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on fellow ous ulletin Volume No. A Newsletter of the Friends of the Longfellow House and the National Park Service June Longfellow Hous e-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site! o the delight of the National Park Ser - indeed, and entirely in the spirit of the Efforts to bring about the name vice and the Friends of the Longfellow worthy poet and the great general, change began in . Having T House, on December , , President and also, let’s not forget, of Sen - gathered widespread support – , t h g Obama signed into law a bill changing the ator Ted Kennedy, who, with from literary groups, preser - i r formal name of the yellow Georgian man - his abiding love of American vation societies, and the W h p sion at Brattle Street, Cambridge, to history, did more than any - Longfellow descendants – e s o Longfellow Hous e-Washington’s Head - one to bring attention to for several years, the pro - J y quarters Nati onal Historic Site. The new and urgently needed gov - ponents approached Sen - b g n i name will communicate to the public Gen - ernment support for this ator Kennedy’s office.The v a r eral George Washington’s eight-month prime national treasure.” late Edward M. Kennedy g n e , occupancy of the House and its significance NPS Superintendent introduced the bill in the n o t not only to our nation’s history but also to Myra Harrison and Site Senate in July . After g n i HenryW. Longfellow and his family. Manager Jim Shea agreed Kennedy’s death, Senators h s a Upon hearing the news, historian David that the name change will in- John Kerry and Paul Kirk, W e g McCullough expressed his enthusiasm: crease the House’s connection Kennedy’s successor, co-spon - r o e “The full historic importance of the grand to its Revolutionary War years and sored the Longfellow Hous e- G old, yellow clapboard house on Brattle highlight the original intent of the Washington’s Headquarters National Street, Cambridge, is conveyed at last by its Longfellow family’s donation of the prop - Historic Site Designation Act, which the new official name. It is a welcome change erty to the Park Service nearly forty years ago. (continued on page ) Through the Years the Many Names of 105 Brattle Street espite some additions over the cen - of that year he abandoned his mansion and in-Chief of the army of the United Dturies, the House’s original struc - soon fled the country. Colonies, George Washington, arrived in ture has changed relatively little, but the On July , , the new Commander- Cambridge and spent two weeks at Wads- name by which people refer to Brat - worth House in Harvard Yard before mov - tle Street has constantly evolved since it ing into the empty “Vassall House,” as he was erected in . Past and present own - first called it. He occupied it as his resi - ers, its uses, and the memories it evokes dence and headquarters through March have all been reflected in its name. .When writing letters from the House, When he was only twenty-one years old, Washington and others officially called JohnVassall Jr. received a large plot of land their location “Headquarters Cambridge” across from his uncle Henry Vassall’s home or the “Camp at Cambridge.” on what was then called the King’s High - Two years afterWashington’s occupancy, way and, with inherited wealth, proceeded in the fall of , the Massachusetts legis - to build a home. No documents exist to lature passed a law confiscating the prop - establish whether he designed the house erty of men who had worked for the royal himself or hired an architect, such as Peter government or had absented themselves Harrison. During his fifteen years living from the state. In the Commonwealth there, people knew his residence as the of Massachusetts sold Battle Street to “Vassall House,” although it was often con - Nathaniel Tracy, a wealthy merchant and fused with the nearby HenryVassall House. privateer under Washington's command. By , John Vassall Jr. was one of the Facing bankruptcy, Tracy sold the house in largest landholders in Cambridge. Because to Thomas Russell, another wealthy of his Loyalist sympathies, in September CambridgeTribune , May , (continued on page ) ᳚ Longfellow Hous e-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site (continued from page ) Senate passed overwhelmingly in May . rialized the former occupant of the home ሖሗመ In the House the bill’s main sponsor was in his poem “To a Child,” noting that Congressman Michael Capuano, whose “Once, ah, once, within these walls,/ One Friends of the Longfellow House district includes the historic site. whom memory oft recalls,/ The Father of Board of Directors The Friends of the Longfellow House his Country, dwelt....” Heather S. Moulton, President were particularly active in Even before the name Elizabeth F. Potter, Clerk campaigning for the name change, NPS staff at the Robert C. Mitchell, Treasurer Annette Benedetto change, spearheaded in site had incorporated Peggy Blumenreich part by treasurer Robert Washington’s time at the Hope Cushing Mitchell, who hoped it House into their pro - Diana Der-Hovanessian would help preserve this grams and interpretation Edward Guleserian component of the site’s of the site. They orga - Barclay Henderson history. Friends’ president nized events along with Sarah B. Jolliffe Heather Moulton voiced their community part - Linda Almgren Kime the group’s gratitude “to ner, the Friends of the Laura Nash our members of Congress Longfellow House, that Lynne Spencer for sponsoring the bill ... included Washington- Advisory Board and pushing it forward.” themed house tours and Ruth Butler Although the official an annual lecture on the LeRoy Cragwell name has changed, the House’s significance in Diana Korzenik House will remain fur - the nation’s Revolution - Richard Nylander nished as it was when the Print by D. Edwin , ary War history. Stephen D. Pratt Longfellow family transferred the House Frances (Frankie) Appleton Smith Marilyn Richardson and its contents to the Park Service in Wetherell, Longfellow’s great-granddaugh - Marc Shell . The Longfellows had collected and ter, reacted to the advent of the name Charles Sullivan installed in the House many items related change: “When I think about how much Administrator to Washington and the Revolution. A bust the Longfellow family treasured George J.L. Bell of Washington stands inside the front Washington’s connections to their beloved door, and images of George and Martha home, I know how happy they would be Newsletter Committee Washington are displayed throughout the that their two names will be forever linked Glenna Lang, Editor, Writer & Designer House. Henry Longfellow himself memo - at this historic house.” James M. Shea ᇶᇷᇸ Korzenik & Paterson Research Fellowships Awarded his year the Friends of the Longfellow Mary Longfellow and Longfellow House House have awarded the Korzenik Fel - Trust papers as well as the photograph, National Park Service T Myra Harrison, Superintendent lowship to Klara Szlezák, a lecturer and print, and postcard collections. James M. Shea, Museum Manager/Curator Ph.D. candidate in American Studies at the Thiriez’s project will investigate “Pho - Lauren Downing , Administrative Officer University of Regensburg, Germany, and tographs of China Collected by Charles Nancy Jones, Education andVisitor Services the Paterson Fellowship to Régine Thiriez, Appleton Longfellow in -. ” She Anita Israel, Archives Specialist an independent researcher and scholar of notes that the Longfellow Hous e-Washing - David Daly, Collections Manager photography in China, who received her ton’s Headquarters China photographs Lauren Malcolm, MuseumTechnician Ph.D. from the École Practique des Hautes complement forty-six similar prints of Scott Fletcher , Facility Manager Études of the Sorbonne in . The fel - China, which she previously studied at Beth Wear, Management Assistant lowships provide support for work in the Salem’s Peabody Essex Museum. Charley Longfellow Hous e-Washington’s Head - Longfellow gave these prints to his cousin Printed by Newprint Offset, Waltham, Mass. quarters archives and collections. AlexanderWadsworth (Waddy) Longfellow, Szlezák will conduct research for her who donated them to the museum in . dissertation called “Creating Pasts in Nine - In the House archives,Thiriez will exam - ማሜምሞ teenth-Century Writers’ Houses in New ine photographs as well as Charley Longfel - England.” It focuses on the role these low’s unpublished journals and Waddy All images are from the houses have played and continue to play in Longfellow’s diary. She hopes there will be Longfellow Hous e-Washington’s Headquarters creating and reinforcing the cultural mem - enough material for a publication devoted National Historic Site collections, unless noted otherwise. ory of their occupants, and, more broadly, to Charley Longfellow’s collections in addi - of New England. She will feature the tion to providing information about the Longfellow House and several other photographs for her forthcoming book, houses. Szlezák anticipates using the Alice Early Photography in China: A User’s Guide . ᳚ Interview with a Friend … Robert Mitchell, Friends’ Treasurer Retired from Clark University as a pro - only lived in it for a year. I waited until the Cambridge Historical Society. fessor of geography with a specialty in envi - things became more propitious. Because of LH: Why might it be nationally impor - ronmental economics, Robert Mitchell has the tremendous Longfellow component of tant for people to know of Washington’s served on the Board of the Friends of the the House – its presentation, its ownership, connection to the House? Longfellow House since . For years he its memories – some people who are close RM: Washington’s coming to Cambridge has been a leading advocate of including the to the House naturally tend to value that was critical to the Revolutionary War in House’s history as Washington’s headquar - aspect very much.

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