Cambridge and the American Revolution

 For this week’s response, I wanted to focus on two different types of historical spaces— a natural, living entity or landscape-based landmark, and a residential structure whose meaning and symbolism within Harvard Square has fluctuated throughout the years. How different spaces and physical bodies can encapsulate memory and meaning in museums— and outside of them— is a concept fundamental to the understanding of how a community can work to best memorialize its past in an organic manner that can be accessed and remembered on a day to day basis, rather than just by historians or researchers. 

Photograph of the Washington Elm in its original location, c. 1906.

The first historical landmark in Cambridge I selected was The Washington Elm; a tree whose identity and history (even if characterized by legend and fictitiousness) I have been familiar with even as a little girl in elementary school back home in Miami. This is one of the pieces of American history I have always remembered above others for some reason, and I believe a piece of that comes from the sense of romanticism inherent to the legend. Regarding the chapters or subsections of J.L. Bell’s George Washington’s HQ in the Longfellow House that work to further contextualize the story of the Washington Elm, the chapter titled “Gen. Washington Comes to the Vassall Estate” holds section 3.10, which is named “Myths of the Washington Elm and the ‘Old Hundred’”. This subsection is exceptionally rich in detailing the pattern of historical inaccuracies related to the mythification of the story of the Washington Elm, and it also provides a significant amount of information on the types of magazine publications and artistic endeavors inspired by the story of the Washington Elm. The chapter notes how Edward Everett solidified the symbolic importance of the elm tree by including it in the design of the city’s seal in the 1840s (Bell 87). Additionally, a series of poets are identified alongside their elm-inspired works in the chapter— including Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, and James Russell Lowell (Bell 88). 

Photograph of Apthorp House, c. 1880.

My second historical landmark selection is the Apthorp House, which I naturally felt driven to investigate given my passion for American residential architecture and Harvard history. The Apthorp House today serves as the Resident Dean’s house for Adams House, situated within the intersections of Linden, Bow, and Plympton Streets. J.L. Bell’s George Washington’s HQ in the Longfellow House was enlightening in the way that it presented Apthorp House’s history primarily by identifying it with John Vassall’s aunt on his mother’s side, and his uncle— they purchased the home from the Reverend East Apthorp in 1765, and in many sections of the book, like section 1.2 “An Extended Family” in the chapter “The John Vassall Estate”, the house is referred to as the “Borland House”, not the Apthorp name we know it by today. More of the movement that characterizes the history of the home is expanded upon in the chapter titled “Generals Old and New”, in section 4.6 “Israel Putnam: Rough-Hewn Hero”. In this subsection, it is quickly noted how General Putnam moved into the vacated Apthorp House (then referred to as the Borland House) after Loyalist John Borland had vacated it (Bell 115). 

Map of Cambridge, c. 1776.

In the watermarked map above currently being digitally sold by WardMapsGifts, a 1776 Cambridge is outlined and labelled with significant sites. A closer look at number 27 on the map shows the original placement of the Apthorp House, which by then had already been sold to the Borland family (sold to John Borland in 1765).