CHC Home | History & Links | Finding Aids
Neighborhood Ten Association Collection
1963-1985
Donated to
the Cambridge Historical Commission
in 2004 by
Thomas Anninger, President
The Neighborhood Ten Association
1980-1984
Compiled by
H. Alice Dodds
October, 2005-March, 2006
3.6 linear feet
The Cambridge Historical Commission
City of Cambridge
831 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
Description
The Neighborhood Ten Association Collection was donated to the Cambridge Historical Commission by Thomas W. Anninger, a resident of the neighborhood at 26 Healey Street since 1967. Mr. Anninger served as President of the Neighborhood Ten Association from 1980-1984. The collection represents the papers he acquired during his tenure in office, as well as background materials given him by his predecessors. The earliest document dates to 1963, the latest to 1985. However, the materials fall predominantly within the years 1980-1984.
Neighborhood Ten is one of fourteen Cambridge neighborhoods, so designated by the City of Cambridge for planning and administrative purposes. It comprises the area enclosed by J.F. Kennedy Street (formerly Boylston Street)-Massachusetts Avenue, Concord Avenue, Memorial Drive, and Mt. Auburn Street-Watertown Branch Railroad-Coolidge Avenue-Fresh Pond. It is one of the city’s most significant neighborhoods as it includes much of Harvard Square, parts of Harvard University (and formerly Radcliffe College), historic churches, Mt. Auburn Hospital, The Longfellow National Historic Site, Episcopal Divinity School, Mt. Auburn Cemetery, the Loeb Theatre, and one of the wealthiest residential communities in the country.
The years of Mr. Anninger’s presidency were a critical time for Neighborhood Ten. The early 1980s saw strong pressures for economic growth in Harvard Square. Developers sought to erect office towers, bring in arcades of video games, and increase the number of liquor licenses. The Neighborhood Ten Association, on the other hand, represented the traditional values of Harvard Square and looked to preserve the Square’s values as an educational, cultural and historic center, as well as a thriving business community. The battle lines were drawn. The neighborhood organized and fought. This collection details the tactics, influences and pressures, presentations to Cambridge City and Massachusetts State boards, and extensive litigation engaged in to achieve the ends considered desirable by the community.
In a city with as strong an organizational bent as Cambridge, it is not surprising to find recorded here the intersection of innumerable groups and organizations with the Neighborhood Ten Association. Most of these groups make a brief bow and exit without substantive interaction. The major exception is the Harvard Square Defense Fund, incorporated in 1979, which was closely allied with the Neighborhood Ten Association, sharing leaders, and fighting the same battles shoulder to shoulder. Some of the Defense Fund’s legendary figures, such as Dean Johnson, Martha Lawrence and Gladys (Pebble) Gifford, exerted a powerful influence and gave cause for many a second thought by the most intrepid developers.
In the early 1980s, Harvard University and other Harvard Square real estate developers began to heed and respond to the needs and desires of the community. An era of negotiations, backed by pressure, came into being. Mr. Anninger became a leader in these negotiations and shared mightily in bringing a number of significant issues and projects to successful conclusion. Among these were the sycamore trees on Memorial Drive and the Cambridge Electric Light Company, video games and the Dream Machine Company, and the two major real estate developments of the day: Parcel 1B and University Place.
Finally, it should be noted that the Neighborhood Ten Association Collection records work in progress. Many of the subjects covered, such as Parcel 1B and University Place, tell their histories from start to finish. Many others stand as fragments. Thus the integrity and usefulness of the collection, as a history of Neighborhood Ten during a critical period in its development, not only derive from the fullness of its own materials, but as directional pointers to areas of possible further exploration.
Scope and Content
Series One -- Building Issues (See also Zoning Issues)
While this series considers a few zoning issues, these issues are subsidiary to larger questions of planning, renovation, development and construction. Thirteen sites are included in this series, the earliest being the rehabilitation of Roosevelt Towers (1980-1981), and the latest the planning for a new building for Cherry, Webb & Touraine and Northeast Federal Savings Bank (October, 1984). Mt. Auburn Hospital was the most contentious of the building issues. The neighborhood was roused in 1983-1984 by the Hospital’s large scale building and renovation plans to set up the Mt. Auburn Neighborhood Association (MANA). This group worked to try to assure that the Hospital’s expansion efforts were not detrimental to the best interests of the community.
Series Two -- Cambridge, City of
Mr. Anninger collected a miscellany of Cambridge City Government documents on such subjects as block grants, budget, City Council, crime, neighborhoods, organizations, public schools and taxation. However, the real meat of this series, as regards the work of the Neighborhood Ten Association, is found in three folders: The Harvard Square Overlay District (1981-1984); The Harvard Square Policy Plan (1976, 1984) and; Institutional Growth and Development (CDD) (1980-1981). These records were essential policy statements and guidelines that helped to shape the Neighborhood Ten Association’s efforts to preserve and create a desirable and acceptable community. The folder on the Cambridge Historical Commission should be used in conjunction with files in Series One (Building Issues) and Series Nine (Zoning Issues).
Series Three – Harvard Square
Discrete materials pertaining to Harvard Square alone are few but merit separate consideration. The records on two organizations concerned with Harvard Square are usually included with the subject matter they were considering at the moment. They are here listed individually in recognition of their unique influence: The Harvard Square Business Association and the Harvard Square Defense Fund. The other materials included in this series are two files of records descriptive of Harvard Square: clippings and a defining statement on the Square.
Series Four – Harvard University (See also Building Issues and Parcel 1B)
Materials regarding Harvard University can also be found in other series, as noted above. The records here take in a miscellany of documents on the JFK School of Government and the Loeb Theatre. However, the bulk of this series concerns Craigie Arms, the Gerry and Revere Street properties and University Place. Gerry and Revere Streets properties were bought by Harvard from Louis DiGiovanni and became the site on which University Place was built.
Series Five – Infrastructure
The seventeen folders in this series reveal the Neighborhood Ten Association’s influence on the Cambridge infrastructure. This influence ranged from debating the large issues, e.g. Cambridge Electric Light Company (1983-1984) and the J.F. Kennedy Park (1983-1984), to small issues such as the MBTA bike racks (1982-1983), chain link fencing at Mt. Auburn Cemetery (1981), street signs (1981,1983), sodium lights (1982), and plantings (1981).
Series Six – Automatic Machines and Liquor
The Neighborhood Ten Association was an active voice in curbing troublesome bars and restaurants, including Georgie ‘N Co. and Ruggles. The Association also spoke up in general against the proliferation of liquor licenses in Harvard Square. It appealed to the city to set up a License Commission and to formulate policies and procedures for liquor licensing (City of Cambridge, Policies and Procedures, 1982-1983).
Series Seven -- Neighborhood Ten Association
This series includes the Neighborhood Ten Association’s housekeeping records as well as materials descriptive of the activities being undertaken by the group. Represented in the former category are financial records, lists of officers and members, and materials related to cooperative efforts with other groups and organizations. The latter category includes minutes of executive committee meetings and general meetings, clippings, correspondence and a fine collection of newsletters spanning the years 1972-1983. A folder of Mr. Anninger’s handwritten notes (1980,1981,1983 and undated) is also included.
Series Eight -- Parcel 1B
Parcel 1B is the most extensive single series in this collection, comprising 23 folders and spanning the years 1963 to 1985. The highly desirable location of the site, the former MBTA car barns on JF Kennedy Street (formerly Boylston Street) and Memorial Drive, and the prestigious purposes planned for it, including a memorial park in the name of J. F. Kennedy, brought into the lengthy planning stage a wide variety of power centers. These included the Massachusetts State Legislature, the Environmental Affairs Board, the City of Cambridge, the Massachusetts Superior Court, Harvard University, developers, The Harvard Square Defense Fund, and the Neighborhood Ten Association. Neighborhood Ten played a definitive role, much of it in the late 1970s, prior to Mr. Anninger’s presidency, and took up legal cudgels to shape the future of Parcel 1B to its liking. So powerful was the Neighborhood Ten Association’s influence that the final “Agreement” (1980) regarding the Parcel’s development called for the signatures of several residents, including Mr. Anninger, as “participants.”
Series Nine – Zoning Issues
(See also Building Issues, Harvard University, Infrastructure,
Parcel 1B)
This series on zoning issues briefly concerns a number of subjects, such as accessory apartment, inclusionary zoning, Lesley College, parking, and store front signs. Two large questions were related to Dream Machine and St. Peter’s Church. The Dream Machine Company petitioned the Cambridge City Zoning Board for a permit for 60 video games. This permit was granted, was fought by the Neighborhood Ten Association, and was finally rescinded. The zoning issue at St. Peter’s Church related to parking. The neighborhood was opposed to the flood of cars to be brought into a residential area if St. Peter’s were to convert its building to offices; an Agreement was reached in 1985.
Folder List
Series One -- Building
Issues
Box 1
1. Armenian Church 1984
2. Cherry, Webb & Touraine 1984
3. Concord at Parker/Concord at Healey undated
4. Grendel’s Den 1980
5. Mt. Auburn Hospital 3/23/83-8/31/83
6. Mt. Auburn Hospital 9/1/83-10/24/83
7. Mt. Auburn Hospital 11/2/83-12/2/83
8. Mt. Auburn Hospital 1/13/84-9/13/84
9. 102-106 Mt. Auburn Street
2-4-6 Eliot Street 1982-1983
10. 134 Mt. Auburn Street 1981
34 Mt. Auburn Place
11. Roosevelt Towers 1980
12. Swiss Alps Restaurant 1984
13. 1280 Massachusetts Avenue 1982-1983
Series Two -- Cambridge,
City of
Box 1 (continued)
14. Block Grants 1982-1983
15. Budget 1980
16. Cambridge Historical Commission
(See also Building Issues, Zoning Issues) 1981-1982
17. City Council 1983
18. Crime 1981, 1983, 1984
19. Harvard Square Overlay District 1981-1984
Series Two – Cambridge, City of (continued)
Box 2
20. Harvard Square Policy Plan 1976, 1984
21. Institutional Growth and Development (CDD) 1980-1981
22. Neighborhoods 1966, 1978, 1980,
Undated
23. Organizations 1981, 1984
24. Public Schools 1979, 1982, undated
25. Taxation – Proposition 2 ½ 1981, 1982
Series Three --Harvard
Square
Box 2 (continued)
26. Clippings and Fliers 1981, 1983, 1984
27. Harvard Square Business Association 1984
28. Harvard Square Defense Fund 1981, undated
29. Statements on 1972
Series Four -- Harvard
University
Box 2 (continued)
30. Craigie Arms 1983-1984
31. 31 Gerry Street and Revere Streets 1982
32. John F. Kennedy School of Government 1981
33. Loeb Theatre 1982
34. University Place 1980
35. University Place 1981
36. University Place 1982
37. University Place 1983
38. University Place 1984
39. University Place – Anninger Notes 1980-1981
40. University Place – Clippings 1981-1984
41. University Place - Photographs undated
Series Five -- Infrastructure
Box
3
42. Cambridge Electric Light Company 1/11/83-8/26/83
43. Cambridge Electric Light Compay 9/5/83-9/20/83
44. Cambridge Electric Light Company 10/3/83-12/6/83
45. Cambridge Electric Light Company 11/5/84-3/20/84
46. Cambridge Electric Light Company 4/10/84-7/3/84
47. Curb Cuts 1982, 1983
48. Kennedy, John F. Park 1983-1984
49. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority 1981-1983
50, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority – Alewife 1981,1984
51. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority – Bike Racks 1982-1983
52. Memorial Drive 1980-1981 53. Memorial Drive 1982-1984
54. Planting 1981
55. Street Lights – Sodium 1982
56. Street Signs 1981, 1983
57. Mt. Auburn Cemetery 1981
58. Riverbend Park 1980-1982
Series Six – Licensing,
Automatic Machines and Liquor
Box 3 (continued)
59. City of Cambridge Policies and Procedures 1982-1983
60. Georgie ‘N Co. 1983
61. Individual Petitions 1980, 1982-1983
62. Ruggles Restaurant 1982, 1983
Series Seven --Neighborhood
Ten Association
Box 4
63. Anninger Notes 1980, 1981, 1983
64. Clippings Undated
65. Correspondence 1980-1984
66. Financial 1980-1984
67. Groups and Organizations 1980-1983
68. Maps undated
69. Meetings 1980
70. Meetings 1981
71. Meetings 1982
72. Meetings 1983
73. Meetings 1984
74. Members and Officers 1980-1984
75. Newsletters 1972-1983
76. Newsletter Mailings 1980, undated
77. Profile 1975
78. Progress Reports 1980, undated
Series Eight -- Parcel
1B
Box 4 (continued)
79. Agreement – KSA Associates and “Participants” 1980
80. Agreement – KSA Associates and “Participants,”
81. Agreement – KSA Associates and “Participants,” Drafts
1980
Series Eight -- Parcel
1B (continued)
Box 5
82. Anninger Notes 1980, undated
83. Bennett Street Yards 1963
84. Charles Hotel 1984-1985
85. Clippings
86. Correspondence 1978-1984
87. Curb Cuts, Grading and Roads 1983
88. Environmental Review 1978, 1979, 1981
89. Legislation – Bill #H 5268 1981
90. Legislation – Bill #5864 1980
91. Legislative Act, Chapter 298 – JFK Park 1976
92. Meetings – Neighborhood Ten 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984
93. Planning Board – PUD 1978, 1979
94. Planning Board - PUD Amendment 1983
95. Planning Board- PUD Proposal and Decision 1981
96. Project Redesign 1980
97. Project Review Board – Carbarn Company 1978
98. Project Review Board – Technical Report 1978
99. Project Review Board – Technical Report Debate 1978
100. Statutory Guidelines 1978
101. Superior Court Case (79-433) Decision January 16, 1980
Series Nine -- Zoning Issues
Box 6
102. Accessory Apartment 1980-1981
103. Dream Machine 1982
104. Dream Machine 1983
105. Dream Machine Clippings
106. Dream Machine, Inc. 1982
107. Hearings and Amendments 1980-1983
108. Inclusionary Zoning 1983
109. Lesley College 1984
110. Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Issues 1980
111. Parking 1981, 1984
112. 159 Mt. Auburn Street 1983
Box 7
113. St. Peter’s Church 1982
114. St. Peter’s Church 1983
115. St. Peter’s Church 1984
116. St. Peter’s Church 1985
117. St. Peter’s Church , Briefs – Middlesex County
Appeals Court 1985
118. St. Peter’s Church, Dismissal undated
119. St. Peter’s Church, Agreement April, 1985
120. St. Peter’s Church, Lease undated
121. St. Peter’s Church – Anninger Notes 1982-1983
122. St. Peter’s Church – Clippings
123. Signs 1981-1984