Famed 19th century poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote these words from his home at 105 Brattle Street in Cambridge, today Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site. This 263-year-old home became a National Historic Site fifty years ago on October 9, 1972. Originally preserved for its associations with George Washington and Longfellow, today the site both embraces and digs beyond their stories. “The fiftieth anniversary is an opportunity to bring fresh perspective to the stories of general George Washington and poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,” said Site Manager Chris Beagan, “while committing to key lesser-known stories of the site including slavery and freedom-seeking, community activism, historic preservation, and LGBTQ+ history.”
As Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters looks toward the next fifty years, new programming, research, and partnerships will continue to build a more inclusive 105 Brattle St. “In the 19th century, the Longfellow home was a center of family life and literary and artistic gathering,” says Lead Ranger and Volunteer Program Manager Beth Wasson. “Now we’re working to build on that legacy by creating a place where diverse community members can come together and see their own histories honored.”
Several new initiatives have debuted during the anniversary year, including Deep Dive tours of the historic house exploring Slavery and Freedom, Queer History, and Washington’s Cambridge. In addition, the site welcomed families and community members back to the Longfellow Summer Arts Festival and first annual Juneteenth Gathering. Behind the scenes, new initiatives continue to propel Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters forward as an enduring community resource. Research will commence later this year for a Special History Study examining the Black history of the site and a new temporary exhibit gallery highlights lesser-known stories from the collections.
Join us in writing the next verse together as we mark the 50th anniversary of Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site with a series of upcoming special events, including the Fall Lecture Series.
Fall Programming
The fall celebrations kick off on Saturday, October 1 with the Queer Arts in Parks Festival from 12:00-4:00 PM. “I'm excited to see the Longfellow House, which was historically and quietly used as a safe queer meeting space, be used openly as a site of queer celebration and joy,” says Community Volunteer Ambassador and event organizer Sean Hanke. This event invites visitors of all ages to celebrate local queer history and community in conjunction with LGBT History Month, and will include Queer History tours of the Longfellow house, craft activities, games, poetry, and other local organizations.
The celebration of community, history, and the arts continues the evening of October 13 with Our History: Poetry & the Personal Past, hosted by former Cambridge Poet Populist Toni Bee. The event will feature local poets reading original work, as well as opportunities for the audience to create their own poetry. Poets and audience members will reflect on how the past shapes our individuality and connects us with others.
On October 20, Friends of the Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters research fellow Danielle Bennett and Ken Turino will present Not Just Roommates: Queer Historic Preservation. Queer and trans history can be found in every time and place, but excavating those stories has been largely a 21st century project with lots of work left to be done. Join us to learn more about the past, present, and future of LGBTQ+ historic preservation work.
Nicole Piepenbrink, recipient of the Harvard Graduate School of Design’s 2022 Design Studies Thesis Prize, will discuss her HERE LIES DARBY VASSALL project on October 27. Piepenbrink’s work, which includes an outdoor video installation at Christ Church Cambridge, examines the perceived invisibility of slavery in New England through the lens of Christ Church, the final resting place of Darby Vassall. Vassall was enslaved at 105 Brattle Street as an infant and became a prominent local abolitionist as a free adult. This program will conclude with a 10-minute walk to Christ Church to view the installation.
Join Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters Curator David Daly and Archivist Kate Hanson Plass on November 3 for a conversation on Charles Longfellow's Japanese Photographs: Collecting, Cataloging, and Digitizing. Learn about Charles Longfellow’s extensive collection of photographs from his travels in 1870s Japan, the context in which they were created and collected, and the recent digitization process that makes many of these unique photographs available to the public.
We’ll continue the exploration of the Longfellow House collections on November 10 with a virtual program, Researchers Roundtable: New Scholarship from the Longfellow Archives. Dr. Jacqueline Musacchio, PhD candidate Kaila Schwartz, and Dr. Troy Smith will share results of their research in the site’s archival collections. Topics include the Longfellows and their social circle in Italy, the process of naming in New England families, and early 20th century philanthropy in African American education.
On November 10, National Park Service archeologist Joel Dukes will present Unearthing the Past at Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site. In anticipation of the upcoming 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, the National Park Service conducted archeological excavations in front of the home during the summer of 2022. Dukes will discuss the results of the excavations and the unique combination of technology, methodology, and outreach.
The series concludes on December 1 with Dr. Kerri K. Greenidge (Tufts University) discussing her newly released The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family, cited by the New York Times as one of “15 Works of Nonfiction to Read This Fall.” Sarah and Angelina Grimke are revered figures in American history, famous for rejecting their privileged lives on a plantation in South Carolina to become firebrand activists in the North. Yet, retellings of their epic story have long obscured their Black relatives. In The Grimkes, award-winning historian Kerri Greenidge presents a parallel corrective narrative, shifting the focus from the white abolitionist sisters to the Black Grimkes and deepening our understanding of the long struggle for racial and gender equality.
Partners in the Fall Lecture Series include the Royall House and Slave Quarters, Boston African American National Historic Site, History Cambridge, The History Project, Christ Church Cambridge, and the Friends of Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters.
Original source can be found here.
