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Support the Annual Appeal and Help Keep Us On Track!
This past year, we had new exhibits and partnerships, and more events and programs for you to enjoy, including new program series with Historic Newton, and the Wellesley and Natick Historical Societies.
Keep us going!
Help to preserve the
treasures and teach the stories of Needham's past, as we celebrate the history of Needham with You.
In the last few years we have focused on increasing our membership and our programs, and broadening our outreach. Your outstanding generosity and support makes this possible!
The Needham Historical Society does not receive operating funds from the town or state. Our financial support comes ENTIRELY from donations, memberships, grants and fundraising events. Your support of the Annual Appeal is a major source of our activity and strength.
So please, be as generous as you can
. THANKS!
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Gift Shop Item(s) of the Week!
We have ornaments!
For the holidays, or for year-round-home-town-pride decorating. Eight Needham landmarks - choose from Echo Bridge, Town Hall, Needham High School, the Blue Tree, the Giant Swiss Pansy, the Town Seal, Memorial Park Fireworks, and the Needham History Center. $22 each, in a gift box.
Available in the Gift Shop or online,
needhamhistory.org/shop
And don't forget - Holiday Gift Sale on December 8th, 11 am - 4 pm!
Unique Needham gifts for everyone on your list - Needham apparel, books, DVDs, note cards, and one-of-a-kind vintage treasures from our Heirloom Shoppe.
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Broken elms lining Great Plain Avenue near Garden Street
"As though... a Giant Striding Over the Town"
It is a well-known fact that I hate winter. And I don't just mean cordially dislike. I do not marvel at the sparkle of frost on the grass, or enjoy the crisp snap in the air. Waking up to trees coated in white does not fill me with a child-like sense of wonder. Mostly I just frown and whine, starting at the first frost, and continuing unabated until the end of February. The only glimmer of comfort comes from reminding myself that
it could be worse.
And yes, it has been! This week we note the 98th anniversary of the Thanksgiving Ice Storm of 1921. From Saturday, November 25th until Tuesday the 29th, New England suffered one of the most devastating ice storms in its history. A cyclone of high winds and freezing rain raged without letup for more than 75 hours, causing an accumulation of more than 4 inches of ice on trees, power lines, and roofs. The effects were worst in Worcester County, but the storm extended from central to eastern Massachusetts, into northern Connecticut and Rhode Island, and southern Vermont and New Hampshire. Transportation was at a standstill, power was out over large areas of the state, schools and businesses were closed.
Needham felt the full force of the storm - a storm ranking alongside the hurricane of 1938 and the Blizzard of 1978 for the disruption and damage it caused in the town. The storm started on Saturday afternoon and ended during the wee hours of Tuesday night. The ice had accumulated for the first two days without significant harm, but by Sunday night, the power lines began to come own, lighting up the sparkling ice with dazzling flashes as the live wires arced and snapped. As the burden of ice increased, the sound of snapping trees was heard through most of the town, "with a sharp report as of pistol shots... The alternate sharp, explosive crack of breaking trees and the smashing roaring crashes of the fallen masses, seemed to come with increasing frequency over a constantly extending area." (The Needham Chronicle, 3 December 1921)
When Wednesday dawned, bright and clear, the full extent of the damage was visible: "As though mowed and hacked by a scythe swung with lightning stroke by a giant striding over the town, the beautiful and cherished trees of Needham, the famed beauty and pride of an old New England town for generations, now, after many hours of ice-encrusting rain and sleet, are a sorrowful sight. For days their trunks and limb-stubs, seemingly lifeless, have been held in cruel shrouds of ice, victims hinting of the awful power of nature so manifest in devastation - a destruction no human agency might avert... Of the stately trees of a century's growth, of the beautiful maples, of thriving orchards, not a single tree could be found unscathed. Some were killed, riven to the ground, or log trunks broken short, while others were pitifully maimed" (Needham Chronicle). The Board of Selectmen issued a notice that residents "were at liberty to take for their own use any of the fallen wood now in the public streets and highways," and urged them to clear away the debris from the streets and walks in front of their property as soon as possible.
The elms along Great Plain Avenue, near the train crossing, as they looked in 1885.
Miraculously, no one was hurt, though there were some hair-raising near-misses - large branches that just missed falling onto homes of sleeping families, or branches that fell just before or just after a child passed by. A house on Carter Street, occupied by the Ullannelli family, burned to the ground, but the family escaped to safety.
The utility services - the Electric Illuminating Company and New England Telephone - worked hard to get temporary patches up throughout the area, and by Wednesday some emergency functions had been restored. The telephone company sent a generator to recharge the batteries in the switchboard so that emergency calls could be made until the crippled fire alarm circuits could be restored. Although the trolleys were halted, electricity was diverted from their circuits to power the electric street lights at the intersection of Great Plain Avenue and Chestnut Street.
The repair work went forward, though it is clear from the Needham Chronicle's report on December 3d that there was still much work to do before lights, telephones, and the fire alarms would return to normal. However, there was one thing that would never return - the beautiful alley of stately elms that had lined Great Plain Avenue since the mid-1800s. The elms were planted in 1848 by Edgar Whitaker, and originally extended from Marked Tree Road to Pickering Street. The trees were devastated by the ice, which dragged down their arching limbs, leaving many with only the splayed lower branches. Sadly, many of the trees that survived and began to regrow were again maimed in an ill-considered "pruning" campaign to widen Great Plain Avenue in 1925. The Hurricane of 1938 took off the rest.
Fallen trees and wires on Warren Street.
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Upcoming Events
These events are free and open to the public
Sunday, December 1, at 2 pm -
Creepy Christmas
, with Jeff Belanger
at North Hill auditorium, 865 Central Avenue
Jeff is back! This time with tales of the Krampus, the Belsnickel, and a host of Ol' Saint Nick's less-jolly sidekicks.
Learn about these Yuletide monsters and legends that have almost been lost to the ages, and explore the history of these ghostly holiday traditions, some dating back more than two thousand years. (This program may not be suitable for young children)
Sunday, December 8th, from 11 am to 4 pm - Holiday Gift Sale!
in the Needham History Center's Gift Shop
Get ready for the Holidays with unique Needham gifts! From apparel, to books and movies, to a special collection of ornaments - we have something for everyone! Or find a special vintage treasure in our Heirloom Shoppe - you never know what might turn up here.
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Save the Date!
Goes to the Movies!
February 8, 2020 from 7-11 pm, in Powers Hall
S'Wonderful... S'Marvelous... It's a festive and glamorous evening of fine food, live music, decadent chocolate, and - of course! - bubbly champagne.
Tickets and information coming soon!
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Community Events
From time to time, we will post event information from our community partners and friends, that might be of interest.
Extended! The Frances Perkins Center Traveling Exhibit, Nov. 18-22, 10 am to 2:30 pm,
at the Needham History Center. Learn about the life and accomplishments of Frances Perkins - FDR's Secretary of Labor (1933-1945), and the first woman to serve in the US Cabinet. Perkins was a staunch advocate for workers' rights, and a driving force behind the New Deal - programs that continue to provide financial security for all Americans.
The Jog for Joy 5K, Sunday, December 8, beginning at 9:15 am. Sponsored by HighRock MetroWest Church (754 Greendale Avenue, Needham). All the proceeds of this fun run will go to The Needham Youth & Family Services Department to connect teens to the resources they need to live more hopeful lives. Click HERE for information and registration.
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We thank our Corporate Sponsors
for their generous and ongoing support!
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Lead Sponsor - The Needham Bank
Program Sponsor
- North Hill
The Dedham Inst. for Savings . The Middlesex Bank
Louise Condon Realty .
Petrini Corporation . The Vita Needle Company
The Needham Women's Club . JC Timmerman, Inc.
Briarwood Rehab & Healthcare .
BID-Needham
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