History of the Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House
Started in what was previously the home of Sarah Margaret Fuller,
this house has served the community of Area IV of Cambridge since
1902. The house itself was built in 1807 and is a federalist style
home. It still stands today and is a National Historic Landmark in
Cambridge, MA. Located at 71 Cherry Street in the section of
Cambridge that was previously part of Cambridgeport, this home has
seen a lot of change in the locale around it.
With the onset of the industrial revolution Cambridge was bustling
with factory activity and the labor that worked in these factories
lived in boarding, and tenement house that existed near by in what
is now Area IV of Cambridge. The division between the upper and
lower class was greater than ever before. Out of this new economic
situation came the Settlement House movement. The idea was to create
an outpost of education and culture in the slums and attempt to
reduce the mutual suspicion and ignorance between classes.
The Margaret Fuller House was started as an extension project of the
local YWCA. A portion of the building at 71 Cherry Street was
designated to its activities in the community 1902. The first
director of the house, Carrie Megraw writes,
“We started in 1902 with three rooms poorly furnished from odds and
ends not wanted elsewhere. The neighbors were rather suspicious of
our good intentions; the girls were shy and different, questioning
our purpose; the boys were antagonistic….”
The early work of the Margaret Fuller House had a greater emphasis
on relieving real physical suffering than the activities of the
YWCA. They held meetings, socials, supplied food and clothing for
women, organized day and rest trips for mothers, and helped women to
find employment. House calls were an important part of the houses
early work. Girls and women were visited at home and brought reading
material. In 1909 it is said that a Mr. Gerry from the YMCA set up
the first ESL classes in Cambridge at the Margaret Fuller House.
Post depression era, the Margaret Fuller House was one of the early
recipients of “Red Feather” funding, which later became the United
Way of Massachusetts Bay.
During the last century it has gone through many changes in name. It
gained independence from the Y, incorporated and in 1971 grew to
include the Cambridge Neighborhood House, one of the oldest
settlement houses in America. Throughout this time it has always
maintained the basic goals of a settlement house. “To provide focus,
education, recreation, and orientation for its surrounding
community; to be the socializing vehicle whereby the middle class
and working class could meet…” It has developed and hosted a variety
of programs, everything from tutoring children, to a senior mothers
club, to a meeting space for the New England Kurdish association.
Currently we hold an after school, have a food pantry and computer
center and employ two people in community involvement roles, a Streetworker and a Community Liaison.
The Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House started in the early parts of
the 20th century as a settlement house and adapted and grew into a
neighborhood house. In the truest sense of its beginnings it still
exists today to serve its community. “You must constantly try new
ideas and techniques… we are in continual motion... When things go
wrong, remember, tomorrow will come up with the rising sun, so don’t
give up the ship.” - From “Welcome to the Marga” 1970.
|
