Launched in 2005, WellesleyWeston Magazine is a quarterly publication tailored to Wellesley and Weston residents and edited to enrich the experience of living in two of Massachusetts' most desirable communities.
Issue link: https://wellesleywestonmagazine.epubxp.com/i/210435
[forum] B O B D A M O N writer BOB DAMON is Executive Director of the Wellesley Historical Society. waiting for the opportunity to share their stories with the community. That opportu- A New Home for the Wellesley Historical Society nity has finally arrived with the Society's purchase of 323 Washington Street. A New Home at 323 Washington Street In 1916 a young doctor named Frederic Stanwood and his wife Jeannette built in 1925 a group of eight dedicated Wellesley residents came together to found a new their new home at 323 Washington Street organization in their community. A mission statement declared that the organization was in Wellesley Hills. "Dr. Fred," as he would "desirous of preserving for future generations material concerning the town of Wellesley and its come to be known, first came to Wellesley inhabitants, also to collect and preserve articles of historic interest including those which show at the age of 14. He had moved there from the handiwork, home furnishings and habits of our forefathers." Columbus, Ohio with his mother and They called their organization the Wellesley Historical Society. younger brother following his father's Eighty-nine years later, the spirit of those eight founding members and the organization they death in 1894. He attended Wellesley High created lives on at the Dadmun-McNamara House, a small white building tucked into the back cor- School for several years before being ner of the parking lot at the Wellesley Community Center, at 229 Washington Street. The modest accepted as a student at Bowdoin College outward appearance of this 1824 home belies the historic treasures contained within its walls: over in Brunswick, Maine in 1898. After gradu- 15,000 historic photographs and images, 2,400 beautifully preserved butterflies and insects from ating from Bowdoin in 1902, Frederic the Denton Family collection, 2,800 historic maps and plans, a 1,500-piece clothing and costume returned home to live in Wellesley while collection, the only complete original copy of the Wellesley Townsman, and much, much more. attending Harvard Medical School. We l l e s l e y We s t o n M a g a z i n e | w i n t e r 2 0 1 3 / 2 0 1 4 What began as a small group of individuals who met to share a common interest in history has matured into an invaluable historical and cultural resource for the town of Wellesley. Thanks days he met Helen Jeannette Snare, a Dana to innumerable Wellesley residents who have donated their family historical treasures to the Hall student from New Jersey. Helen gradu- Society, the collection has outgrown its 1,400 square foot home at the Dadmun-McNamara ated from Dana Hall in 1907, the same year House. The demands of properly caring for this historical legacy have required the Society to Frederic finished medical school. They were dedicate most of the space in the building to collections care and storage. There is little or no married four years later. Their house at 323 space for the Society to exhibit its collections. The collections, although well cared for, are still 46 Sometime during those medical school Washington Street had been designed by