nice article about the Cambridge Historical Society

Written on July 3rd, 2011, by Gus Rancatore

The Sunday Globe has a nice piece about The Cambridge Historical Society. We donate ice cream to them.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/07/03/society_helps_keep_cambridges_past_alive/

Society helps keep Cambridge’s past alive
By Cindy Atoji Keene
Globe Correspondent July 3, 2011
One of the most popular collections at the Cambridge Historical Society consists of papers documenting rent
control in the city, which lasted from 1971 to 1994. As a microcosm of market regulation, these archives are
requested by academics interested in urban and economic development, as well as those studying social
cohesion and organization.
“Rent control was the third rail of politics in Cambridge for a really long time,’’ said Gavin Kleespies, the
historical society’s executive director. “Even today, 16 years later, many people are passionate about this issue.’’
Kleespies, 36, has led the Cambridge Historical society for three years. It’s a job that requires community
outreach, fund-raising, and managing staff and volunteers, as well as an appreciation for documents that might
seem mundane: city directories, books of vital statistics, and commercial records.
“To be able to open a box and look at a set of papers written in 1700s is pretty remarkable,’’ said Kleespies.
What are some misconceptions about historical societies?
A lot of people think of historical societies as populated entirely by little, old, blue-haired ladies. But we reach out
to different populations and we are in the process of digitizing much of our collection. The staff at the Historical
Society are all under age 40.
What’s your favorite item at the Historical Society?
Some photos are amazing, such as a collection of photos related to major factories in Cambridge that show
industrial scenes that would be hard to picture here [today].
You were born and raised in Cambridge. How did you get into this line of work?
At age 13, I was hired to lead two-hour walking tours of Harvard Square and kept doing that through high
school. It gave me a deeper understanding of the history of Cambridge.
What’s the most valuable or unusual item at the Historical Society
We have a sewing machine made by Elias Howe, who patented the first American-made machine; a chair that
belonged to Ben Franklin; a number of interesting paintings; and a punch bowl that is not very attractive, but
worth a lot of money.
Do you have any collections at home?
I have random collections of railroad spikes, historical postcards, and fedoras.
© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.
/