1910s Archives - Page 47 of 58

Art Museum, Springfield, Mass

November 26, 2016December 13, 2014 by Derek Strahan

The Art Museum in Springfield, around 1912-1920. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The museum in 2014:

Known today as the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, it was established in 1896 and is the oldest of the museum buildings in The Quadrangle, which consists of two art museums, a science museum, and a Springfield history museum. The building is named after its benefactor, a New York City carriage maker who left the business when he was 35 to collect art. Today, the building is still there and it still houses his collection, although at some point it was expanded to the left, making this facade more or less symmetrical. In the foreground is the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden, which celebrates the work of the Springfield native who was attending high school across the street from here around the time that the first photo was taken. On the far right of both photos is the back of the Central Library building, which opened in 1912.

Springfield Municipal Group, Springfield, Mass

November 26, 2016November 22, 2014 by Derek Strahan

The Springfield Municipal Group in Springfield, Mass., around 1913. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The scene in 2014:

Springfield’s former City Hall burned down in 1905, allegedly after a monkey overturned a kerosene lamp. The site remained vacant for a few years, as seen in this c.1908 photo, but by 1909 construction began on the Noe-Renaissance complex, which consisted of not just a new City Hall (located on the left-hand side), but also an auditorium, known as Symphony Hall, and 300 foot bell tower in between. Construction was still ongoing in the first photo, as evidenced by the fencing around the building. It was dedicated on December 8, 1913, probably soon after the photo was taken, with former president William Howard Taft presiding over the ceremonies. Taft had previously visited Springfield just a year and a half earlier, to campaign in an ultimately unsuccessful re-election effort.

When they opened 101 years ago, the buildings of the Municipal Group symbolized the prosperity of the city. Today, its surroundings have changed, as has the rest of the city, but the three buildings are still there. One of the major changes has been the skyline – the bell tower was the tallest in the city from the time of its construction until 1973. This was due to a 1908 state law that limited Springfield’s buildings to under 125 feet in height – the height of the steeple of Old First Church. It wasn’t until 1970 that the law was repealed, which is one of the reasons why Springfield has a comparatively smaller skyline than other major cities in New England.

Another major change is the Court Square extension, which opened not long before the first photo was taken. It extended from the back of Old First Church all the way to the railroad tracks along the Connecticut River, and appears in the foreground of the first photo. Today, not much is left of the western extension of the square; I-91 now passes over it, and East Columbus Avenue, seen in the foreground, now cuts diagonally through it.

Springfield Institution for Savings, Springfield, Mass

November 26, 2016November 21, 2014 by Derek Strahan

The Springfield Institution for Savings building on Elm Street in Springfield, around 1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The site in 2014:

The first photo shows the former home of the Springfield Institution for Savings, one of Springfield’s first banks. Today, the building no longer exists, and neither does the company. SIS is now part of TD Bank, and the site of the building is now part of the Hampden County Courthouse. Even the street that the bank was once on, Elm Street, no longer really exists. It used to extend from Main Street to present-day East Columbus Avenue, but the construction of the new courthouse in the 1970s caused the street to be truncated, and today it is a street in name only, as the section along Court Square is gated off, and the section next to Old First Church is essentially a parking lot for courthouse employees.

What really interested me in this picture, though, is the car parked outside. Here is a close-up of it:

Along with giving us a clue as to the date (the license plate appears to read “1910”), it also shows an intriguing and long-forgotten part of Springfield history. The car was made by Springfield-based Knox Automobile Company, who made cars in the city from 1900 until 1914, and trucks until 1924. Their factory was on Wilbraham Road in the Mason Square neighborhood, right across the street from the Indian Motorcycle factory. The Knox building is still there, although it is in pretty rough shape and was included in the 2014 list of Springfield’s most endangered buildings.

I am fairly certain that the car in the photo is a 1909 Model “O,” although I am no expert on early 20th century automobiles, so if someone more knowledgeable than me knows otherwise, let me know. Assuming it was a Model “O,” though, it would’ve been $3,000 car 1909. Adjusted for inflation, that would be over $75,000 in 2014 dollars, so the owner would’ve been a fairly wealthy person. Today, though, cars don’t look like that, as the pickup truck and station wagon bear witness to in the 2014 photo. However, at least one 1909 Knox Model “O” still exists today; this article explains the process of restoring the car and includes plenty of post-restoration photos.

President Taft in Springfield, Mass

November 26, 2016November 21, 2014 by Derek Strahan

President William Howard Taft speaking behind Old First Church on April 25, 1912. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Bain Collection.

The scene in 2014:

The 1912 presidential election was an unusual one, brought on by a rift in the Republican party between President William Howard Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt. Both sought the Republican nomination, and on April 25, Taft was making his way through Massachusetts before the primary five days later. April 1912 was an eventful time – when the photo of Taft was taken, Fenway Park had just opened five days earlier, and five days before that, the Titanic sank. However, at the time, the most pressing political issue in the country was the apparent fracturing of the Republican Party.

The Massachusetts voters ended up choosing Roosevelt for the Republican nomination, but at the national convention a few months later, the party bosses chose Taft. It would end up being a Pyrrhic victory for them, though, because Roosevelt ran as a third party candidate, which split the Republican vote in he November election and gave Democrat Woodrow Wilson an easy victory. In the end, Taft won just two states and eight electoral votes, a dismal showing for an incumbent president.

For the speech, Taft stood behind Old First Church, facing what was at the time the newly-cleared extension of Court Square, which went from the back of the church to the railroad tracks next to the Connecticut River. The brick section in the back of Old First Church is still there today, although it was substantially renovated in 1947. The windows behind Taft have since been bricked up, but their outlines, formed by lighter-colored bricks, are still visible.

Dwight Manufacturing Company, Chicopee Mass (9)

November 26, 2016November 20, 2014 by Derek Strahan

A group of boys at the Dwight Manufacturing Company in Chicopee, Massachusetts, in September 1911. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, National Child Labor Committee Collection.

The same scene in 2014:

Like the 1911 photos in this post and this post, the first photo here was taken on modern-day Route 116 in Chicopee by Lewis Wickes Hine for the National Child Labor Committee. His caption reads:

“Stanislaus Matthew, 30 Cabot St., (left hand boy). Warren Butman, Nonotuck St. Has worked in spinning room since Monday. Location: Chicopee, Massachusetts.”

Dwight Manufacturing Company, Chicopee Mass (8)

November 26, 2016November 19, 2014 by Derek Strahan

Another scene outside of the Dwight Manufacturing Company factory in Chicopee in September 1911. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, National Child Labor Committee Collection.

The same spot in 2014:

These photos were taken from almost the same spot as the ones in this post, just turned slightly to the right. The 1911 one was taken by Lewis Wickes Hine as part of the National Child Labor Committee, and his caption reads:

“Stanley Sypeck, Jasimine St., W. Springfield. Works in the Dwight Mfg. Co., 6 months in spinning room. Location: Chicopee, Massachusetts.”

Based on census records, it is unclear who exactly this boy was, but the address gives some clues. “Jasimine Street” likely refers to what is listed as “Jasmin or Morgan St” in this map from the 1912 Atlas of Hampden County. The Jasmin name was evidently archaic, because today it is known only as Morgan Road. In the 1910 census, it is named Morgan Street, and there is a “Sypek” (note spelling) family living there. The census lists 15 members of the extended family, including not just one but two Stanleys. It gets even more complicated, though, because one Stanley is listed as being 22 and the other as being 5. Clearly, the boy in the photo taken just a year later is neither 23 nor 6, and although census records are certainly not infallible, it still leaves open the question of which Stanley this boy is.

The other possibility, of course, is that Stanley isn’t his real name; as Hine mentions in his caption to the photo in this post, the boys will often use fake names in the event of trouble. Either way, he likely lived in the house of 15 Sypeks on Morgan Road. The census indicates that they lived on Morgan Road, probably near the corner of Piper and Morgan, although the exact house number is not listed. Either way, it was probably a single-family home, which means working at the factory was probably quieter for the young Stanley than being at home.