QUARTERLY NEWS MARY BAKER EDDY MUSEUM and Historic Sites

VOL. 18, NO. 3 PUBLISHED BY LONG YEAR HISTORICAL SOCIETY AUTUMN 1981

IMPRESSIONS OF BOSTON: 1880-1910 Tracing Boston's progress during the early days of Christian Science is interesting and worthwhile. The years from 1880 to 1910 were a time of great growth for the Cause of Christian Sci­ ence. During this time the church evolved into a worldwide movement, with Mary Baker Eddy fulfilling her role as Founder and Leader. Boston, too, experienced enormous growth during the period. This article pro­ vides a brief look at several aspects of the city during that era, with the hope of presenting broad impressions of the atmosphere in which Christian Sci­ ence was nurtured and perhaps giv­ ing a better understanding of the city which Mrs. Eddy chose to be the headquarters of the Christian Science Courtesy of Bostonian Society movement. Bicyclists in front of Trinity Church, Copley Square, ca. 1885 built across Copley Square from Trin­ Boston, 1905 (King C. Gillette); idea Innovation and Invention ity Church (H. H. Richardson, 1877); of level measurements for recipes 1880 to 1910 was a time of renewal the two are representative of the finest (Fannie Farmer). for Boston. In 1880, the city was still in American architecture of the Journalism: Numerous one-man recovering from the fire of 1872 and, period. newspapers, including reform maga­ along with the rest ofthe nation, from Aviation: Longest flight over salt zines such as New England Maga­ the financial panic of1873. A brilliant water in the United States, 1910 - zine, edited by Edward Everett Hale, new era was ahead, however gloomy round trip from Quincy to Boston, 33 and Woman's Journal, organ of the it may have appeared to poor and miles; part of the largest and most American Woman's Suffrage Associ­ wealthy residents alike. Popular top­ important aviation meet held in the ation, edited by Alice Stone Black­ ics of debate in those years included U.S. up to that time.1 well, daughter of Lucy Stone. In 1886 civil and social reform, labor disputes City Planning: First metropolitan there were 300 newspapers and mag­ and women's rights. Hopes filtered to park system established and planned azines published regularly in Boston. the general populace that Utopia was about 1893; extensive parkland in Mary Baker Eddy founded The Chris­ an imminent possibility. Individual advance of urbanization, with land­ tian Science Monitor in 1908, which action often seemed inspired by Bib­ scape architecture by Frederick Law contrasted sharply with the yellow lical teachings and sincere religious Olmsted. journalism of most major news­ fervor. An assortment of enterprising Education: New concepts of kin­ papers. developments ensued, a sampling of dergartens, playgrounds and cooking Music: Boston Symphony Orches­ which follows: classes added to public schools; tra founded in 1881; "Pops" Concerts Architecture: The Boston Public world's first kindergarten for blind begun in 1885. Library (McKim, Mead & White, 1895) children.2 Religion: Mary Baker Eddy became Engineering: Largest lock gates in the first American woman to found a Quarterly News Autumn 1981 America in 1908, built at Charles River church. Some major changes within © Longyear Foundation 1981 Vol. 18, No. 3 basin- first of the electric "sliding traditional religion originated in Bos­ gate" type, later used for Panama ton, such as the Reform movement Subscription, $6.00 Annually Canal.J of Judaism in the 1880's, and the {Includes Activities at Longyear) Invention: Disposable safety razor Emmanuel healing movement within Sent without charge to Members of Longyear blade developed and marketed in the Episcopal Church.

281 its product as "AN EVER SADDLED _ HORSE WHICH EATS NOTHING." People by the tens of thousands rode their bicycles in and around Boston. Historian Samuel Eliot Morison recalled that, " From dusk to about 10 P.M. the street was filled with young people learning to ride the bicycle, and resounded with tinklings, crashes, squeals and giggles."8 After 1885, the roar of electric street railway cars mingled with the rest of the noise. These gradually replaced the horse cars by 1900. The electric cars acquired the local nickname of "broomstick cars" because of the trol­ ley poles connecting them with the wires overhead. By 1910, trolley lines Courtesy of Bostonian Society reached even the smallest towns in Quincy Market, North Market Street, looking toward Faneuil Hall Square, 1880's Massachusetts. In heaviest traffic and on narrower Social Services: Robert Woods of iron horseshoes on the street pave­ streets, the speed of the all-electrified adapted settlement house idea to ments. That sound began before dawn street railways was quite reduced. Boston's needs. Others made first when the milk carts came by thou­ Going underground became a neces­ American efforts to protect Italian sands into the city from the outlying sity, so Boston became the first Amer­ immigrants from exploitation of pa­ farms. By nine o'clock the tens of ican city to build a subway for trolley drone system. Simmons College, thousands of horses, including those cars, completed in 1898, under Bos­ world's first full-time school of social that drew the cars of the horse rail­ ton Common. work. ways, the carriages of the physicians The Back Bay landfill project, begun Transportation: First underground and merchants, the tip carts of the in the 1850's, was nearly complete by subway in America (1898); first street cleaners and the long drays of the late 1880's. Fill was brought in underwater subway tunnel in North the sugar refiners and the wool mer­ from the outlying town of Needham America (1904); first American-made chants, were on the move. The horses to build up the tidal area west of the bicycles. of the street railways dangled bells Public Garden and provide much­ In an article entitled "My Recollec­ from their collars. Dray horses had needed expansion room for the city. tions of Boston - The City of Kind bells. Therefore much bell music was The Mother Church was erected in the Hearts," Helen Keller wrote, "It has mingled with the pounding street new Back Bay area in 1894. Mrs. Abbie ever been in Boston's creed to render noise . ... At sunset the noise abated, W. Griffin recalled an interesting story life safer and happier for the coming but through the early night the about the land on which the church generation."4 Bostonians were quick pounding and the sound of iron tires was built. She wrote, "Years ago 'Back to adopt modern inventions for mak­ rolling on stone and gravel went on. " 7 Bay' extended its waters from the ing life easier, from the bicycle to the The street railway was Boston's line Albany R.R. Huntington Ave. over telephone, which had been invented of horse-drawn cars pulled along what is now 'the Fens' excepting in Boston in 1876. The first electric tracks. During rush hours cars were 'Gravelly Point,' an island three cor­ lights in Boston were installed at the filled to capacity- about 40, includ­ nered in shape, which was the only luxurious Hotel Vendome on Com­ ing standees. These heavier cars solid ground in that region. The pres­ monwealth Avenue in 1882, and in required four to six horses to draw ent Back Bay district excepting that lecture halls. Later in the 1880's, them. For warmth in the unheated point is made land (filled in). Mr. " ... on Boston Common, a single arc horse cars, aisles were heaped with Griffin who was an expert Conveyan­ light with its energizing engine and straw. Children loved to revel in it, cer, was employed over a year in dynamo was set up .. . as a curiosity sometimes finding coins dropped by examining the titles of that territory for the public to see. The tents of other passengers. for the City of Boston. He discovered Barnum's Circus were lighted by Boston was still a walking city in and told me that the lot selected and electricity as an unprecedented spec­ the 1880's. Getting to work on foot was presented by Mrs. Eddy for The tacle at that era."5 The Mother Church a necessity for low-income people Mother Church was this same 'Grav­ acquired the city's first electric action who could not afford carfare. Hun­ elly Point.' ... The Directors were organ in 1895.6 And of course the dreds of employees trekked daily glad to know this when I told them .... church was illuminated with the new across the Channel Bridge, bound for The building of the church proved the electric lights. industries in the South End, among above to be correct, hence the three them foundries and piano factories. cornered church on solid ground."9 Life in Boston Around 1885, the safety bicycle was Frederick Law Olmsted, America's Life for most Bostonians was still introduced from England, and the air first landscape architect (and designer rather provincial in the 1880's. Some tire soon followed, replacing the of New York City's Central Park and of the city sounds were described as wooden velocipede and the faster but many other major park systems in the follows:" ...the great and the univer­ precarious Columbia high-wheeler. United States), ingeniously trans­ sal noise in the city was the pounding One bicycle manufacturer advertised formed the marshy, malodorous Back

282 moved to the slightly larger house next which is an ever-present, ever-wel­ door at 571 Columbus Avenue. come entertainer, starts the children dancing."" ... pushcarts loaded with Challenge of Immigration fruit and vegetables, fish and crabs, Because of its significance for our and edibles of every description pre­ society today, late Victorian Boston is empted the sidewalk, the gutters, and studied closely by historians, politi­ most of the street. Cries of 'Hot tam­ cal economists and sociologists. The ales,' 'Fresh bagel,' and 'Fish! Fresh original Puritan and Yankee charac­ fish' in Yiddish, Italian and Portu­ ter of Boston had greatly disappeared guese filled the air."10 An older resi­ by 1880. The socially and culturally dent recalled overhearing three boys elite Boston Brahmins and literary wrangling together. One was Jewish, giants of the earlier 19th century had one Irish, and the other black. They faded from the scene. Almost two­ were communicating -in Yiddish! thirds of the population consisted of In 1900, immigrants outnumbered the foreign-born and their offspring. Bostonians of colonial descent three The proud and sometimes compla­ to one. The many effects on society cent "Hub of the the Universe" (as were met with a positive response by Boston was called) would never be the some "Beacon Hillers," but some 569 Columbus Avenue (second door from right) same. Like many American cities wealthier people just ignored the and 571 Columbus Avenue (left door), locations forced at that period to stretch at the problems, and still others com­ of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College in the seams, Boston had its share of prob­ 1880's plained - or endeavored as early as lems, and its share of reformers to deal 1884 to hold back the tides of immi­ Bay Fens into a beautiful park area by with the problems. gration. The Immigration Restriction 1885. This later linked other seg­ Newest arrivals to Boston usually League worked in the 1890's to require ments of parklands with tree-lined stopped first near their embarkation literacy tests for naturalization. Social strands to form an "Emerald Neck­ point, - the waterfront slums, with workers were hard-pressed to handle lace" of typical Olmsted "manufac­ the lowest rents, lowest elevation, and the influx of newcomers. It was tured wildness," some five miles in poorest drainage in the city, and the obvious that old charitable methods length. highest population density after Cal­ were helpless in Boston's situation The South End, which had con­ cutta. Problems resulting from the and that new methods were needed. nected Boston with the mainland overcrowding involved sanitation, before the landfill project, became the employment practices, imbalance of nation's largest rooming house dis­ the sexes, and destitution of those who Social Reform trict. The South End neighborhood is couldn't cope with the shock of being Genuine and widespread concern now listed in the National Register of transplanted. In their letters to the Old for the unfortunate developed during Historic Places as the best example, Country, some immigrants discour­ the 1880-1910 era. In Boston, Julia and the largest, of Victorian planning aged others from coming to Boston, so Ward Howe (author of "The Battle in the country. In 1882 Mary Baker ill-prepared was the city to receive Hymn of the Republic") and aboli­ Eddy leased 569 Columbus Avenue, a them. Some stayed only until enough tionist Wendell Phillips fostered these four-story brownstone in this district, funds could be saved to return home. concerns about as much as anyone. in which she established the Massa­ Cameo scenes of immigrant neigh­ The two were from the city's First chusetts Metaphysical College. The borhoods were described by two social Families, yet both rebuked elite soci­ following year this was the first workers: "The street offers much to ety as well as the educated of all address of the Christian Science Pub­ vary what is otherwise often a life of classes who disregarded their fellow lishing Society. In 1884 the college monotony and toil. The street piano, men in need.

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Courtesy of Bostonian Society Courtesy of Bostonian Society Left, excavation for subway, corner of Tremont and Park Streets, March 6, 1896. Right, "broomstick cars" on Tremont Street opposite the Old Granary Burying Ground, July 12, 1895, 3:32p.m.

283 The means of scientifically study­ ple of what one person's vision can do ing social conditions and interrela­ to help the unfortunate. The accom­ tionships was developed in the 1880's plishments of the settlement houses and '90's. "Social reconstruction­ during this period,-helping to uplift ism" became a profession, and work­ and reclaim impoverished neighbor­ ers tried to merge ethical motives with hoods - were carried out without scientific methods in order to improve one dollar of government funding, J American life. even during periods of economic An important educational vehicle depression. for many students of social reform was In some ways, Boston was a school­ the university settlement house. The room for the nation,- providing les­ first such center, providing commu­ sons for many new Americans who nity services such as gymnasiums, later settled elsewhere in the country; baths, classes, reading rooms, and and with textbook material for com­ relief work in underprivileged areas, ing generations of analysts of the was started in London in 1875. Jane period. All who passed through were Addams adapted the concept in Chi­ Scenes from Boston's North End: Paul Revere's touched by Boston in some way. It is cago at Hull House. In 1891, Robert house ca. 1905, above; two Italian children and to be hoped that what they gained Woods opened Andover House, later dog ca. 1910, below. (Photographs courtesy of helped them to become absorbed in renamed South End House, in Bos­ Bostonian Society) the American way of life, enabling ton's South End section. them to contribute to the nation­ America's pioneer sociologist, building, and drawing ever more Robert A. Woods came from Pittsburg newcomers by their example. and trained for the ministry at Frances J. Kemp Amherst and Andover. While seeking to serve mankind in the best way pos­ Frances J. Kemp is a free-lance writer living in sible, he sought spiritual guidance Boston. and recorded in his diary at the time, 1. Several members of Mrs. Eddy's house­ "God is striving to realize some great hold attended the air show. See Erwin D. Canham, Commitment to Freedom, p. 12. thought in the history of mankind. We 2. The Christian Science Journal, May 1887, can know that thought only by work­ pp. 104-105. 11 ing together with God." 3. The Christian Science Monitor, November It occurred to Woods that special 25, 1908 (first day of issue). p. 1. expertise must be gained to meet the 4. Fifty Years of Boston -A Memorial Vol­ challenges caused by the recent waves ume, Elisabeth M. Herlihy, ed., 1932, p. of immigration. The settlement house xviii. 5. Arthur A. Shurcliff, "Everyday Life in Bos­ idea appealed to him as the best way Settlement houses were founded in ton," Fifty Years of Boston, p. 690. for Christianity and democracy to join Boston by various colleges and 6. The first electric organ motor was installed in dealing with social problems. He churches, as well as one with a tem­ at Trinity Church in 1900. wrote, "The settlement is an intellec­ perance connection. Several settle­ 7. Shurcliff, p. 691 . tual and moral adventure having its ment houses branched out from South 8. Samuel E. Morison, One Boy's Boston - origin in the university and the End House, aiming to serve the needs 1887-1901, p. 30. church .... its chief discovery or of black and Italian neighborhoods. 9. Letter from Mrs. A. W. Griffin to Mrs. Mary rediscovery is the neighborhood The groundwork done in all these set­ B. Longyear, October 7, 1921. See also as the vehicle of secular good will and Joseph Armstrong, The Mother Church tlement houses also had national (1937 edition), pp. 7-8 . The Back Bay area as the unit of civic and national implications. The present-day field of was drained and filled to 20 feet above sea reconstruction.'' 12 sociology derived from published level, about 10 feet higher than Gravelley Woods was determined to avoid the studies of the unique philanthropic Point, over which the church was built. appearance of imposing on an impov­ When driving the piles for the foundation, agency of the settlement house, as solid ground was struck much closer to the erished people his own ideas of what developed in Boston. surface than expected. was needed, as had some previous There is a tendency on the part of 10. Americans in Process, Robert A. Woods, well-meaning charitable efforts. Staff some scholars today to belittle the ed., pp. 225-226; Phillip Davis,And Crown members (usually university faculty early work, - to imply that Woods Thy Good, p . 117. and students) were required to reside was naive in his attempt to impose 11. Diary entry, April 27, 1890, quoted by among the people being served, hence Arthur Mann, Yankee Reformers in the middle-class morality and Yankee Urban Age, p. 117. the term "university settlement." values on Boston's ethnic subcul­ Only in being part of the mixed-immi­ 12. Robert Woods, "South End House at the tures. And yet the work at South End End of its 21st Year, 1891-1912," p. 7. grant neighborhood could they hon­ House remains an outstanding exam- 13. Mann, p. 121. estly expect to serve it with wisdom and empathy. His efforts were evi­ dently quite successful, for a dean of LONGYEAR FOUNDATION: Board of 'Irustees: Frederick D. Herberich, Chair­ man; Marian H. Holbrook; Robert C. Dale; June A. Austin; John E. Auchmoody. the Episcopal Theological School Director: Constance C. Johnson. Editor: Marylee Hursh. QUARTERLY NEWS is wrote of Robert Woods in 1901, "He is published four times annually by Longyear Historical Society, 120 Seaver Street, today one of the strongest influences Brookline, Massachusetts 02146 U.S.A. (617) 277-8943. Inquiries about mem­ for good in the city of Boston."13 bership and activities are welcome.

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