Belmont Historical Society Presents Archive

Belmont Historical Society: Public Transportation in and around Belmont 1800 -1960. A presentation by Malcolm Laughlin, February 23rd. 2020 Images from private collections are used with permission (thanks Kevin Farrell), the Library of Congress and Boston Public Library.Edited by Jeremy Meserve for Belmont Media Center in partnership with Belmont Historical Society. Contact Belmont Historical Center: belmonthistory1859@gmail.com

A history in seven parts about Rainsford Island in Boston Harbor from 1636 to 1920 by William A. McEvoy (a Belmont resident) and Robin Hazard Ray. Now barren and abandoned for a century, the history details the stark and often brutal existence of the island's former institutionalized inhabitants, mostly inmates of "a smallpox hospital, followed by city and state facilities warehouses, in essence for impoverished immigrants, violent criminals, drunkards, unwed mothers, and the insane. From 1895 to 1920, a reformatory for delinquent boys brought the islands institutional history to a close." Special attention is paid to the barely visible remnants of the island's cemetery, McEvoy has been lobbying city, state, and federal officials to memorialize the forgotten buried there. Some of the dead include veterans from the War of 1812 and members of the famous black Civil War regiment the Massachusetts 54th. *quoted from Boston Globe article here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/03/08/metro/newton-veteran-documents-neglected-rainsford-island-graves-1700-bostons-unwanted/

In celebration of the town of Belmont's 160th anniversary, Viktoria Haase president of Belmont Historical Society presents A Decade Of Change. Look back at a decade of interesting events and momentous changes in the town. 

A short video of scenes at the Wellington Station Open House in Belmont, Massachusetts. Included is historical information about one of Belmont's most recognizable landmarks.

Belmont Historical Society Annual Meeting, Belmont Public Library Assembly Room, Belmont MA. The Society chooses its officers for 2019-2020 and awards historic home plaques. 

Belmont Historical Society welcomes Watertown filmmaker Roger Hagopian for a screening of his film, "Destination Watertown: The Armenians of Hood Rubber"

Author and journalist Ted Reinstein talks about his book "Wicked Pissed: New England's Most Famous Feuds."

Anthony Sammarco speaks about his best-selling book The Baker Chocolate Factory: A Sweet History. Filmed at Belmont Public Library 02/17/19

11/11/18 A short documentary about the Belmont Historical Society's WWI exhibit and Belmont's role in the Great War featuring in depth discourse on the Yankee Division by historian and former Belmont selectman Dan Leclerc. Includes images of the Belmont Historical Society's WWI exhibit and an interview with selectmen chair Adam Dash about his gift of WWI memorabilia to the Society.

Presentation by Joe Cornish on Belmont's historic preservation efforts. Historic house plaques presented.

Former TV critic, journalist, and author Terry Ann Knopf talks about the early days of Boston television. There are some 200 local TV markets in the country, but only one — Boston — was the site of a “Golden Age” of local programming

Jordan Marsh: Boston's First Department Store, a presentation by author Anthony Sammarco.

Belmont Historical Society Annual Meeting 2017 includes the Election of Officers and Directors for 2017-2018, Award of Historic House Plaques, Presentation of David R. Johnson Historic Preservation Awards and a special presentation: Recollections on Historic Preservation by Roger Webb. A distinguished historic preservationist, Webb shared recollections from his more than 50-year career in preservation projects in Belmont, Cambridge, Boston, and New Bedford. His most notable projects include the conversion and reuse of the old Boston City Hall and the restoration of the Faneuil Hall Marketplace in downtown Boston. Roger was the founder and is the Chairman Emeritus of the Architectural Heritage Foundation (AHF) based in Boston.

Belmont Historical Society welcomed James C. O’Connell, author of Dining Out in Boston. O’Connell treated Belmontonians to a fascinating look at more than two centuries of culinary trends in Boston restaurants, presenting a rich and hitherto unexplored side to the city’s past. Dining Out in Boston shows that the city was a pioneer in elaborate hotel dining, oyster houses, French cuisine, student hangouts, ice cream parlors, the twentieth-century revival of traditional New England dishes, and contemporary locavore and trendy foodie culture.

The Belmont Historical Society welcomes author Eric Jay Dolin . Dolin presents and reads from his latest book Brilliant Beacons about the history of America's lighthouses.

Joe Cornish demonstrates how to research your property history and speaks in detail about the Belmont Historical Society Historic Plaque Program. Excerpted from the 2014 Annual Meeting.

History of the Hill-Richardson Family featuring Lydia Ogilby. Also features Angelo Firenze's presentation on Belmont's Veteran's Memorial.

Includes remembrance of Belmont Town Historian Richard Betts

Doug Most speaks about his latest book which presents the story behind the construction of Boston’s subway, the first in the United States. The introduction to The Race Underground describes the motivation, challenges, and obstacles to this 19th century “Big Dig”.

Author and scholar Barbara F. Berenson discusses the topics of her book Boston and the Civil War at the Community Room in the Belmont Public Library, 11/22/15.

Massachusetts Role in the 19th Century China Trade, a presentation by author Doug Stewart

Annual Meeting of the Belmont Historical Society, Assembly Room, Belmont Public Library

Belmont Historical Society Presents Gerry Wright as Frederick Law Olmstead: Passages in the Life of an Unpractical Man. Wright researched, wrote, and produced this one-man show honoring Olmsted’s life and work and providing insights into his passionate vision. Olmsted (1822–1903) had a multi-faceted career as a journalist and critic of slavery; as an appointee of Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War; and as the landscape architect for Boston’s Emerald Necklace, New York City’s Central Park, and the U.S. Capitol grounds among many other treasures. Olmstead was a key pioneer in the movement to preserve land as national parkland, both at Yosemite and Niagara Falls. Wright is founder and president of the Friends of Jamaica Pond and has been portraying Frederick Law Olmsted since 2003.

For the Belmont Historical Society, historian and WWI expert Dan Leclerc presents "The Yankee Division in the Great War" an informative multi-media presentation about New Englanders who went "Over There" to fight the Germans in 1917-1918. Americans were only in the war for 13 months but we lost a staggering 116,000 men, almost 300 per day on average. Mr. Leclerc brings us back to that time with enthusiasm and striking clarity. Filmed at the Belmont Public Library on March 18th, 2015.

McLean Hospital: A Presentation by historian Terry Alan Bragg given at the Belmont Public Library 2/25/15. Camera Operator: Ottavio Forte. Edited by Jeremy Meserve

Belmont Historical Society Presents: Belmont Uplands - A History of the Changing Use of Land and Water, a presentation by Anne-Marie Lambert 10/26/14

Belmont Historical Society Presents: Francis Cabot Lowell - The Man Who Launched America's Industrial Revolution, an illustrated lecture by Chaim Rosenberg

Set to Mussgorsky's "Night on Bald Mountain", a video of the unfortunate demolition of the Thomas Clark House built in Belmont, Massachusetts circa 1760.

Presentation by Joe Cornish about researching property history and the society's Historic Plaque Program. Plaques are awarded, officers for 2014 are chosen. 

On the night of March 18, 1990, a pair of thieves disguised as Boston police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and roamed the Museum’s galleries, stealing 13 works of art including Rembrandt’s “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee” and “A Lady and Gentleman in Black”. This was one of the largest and most notorious art thefts in history and remains unsolved today. Join the Belmont Historical Society for an illustrated lecture by Anthony Amore, Director of Security at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum where he also serves as chief investigator working to recover the stolen works taken in the infamous 1990 heist. The lecture will cover the true story of art crime, with a discussion of three of history’s most significant art thefts – all of which occurred here in Massachusetts and involved the theft of Rembrandt masterpieces. We will learn about the sorts of people who commit art theft, why they do it, and what becomes of the art. 

Presentation by Jane Sherwin. Assembly Room, Belmont Public Library

Viktoria Haase interviews Belmont Town Historian Richard Betts, PART II. Part I is here:  https://archive.org/details/snafuinfinityBelHistSoc_RichardBetts_010506

Town historian Richard Betts is interveiwed by Viktoria Haase on 01/05/06