Years recorded with earthquake in Gloucester, Mass. (as of 1989): 1717, 1722, 1727-1730, 1737, 1755, 1757, 1761, 1763, 1805, 1874, 1925, 1889 (expected), and 1998. See index. Gloucester, Massachusetts: Historical Timeline, 1000-1999. Mary Ray. Editors, Sarah R. Dunlap, Gloucester Archives Committee (Gloucester, Mass.), 2002.
On April 30, 1722: “There was an earthquake in the town continued about a minute.”
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Art and culture have been laced throughout Gloucester’s history. City staff, departments, partner organizations, artists, and volunteers have kept detailed inventory checklists and care of a world class municipal art collection decade by decade for more than a century. Several lists were managed by American art luminaries. Here is a City Hall example from 1937, “A Catalogue of Murals and Decorations in Gloucester Done by Gloucester Artists in the Employ of the Federal Art Project”.
The 250th anniversary formed a committee for the arts. Mayor Alper reinvigorated the City Hall collection display in 1977, “Gloucester Arts & Humanities”. The Waywell inventory dates from the 1990s. When the City updated all its ordinances in 2000, the Committee for the Arts was formally added. In 2005 then CFTA Chair Kate Bodin and former CFTA member John Ronan drafted a prescient and comprehensive art policy celebrating all forms of creative expression. Since 2000, 6 inventory lists have been compiled—by volunteers and/or commissioned.
A major inventory checklist and report completed in 2006 was a dual project orchestrated by the City Archives (link here) andCommittee for the Arts that focused on City Hall. Although the report did not include artwork measurements and was a work in progress, it was another decade’s invaluable record to build upon.
The Art of Gloucester City Hall, 2006. See printable PDF of inventory below (some attribution errors). A written evaluation was included which I’ll add in.
Bethany Jay (principal writing and research)
Information on Gloucester City Hall compiled by Sarah Dunlop, Jane Walsh, and Stephanie Buck of the Gloucester Archives office. Supplemental materials were written by John Ronan. Mayor John Bell.
Gloucester Committee for the Arts- John Ronan, Judith Hoglander, Dale Brown, Christine Lundberg, Steve Myers, Sage Walcott
Committee for the Arts member, Eric Schoonover, took on the task of the first database and digitized record–CDs, later joined by Marcia Hart, with ladder in tow to double check the inventory status and measurements which was not on the 2006 report. Several excels and docs followed and were shared widely. Under successive administrations led by Mayor Kirk and Mayor Romeo Theken, an open access inventory and available online gallery was an expressed goal for multiple city and partner grants, the city’s tourism efforts (a precursor to Discover Gloucester), the City’s two cultural districts, HarborWalk, Gloucester Arts & Cultural Initiative, public arts projects, free apps and platforms.
In 2018-19, Williamstown Art Conservation completed a conservation and full inventory report for the City mural collection, triage and stabilizing–for the first time including works not on display. (author note: I will add the PDF here)
Flash forward to 2024, the Gloucester art collection archives is available anew in an online art gallery through Art Work Archive (www.artworkarchive.com). Keep in mind that this is a work in progress. Some of the artwork information is incomplete or a placeholder. I’m sure cross-checking with the original documentation will continue and help with corrections, and more works will be added.
For example, the monumental murals by Lawrence “Larry” O’Toole (1909-1951) installed in 1982 in O’Maley Middle School are listed “Untitled” in the archive pages. They’re not untitled. They were originally commissioned by Ben Pine for the Gloucester Fisheries Institute and YMCA circa 1940-48 and illustrate fishing industry and vessels common in Gloucester. I interviewed Ron Gilson who confirmed the history and my research. DPW inspected and measured them almost 10 years ago and Williamstown Art Conservation Center, of course, when they did their evaluation. Titles are:
Larry O’Toole, Returning to Harbor, Twin Lighthouses
Larry O’Toole, Tuna Fishing with Spears
Larry O’Toole, Schooner with Rod Fishing
Larry O’Toole, Seine Fishing with Seagulls Overhead
Larry O’Toole, Trawling
Puzzlingly, the Mulhaupt series across from the O’toole’s are on display out of order at O’Maley and could have fit sequentially if the two series were switched at installation in 1982.
In 2021, the Wall Street Journal featured an article about WPA era art and online catalogue resources. Gloucester’s are largely absent, for many reasons. I shared the article news here (3/25/2021) and wrote:
Judith Dobrzynski highlights WPA murals and a renewed online resource* for “Arts in Review” the Wall Street Journal.
“During the Great Depression, federal programs funded the creation of thousands of murals in post offices, hospitals and other locations across the country, many of which can now be viewed online.”Judith H. Dobrzynski. The Staying Inside Guide: Big-Deal Art in Plain-Spoken Venues. Wall Street Journal. March 23, 2021. *A few of the WPA murals completed in Gloucester had been included in an earlier iteration of the website, in some cases misattributed. Gloucester is not mentioned in the article.
The reviewer highlights Coit Tower in San Francisco as one renowned example.
“The New Deal murals inside Coit Tower in San Francisco are also well-known. Painted by some two-dozen artists in 1934, they are social realist panels about life in California during the Depression, with titles like “Banking and Law” and “Meat Industry.” Their story, with a detailed layout, is available in a San Francisco Recreation and Park Department brochure.”Judith H. Dobrzynski for WSJ
The reverse ratio is evident here: Gloucester selected four artists who completed scores of masterworks* for specific public buildings. Monumental stunning mural cycles were commissioned under the auspices of Federal Arts PWAP and WPA-era programs from 1935-42 for Sawyer Free Library, City Hall, the High School on Dale Ave (now Central Grammar apartments), Hovey, Maplewood, and Forbes elementary schools. As schools were closed, disposed, or repurposed, murals were rescued and re-sited within City Hall and later O’Maley.
The City of Gloucester artists were significant muralists and painters. In truth, venerated. They captured stories of Gloucester and became a celebrated part of our history and artistry. When considered as a whole, the Gloucester murals rival WPA era collections completed in big cities. The density of murals are as concentrated as any found in larger cities, like Coit Tower in San Francisco, though spread out among buildings rather than one tower, or one structure, as with Harlem Hospital.
Gloucester’s post office nearly landed a commission, but fate intervened. I’ll save that for the Part 2 post.
Gloucester and greater Cape Ann artists were commissioned for murals beyond Gloucester and Massachusetts and served key roles on selection panels and planning.
Gloucester is not mentioned in this WSJ article or few major compilations.
“Though painted by nationally known and successful artists at the top of their game, the works have suffered from a perfect storm of anonymity.” Catherine Ryan, 2012
City Owned Art Work Archive online gallery
What is new about this 2024 city owned inventory online gallery is that 1) a wonderful creative director, Anna Chirico, was hired to photograph and inventory the collection. Fun fact, Chirico of course has helped her mom, JoAnn, with goodlinens studio on Main Street in Gloucester (goodlinenstudio.com), and 2) Kate Shamon Rushford, Gloucester’s arts, culture, and events coordinator was hired for a part time position within Community Development dedicated to projects like this one. Shamon Rushford is pursuing a Gloucester presence online through Bloomberg Connects Arts and Culture online, too.
I recommend that the city’s .gov website maintain exclusive pages as well, because what’s new and trending in arts engagement is not static or exclusive.
Gloucester DPW has utilized 3D photography for jobs (City Hall after the fire), and city departments including Community Development/Engineering make use of arcgis subscriptions. These resources on the .gov site would help with virtual tours and printables. It’s important to keep city ownership of the content. Gloucesterma.gov went to Discover Gloucester. As long as the content is retrievable, dedicated pages can be available on the .gov site itself regardless of technological or fad obsolescence.
“The next time things are going badly — and I am convinced that too many of our young people are headed straight to hell — then I am going to recall Joe Favazza.
Then I will relive that scene on Portagee Hill (that’s what it’s called) the other morning when the brave van pulled up at the GFC building. Lawrence (not his real name) was sitting in the van, and Favazza was standing there waiting in the early morning summer sunshine, and then I will get the feeling again that everything is going to turn out all right after all.
“…The GFC was sponsoring a part for 20 handicapped children, including Lawrence. Favazza is an aide at the not so great salary of $85 a week in the summer recreation and educational program…”
“…Now let me tell you about Joe Favazza. He is 28 and 6 feet 2, wears shorts and tee shirt and a baseball hat. He is low-key and gentle. He served in the Army, works as a part-time Gloucester Times sportswriter and next month will be a Boston State junior and hopes to teach special needs children. He comes from a large Italian family, and that means closeness and the traditional Sunday noon dinners at his parents’ home on Middle street. His father is a Fuller school janitor who always was particularly helpful and gentle with the special-needs children there. Perhaps that virtue runs in the family…”
“Later there was a big luncheon for the kids and then they went to the adjacent Mattos playground…”
“Joanne kelly directs the summer program…led a group of parents and teachers to the school committee and outlined the case.”
“…Gloucester, rowdy and unfashionable and wonderful old Gloucester, became the only North Shore city with a summer program for special needs kids…”
THIS PLAYGROUND IS NAMED IN MEMORY OF JOSEPH S. MATTOS, JR.
BORN OCT. 4TH, 1899
KILLED IN ACTION OCT. 5TH 1918
DEDICATED 1935 IN HONOR OF: Joseph S. Mattos, Jr.,
Born in Gloucester on October 4, 1899, son of Mr. & Mrs. Joseph S. Mattos. Entered military service at the age of 16, with his mother’s blessing. Sent to France on August 13, 1917 as a member of Battery A, 5th United States Field Artillery, regular army. Private Mattos was killed in action on October 5, 1918, the day after his 19th birthday.
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Gloucester, Mass. A great teacher at Gloucester High School, Shaun Goulart, creates a local history scavenger hunt/trivia game for his 9th grade students that takes place weekly for 6 weeks.
ANSWERS TO SHAUN GOULART’S LOCAL HISTORY SCAVENGER HUNT TRIVIA WEEK SIX. THIS CHALLENGE IS THE FINAL WEEK IN THE SERIES. GO BACK HERE IF YOU WANT TO SEE WEEK 6 QUESTIONS ONLY.
The challenge Week 6 was to locate the historic map on Cape Ann Museum’s Fitz Henry Lane on Line and study it closely to comb through location prompts. This is a great family activity for all ages. It’s a bit eye spy or Where’s Waldo mixed with atlas map fun. The students were tasked with photographing the same sites as they appear today and creating a labeled presentation.
Visit CAPE ANN MUSEUM FITZ HENRY LANE ON LINE resource and scroll down to the correct map here
Map of the Towns of Gloucester and Rockport (detail of Harbor Village) Henry Francis Walling (F. Walling)
1851
44 x 34 in. Henry Francis Walling, Map of the Towns of Gloucester and Rockport, Essex Co. Massachusetts. Philadelphia, A. Kollner, 1851 Cape Ann Museum Library & Archive “Map of the Towns of Gloucester and Rockport, Massachusetts. H.F. Walling, Civil Engineer. John Hanson, Publisher. 1851. Population of Gloucester in 1850 7,805. Population of Rockport in 1850 3,213.” Map detail = segment of Harbor Village portion of map showing Lane-Winter property on Duncan’s Point.
Question – find on 1851 historic map
ANSWER- NOW (2019)
1
Duncan’s Point
Maritime Gloucester / Railways (former FG Low’s & Eli F. Stacy’s whf)
2
Five Pound Island
State Fish Pier
3
Front Street (present sign must be in picture)
Main and Short
4
Middle Street (present sign must be in picture)
Middle Street
5
High Street
School Street and Proctor
6
Fort Defiance
The Fort
7
Vincent’s Cove
West End Main Street and Rogers section all fill / Gorton’s, Americold, etc
8
Town House
Legion
9
Gloucester House
Brick building corner of Washington and Main (Puritan House)
10
Two cemeteries
1)cemetery next to Amvets on Prospect 2)St. Ann’s
11
Hospital
up Granite Street veers right to Blyman
12
Town Landing
Same (St. Peter’s)
13
Two bowling alleys
1)on Stacy Boulevard (see Cordage manufactury below)
2) on the Fort
14
3 schools
study the map!
1)by Univ Church and Eng H& School on Church off Middle on old map
2)looks like where Central Grammar is
3)Prospect and School where apartments are now
4)corner Washington and Gould Ct.
15
Train station
Roughly train platform now
16
Engine house
Beyond train platform- roughly where Stop & Shop is on RR Ave
17
Canal Street
Stacy Boulevard (Tavern side)
18
Cordage Manufacturing
Ditto
19
Beach Street
Commercial Street (behind Beauport Hotel back to water)
Gloucester, Mass. A great teacher at Gloucester High School, Shaun Goulart, creates a local history scavenger hunt/trivia game for his 9th grade students that takes place weekly for 6 weeks. We’re taking the challenge paced one week after the students.
ANSWERS TO SHAUN GOULART’S LOCAL HISTORY SCAVENGER HUNT TRIVIA WEEK FIVE
1)What year was there an ordinance to establish a Police department in Gloucester? ANSWER: 1873 (according to the Gloucester Time Line archives book and the great Gloucester police website here : “In 1799, Isaac Elwell was appointed Inspector of Police. This was a term first used in Boston 14 years earlier to describe the men appointed to keep track of the night watchmen who patrolled the city after dark watching for fires. Constables assisted Elwell and other men who followed him as Inspector of Police until about 1847 when a petition was received by the Selectmen asking for some additional policemen to assist the Inspector of Police. Around 1850 the first night police were used. Only a few of the policemen were paid as the rest either served without compensation or were only paid for working during special occasions. In 1873, a city ordinance establishing a police department was put into effect with nine officers under the leadership of City Marshal William Cronin.”)
Gloucester Massachusetts Historical Time-line 1000-1999 Mary Ray, ed. Sarah Dunlap Gloucester City Archives published in 2002. You can purchase this book from the Archives.
2)The original building used as a jail prior to 1889 was located on Rogers Block, take a picture of this area present day with a member in it. ANSWER: Main Street (harbor side) from Duncan to Porter
Rogers block = Main Street (from Porter to Duncan) detail from 1891 Walker map
3)Where was the first Gloucester police station built in 1889, take a picture with a member in it at the location. ANSWER: corner of Duncan and Roger
former site police station at Duncan & Rogers (now lot)
detail from 1899 Stadley Map
1899 “new” police station from Pringle history
4)Veterans of what war had a hall for them located on the third floor of the building? ANSWER: Spanish American in the police station that was built in 1899. City Hall Read about bronze veteran tribute plaques (including Spanish American) at City Hall here
from Mr. Goulart Old Police station built in 1899 at the corner of Duncan and Roger (2019 = police parking lot)
1971/1973 newspaper clipping from Sawyer Free
5)What year was the present day police station erected? Take a picture of it with a member in it. ANSWER: 1973
6)Go to the exterior of the police station and take a picture with an object that would be personal to Mr. Goulart (keyword: Goulart) ANSWER: Officer Jerome G. Goulart memorial bench
7)Take a picture with a Gloucester Police officer in uniform. Answ. How cool are these officer baseball cards!
8)Ask the cop: What is the code word for “lunch break” over the radio. Submit the answer. ANSWER: 1093
9)For a brief time the “Old Stone Jug” served as a jail, take a picture in front of it with a member in it. What is this building known as? ANSWER: Fitz Henry Lane former house and studio
10) Where does the term cop come from? ANSWER: not definitive though according to snopes meaning “nab” closest: “Instead, the police-specific use of “cop” made its way into the English language in far more languid fashion. “Cop” has long existed as a verb meaning “to take or seize,” but it didn’t begin to make the linguistic shifts necessary to turn it into a casual term for “police officer” until the mid-19th century. The first example of ‘cop’ taking the meaning “to arrest” appeared in print around 1844, and the word then swiftly moved from being solely a verb for “take into police custody” to also encompassing a noun referring to the one doing the detaining. By 1846, policemen were being described as “coppers,” the ‘-er’ ending having been appended to the “arrest” form of the verb, and by 1859 “coppers” were also being called “cops,” the latter word a shortening of the former.”- snopes
Don’t miss Mary Rhinelander McCarl’s floral still lifes on display January 2019 at the Matz Gallery, Gloucester Lyceum & Sawyer Free Library.
clone tag: 7312131960865815702
from the printed matter:
“Mary Rhinelander McCarl- Mary, a Gloucester resident, draws her artistic inspiration from the scenery of Cape Ann. In her youth, she studied both sculpture and figure drawing with George Demetrios. She has worked under the guidance of Juni Van Dyke in the Art Room of the Rose Baker Senior Center and studied watercolors with Susie Field. At present Mary uses her training as an archivist to transcribe and edit the papers of Samuel Elwell Sawyer, Gloucester’s great philanthropist and art collector.”
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In conjunction with the African-Americans and Maritime History Exhibit from the Massachusetts Commonwealth Museum, From Slavery to Freedom, on view in the Matz Gallery, Stephanie Buck, a local expert on Gloucester History, will share information regarding the effects of slavery on Cape Ann.
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Senator Tarr, Mayor Romeo Theken, Angela Sanfilippo, Feb 27, 2018 (Mayor Romeo Theken shared this photo)
Feb 28, 2018 – Senator Tarr’s voice came through my car radio on the way to work this morning on WGBH 89.7 “stories we’re following”. I’ll add a link to the audio if they add it to the website. The story concerned off shore drilling and the senate resolution. Here’s the opening (you can find the complete resolution here http://www.tarrtalk.com/). Mayor Theken shared photos, and Governor Baker’s letter of support (see below the “read more” break)
Concerned about the potential for oil and gas drilling off of the coast of Massachusetts? Here is the text of the Senate Resolution that I sponsored with Senator Mike Barrett. The Senate adopted it unanimously. MEMORIALIZING THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR TO LIMIT THE PROPOSED EXPANSION OF THE NATIONAL OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF OIL AND GAS LEASING PROGRAM AND TO PROTECT THE WATERS OFF THE COASTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH AND NEW ENGLAND. Whereas, on January 4, 2018, the United States Department of the Interior announced the publication of a draft proposed program in support of its national outer continental shelf oil and gas leasing program; and…”
In 1979, Attorney General Francis Bellotti and Sarah Bates and Douglas Foy of Conservation Law Foundation brought suit against the government’s plan to sell oil-lease tracts on Georges Bank.
JJ Clarke, Angela Sanfilippo, Douglas Foy- November 24, 1981
In 2000, throwback photo of Tarr from the Gloucester archives at the dedication of the cenotaph
Reminder- Dogtown could be eligible for the National Register. A team of archaeologists began surveying and reviewing Dogtown the week of November 13. Come to a special public presentation TONIGHT – November 29th in Kyrouz Auditorium, Gloucester City Hall, 9 Dale Avenue, at 7pm.
Artistic practice inspired by Dogtown takes on many forms across generations and centuries. I’ve shown examples of 20th century artists and writers connected to Dogtown. Here’s a 21st century one to note: Deborah Guertze, Babson Boulders # (Courage), original small and lovely hand colored etching, ed.50. This particular impression is currently for sale at Rockport Art Association.
“Presenters at City Hall on Nov 29th will include Betsy Friedberg from the Massachusetts Historical Commission, who will explain how the National Register program works and what it does and does not do, and Kristen Heitert from the PAL, who will present an initial plan for defining the boundaries of Dogtown as a National Register District. People attending the meeting will be asked to respond to that plan and to express their views about what makes Dogtown special. What should be the boundaries of the proposed National Register District, and what cultural features should be included in it? What would be the benefits of National Register status, and are there any drawbacks?”
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Many familiar faces and organizations came together in support of Senior Care’s Meals On Wheels, and showed up early to help host a festive and delicious event. We enjoyed sharing a table with staff from Cape Ann Savings Bank, GoldenLiving Center, and Betty and John Erikkala from Lanesville. The Valentine’s Day fundraiser buffet breakfast was pushed back to March 10 due to the winter storm. March being March it was lightly snowing when we left.
I missed John and Betty Erkkala’s Souvenirs of Lanesville talk at Cape Ann Museum about their new book, but noticed the pocket ornament. The book is available at the museum shop. Our marvelous city archives were mentioned once or twice!
Custom place mats gave thanks for the wonderful sponsors. You’ll recognize people in the photographs affiliated with these organizations and businesses.
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Gloucester’s Historical Commission and the Legion are working together to plan for the building’s restoration. Sarah Dunlap, City Archivist, shared a historic image that predates the vintage postcard.
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Good Morning Gloucester 