Before the West Branch library got a proper building in 1909, library service in West Somerville (and in East, North and South Somerville) was delivered by partnerships with local businesses, which became the early branches – then usually called agencies – of the SPL. These agencies served as pickup/dropoff points for library books, but for…
This week we were spared the worst of Hurricane Florence’s destruction, but 80 years ago on September 21, the 1938 hurricane known as the Long Island Express walloped New England with 100+ mph winds, killing more than 700 and leaving more than $300 million in damage (in 1938 dollars). Here in Somerville, the damage was…
The West Branch of SPL opened to the public on May 27, 1909. It was one of 2,509 libraries built in the U.S. with funds from Andrew Carnegie – the Central Library and East Branch were also built with Carnegie funds. The image here shows the adult reading room in the early 20th century, now…
Dilboy is a familiar name our city: Dilboy Field in West Somerville, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 529 – Dilboy Post – on Summer Street; the statue of Dilboy by City Hall. He was killed in action on July 18, 1918, near Chateau Thierry, France, and awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery posthumously….
Today we know the Somerville High School Radiator as the annual yearbook, but in the 19th and for part of the 20th century it was a monthly student literary and news magazine, often with striking cover art and design. The group of covers we’re featuring for today’s Throwback Thursday were created by Bill Hanley, who…
We at the library recently created a Flickr page for sharing photos and images from our local history collection. So far, we’ve scanned and uploaded photos of Somerville kids dating back to the 1920s; the city’s centennial celebration in 1972; Davis Square landmarks from the 1960s, before the Red Line; Somerville High School, and advertising…
As National Women’s History Month draws to a close this week, our spotlight is on Mae Durell Frazar (1852-1919) an accomplished writer, editor, world traveler, and entrepreneur who lived most of her life on or near Prospect Hill. Frazar is chiefly known as Somerville’s first female publisher. In 1887 she created a 16-sheet paper called…
Would you believe that word-puzzle contests were so popular in the mid-20th century that many libraries had to put their dictionaries under lock and key? Puzzle-solvers devoured dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference works in pursuit of cash prizes, and deluged library staff with requests for answers to puzzle questions. They ripped pages from dictionaries and…
Blog by Kathryn Smith, author of The Gatekeeper: Missy LeHand, FDR and the Untold Story of the Partnership That Defined a Presidency. Thanks, Cathy, for letting me be your guest blogger today. Missy LeHand was one of Somerville’s most famous residents in the 1920s-1940s, when she was the private secretary of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Especially…
Have you ever taken a stroll in Somerville, to come across an octagon shaped house with all the windows boarded up and cameras leering down at you? Well, if you know what I’m talking about, you’ve seen the Round House at 36 Atherton Street in Somerville. Although, it may not be as mysterious as we…
