The Little Glass Treasure House (episode 125)

HUB History - Our Favorite Stories from Boston History

Artist and author Julia Glatfelter joins us this week to discuss her upcoming children’s book The Little Glass Treasure House. The Children’s Art Centre was incorporated in 1914 under the direction of FitzRoy Carrington, curator of prints at the Museum of Fine Arts. When the building was completed in 1918 on Rutland Street in Boston’s South End, it became the first art museum for children in the world. In 1959, the organization merged with 4 settlement houses to become United South End Settlements (USES). Julia taught at the Children’s Art Centre as part of the vacation arts program at USES in 2017, and during that time, she researched the history of the building, the evolution of its programs, and the people who brought the space to life. Her new book, The Little Glass Treasure House, narrates this story through the eyes of Charlotte Dempsey, who directed the center from 1930 to 1971.

Please support us on Patreon and check out the full show notes at: http://HUBhistory.com/125/

The Little Glass Treasure House

• The Children’s Art Centre online exhibit at the Northeastern University Archives (photos below from this collection)
• A video detailing the arts and STEAM curriculum at USES today
• Purchase The Little Glass Treasure House through the South End Bookstore
• Julia’s website and Instagram
• A book launch and reception will be held at the South End branch of the BPL on Tuesday, April 2, at 6:30pm
• Julia will be selling her book at the South End Authors’ Book Festival on Thursday, April 4, from 4-8pm at the Harry Dow Community Room, Tent City, 130 Dartmouth Street.
• Renowned artist Allan Rohan Crite got his start at the Children’s Art Centre. Today, his pieces are in the collections of major museums such as the MFA, the Smithsonian, and MOMA. His works in the Boston Athenaeum collection can be viewed here. In a History Makers interview, he describes his artistic upbringing.

Boston Book Club

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Our pick for the Boston Book Club this week is The Rascal King: The Life And Times Of James Michael Curley by Jack Beatty.

One of the most colorful figures in Massachusetts politics in the first half of the 20th century, Curley served four terms as Democratic Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, including part of one while in prison. He served a single term as Governor of Massachusetts, characterized by Beatty as “a disaster mitigated only by moments of farce” for his free spending and corruption. He also served 2 terms in the US House of Representatives and 1 term in the state House of Representatives.

According to the Harvard Crimson:

In his debut, Curley swept the city with a wave of reform that left his critics gasping. He built schools, playgrounds and beaches; he hired new doctors for the city hospital; he extended the transit systems and pulled down old elevated lines, making thousands of jobs. When the banks in Boston refused to lend him money for this spending spree, he bolted traditions and borrowed from banks all over the country.

Of course, he was collecting graft, raising taxes, and lining his pockets every step of the way.

Upcoming Event

For our upcoming event this week, we’re featuring William Dawes’ Secret,a talk by JL Bell. The event is described as such:

William Dawes, Jr., is known today only as the other rider who carried news of the British army march to Lexington in April 1775. Like the more famous Paul Revere, Dawes was deeply involved in the Patriot movement for years before and after that date. This talk reveals Dawes the militia organizer, the fashion icon, even the arms smuggler whose secret mission for the Patriots’ Committee of Safety helped bring on the Revolutionary War.

The speaker will be J. L. Bell, who is the author of The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War. He maintains the Boston1775.net website, offering daily helpings of history, analysis, and unabashed gossip about Revolutionary New England.

The talk will be held at the First Church in Roxbury on Sunday, April 7, from 2 to 4pm.

This event is co-sponsored by the Roxbury Historical Society, the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry and the JPHS. It is free and open to the public.

Learn more here.