Historic Research on Three New GSD Houses 40 & 42 Kirkland St., and 20 Sumner Rd.

One of the things that drew me to the city of Boston, and ultimately to my profession as a librarian was my deep love of history and historical architecture. The Graduate School of Design at Harvard University recently purchased three lovely old homes on the corner of Kirkland St. and Sumner Rd. to expand space for their programs. Staff were offered a tour of these new properties while they were under the process of renovation. On the tour our guide, the head of Building Services said they had researched the properties, and they were not able to find the original owners of the properties, but that they had most recently been purchased from a seminary.

I asked our guide why he didn't come to the library. He said they had already consulted the Cambridge Historical Commission and they were unable to find the information. I was intrigued and inspired to do the research myself. I first checked an invaluable resource for information on any Cambridge building or structure:

Hail, Christopher. Cambridge buildings and architects / by Christopher Hail.

Published: Cambridge, Mass. : [C. Hail], 2001.

Online version: http://hul.harvard.edu/huarc/refshelf/cba/

Link to HOLLIS record for the online version of this book

http://hollis.harvard.edu/?itemid=|library/m/aleph|008837681


SUMNER ROAD through street 1838
.....1838 laid out 1717 Cambridge St -- 40 Kirkland St & named
Sumner Street; named for Sumner Wm Hyslop
.....1906 changed to Sumner Road
•20 house 2�-st 1923
.....1923 house permit 24072 20 (o) McClane W D rev (b) Cormier [D T]
.....1930 Bromley atlas

•40 house 2�-st 1887
.....1887 house : foundation permit 853 c sumner (o) Brewster Wm A
(a) Rand & Taylor
.....1888 house tax new w1 kirkland c sumner (o) Brewster Wm A
.....1894 Bromley atlas

•42 house 4-st 1892
.....1892 house flat roof 3-st permit 3375 (o) Brewster Wm A (b)
Crowley John
..........house [mansard] tax cellar w1 (o) Brewster Wm A
.....1894 Bromley atlas
.....1928 •garage permit 30302 42 (o) Cronin Agnes B (b) Priggen
steel garage

Life dates and proximity to Harvard suggest William Brewster is most
likely the ornithologist who worked at Harvard as the curator to birds
and mammals at the Museum of Comparative Zoology from 1885 until his death.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brewster_%28ornithologist%29
William Brewster (ornithologist)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Brewster (July 5, 1851 – July 11, 1919) was an American
ornithologist.[1] He was the curator of birds at the Museum of
Comparative Zoology at Harvard University from 1885 until his
death.[1] He was the co-founder, with Elliott Coues and Joel Asaph
Allen, of the American Ornithologists' Union in 1883.[2] He wrote
Birds of the Cape Regions of Lower California (1902) and Birds of the
Cambridge Region of Massachusetts (1906).
[edit] References
Wikisource has original works written by or about:
William Brewster

Authors: Henshaw, Henry W. (Henry Wetherbee), 1850-1930.
Title: In memoriam: William Brewster. Born July 5, 1851 - Died
July 11, 1919.
In: Auk. 1920. 37. 1-32. pl. 1-2.

^ a b Emmet, Alan (November–December 2007). "William Brewster,
Brief life of a bird-lover: 1851-1919". Harvard Magazine 110 (2).
^ Orr, Oliver H (1992). Saving American birds: T. Gilbert Pearson
and the founding of the Audubon movement. University Press of Florida.
p. 22. ISBN 9780813011295.


There are several works listed in HOLLIS by and about the owner of the two Kirkland properties, William Brewster. I didn't find any information on W.D. McClane, owner of the Sumner Rd.
property, but it could probably be found in the archives of one of the
local churches.