had recently received a similar print which Probably similar to the lawn parties of she wanted to compare for purposes of identification. In the process she became previous years, the 1899 program offered for interested in the different number of fingers in each version of the print. an admission fee of 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children a schedule of activities 9 - Adjoining Longfellow Properties As One Landscape recent report by Susan Doolittle at the scapes were closely connected when the Michael Gaffney, Gardener ALandscape Institute of the Arnold properties were the homes of the Longfel- eloved by the extended Longfellow Arboretum of Harvard University reveals low daughters,” writes Susan Doolittle. Bfamily, Michael Gaffney worked for much information about the landscape his- “Old photographs show front and back almost three decades as the gardener for tory of the three contiguous properties on connecting pathways. A common driveway all three of Henry’s daughters, who Brattle Street in Cambridge occupied by the from the street branched out to each house lived in houses side by side at 105, 113, poet’s three daughters. Entitled “Historic and joined again in the rear leading to the and 115 Brattle Street. Connections in Three Longfellow Proper- stable. The stable [on the Thorp property] According to Michael Gaffney’s ties: A Contemporary Design,” the report may have been shared as well, since there was daughter Kathleen Lambert, who was describes paths running parallel to Brattle no mention of a barn for the Dana House born in 1915 and lived in Cambridge Street which originally connected the prop- at the time the dwellings were built. The until recently, her father was born in erties and certain shared backyard features. front paths connecting the two houses con- 1880 in Roscommon County, Ireland, Before his death in 1882, Henry Longfel- tinued on to the Longfellow House, and the but moved to England and married an low made provisions for his property to be facades of the three mansions on their ter- Englishwoman. He served four years subdivided into house lots for his children. races lined up in a stately procession.” during World War I in India and Egypt. Alice Longfellow remained in the original In 1923 he moved his family to the Longfellow House, while her sisters each Boston area where he had a sister, “Aunt built a house on the two adjacent lots Bea,”who worked for the Dana family as directly to the west, in the same year but a cook. On Aunt Bea's recommendation, designed by different architects. Edith Richard Henry Dana III hired Michael Longfellow married Richard Henry Dana Gaffney as a chauffeur. “We moved III in 1878. They built a picturesque Queen immediately into the Dana House on Anne style house with deep red shingles Brattle Street. It was the first house we and tan trim at 113 Brattle Street in 1886. lived in after arriving in the United After Anne Longfellow married Joseph States,” said Lambert. Thorp Jr. in 1885, they built a house and In 1924 the Gaffney family started to stable at 115 Brattle Street in 1886 also. The work for the other Longfellows also. style of their clapboard house reflected that From the numerous signed receipts for of the Longfellow House, as did the yellow plants received and paid for in the paint with white trim. House archives, we know that Gaffney In 1922 the landscape designer Paul worked directly with Alice Longfellow Frost, who also designed Longfellow and Ellen Biddle Shipman to buy plants Memorial Park on land owned by the poet for the Shipman garden. The Gaffneys between the Longfellow House and the Mary Smith, Anne Thorp, & Michael Gaffney, 1927 lived in the Longfellow House while Charles River, created a plan for the grounds By envisioning the connecting landscape Alice Longfellow traveled in Europe of the Dana house. The Dana landscape features, one can imagine the closeness of and during many summers, and they plan included features that related to the the members of this family compound and continued to live there during Harry neighboring Longfellow House grounds how they went back and forth to one Dana’s time. such as a lilac hedge along the driveway another’s houses. They shared the leisure When Gaffney retired in 1953 and which matched the one on the opposite side. areas of their back yards, and they also moved to California and Wisconsin, the A large gap in the center of both hedges employed the same gardener to tend the family ensured his well-being. “I remem- allowed for a view between the Longfellow grounds [see sidebar]. ber one of the things we had to do was forecourt and the Dana front lawn. The path connecting the Longfellow sign off on part of our inheritance for Although Frost’s drawings exist, it is not House to the Dana property will be recon- Mr. Gaffney’s retirement,” said Frankie clear how much of his plan was executed. structed as part of the Longfellow garden Wetherell, Longfellow’s great grand- A historic layout map from around 1890 rehabilitation. The Lincoln Land Institute daughter. “We all contributed a certain shows the Thorp and Dana properties side now owns both the former Dana and amount so he could have a pension.” Her by side in a scheme which appears unified. Thorp properties. Doolittle’s report pro- aunt Anne Thorp Jr. had suggested this. The fronts of both houses form a straight poses a master plan for the landscape Anne Thorp Jr. kept up a warm cor- line. The west side of the Dana house is redesign for both these properties yet states respondence with him in the 1950s and bordered by a driveway, which is a mirror the importance of the historic relationship ’60s. “I’m sure you know how much we image of the driveway along the east side of the houses, “characterized by openness all care for you and how grateful we are of the Thorp house. No large trees sepa- and connection to each other and to the for all you have done for us for so many rate the houses, and walks parallel to the Longfellow House. This early relationship years,” she wrote to him in 1961. “You front facades almost line up. There is a feel- is the key to uniting the properties in the are so much a part of this whole place ing of one long, only slightly punctuated present. Unification in a way that recalls the that we can never think of it without front yard for both houses. historic character of the property is the you and will always miss you.” “The Dana and Thorp House land- underlying element of the new design.” - 10 Longfellow Summer Programs 2005

Sponsored by Friends of the Longfellow House, Poetry Club, & Longy School of Music All programs take place on the side lawn at Longfellow NHS and are free and open to the public. Seating is limited so blankets and lawn chairs are welcome. No parking available. Sunday afternoons July-September 1-4 p.m. Painting and Writing in the Garden: Art and writing materials are free for children and adults

Sat. July 2, 10 a.m. NPS ranger Paul Blandford conducts a walking tour, “The Human Side of GeorgeWashington,” focusing on his time in Cambridge during the Siege of Boston, 1775-1776. Tour begins at Longfellow NHS. 4 p.m. “TheTempestWithin:Washington’s Struggle with Slavery,”a dramatic presentation based onWashington’s own words about his struggle with slavery and the presence of free blacks in the Continental Army. Sun. July 3, 4 p.m. Poor Richard’s Penny performs colorful vocal and instrumental music from the time of our nation’s inception. Sat. July 9, 10 a.m. NPS ranger Paul Blandford conducts a walking tour, “The Human Side of GeorgeWashington,” focusing on his time in Cambridge during the Siege of Boston, 1775-1776. Tour begins at Longfellow NHS. 11 a.m. Bruce Harris interprets and performs as Peter Salem, a former slave who gained his freedom by enlisting in the Continental Army. Michael Gaffney, c. 1950 2 p.m. “The Poet’s Daughter” is a costumed performance about 16-year-old Alice Longfellow, Henry and Fanny’s oldest daughter who lived at 105 Brattle Longfellow House in the Media Street her entire life.Written by Stephanie Kelsch and performed by her student. Sun. July 10, 4 p.m. Synergy Quintet Brass Ensemble with a repertoire ranging from The December 2004 issue of Traverse, North- early Renaissance to the modern era, with composers such as Mouret, ern Michigan’s Magazine, featured an article by J. S. Bach, Handel, Sousa, and Gershwin. Elizabeth Edwards about the Hiawatha Sun. July 17, 4 p.m. Marge Piercy, poet and novelist, whose most recent book is pageants that were performed until the Sex Wars: A Novel of theTurbulent Post-Civil War Period, will read from her 1930s. The Longfellow family attended the works. Book signing. first performance in 1900 which took place Sun. July 24, 4 p.m.The Marriage of Figaro, a fully-staged opera by Mozart, on an island in Lake Huron. Later the presented by Longy School of Music continuing education students in pageant was moved to Petoskey, Michigan. English with dialogue interpolated in place of the usual recitatives. The article included several photographs Thurs. July 28, 11 a.m. TobiasVanderhoop:Traditional Aquinnah Wampanoag of the event from the House archives. Songs and Stories presented by the Cambridge Arts Council and l Longfellow NHS in recognition of the 150th anniversary of the Public television’s “This Old House” will publication of Henry Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha. be renovating a house on Sparks Street in Sun. July 31, 4 p.m. Richard Wilbur, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, reads from his Cambridge and will be filming at the works. Book-signing. Longfellow House for supplemental mate- 2 p.m. “The Poet’s Daughter” is a costumed performance about 16-year-old rial. Jared Sparks, for whom the street was Alice Longfellow, Henry and Fanny’s oldest daughter who lived at 105 Brattle named, also lived at the House as a boarder Street her entire life.Written by a teacher and performed by a student. of Mrs. Craigie at the same time as Henry Sun. Aug. 7, 4 p.m. Ha Jin, 2005 PEN/Faulkner-award winning author, and Longfellow in the 1840s. The show will be Diana der Hovanessian, poet and president of the New England Poetry aired this September or October. Club, present Other Voices, readings from their new works. Book signing. l Sun. Sept. 18, 1-5 p.m. Family Day: event features poetry writing, painting, and draw- For his new book 1776, historian David ing for all in the Longfellow garden and 19th-century games, McCullough came to the House with his plus presentation of the Longfellow Student Poetry Awards. friend Senator Alan Simpson to explore from basement to attic its associations with General George Washington. A researcher for McCullough spent time poring over the the Spring 2005 issue of National Parks, the back with tours of the nearby estates of a various Revolutionary War-related letters magazine of the National Parks Conserva- former governor, a suffragette, and a poet.” and documents in the House archives. tion Association. l l l The same issue of the Boston Globe displayed Scott Kirkwood, senior editor, described On April 10, 2005, the Boston Globe Sunday a photo of Charley Longfellow’s tattooed the Longfellow NHS as the “home to a New England Travel section recommended chest for an article about Christine Guth’s general who would become president and a the Longfellow NHS along with two other recent book entitled Longfellow’s Tattoos: poet who would become world famous” in historic houses, allowing one to “Journey Tourism, Collecting, and Japan. 11 - " potlight on an bject Join us as a Friend and help support an international collection of nS each issue of the newsletter,O we focus Fine & Decorative Arts, Rare Books, Letters, and Historic Photographs Ion a particular object of interest in the Longfellow House collection. This time representing three centuries of American History… our spotlight shines on the garden tool q $1000 Benefactor q $150 Contributor collection from the Longfellow House. q q Seventy-four implements or pieces of $ 750 Sponsor $ 70 Family equipment from the 19th and early 20th q $ 500 Patron q $ 35 Individual centuries used to maintain the Longfel- q $ 300 Donor q $ 15 Student low gardens and grounds have been cata- logued and stored. They range from Make checks payable to: trowels, garden stakes, and shears to lawn Friends of the Longfellow House mowers, rollers, and wheelbarrows. Some 105 Brattle Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 of these bear the names of manufactur- For more information, call 617-876-4491. ers or even the owners—a number of wooden handles were inscribed with Name Alice Longfellow’s initials “AML.” Address Pictured below are three tools possi- City bly used by gardener Michael Gaffney: a long-spouted galvanized metal watering State Zip can whose label says “Wotherspoon Telephone Watering Pot, Pat. April 17, 1894,” a Special area(s) of interest in the Longfellow House: wooden-handled lawn mower with heavy metal wheels cast with the words q “Philadelphia Lawn Mower Company” I would like someone to call me about volunteer opportunities. and “1924,” and a lawn rake with wood Contributions are tax deductible to the extent provided by law. teeth and handle and long curved metal braces from the Rugg company, a Mass- achusetts business that still exists today.

Friends of the Longfellow House 105 Brattle Street Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138