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History of Dedham, Massachusetts, 1900–1999

January 01, 1970

The history of Dedham, Massachusetts in the 20th century saw great growth come to the town. It played host to the Sacco and Vanzetti trial, saw the Endicott Estate and a number of schools constructed, a great deal of economic development, and growth in the number of services provided by the Town.

Government edit

A bill establishing a representative town meeting was established in 1928, and then amended in 1948.[1] It was almost amended again when a resident used a friendly representative in a neighboring community to introduce and pass a bill in the General Court.[1] A charter was adopted later in the century, and amended again in the 21st century. The Department of Public Works was created in 1933.[2]

Fire Department edit

Main article: Dedham Fire Department

The first fire chief was appointed in 1920.[3] Prior to that there was a four-member Board of Fire Engineers who had charge over fires.[3] Hurricane Carol knocked down the East Dedham firehouse's 80 foot bell tower on August 31, 1954.[4] It flew across the station and landed on 219 Bussey St, the house next door, where Maria Guerriero was feeding her one-year-old son, Joseph.[4] It also crushed three cars parked on Bussey St.[4]

A firehouse was constructed on Westfield Street, near High Street, in 1906.[5][6] The lower level had horse stalls, a stable room, a hose wago, and engine room, and an opening to the paddock in the rear.[6] The second story had a sleeping room, a company room, a lavatory, a bath, and a hay and grain room.[6] The building housed horse drawn steamer engines.[6] It went out of service sometime in the 20th century, but still exists as a private residence.[5][6]

Firefighters began wearing uniforms in 1906.[7]

Police Department edit

Main article: Dedham Police Department

After the department purchased its first police motorcycle in 1923, Abe Rafferty was appointed the first motorcycle officer.[8] By 1936, there were 18 officers.[8]

In December 1973, the Dedham Police Department investigated the sighting of several unidentified flying objects over town.[9] A young couple on a date had their car followed by UFO while they drove through Dedham.[9]

Headquarters edit

The department was located on the first floor of Memorial Hall until Town Clerk John Carey locked the doors for the last time on March 16, 1962.[10] The building was demolished in April 1962 after a new town hall was built on Bryant St.[10] The police took up temporary residence in the new town hall for a year[11] while a new police station was built on the Memorial Hall property.[10]

On April 29, 1963, the Police Department moved into their new headquarters on the corner of High and Washington Streets.[11][a] It included a fallout shelter in the cellar that featured walls of 6-inch reinforced concrete and a lead window cover that could be put in place to shield occupants from fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion.[11] It also housed the Civil Defense Communication Center.[11]

Recreation edit

In the early 1900s, the ancient Indian burial ground near Wigwam Pond was leveled to make way for athletic fields and a commercial shopping area.[12] The last person known to have been buried there was Sarah David, the wife of Alexander Quapish.[12]

The Recreation Department was begun in the 1930s with an effort to build and staff three playgrounds around town.[13] By the 1960s there were 10 playgrounds.[13] The first Recreation Commission was elected in 1941.[13]

In 1951, the Town of Dedham purchased a three acre plot from the Paul estate for $2,625 and built Paul Park on it.[14] Several hundred people attended the dedication ceremony on June 8, 1952.[14]

The Commonwealth took much of the Town Forest in the 1950s to construct Massachusetts Route 128.[15] The state returned 71 acres in the median to the Town in 1972 for use of hikers and picnickers.[15]

Swimming, fishing, boating, and ice skating were popular activities on Mother Brook. In 1925, the Town built a bathhouse on what is today Incinerator Road to replace the 1898 bathouse that burned down in 1923.[16] It was set aside for women and girls to use on Tuesday and Friday afternoons.[17]

Baby Cemetery edit

Main article: Baby Cemetery

Land purchased in the late 1940s by Joseph Stivaletta, a local developer, was once home to the Temporary Asylum for Discharged Female Prisoners.[18][19][b] He discovered 11 small, oval stones made of marble marking the graves of children and, rather than disturb them, set the land aside and did not build a home on it.[19][18] When Massachusetts Route 128 was being constructed, Stivaletta convinced then-Transportation Secretary John Volpe to move the road rather than disturb the graves.[18] Volpe's family came from the same small town in Italy as Stivaletta.[18]

Town Meeting voted to accept the cemetery in 1998 after being gifted the land from the Stivaletta family.[20][19][18]

20th century representation in the General Court edit

Dedham was represented by a number of women and men in the Great and General Court of Massachusetts.

Year Representative Senator Notes
1900 Arthur Clark [21]
1905 Joseph Soliday [22]
1906 Joseph Soliday [22]
1907 Joseph Soliday William Otis Faxon [23][24][22]
1908 Joseph Soliday William Otis Faxon [23][24][22]
1909 Joseph Soliday [22]
1910 Joseph Soliday / William G. Moseley Bradley M. Rockwood [25][26][22]
1911 William G. Moseley Bradley M. Rockwood [25][26]
1916 John A. Hirsch [27]
1925 John K. Burgess Samuel H. Wragg [28][29][30]
1926 John K. Burgess Samuel H. Wragg [28][29][30]
1927 John K. Burgess Samuel H. Wragg [28][30][31]
1928 John K. Burgess Samuel H. Wragg [28][30][31]
1929 John K. Burgess Samuel H. Wragg [28][30][32]
1930 John K. Burgess Samuel H. Wragg [30][32]
1931 John K. Burgess Samuel H. Wragg [30][33]
1932 John K. Burgess Samuel H. Wragg [30][33]
1933 James M. McCracken Samuel H. Wragg [34][35]
1934 James M. McCracken Samuel H. Wragg [34][35]
1935 Mason Sears Samuel H. Wragg [30]
1936 Mason Sears Samuel H. Wragg [30]
1937 Mason Sears Samuel H. Wragg [30]
1938 Mason Sears Samuel H. Wragg [30]
1939 Mason Sears [30]
1940 Mason Sears [30]
1941 Mason Sears [30]
1942 Mason Sears [30]
1947 Francis Appleton Harding Mason Sears [30][36]
1948 Francis Appleton Harding Mason Sears [30][36]
1949 Francis Appleton Harding [36]
1950 Francis Appleton Harding [36]
1951 Francis Appleton Harding [36]
1952 Francis Appleton Harding [36]
1953 Francis Appleton Harding [36]
1954 Francis Appleton Harding [36]
1955 Francis Appleton Harding [36]
1956 Harold Rosen
1957 Harold Rosen
1958 Harold Rosen
1959 Harold Rosen
1960 Harold Rosen
1961 Harold Rosen
1962 Harold Rosen
1963 Harold Rosen
1964 Harold Rosen
1965 Harold Rosen
1966 Harold Rosen
1967 Harold Rosen
1968 Harold Rosen
1969 Harold Rosen / Charles M. McGowan
1970 Charles M. McGowan Robert L. Crawley
1971 Charles M. McGowan Robert L. Crawley
1972 Charles M. McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1973 Charles M. McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1974 Charles M. McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1975 Charles M. McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1976 Charles M. McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1977 Charles M. McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1978 Charles M. McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1979 Charles M. McGowan / Deborah R. Cochran Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1980 Deborah R. Cochran Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1981 Deborah R. Cochran Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1982 Marie-Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1983 Marie-Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1984 Marie-Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1985 Marie-Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1986 Marie-Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1987 Marie-Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1988 Marie-Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1989 Marie-Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1990 Marie-Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.
1991 Marie-Louise Kehoe Christopher M. Lane
1992 Marie-Louise Kehoe Christopher M. Lane
1993 Marie-Louise Kehoe Marian Walsh
1994 Marie-Louise Kehoe Marian Walsh
1995 Maryanne Lewis Marian Walsh
1996 Maryanne Lewis Marian Walsh
1997 Maryanne Lewis Marian Walsh
1998 Maryanne Lewis Marian Walsh
1999 Maryanne Lewis Marian Walsh

Public schools edit

Quincy School edit

 
Floor plan of the Quincy School

In April 1909, Town Meeting voted to appropriate $60,000 to build a new Quincy School and $6,000 for furnishings, fittings, and grading.[37] The original school, it was said at the time was "only held together by the last coat of paint [and had] clearly outlived its usefulness."[38]

The new school was completed on budget and built at the intersection of Greenhood, Quincy, and Bussey Streets.[39][37] It was dedicated on June 4, 1910.[39][37] Within the two-story building were ten rooms.[39][37] It measured 79' by 140' and was made of brick with sandstone trimming.[39] The interior was outfitted with hard pine.[39]

The new school was used until 1982 when declining enrollment and Proposition 2½ forced its closure.[39] Town Meeting authorized the sale of the property to a developer in 1982, but only after off-duty police officers and firefighters were able to find and bring enough Town Representatives to reach a quorum.[40]

Dedham High School edit

Dedham High School began playing Norwood High School in an annual football contest in 1920.[41] Over the years, there have been several notable incidents. In 1946, thousands of fans swarmed the field for about 20 minutes after a Norwood touchdown pass was brought back on an offensive interfernce penalty.[41] During the closing minutes of the game, the crowd threw stones and other objects at the officials.[41] The Dedham Police Department had to escort them off the field after the game.[41]

In 1956, seven boys from Norwood High School threw bottles of blue and white paint, the school colors, through the windows of Dedham's School Department administration building to celebrate their team's win the day before.[42] While they admitted to the paint, they denied being involved with the smashing of 22 windows at Dedham High School on Thanksgiving Day.[42]

Crime and trials edit

Sacco and Vanzetti edit

The historic Sacco and Vanzetti trial was held in the Norfolk County Courthouse in 1921 under heavy police guard.[43] The two were Italian-born American anarchists, who were arrested, tried, and executed for the killings of Frederick Parmenter, a shoe factory paymaster, and Alessandro Berardelli, a security guard, and for the robbery of $15,766.51 from the factory's payroll on April 15, 1920.[44] Many believe that they "were the innocent victims of political and economic interests determined to send a message about the rising tide of anarchist violence."[43]

The trial opened on May 31, 1921, with heavy security. Police were stationed at every entrance of the courthouse and all those entering were searched for weapons. The State Constabulary patrolled outside on horseback and motorcycles[43] and the courtroom was retrofitted with bomb shutters and sliding steel doors that could seal off that wing of the courthouse in case of an attack. The cast iron shutters on the windows were designed and painted to match the wooden ones on the rest of the building. The courtroom was so protected that "the trial would be conducted in a far more formidable cage than the simple prisoner's cage that surrounded Sacco and Vanzetti during their trial."[45] The "cage" in which the defendants sat was "more like a fancy Ferris wheel car" than a cage designed to hold prisoners.[46] It has a tall back, an open front, and no top.[46]

During the trial, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who was then in Washington, invited Sacco's wife to stay at his home near the courthouse.[47][48] Sacco's seven-year-old son, Dante, would sometimes stand on the sidewalk outside the jail and play catch with his father by throwing a ball over the wall.[48]

Brandeis was not the only member of the nation's highest court to be involved with the case. Felix Frankfurter, then a law professor at Harvard, "did more than any individual to rally "respectable" opinion behind the two men, saw the case as a test of the rule of law itself."[49] At one point, the trial moved outdoors, to Norfolk Street behind the courthouse, so the getaway car could be viewed.[48] Testimony was also offered outdoors.[48]

The 12 jurors were sequestered at the courthouse for the entirety of the six-week trial.[48] They slept on cots in the courthouse's gran jury room and bathed in the basement of the jail.[48] To celebrate the 4th of July, they were brought to Scituate, Massachusetts and given a lobster dinner.[48]

To get a full jury, courthouse officials had to go to extraordinary lengths. Over 600 men were interviewed, with the most common reason for dismissal beinging their opposition to the death penalty.[48] One man, a sugar dealer, tried to pretend that he was deaf in an attempt to get out of serving on the jury. When he was discovered, by answering a question posed by the judge, the Sacco and Vanzetti were sent into fits of laughter.[48]

After 500 potential jurors were interviewed, but only seven selected, deputies from the Norfolk County Sheriff's office went out to workplaces, club meetings, concerts, and elsewhere to bring in additional potential jurors.[48] One man, ultimately selected, was brought from his wedding dinner.[48] The Quincy man had to postpone his honeymoon until after the trial.[48]

At one point the prosecution presented a cap that was found at the crime scene and which they contended to be Sacco's.[48] When Sacco's lawyers had him try the cap on, however, it was found to be much too small for his head.[48]

Several years later, in May 1926, Frankfurter would travel to the Dedham courthouse to make a motion for a new trial after another man, also in the Dedham Jail, confessed to the crime.[43] The motion was denied by Judge Webster Thayer in October and in the next 10 months the Supreme Judicial Court, a federal judge and three Supreme Court Justices, including Brandeis, each denied motions for either a new trial or a stay of execution.

On August 23, 1927, the two were electrocuted in the Charlestown jail. The "executions sent hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets of six continents."[43] The American embassy in Paris was surrounded by tanks to fend off rioting mobs and demonstrations in Germany ended with six deaths. In Geneva "over 5,000 protesters destroyed all things American: cars, goods, even theaters showing American films."[43] Frankfurter would write a scathing critique of the case entitled "The Case of Sacco-Vanzetti: a critical analysis for lawyers and laymen." It would first be published in The Atlantic Monthly and then as a hardcover book.

Millen/Faber trial edit

The brothers Millen, Irving and Murton, alighted from the Yankee Clipper at Readville station on On April 14, 1934, to a crowd of thousands booing and hissing them.[46] A caravan of 40 cars took them from the station to the Dedham jail.[46] When they stopped at the corner of High and Washington streets to ask traffic Officer John Keegan for directions to the jail, Keegan jumped on the running board of the lead car to direct them personally.[50]

The pair, along with Abraham Faber, had robbed a bank in Needham and killed several police officers, including Francis Oliver Haddock and Forbes McLeod.[51] After the robbery and murder, a Dedham selectman recommended that the Dedham Police Department buy a submachine gun.[51]

The trial attracted national attention, and crowds of hundreds, including schoolchildren, waited outside the Norfolk County Courthouse each morning.[52] Several times, people mistakenly walked into the Dedham Historical Society, thinking it was either the jail or the courthouse.[52] When Roscoe Ates tried to get in, courthouse personnel served him with a fake arrest warrant demanding that he appear at the courthouse.[52] The crime was the inspiration for the 1939 film Let Us Live.[51]

Bettina Masserelli edit

In 1928, 28-year-old Bettina Masserelli of Dedham robbed a store in Everett, Massachusetts with a male accomplice.[53] When the clerk asked the pair not to take his "bread money," Masserelli told her friend to "sock him."[53] The clerk suffered four broken teeth in the incident and was locked in a coal closet where he was told he was lucky to still be alive.[53]

At the trial, the clerk was able to identify Masserelli, a singer, by her "marked attractiveness" and her "sweet voice."[53] She was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in the women's prison in Framingham.[53] She was the first woman convicted of armed robbery in Massachusetts.[53]

While in prison, Masserelli climbed down a rope made of bedsheets and escaped.[53] A few weeks later, she was spotted in a car in Dedham again and the Dedham Police Department began a wild car chase through the streets of town.[53] During the chase, she leapt from the moving car and fled on foot.[53] Police eventually found her hiding behind a stone wall.[53]

Endicott Estate edit

Main articles: Endicott Estate, Henry Bradford Endicott, and Katherine Endicott

In 1904, the East Street home of Henry Bradford Endicott, the founder of the multimillion-dollar Endicott-Johnson Shoe Company,[54] burned to the ground. The fire department was not able to get to the estate in time as they were dealing with three other fires simultaneously,[55] including one at the fire house.[56] Henry cleared the ashes away and built a new homestead on the 15-acre (61,000 m2) parcel.[55] The three-story building he constructed has nine bathrooms, eight bedrooms, a library, a music room, a ballroom, a mirrored parlor, a butler's kitchen, a linen room, and servants' quarters.[57]

When he died in 1920 he left the building to his stepdaughter, Katherine. She died in 1967 without any children and willed the land and the estate to the town for "education, civic, social and recreational purposes."[55]

At the time "town didn't know quite what to do with it" and "Town Meeting voted to offer it to the Commonwealth." Governor John Volpe took the title to the 25 room estate in a ceremony on December 7, 1967, and intended to use it as a governor's mansion. It soon became apparent that it would be cheaper to build a brand new mansion than to remodel the estate to Volpe's wife's "lavish taste" and "crazy notions" than to renovate the Endicott Estate and[58] in 1969 the Commonwealth gave the estate back to the Town.[59]

Endicott branch library edit

See also: Dedham Public Library § Endicott branch

In 1971, the Finance Committee's recommendation to Town Meeting was to appropriate $61,000 to convert the nine car garage[60][57] into a library.[61][62] They also recommended that Town Meeting not adopt a competing article from the Youth Commission that would have turned the garage into a youth center at a cost of $16,000.[61][62] The Finance Committee did recommend, however, that the Recreation Department open a teen center and that a director be hired for it.[62] The Finance Committee argued that it was a prudent move to consolidate the other branches, and that a library would serve all age groups within the town.[61][62] Neighbors of the Estate also objected to a teen center, but supported a library.[61][62]

Town Meeting debated the competing proposals for more than three hours, and ultimately rejected both.[63][64] Though they had initially supported it, at Town Meeting the Finance Committee changed their recommendation from supporting the proposal to recommending indefinite postponement.[63] As a result, the garage continued to be used for storage.[63]

At the 1972 Annual Town Meeting, the Library Trustees made a new pitch for two of the Estate's 26 acres, including the garage.[63] This time, Town Meeting appropriated $68,000 to convert the garage to a branch library.[65][66][64]

Fairbanks House edit

Main article: Fairbanks House (Dedham, Massachusetts)

The 20th century saw a number of near disasters come to the Fairbanks House, the oldest wooden house in the United States.

On August 18, 1964, a 17-year-old Dedhamite who lived down the street was driving and missed a left hand turn from Whiting Avenue onto East Street.[67][68] It was raining, and the pavement was wet.[68] His car ended up in the east wing of the house, with the rear bumper flush with the wall.[68][67] The 1957 sedan remained in the house overnight until it could be removed the next day.[68] The accident prompted a stone wall to be erected which prevented another car from hitting the house in 1973.[67]

A group of arsonists tried to burn the house down on July 4, 1967.[67] Powderpost beetles were exterminated from the house in the 1970s.[67]

Private Schools edit

In 1922, the Noble and Greenough School moved from Boston to Dedham. They purchased the Nickerson Castle and turned the estate into a 187-acre (0.8 km2) campus in Riverdale along the Charles River.[69] In 1957, Ursuline Academy moved from Boston's Back Bay to a 28-acre (110,000 m2) parcel in Upper Dedham.[70] The Ursuline nuns who ran the school purchased the property which included a grand manor house designed by Boston architect Guy Lowell. The house, described as "one of the grandest of grand mansions west of Boston, and comparable to what one would see in Newport," was built by Francis Skinner for his new wife Sarah Carr, in 1906.[71] Today, the mansion once known as the Federal Hill Farm has "the richest and most elaborate residential rooms in Dedham" and serves as a convent for the sisters who run the school.[71]

Churches edit

In 1907, the Methodist congregation built a new church in Oakdale Square at the corner of Oakdale Avenue and Fairview Streets.[72] St. Luke's Lutheran Church expanded their chapel in West Roxbury in 1917 before building a new church at 950 East Street, on the site of the former Endicott School,[73] in 1960.[72]

The Riverdale Congregational Church grew out of a Sunday School class held in William Lent's boathouse.[74] Mr. and Mrs. Henry Bingham donated money and land to build the church, which was completed in 1914 and expanded in the 1960s.[74] When the church closed, the church donated their remaining funds in 1992 to be used as a scholarship for a member of the graduating class of Dedham High School who attended the Riverdale School.[75] As of 2001, the building was used by the Calvary Baptist Church.[74]

The Christian Science congregation first held services in the Odd Fellows Hall in 1920 and in 1930 moved to the Masonic Hall.[76] In 1932, they bought Nathaniel Ames' house, moved it to the back of the lot, and built a new church.[76] The cornerstone for the church was laid in December 1938 and a steeple was added after 1940.[76] The first service was held on March 3, 1940.[76]

By the 1930s, St. Mary's was one of the largest parishes in the Archdiocese with over 6,000 parishioners and 1,300 students in Sunday School.[77] During the middle of that decade there were four priests and six nuns ministering to the congregation.[77] In the 1950s, it became clear that a second parish was needed in Dedham, and so St. Susanna's Church was established in 1960 to serve the needs of the Riverdale neighborhood.[78][76] When St. Susanna's opened it had 300 families, while 2,500 stayed at St. Mary's.[79] Before the first mass was said in the new church on February 11, 1962, services were held at Moseley's on the Charles.[76]

Fellowship Bible Church edit

Baptists began holding meetings in East Dedham in 1822.[80] The East Dedham Baptist Church was founded in 1843 and was renamed the First Baptist Church in 1919.[81] In 1994, Roslindale's Grace Baptist Church merged with the Dedham church, and the new congregation became known as Fellowship Bible Church.[80][81]

In 1843, they built a small church near Maverick Street.[80] In 1852, a new wooden church was constructed on Milton Street on the corner of Myrtle Street.[81][80] Canton's Jonathan Mann commissioned a new bell, weighing 2,000 pounds, to be cast by the William Blake Company of Boston and presented it to the church on February 20, 1882.[81] In 1911, a belfry was added to the church and the bell was placed in it.[81][80][c]

By 1972, the wooden church was in such disrepair that it needed to be torn down.[81] A new church was built on the same site that year.[80][81]

The John J. Duane Wrecking Company of Quincy demolished the 1852 church in August of 1972 and the church offered their bell to the wrecking company in partial payment of the bill.[81] The company sold it to Charlie and Margaret Spohr, and the couple placed it in one of their lush gardens in their Quissett estate.[81] Following the Spohrs deaths, the property was given to a trust which maintains the gardens free of charge for the public.[81] The Church attempted to re-obtain the bell in 2005, but the trust declined to sell it back.[81]

Economy edit

Dedham Square edit

In 1900, the Greenleaf Building was finished on the corner of High and Washington Streets, opposite Memorial Hall.[82] It was designed and built by Luther C. Greenleaf and his architectural firm of Greenleaf and Cobb.[82] The building was home to the waiting rooms and offices for the trolley company, stores, a banquet room, offices, and an apartment for the janitor.[82] It was razed in the 1940s.[82]

On March 1, 1967, Ma Riva's Sub Shop opened in Dedham, where Emily and Addie's was in 2018.[83] It eventually would become D'Angelos and then bought out by Papa Gino's.[83] Both are still headquartered on the old Route 1 in Dedham.

In 1903, there were nine blacksmith shops in Dedham. The last one listed in the town directory, Frank P. Kern of Williams Street, appeared in 1941.[84]

Oakdale edit

A six storefront building was built in Oakdale Square at the corner of Oakdale Avenue and Sanderson Avenue in 1925.[85] Neighbors complained, however, that it would create a "blind corner" for motoroists, and the building inspector tried to shut the construction down.[85] The builder, John Picone of Newton, sued the Town to resume construction.[85] The case made it to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court where Associate Justice Henry K. Braley ruled in favor of Picone.[85] The main store in the building would go on to house Danny's Supermarket, Stop & Shop, Tedeschis, and 7-11.[85] 7-11 shut down in the fall of 2022.[85]

The Rust Craft Greeting Card Company moved to Dedham in 1954 from Kansas City.[86] In 1958, they built what was at the time the largest greeting card factory in the world on what is today Rustcraft Road.[87] They were the first company to sell greeting cards with a fitted envelope and introduced cards for Easter, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, anniversaries, and more.[87] The building has been used for a variety of other purposes since 1980.[87]

East Dedham edit

By the early part of the 20th century, East Dedham had become developed as a busy mill village.[88] The neighborhood had schools, churches, and homes, in addition to the commercial district known today as East Dedham Square centered at the intersection of High and Bussey Streets.[88] The textile mills along Mother Brook began closing in the 1910s and 1920s, however, as owenrs sought cheaper labor and more favorable conditions in the south.[88][89]

Dedham Drive-In edit

On August 11, 1948, the Dedham Drive-In opened on the Providence Pike.[90] The Town Selectmen and business leaders joined Michael Redstone in cutting a ceremonial length of film as hundreds of cars lined up on Elm Street to get in.[90] Fun and Fancy Free and Blondie in the Dough played on opening night.[90] It was the 20th drive-in in Massachusetts.[90]

Permission to build the "open air theater," an exact copy of the drive-in Redstone had operated on Long Island for the previous 10 years, was granted in the fall of 1947.[90] Prior to the construction of the drive-in, the 23 acre parcel was an eyesore.[90] It had housed Farquhar's Nursery at one point, but a "moonscape" was created after it closed and gravel and loam was removed from the site.[90]

Originally, the screen was the 60 feet by 42 feet, but it was enlarged sometime before the fall of 1955.[90] Over time, the theater stopped showing first run films and instead ran B movies.[90]

In 1954, the United Christian Youth Movement held the first of an annual sunrise Easter service at the theater.[90] St. Luke's Lutheran Church took over in 1961, and they continued the tradition until at least 1977.[90]

The drive-in closed in the late 1970s or early 1980s.[90] In 1973, Showcase 1-2-3, a traditional indoor movie theater also owned by Redstone, opened next door. [90]Legacy Place was built on the site in the 20th century, and the Showcase Cinema de Luxe sits on the exact site of the old drive-in.[90]

Television and film edit

See also: History of Dedham, Massachusetts, 2000–present § Television and film

Dedham has been the setting or filming location of a number of films and television shows:

The film was used as part of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' "Be Kind to Our Dumb Animals" campaign.[91] The film was lost in a fire at the MSPCA in 2008.[91]

Anne of Green Gables edit

William Desmond Taylor's 1919 silent film Anne of Green Gables was filmed in Dedham.[94][95] After the studio purchased the rights to the book, they sent a scout to New England to find a filming location.[96] He declared Dedham to be the "quaint New England village" they were looking for, but choosing the Fairbanks House as the title home was an odd choice as it did not resemble the Nova Scotian farmhouse that served as the inspiration.[97][e]

It was the favorite role of star Mary Miles Minter, who starred as Anne Shirley. It was while in Dedham that Minter fell in love with Taylor, who was 30 years older than she was.[99] Taylor and the film crew arrived in Dedham in July and filmed at First Church and Parish in Dedham, St. Paul's Church, the Endicott School, the lawn of the Endicott Estate, the Charles River, the Captain Onion House, and the Dedham Woods.[100] They also filmed in Islington.[100]

In addition to local landmarks, there were 75 locals who were cast as extras, and James Burke's Jersey cow and Arthur Benson's "prize porkers" were also shown.[101] The film also starred Paul Kelly.[102]

A picnic was held at the Fairbanks House for the film crew after production finally ended in August, having been delayed by an unusually rainy summer.[100] Minter spoke at the Fairbanks family reunion where she was presented with a bouquet of American beauty roses.[100] It was released on November 23, 1919.[94] On December 1, the film was shown for the first time in Memorial Hall.[101] There was a second showing later in the week and two more the following week.[101]

It is considered to be a lost film. After Taylor was murdered, and Minter and her mother were named suspects, the studio and many theater owners destroyed their copies of the films.[103][104] None are known to have survived.[103]

The Friends of Eddie Coyle edit

See also: History of Dedham, Massachusetts, 2000–present § The Friends of Eddie Coyle and the Citizen's Bank robbey

On October 17, 1972, The Friends of Eddie Coyle was shot at the Dedham Plaza, showing W.T. Grant's, Woolworth's, Barbo's Furniture, Liggett's Drugstore, Capitol Supermarket, Friendly's, and Plaza Liquors.[105] A few weeks later, on December 1, the crew shot the film's opening scene in Dedham Square.[105] The South Shore Bank[f] was the used as the bank robbed in the film.[105] Local businesses including Geishecker's, P.J.'s Pastry Shop, McLellan's, and Gilbert's Package Store can be seen as the movie's bank manager drives through the Square.[105] Robert Mitchum signed autographs for fans in between takes.[105]

Technology and modernization edit

East Dedham urban renewal project edit

In 1965, Town Meeting voted to declare East Dedham Square "blighted" and undertake an urban renewal project.[106] The measured passed by a single vote more than was needed to reach the two-thirds majority required.[106] The project was scaled back from 26 to 14 acres, but nine residential properties were taken, forcing the relocation of 42 families.[106]

Much of East Dedham Square was raised.[107] In the 1920s, the neighborhood was home to a haberdashery, an undertaker, stables, a grocery story, a bakery, a pharmacy, a dentist, and more.[107] After the project, a strip mall, public housing, a parking lot, and condo development took their place.[107]

Telephone history and changes edit

The first transatlantic direct dial telephone call was made by Sally Reed in Dedham, Massachusetts, to her penpal, Ann Morsley, in Dedham, Essex, in 1957.[108] It was witnessed by Reed's teacher, Grace Hine, Dedham's former chief telephone operator of 39 years, Margaret Dooley, Selectman Arthur Lee, and several representatives of New England Telephone and Telegraph Company.[108][109] The call took place at the Dedham Historical Society and was placed by the president-emeritus of the Society, Dr. Arthur Worthington.[109]

The call was made possible by the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company’s new telephone exchange building at 387 Washington Street.[109] Construction had begun on the building in July 1954 when the previous wooden structure, the 88-year-old J. Everett Smith Market building, was demolished.[109] It was not until late in 1955 when construction on the new building began.[109] The cornerstone was laid on April 4, 1956, with a time capsule placed inside.[109] At the cornerstone laying ceremony were several selectmen, telephone company officials, the town’s postmaster, police chief Walter Carroll, and State Representative Francis Harding.[109] Father William Kennedy of St. Mary’s Church delivered an invocation and Reverend Leland Maxfield of the Westwood Baptist Church offered a benediction.[109]

The new facility enabled Dedham residents, starting at 2:01 am on Sunday, December 1, 1957, to make direct dial calls. Previously, residents asked an operator at a building on Church Street next to the Dedham Public Library to connect lines using the exchange DEdham 3.[109] The new direct dial exchanges were either DAvis 6 or DAvis 9.[109] The telephone company ran ads in the Dedham Transcript to alert customers to the change, and the Avery School PTO hosted a workshop to help explain the new system.[109] While the new systems enabled residents to obtain new phones in colors other than black, it also resulted in the layoffs of 176 operators who worked in the Church Street facility.[109]

As of 2023, the building is mainly a switching center for Verizon FIOS internet, telephone, and television subscribers.[109]

Automobiles edit

Around 1900, Dr. Harry K. Shatswell of School Street built and drove a "steam powered horseless carriage" through the streets of town.[110] This was two years after the first automobile went on sale in the United States. That same year, Theodore Burgess purchased three French automobiles for himself and his wife, who is thought to be the first woman to drive in Massachusetts.[110] In 1903, there were 11 cars registered in Dedham.[110]

William Kissam Vanderbilt was pulled over by Dedham Police Department officers Smith, Hatch, and Crocker in August 1906.[53] He was accused of "scorching" through town at a speed of 30 miles per hour.[53] Vanderbilt was driving from Boston to his family vacation home, The Breakers, in Newport, Rhode Island.[53] He claimed he was warned of the speed trap in West Roxbury and thus was only doing 12 miles per hour as he drove through town with his wife and a mechanic.[53] His brother had been pulled over for speeding on the same stretch of road just one week earlier.[53] Vanderbilt said he was going to fight the ticket, and crowds gathered outside the courthouse the following week in hopes of seeing the tycoon and racecar driver.[53] They were disappointed, however, when he attorney arrived instead to pay the $15 fine.[53]

Holidays edit

Independence Day edit

Wagon burnings edit

Beginning in the early 1900s and continuing until the 1990s, bonfires would be held first in Oakdale Square and then in the Manor to celebrate the 4th of July.[111] It would usually begin at midnight, either on July 3 or July 4, when a young person would climb onto the roof of the Church of the Good Shepherd and ring the bell.[111][112][g] This would signal others to bring old farm carts they had stolen into Oakdale Square and light them ablaze.[111][112]

In the early days, through the 1930s, police and fire officials were on hand to keep order and maintain safety.[111][112] As farm carts became scarcer as Dedham and surrounding areas became more developed and less agriculutral, people would begin building their own carts for the express purpose of burning them.[111] Other times, carts would be stolen from other area communities that still had a large farm presence such as Medfield or Sharon.[112] They would be hidden in backyards and garages until it was time to bring them to the fire.[112]

In 1938, when no carts could be found, an old outhouse was used instead.[111][112] A cart had been stolen from Canton, but police stopped the boys who were transporting it.[112]

The fires would often grow so large and so intense that windows in the Square would crack and tar would melt.[111][112] By 1959, the fires had grown so intense that the Town adopted a by-law, perhaps one of a kind, to outlaw the practice:

“No person shall set fire to or burn, or cause to be moved through any way or street of the Town, any waste material, paper, wood or any inflammable substance on any wagon, cart, buggy, push–cart or on any vehicle, with the intention of setting fire to or burning same on any way or street of the Town.”[111]

The last fire in Oakdale Square took place in 1963.[111][112] When police and the fire department arrived to shut it down, they were pelted with rocks, cherry bombs, and full cans of beer from the thousands of people there.[112][111] When the fire department attempted to douse the flames, a reveler jumped into the firetruck and turned off the ignition.[112] He was arrested.[112]

This proved to be too much for Police Chief Walter Carroll and Fire Chief John Hartnett, and they vowed to end the tradition.[113] July 4, 1964, was rainy, which kept the crowds at home, and the police shut down Oakdale Square on the evenings of July 3 and July 4, 1965.[114]

Several years later, the tradition was revived in the Manor but, after an explosion and an intense fire melted the siding on a nearby house in 1990, the tradition was finally ended.[111][115] In that year, propane-soaked wood in a camper trailer exploded, leading to destruction.[114] A block party was held in MacDonald Square and attended by hundreds of people, preventing a fire from taking place.[115] Smaller attempts were made in the following years, but the tradition died after that.[116]

Antiques and Horribles parade edit

See also: History of Dedham, Massachusetts, 1800–1899 § Independence Day

As time went on, the Antiques and Horribles parade became less of a lampoon of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts' parade and more of a general costume parade.[117] Those who marched in the parade and the floats they rode on came to be satarical, poking fun at current events and public figures.[117] The 1907 parade included Siamese twins, the Wild Man of Borneo, a bearded lady, a bicycle navy, and a "nondescript what is it--man or woman--a nickle a guess."[117] The Dedham Transcript said that parade "gave the jokesmiths a grand opportunity to wok off superflous wit."[117]

During World War II, marchers dressed up as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were booed during the 1942 parade.[117] The tradition continued until the 1950s, when it became a more traditional parade with bands and others, including Rex Trailer.[117]

Safe and Sane 4th Campaign edit

During the early years of the century, the Playground Association of America encouraged people to celebrate Independence Day safely, without fireworks or other rowdy behavior.[117] In 1908, the Dedham Transcript ran a list of things not to do on the 4th that was a mixture of both real and tongue in cheek, including:

  • Don't encourage small boys to fire large canons.
  • Don't throw firecrackers at passing bicyclists.
  • Don't aim a sky rocket at an upstairs window.
  • Don't put firecrackers on the steps of a church.
  • Don't put firecrackers under old ladies' dresses.[112]

Flag Day edit

Main articles: Flag Day (United States) and Flag Day Parade

In 1967, the Flag Day Parade began and quickly became one of Dedham's most beloved traditions.[118] The parade has occasionally rejected controversial floats. In 1975, the Parks and Recreation Commission unanimously refused to allow an anti-busing float during the nearby Boston desegregation busing crisis.[119] In 1971, after Arthur "Mr. Wake Up America" Stivaletta claimed to be a co-sponsor of the parade, Recreation Director James E. Dunderdale publicly clarified that the Parks and Recreation Department was the only sponsor.[120]

Fires edit

1923 dry meadows fire edit

Starting around 1908, the bogs around the Charles and Neponset Rivers were declared to be "pest holes" and drained.[121] During a drought in the summer of 1923, the now dry meadows caught fire and burned for weeks.[121] Fires burned in Rodman's Woods off of Westfield Street and Job's Island[h] as well as in Broad Meadow in Needham and Purgatory Swamp in Canton.[121]

Smoke was so thick that car crashes were common and a driving ban was instituted in Dedham Square.[121] Streetcars in the area had to be guided by men holding ropes and carrying lanterns.[121] Members of the Department of Public Works and civilians joined the fire department, which only numbered eight men, to try and put out the flames through September and into October.[121]

The fires became an attraction of sorts, with spectators coming to watch frogs, chipmunks, and screeching birds trying to escape the flames.[121] The fire was not extinguished until it rained on October 15.[121] After two months of fire, the stream produced by the rain was as thick as the smoke—which had drifted as far north as Reading at times.[121]

Log Cafe fire edit

Shortly after 2 a.m. on October 19, 1940, a fire at the Log Cafe on Bridge Street was called in.[122][123] The fire destroyed the Cafe and Breed's boathouse.[122] Chief Henry J. Harrigan entered one of the buildings to inspect the progress of the fire when the floor beneath him gave way, causing him to fall 15 feet, stunning him and causing him to become overcome by smoke and heat.[122][123][124] Fireman Joseph C. Nagle, "despite the blinding smoke and flames, rushed into the building and carried Chief Harrigan outside," suffering burns and smoke inhalation in the process.[122][123][124]

Nagle was brought to the Dedham Emergency Hospital, and a firefighter worked on Harrigan with a pulmanator before he was taken to the Faulkner Hospital by several police officers in an ambulance.[124] Harrigan, a 47-year veteran of the force, died slightly after 4 a.m., leaving behind a wife and four daughters.[122] A plaque was unveiled in his honor outside the main firehouse on the 75th anniversary of his death, and both Harrigan and Nagle were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.[122][123][124] Harrigan's funeral at St. Mary's Church was attended by 1,500 people, including chiefs from 100 cities and towns.[124]

Rockland Street edit

In 1994, a difficult fire broke out on Rockland Street. A woman was trapped inside, and was rescued by members of Engine Company 3. The Henry J. Harrigan Medal of Honor was established to honor the members of Engine Company Three for their bravery.[125][126]

Wars edit

World War I edit

See also: Barnes Memorial Park

During World War I, 642 men from Dedham served, and 18 died.[127] The first to enlist was Henry W. Farnsworth who fought with the French Foreign Legion and was killed in action at Tahure, France, in October 1915.[127] Robert Bayard also died early in the war.[128] His name is memorlized on a boulder at the Riverdale School, along with two other soldiers from Pine Heights, Charles Clough and Stanley Luke.[128]

Of the 60 soldiers who voluntarily were inoculated with the germs that caused trench fever, two, Joseph Fiola and Norman G. Barrett, were from Dedham.[127]

To honor those who served and died in the war, the Town set aside 23 acres of marshland at the corner of East Street and Eastern Avenue and created Memorial Park.[128] Across the street, a memorial was erected at the corner of East Street and Whiting Ave.[127] When it was dedicated on May 17, 1931, the pastor of St. Mary's Church, Fr. George P. O'Connor, noticed that the Latin inscription at the top, Pax Victus, translated to "peace to the vanquished" instead of "peace victorious."[128]

In 1936, the monument needed repairs and the commander of the American Legion[i] looked into the matter further.[129] He brought up the issue at Town Meeting, and newspapers around the country started running stories about how Dedham had mistakenly erected a monument to the enemies the Americans had defeated.[130] A sum of $400 was appropriated to change the inscription to Pax Victoribus or "Peace to the Victors," but it was eventually changed to simply Pax.[130]

World War II edit

Many Dedhamites served in the armed forces during World War II. One, John Hayes, was a pilot who earned a Bronze Star and a Distinguished Flying Cross.[130] While stationed at Camp McCauley in Salzburg, Austria in 1954, he began taking children suffering from whooping cough on flights.[130] The high altitude helped to alleviate some of their pain and discomfort.[130] He made over 100 flights with sick children and became known as the "Whooping Cough Captain."[130] After he died in 1954 when his single engine plane crashed, a nine foot granite oblisk was erected by local officials near the airfield in tribute to him.[130]

Dedham's dogs also played an part in the war effort. The Dogs For Defense set up a training center for canines at the Karlstein polo grounds[j] In July 1942, the first class of 35 dogs were graduated after an eight week training program.[131] They had emotional goodbyes with their owners and were then sent off to undisclosed assignments.[131]

At least two Dedham dogs took part including a Belgian shepherd named Teddy, who was owned by the Allgaier family.[131] Another dog, Bessie, was owned by Ford and Josephine Friend's family.[131] After the war, when Bessie would hear fireworks on the 4th of July, she would hit the ground and hide under the nearest table, just as she was trained to do during the war.[131][k]

Vietnam War edit

See also: John Andrew Barnes III

During the Vietnam War, a group of friends known as the Dedham Seven served in the war.[132] Two of them did not return home.[132] Private First Class Neil Thalin was killed in action and Robert Todd was missing in action.[132] The remaining members have all committed to being cremated and having their ashes interred on Veteran's Hill at Brookdale Cemetery.[132] Others from Dedham who were killed include John Barnes, Bernard Dutton, Angelo Larraga, Frank Litchfield,[l] and Robert Todd.[132]

During Barnes' second tour in Vietnam, his unit came under attack during the Battle of Dak To. Barnes was killed when he jumped on a grenade to save the lives of wounded comrades. For "conspicuous gallantry" that was "above and beyond the call of duty", Barnes posthumously received the Congressional Medal of Honor. Within hours of learning that Barnes was to be awarded the Medal of Honor, a Blue Ribbon Commission was established by the Town of Dedham to make plans for a "John A. Barnes Memorial Day."[133][m] On April 19, 1970, The Town of Dedham rededicated Memorial Park as Barnes Memorial Park.[133]

New towns and subdivisions edit

See also: History of Dedham, Massachusetts, 1635-1699 § Parishes, precincts, and new towns; History of Dedham, Massachusetts, 1700-1799 § Parishes, precincts, and new towns; and History of Dedham, Massachusetts, 1800–1899 § New towns and subdivisions

With the division and subdivision of so many communities, Dedham has been called the "Mother of Towns."[135]

Community Year incorporated as a town[136] Notes
Plainville 1905 Eastern section of town was part of the Dorchester New Grant of 1637. Separated from Wrentham.

New neighborhoods edit

By 1910 the area on the opposite side of the Charles River began to be developed.[137] It was once known as Dedham Island or Cow Island, as the Long Ditch connected the river in two spots and bypassed the 'great bend.'[137] Today, the neighborhood is known as Riverdale.[137]

After his father's death in 1898, Ebenezer Talbot Paul[n] inherited a vast tract of land that stretched from what is today known as Oakdale, Greenlodge, Endicott, and the Manor,[14] as well as the family home at 390 Cedar St.[138][o] In the 1920s, he began subdividing the land into house lots[14] and named the streets after members of his family.[139] Paul Street was named for him, while Taylor Ave was named for his wife, Mariette Taylor.[139] Dresser Ave was named for his mother, Susan Dresser, and Crane Street for his grandmother, Martha Crane.[139] He proposed calling the new neighborhood Ashcroft Woods.[14]

Some of the proposed streets were never built, and a proposed intersection of Beech Street with Turner Street never materialized, likely due to a large rock in what was once known as Ogden's Woods.[14] It was proposed that the name Mt. Vernon Street be continued on the other side of the Boston and Providence Railroad, but it was named Kimball Road instead.[14] Paul died in 1930, but most of the homes were not built until the 1950s.[14]

The Sprague farm by the Neponset River became known as the Manor and, in the last major development of town, the Smith Farm became the neighborhood of Greenlodge.[137][140] Greenlodge became known in its early days as the Peanut Butter Valley as it was said that after paying for their expensive new homes that residents could only afford to eat peanut butter sandwiches.[15]

John F. Kennedy edit

A reception and campaign rally was held at the Ames Junior High School for John F. Kennedy in September during the 1952 United States Senate election in Massachusetts.[141][p] Kennedy returned to the Oakdale School in October.[141] In 1953, he was the keynote speaker at the annual meeting of the Holy Name Society at St. Mary's Church.[141] He spoke before 800 people at the school hall.[141] When he was running for reelection in October 1958, Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy were the guests of honor at a dinner at the Hotel 128.[141] They then went to a reception at the Dedham High School.[141]

When Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, Dedham mourned with the rest of the country.[141] On the National Day of Mourning on November 25, there was a public memorial service at noon in Dedham. Town leaders, veterans groups, the Knights of Columbus, the police and fire departments, the Women's Auxiliary, and the Dedham High School marching band processed from Memorial Park to Dedham Square.[141] When they reached the police station, clergy from the various churches in Dedham gave brief remarks.[141] There was a volley fire and a bugler who played taps.[141]

The 5th annual torchlight parade was canceled the night before the annual Thanksgiving Day football game against Norwood High School, but Dedham won the game at home by a score of 30-0.[141] A few weeks later, at the 153rd annual meeting of the Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves, a moment of silence was held for the late president, and the new president, Lyndon B. Johnson, was elected as a member.[141]

Proposals to memorialize the president were considered in the weeks that followed, with the selectmen originally considering a standing memorial somewhere on public property.[141] They later decided that a scholarship would be established at the High School to better "embody some of the warmth of the late president for people, some of his love for athletics and his interest in literature."[141]

Other edit

 
A postcard of Dedham Square as it appeared in the early 1900s.

1900s edit

In 1900, a talented young lawyer from Boston bought a home with his new wife at 194 Village Avenue. Sixteen years later Louis D. Brandeis rode the train home from his office and his wife greeted him as "Mr. Justice." While he was at work that day his appointment to the United States Supreme Court had been confirmed that day by the United States Senate. Brandeis was a member of the Dedham Country and Polo Club and the Dedham Historical Society[47] as well as a member of the Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves.[142] He wrote to his brother of the town saying: "Dedham is a spring of eternal youth for me. I feel newly made and ready to deny the existence of these grey hairs."[47]

Anna Huntington Smith moved to Dedham and established the Pine Ridge Pet Cemetery and animal sanctuary.[143] The facility was to be a place where the working horses of Boston could rest or, if needed, be euthanized.[144] Smith built an electrified stall on the property, which she called "the House of the Blessed Release," that would kill the horse whenever it happened to wander into it.[143] If a horse could be saved, it was given a few weeks of rest and then returned to its owner along with a warning to take better care of the animal.[143] As motors took the place of horses, the facility eventually changed its focus to cats and dogs instead.[145]

1910s edit

In 1919, the Dedham Fire Department switched from horse-drawn apparatus to motorized trucks.[123]

1920s edit

In 1920 a man's skeleton was found hanging from a tree in the woods near Wigwam Pond.[146] Another was unearthed on the eastern shore of the Pond in 1923 when workers were digging a foundation for a house.[146]

In 1921, the local American Legion post moved into the home at the corner of East Street and Whiting Avenue originally built by Charles and Mary Brown.[147][148] The Legion purchased the house with a $35,000 donation from Henry B. Endicott's widow.[148][149]

In 1927, a stone bench and memorial plaque were installed at "the keye," the site where the first settlers disembarked from their canoes on the Charles River, where the river makes its "great bend," near what is today Ames Street.[150][151] It was designed by Charles E. Millis.[152]

1930s edit

 
The start of a 1936 road race in Oakdale Square with Tarzan Brown and Johnny Kelley.

During the 1936 tercentenary celebrations, Olympians Ellison "Tarzan" Brown and Johnny Kelley ran in a "mug hunt."[153] The roughly 9.5 mile race was the third annual, and was sponsored by the Oakdale Athletic Club and organized by Harold Rosen.[153] The start was in Oakdale Square and the finish was at Stone Park.[153]

1940s edit

During World War II, there were 2,400 men and women who served in every branch of the armed forces.[154] On them, 55 were killed in action.[154]

1950s edit

In 1956, the American Legion moved from the Shaw House to 155 Eastern Avenue.[148] The Dedham Public Schools then used the house as their administrative offices.[147][148]

In 1957, Joseph Demling, a resident of Macomber Terrace, walked into Town Hall with the carcass of the 35 pound bobcat.[155] He asked for a $20 bounty on the animal, citing a by-law passed by the Town Meeting in 1734.[155] The Town originally balked, suggesting that the animal came from Needham, but eventually paid Demling the money he requested.[155]

1960s edit

In July 1961, Connie Hines returned with great fanfare to Dedham after appearing on Mr. Ed.[156] The 1948 Dedham High School graduate rode into Dedham Square in a convertible with a Dedham Police Department escort.[156] The red carpet was rolled out for her in front of Memorial Hall.[156] Town officials gave her a Key to the Town and Ralph Eaton, her principal at Dedham High School, presented her with a bouquet of roses.[156] She later hosted a reception of Hotel 128 for her high school classmates.[156]

After an executive order[157] signed by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 allowed federal employees to unionize, the Federal Employees Veterans Association met in an emergency convention in Dedham. They voted to reorganize themselves into the National Association of Government Employees, today a large and powerful public union.[158]

David Stanley Jacubanis robbed a bank in Dedham in 1962, after he was paroled in Vermont. He was, for a time, on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's 10 Most Wanted List. The day after Thanksgiving, 1963, Santa Claus arrived by helicopter and landed at the Dedham Plaza.[141]

1980s edit

Mike Weir[q] entered the Guinness Book of World Records for throwing a grape the longest distance into the mouth of another person.[159]

Population edit

The population of Dedham has grown more than 10 times since 1793, reaching its peak around the year 1980.

Historical population
YearPop.
17501,500[160]
18001,973[88]
18012,000[161]
18303,057[88]
18373,532[162]
18657,198[88][163][r]
18886,641[164]
YearPop.
1892>7,000[165]
1908 7,774[166]
19106,641[164]
19159,284[167]
193011,043[167]
194015,136[168]
195015,508[169]
YearPop.
196018,407[169]
197023,869[169]
198026,938[169]
199025,298[169]
200023,782[169]
200223,378[170]

Notes edit

  1. ^ A new public safety building for both the police and fire departments was opened on March 12, 2023.[11]
  2. ^ Stivaletta is the father of Arthur Stivaletta.[19]
  3. ^ Parr and the Historical Society differ in the year the belfry was added. Parr says 1910, while the Society says 1911.
  4. ^ Lincoln's mother, Doris Howard, was principal of the Avery School for many years.[91]
  5. ^ The author of the book, L.M. Montgomery, was displeased with the film as a whole as she thought it was too "New England" and not enough "Prince Edward Island."[98]
  6. ^ As of 2023, it is a Citizen's Bank.
  7. ^ The tradition of ringing the bell at midnight dated back to the 1880s.[112]
  8. ^ Job's Island is now a peninsula at 91 Common Street.
  9. ^ A man named Hamilton.[129]
  10. ^ Located near the present day Rashi School.[131]
  11. ^ The Friend family live on Emmett Avenue in East Dedham.
  12. ^ Litchfield was a 1965 graduate of Dedham High School. Just two months before he was scheduled to return home, he stepped on a booby trap and was killed.[132]
  13. ^ The Commission was chaired by Stan Embress, a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Jacob Jones Post, the same post in Dedham that Barnes joined after his first tour of duty.[134] Also on the commission were the Town's three selectmen, Charles M. McGowan, Francis W. O'Brien, and Daniel P. Driscoll, as well as Edgar George, Ralph Timperi, John McMillian, Robert F.X. Casey, James McNichols, James Tansey, and James Cline.[134]
  14. ^ Ebenezer Talbot Paul's parents were Susan and Ebenezer Paul. When he died in 1930, his estate was worth $1.2 million in 2022 dollars. His wife, Marietta, died in 1942 at the age of 92. They had no children.[14]
  15. ^ The house was torn down, and a new one built, in the winter and spring of 2023.
  16. ^ Kennedy's cousin, John Fitzgerald, and his wife Helen (née Fitzhenry), lived at 49 Meadow Street in Dedham.[141]
  17. ^ Weir would later become chief of the Dedham Police Department.[159]
  18. ^ 27% of the population was foreign born.[88]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Sleeper Bill, Almost Law, Stirs Dedham". Daily Boston Globe. February 6, 1960. p. 1.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 12.
  3. ^ a b "States Dedham has no fire engineers". The Boston Globe. April 23, 1923. p. 7. Retrieved November 20, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.  
  4. ^ a b c East Dedham Firehouse, Dedham Historical Society Archives, May 13, 2017
  5. ^ a b @DedhamFire (November 8, 2018). "#TBT In the 1800's the area of High at Westfield St. was known as Connecticut Corner and was the center of business activity in Dedham. This station was built in 1906 on Westfield St. and still exists today as a private residence" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ a b c d e Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 16.
  7. ^ Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 15.
  8. ^ a b Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 14.
  9. ^ a b "UFO Follows Car in Massachusetts" (PDF). UFO Investigator (April 1974). National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena: 2.
  10. ^ a b c Parr 2009.
  11. ^ a b c d e Parr, James L. (March 11, 2023). "Where in Dedham? The Dedham Police Station". Dedham Tales. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  12. ^ a b Coughlin, Gail. "Dedham's Indigenous Histories" (PDF). Dedham Museum and Archive. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  13. ^ a b c Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 13.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i Parr, James L. (November 12, 2022). "Who put the Paul in Paul Park? /Part 2". Dedham Tales. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  15. ^ a b c Parr 2009, p. 21.
  16. ^ Parr, Jim (March 11, 2024). "A Short History of the Dedham Incinerator". Dedham Tales. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  17. ^ "Women Enjoy Swim at Dedham". The Boston Globe. August 17, 1907. p. 12. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  18. ^ a b c d e "Tiny cemetery recalls a forgotten story". The Dedham Times. March 6, 1998.
  19. ^ a b c d Brems, Lisa (April 12, 1998). "For 'baby cemetery,' a taxing reemergence". The Boston Globe. p. 17. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  20. ^ Brems, Lisa (April 19, 1998). "Dedham Town Meeting vote accepts 'baby cemetery'". The Boston Globe. p. 45. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  21. ^ "Stimson asked". The Boston Globe. July 31, 1902. p. 5. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  22. ^ a b c d e f "Joseph H. Soliday". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. December 18, 1947. p. 29. Retrieved December 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com. 
  23. ^ a b Secretary of the Commonwealth 1908, p. xciv.
  24. ^ a b Secretary of the Commonwealth 1908, p. lxi.
  25. ^ a b The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1910, p. xcv.
  26. ^ a b The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1910, p. xi.
  27. ^ Bridgman, A.M. A Legislative Souvenir 1916 (PDF). Vol. XXV. Stoughton, Mass.: The Pequa Press, Inc. p. 97.
  28. ^ a b c d e "John K. Burgess of Dies at His Dedham Home". The Boston Globe. December 10, 1941. p. 17. Retrieved November 20, 2019.  
  29. ^ a b Public officials of Massachusetts (1925-1926). Boston Review. 1925. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  30. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1947). Public officials of Massachusetts (1947-1948). Boston Review. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  31. ^ a b Public officials of Massachusetts (1927-1928). Boston Review. 1927. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  32. ^ a b Public officials of Massachusetts (1929-1930). Boston Review. 1929. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  33. ^ a b Public officials of Massachusetts (1929-1930). Boston Review. 1929. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  34. ^ a b Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1931, p. 139.
  35. ^ a b Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1931, p. 309.
  36. ^ a b c d e f g h i Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1955). Public officials of Massachusetts (1955-1956). Boston Review. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  37. ^ a b c d "The Dedham Historical Society & Museum's trivia answer". The Dedham Times. Vol. 29, no. 35. September 3, 2021. p. 14.
  38. ^ Dedication of the Quincy Schoolhouse. Dedham, Massachusetts. June 4, 1910. Dedham Historical Society's archives.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  39. ^ a b c d e f Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 24.
  40. ^ "The Dedham Historical Society & Museum's "Trivia Time"". The Dedham Times. Vol. 29, no. 35. September 3, 2021. p. 2.
  41. ^ a b c d "Unruly Fans Stone Officials as Dedham Tops Norwood". The Boston Globe. November 29, 1946. p. 7. Retrieved November 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  42. ^ a b "7 Norwood Boys Admit Hurling Paint at School". The Boston Globe. November 30, 1956. p. 39. Retrieved November 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  43. ^ a b c d e f Doug Linder (2001). . University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law. Archived from the original on February 20, 2007. Retrieved January 14, 2007.
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Works cited edit

  • Abbott, Katharine M. (1903). Old Paths And Legends Of New England (PDF). New York: The Knickerbocker Press. pp. 290–297. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
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  • Parr, James L. (2009). Dedham: Historic and Heroic Tales From Shiretown. The History Press. ISBN 978-1-59629-750-0.
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  • Smith, Frank (1936). A History of Dedham, Massachusetts. Transcript Press, Incorporated. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  • Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts (1908). Report of the Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts. Secretary of the Commonwealth. Retrieved June 2, 2021.

January 01, 1970
history, dedham, massachusetts, 1900, 1999, history, dedham, massachusetts, 20th, century, great, growth, come, town, played, host, sacco, vanzetti, trial, endicott, estate, number, schools, constructed, great, deal, economic, development, growth, number, serv. The history of Dedham Massachusetts in the 20th century saw great growth come to the town It played host to the Sacco and Vanzetti trial saw the Endicott Estate and a number of schools constructed a great deal of economic development and growth in the number of services provided by the Town Contents 1 Government 1 1 Fire Department 1 2 Police Department 1 2 1 Headquarters 1 3 Recreation 1 4 Baby Cemetery 1 5 20th century representation in the General Court 2 Public schools 2 1 Quincy School 2 2 Dedham High School 3 Crime and trials 3 1 Sacco and Vanzetti 3 2 Millen Faber trial 3 3 Bettina Masserelli 4 Endicott Estate 4 1 Endicott branch library 5 Fairbanks House 6 Private Schools 7 Churches 7 1 Fellowship Bible Church 8 Economy 8 1 Dedham Square 8 2 Oakdale 8 3 East Dedham 8 4 Dedham Drive In 9 Television and film 9 1 Anne of Green Gables 9 2 The Friends of Eddie Coyle 10 Technology and modernization 10 1 East Dedham urban renewal project 10 2 Telephone history and changes 10 3 Automobiles 11 Holidays 11 1 Independence Day 11 1 1 Wagon burnings 11 1 2 Antiques and Horribles parade 11 1 3 Safe and Sane 4th Campaign 11 2 Flag Day 12 Fires 12 1 1923 dry meadows fire 12 2 Log Cafe fire 12 3 Rockland Street 13 Wars 13 1 World War I 13 2 World War II 13 3 Vietnam War 14 New towns and subdivisions 14 1 New neighborhoods 15 John F Kennedy 16 Other 16 1 1900s 16 2 1910s 16 3 1920s 16 4 1930s 16 5 1940s 16 6 1950s 16 7 1960s 16 8 1980s 17 Population 18 Notes 19 References 20 Works citedGovernment editA bill establishing a representative town meeting was established in 1928 and then amended in 1948 1 It was almost amended again when a resident used a friendly representative in a neighboring community to introduce and pass a bill in the General Court 1 A charter was adopted later in the century and amended again in the 21st century The Department of Public Works was created in 1933 2 Fire Department edit Main article Dedham Fire Department The first fire chief was appointed in 1920 3 Prior to that there was a four member Board of Fire Engineers who had charge over fires 3 Hurricane Carol knocked down the East Dedham firehouse s 80 foot bell tower on August 31 1954 4 It flew across the station and landed on 219 Bussey St the house next door where Maria Guerriero was feeding her one year old son Joseph 4 It also crushed three cars parked on Bussey St 4 A firehouse was constructed on Westfield Street near High Street in 1906 5 6 The lower level had horse stalls a stable room a hose wago and engine room and an opening to the paddock in the rear 6 The second story had a sleeping room a company room a lavatory a bath and a hay and grain room 6 The building housed horse drawn steamer engines 6 It went out of service sometime in the 20th century but still exists as a private residence 5 6 Firefighters began wearing uniforms in 1906 7 Police Department edit Main article Dedham Police Department After the department purchased its first police motorcycle in 1923 Abe Rafferty was appointed the first motorcycle officer 8 By 1936 there were 18 officers 8 In December 1973 the Dedham Police Department investigated the sighting of several unidentified flying objects over town 9 A young couple on a date had their car followed by UFO while they drove through Dedham 9 Headquarters edit The department was located on the first floor of Memorial Hall until Town Clerk John Carey locked the doors for the last time on March 16 1962 10 The building was demolished in April 1962 after a new town hall was built on Bryant St 10 The police took up temporary residence in the new town hall for a year 11 while a new police station was built on the Memorial Hall property 10 On April 29 1963 the Police Department moved into their new headquarters on the corner of High and Washington Streets 11 a It included a fallout shelter in the cellar that featured walls of 6 inch reinforced concrete and a lead window cover that could be put in place to shield occupants from fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion 11 It also housed the Civil Defense Communication Center 11 Recreation edit In the early 1900s the ancient Indian burial ground near Wigwam Pond was leveled to make way for athletic fields and a commercial shopping area 12 The last person known to have been buried there was Sarah David the wife of Alexander Quapish 12 The Recreation Department was begun in the 1930s with an effort to build and staff three playgrounds around town 13 By the 1960s there were 10 playgrounds 13 The first Recreation Commission was elected in 1941 13 In 1951 the Town of Dedham purchased a three acre plot from the Paul estate for 2 625 and built Paul Park on it 14 Several hundred people attended the dedication ceremony on June 8 1952 14 The Commonwealth took much of the Town Forest in the 1950s to construct Massachusetts Route 128 15 The state returned 71 acres in the median to the Town in 1972 for use of hikers and picnickers 15 Swimming fishing boating and ice skating were popular activities on Mother Brook In 1925 the Town built a bathhouse on what is today Incinerator Road to replace the 1898 bathouse that burned down in 1923 16 It was set aside for women and girls to use on Tuesday and Friday afternoons 17 Baby Cemetery edit Main article Baby Cemetery Land purchased in the late 1940s by Joseph Stivaletta a local developer was once home to the Temporary Asylum for Discharged Female Prisoners 18 19 b He discovered 11 small oval stones made of marble marking the graves of children and rather than disturb them set the land aside and did not build a home on it 19 18 When Massachusetts Route 128 was being constructed Stivaletta convinced then Transportation Secretary John Volpe to move the road rather than disturb the graves 18 Volpe s family came from the same small town in Italy as Stivaletta 18 Town Meeting voted to accept the cemetery in 1998 after being gifted the land from the Stivaletta family 20 19 18 20th century representation in the General Court edit Dedham was represented by a number of women and men in the Great and General Court of Massachusetts Year Representative Senator Notes 1900 Arthur Clark 21 1905 Joseph Soliday 22 1906 Joseph Soliday 22 1907 Joseph Soliday William Otis Faxon 23 24 22 1908 Joseph Soliday William Otis Faxon 23 24 22 1909 Joseph Soliday 22 1910 Joseph Soliday William G Moseley Bradley M Rockwood 25 26 22 1911 William G Moseley Bradley M Rockwood 25 26 1916 John A Hirsch 27 1925 John K Burgess Samuel H Wragg 28 29 30 1926 John K Burgess Samuel H Wragg 28 29 30 1927 John K Burgess Samuel H Wragg 28 30 31 1928 John K Burgess Samuel H Wragg 28 30 31 1929 John K Burgess Samuel H Wragg 28 30 32 1930 John K Burgess Samuel H Wragg 30 32 1931 John K Burgess Samuel H Wragg 30 33 1932 John K Burgess Samuel H Wragg 30 33 1933 James M McCracken Samuel H Wragg 34 35 1934 James M McCracken Samuel H Wragg 34 35 1935 Mason Sears Samuel H Wragg 30 1936 Mason Sears Samuel H Wragg 30 1937 Mason Sears Samuel H Wragg 30 1938 Mason Sears Samuel H Wragg 30 1939 Mason Sears 30 1940 Mason Sears 30 1941 Mason Sears 30 1942 Mason Sears 30 1947 Francis Appleton Harding Mason Sears 30 36 1948 Francis Appleton Harding Mason Sears 30 36 1949 Francis Appleton Harding 36 1950 Francis Appleton Harding 36 1951 Francis Appleton Harding 36 1952 Francis Appleton Harding 36 1953 Francis Appleton Harding 36 1954 Francis Appleton Harding 36 1955 Francis Appleton Harding 36 1956 Harold Rosen 1957 Harold Rosen 1958 Harold Rosen 1959 Harold Rosen 1960 Harold Rosen 1961 Harold Rosen 1962 Harold Rosen 1963 Harold Rosen 1964 Harold Rosen 1965 Harold Rosen 1966 Harold Rosen 1967 Harold Rosen 1968 Harold Rosen 1969 Harold Rosen Charles M McGowan 1970 Charles M McGowan Robert L Crawley 1971 Charles M McGowan Robert L Crawley 1972 Charles M McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1973 Charles M McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1974 Charles M McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1975 Charles M McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1976 Charles M McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1977 Charles M McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1978 Charles M McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1979 Charles M McGowan Deborah R Cochran Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1980 Deborah R Cochran Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1981 Deborah R Cochran Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1982 Marie Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1983 Marie Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1984 Marie Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1985 Marie Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1986 Marie Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1987 Marie Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1988 Marie Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1989 Marie Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1990 Marie Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr 1991 Marie Louise Kehoe Christopher M Lane 1992 Marie Louise Kehoe Christopher M Lane 1993 Marie Louise Kehoe Marian Walsh 1994 Marie Louise Kehoe Marian Walsh 1995 Maryanne Lewis Marian Walsh 1996 Maryanne Lewis Marian Walsh 1997 Maryanne Lewis Marian Walsh 1998 Maryanne Lewis Marian Walsh 1999 Maryanne Lewis Marian WalshPublic schools editQuincy School edit nbsp Floor plan of the Quincy School In April 1909 Town Meeting voted to appropriate 60 000 to build a new Quincy School and 6 000 for furnishings fittings and grading 37 The original school it was said at the time was only held together by the last coat of paint and had clearly outlived its usefulness 38 The new school was completed on budget and built at the intersection of Greenhood Quincy and Bussey Streets 39 37 It was dedicated on June 4 1910 39 37 Within the two story building were ten rooms 39 37 It measured 79 by 140 and was made of brick with sandstone trimming 39 The interior was outfitted with hard pine 39 The new school was used until 1982 when declining enrollment and Proposition 2 forced its closure 39 Town Meeting authorized the sale of the property to a developer in 1982 but only after off duty police officers and firefighters were able to find and bring enough Town Representatives to reach a quorum 40 Dedham High School edit Dedham High School began playing Norwood High School in an annual football contest in 1920 41 Over the years there have been several notable incidents In 1946 thousands of fans swarmed the field for about 20 minutes after a Norwood touchdown pass was brought back on an offensive interfernce penalty 41 During the closing minutes of the game the crowd threw stones and other objects at the officials 41 The Dedham Police Department had to escort them off the field after the game 41 In 1956 seven boys from Norwood High School threw bottles of blue and white paint the school colors through the windows of Dedham s School Department administration building to celebrate their team s win the day before 42 While they admitted to the paint they denied being involved with the smashing of 22 windows at Dedham High School on Thanksgiving Day 42 Crime and trials editSacco and Vanzetti edit The historic Sacco and Vanzetti trial was held in the Norfolk County Courthouse in 1921 under heavy police guard 43 The two were Italian born American anarchists who were arrested tried and executed for the killings of Frederick Parmenter a shoe factory paymaster and Alessandro Berardelli a security guard and for the robbery of 15 766 51 from the factory s payroll on April 15 1920 44 Many believe that they were the innocent victims of political and economic interests determined to send a message about the rising tide of anarchist violence 43 The trial opened on May 31 1921 with heavy security Police were stationed at every entrance of the courthouse and all those entering were searched for weapons The State Constabulary patrolled outside on horseback and motorcycles 43 and the courtroom was retrofitted with bomb shutters and sliding steel doors that could seal off that wing of the courthouse in case of an attack The cast iron shutters on the windows were designed and painted to match the wooden ones on the rest of the building The courtroom was so protected that the trial would be conducted in a far more formidable cage than the simple prisoner s cage that surrounded Sacco and Vanzetti during their trial 45 The cage in which the defendants sat was more like a fancy Ferris wheel car than a cage designed to hold prisoners 46 It has a tall back an open front and no top 46 During the trial Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis who was then in Washington invited Sacco s wife to stay at his home near the courthouse 47 48 Sacco s seven year old son Dante would sometimes stand on the sidewalk outside the jail and play catch with his father by throwing a ball over the wall 48 Brandeis was not the only member of the nation s highest court to be involved with the case Felix Frankfurter then a law professor at Harvard did more than any individual to rally respectable opinion behind the two men saw the case as a test of the rule of law itself 49 At one point the trial moved outdoors to Norfolk Street behind the courthouse so the getaway car could be viewed 48 Testimony was also offered outdoors 48 The 12 jurors were sequestered at the courthouse for the entirety of the six week trial 48 They slept on cots in the courthouse s gran jury room and bathed in the basement of the jail 48 To celebrate the 4th of July they were brought to Scituate Massachusetts and given a lobster dinner 48 To get a full jury courthouse officials had to go to extraordinary lengths Over 600 men were interviewed with the most common reason for dismissal beinging their opposition to the death penalty 48 One man a sugar dealer tried to pretend that he was deaf in an attempt to get out of serving on the jury When he was discovered by answering a question posed by the judge the Sacco and Vanzetti were sent into fits of laughter 48 After 500 potential jurors were interviewed but only seven selected deputies from the Norfolk County Sheriff s office went out to workplaces club meetings concerts and elsewhere to bring in additional potential jurors 48 One man ultimately selected was brought from his wedding dinner 48 The Quincy man had to postpone his honeymoon until after the trial 48 At one point the prosecution presented a cap that was found at the crime scene and which they contended to be Sacco s 48 When Sacco s lawyers had him try the cap on however it was found to be much too small for his head 48 Several years later in May 1926 Frankfurter would travel to the Dedham courthouse to make a motion for a new trial after another man also in the Dedham Jail confessed to the crime 43 The motion was denied by Judge Webster Thayer in October and in the next 10 months the Supreme Judicial Court a federal judge and three Supreme Court Justices including Brandeis each denied motions for either a new trial or a stay of execution On August 23 1927 the two were electrocuted in the Charlestown jail The executions sent hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets of six continents 43 The American embassy in Paris was surrounded by tanks to fend off rioting mobs and demonstrations in Germany ended with six deaths In Geneva over 5 000 protesters destroyed all things American cars goods even theaters showing American films 43 Frankfurter would write a scathing critique of the case entitled The Case of Sacco Vanzetti a critical analysis for lawyers and laymen It would first be published in The Atlantic Monthly and then as a hardcover book Millen Faber trial edit The brothers Millen Irving and Murton alighted from the Yankee Clipper at Readville station on On April 14 1934 to a crowd of thousands booing and hissing them 46 A caravan of 40 cars took them from the station to the Dedham jail 46 When they stopped at the corner of High and Washington streets to ask traffic Officer John Keegan for directions to the jail Keegan jumped on the running board of the lead car to direct them personally 50 The pair along with Abraham Faber had robbed a bank in Needham and killed several police officers including Francis Oliver Haddock and Forbes McLeod 51 After the robbery and murder a Dedham selectman recommended that the Dedham Police Department buy a submachine gun 51 The trial attracted national attention and crowds of hundreds including schoolchildren waited outside the Norfolk County Courthouse each morning 52 Several times people mistakenly walked into the Dedham Historical Society thinking it was either the jail or the courthouse 52 When Roscoe Ates tried to get in courthouse personnel served him with a fake arrest warrant demanding that he appear at the courthouse 52 The crime was the inspiration for the 1939 film Let Us Live 51 Bettina Masserelli edit In 1928 28 year old Bettina Masserelli of Dedham robbed a store in Everett Massachusetts with a male accomplice 53 When the clerk asked the pair not to take his bread money Masserelli told her friend to sock him 53 The clerk suffered four broken teeth in the incident and was locked in a coal closet where he was told he was lucky to still be alive 53 At the trial the clerk was able to identify Masserelli a singer by her marked attractiveness and her sweet voice 53 She was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in the women s prison in Framingham 53 She was the first woman convicted of armed robbery in Massachusetts 53 While in prison Masserelli climbed down a rope made of bedsheets and escaped 53 A few weeks later she was spotted in a car in Dedham again and the Dedham Police Department began a wild car chase through the streets of town 53 During the chase she leapt from the moving car and fled on foot 53 Police eventually found her hiding behind a stone wall 53 Endicott Estate editMain articles Endicott Estate Henry Bradford Endicott and Katherine Endicott In 1904 the East Street home of Henry Bradford Endicott the founder of the multimillion dollar Endicott Johnson Shoe Company 54 burned to the ground The fire department was not able to get to the estate in time as they were dealing with three other fires simultaneously 55 including one at the fire house 56 Henry cleared the ashes away and built a new homestead on the 15 acre 61 000 m2 parcel 55 The three story building he constructed has nine bathrooms eight bedrooms a library a music room a ballroom a mirrored parlor a butler s kitchen a linen room and servants quarters 57 When he died in 1920 he left the building to his stepdaughter Katherine She died in 1967 without any children and willed the land and the estate to the town for education civic social and recreational purposes 55 At the time town didn t know quite what to do with it and Town Meeting voted to offer it to the Commonwealth Governor John Volpe took the title to the 25 room estate in a ceremony on December 7 1967 and intended to use it as a governor s mansion It soon became apparent that it would be cheaper to build a brand new mansion than to remodel the estate to Volpe s wife s lavish taste and crazy notions than to renovate the Endicott Estate and 58 in 1969 the Commonwealth gave the estate back to the Town 59 Endicott branch library edit See also Dedham Public Library Endicott branch In 1971 the Finance Committee s recommendation to Town Meeting was to appropriate 61 000 to convert the nine car garage 60 57 into a library 61 62 They also recommended that Town Meeting not adopt a competing article from the Youth Commission that would have turned the garage into a youth center at a cost of 16 000 61 62 The Finance Committee did recommend however that the Recreation Department open a teen center and that a director be hired for it 62 The Finance Committee argued that it was a prudent move to consolidate the other branches and that a library would serve all age groups within the town 61 62 Neighbors of the Estate also objected to a teen center but supported a library 61 62 Town Meeting debated the competing proposals for more than three hours and ultimately rejected both 63 64 Though they had initially supported it at Town Meeting the Finance Committee changed their recommendation from supporting the proposal to recommending indefinite postponement 63 As a result the garage continued to be used for storage 63 At the 1972 Annual Town Meeting the Library Trustees made a new pitch for two of the Estate s 26 acres including the garage 63 This time Town Meeting appropriated 68 000 to convert the garage to a branch library 65 66 64 Fairbanks House editMain article Fairbanks House Dedham Massachusetts The 20th century saw a number of near disasters come to the Fairbanks House the oldest wooden house in the United States On August 18 1964 a 17 year old Dedhamite who lived down the street was driving and missed a left hand turn from Whiting Avenue onto East Street 67 68 It was raining and the pavement was wet 68 His car ended up in the east wing of the house with the rear bumper flush with the wall 68 67 The 1957 sedan remained in the house overnight until it could be removed the next day 68 The accident prompted a stone wall to be erected which prevented another car from hitting the house in 1973 67 A group of arsonists tried to burn the house down on July 4 1967 67 Powderpost beetles were exterminated from the house in the 1970s 67 Private Schools editIn 1922 the Noble and Greenough School moved from Boston to Dedham They purchased the Nickerson Castle and turned the estate into a 187 acre 0 8 km2 campus in Riverdale along the Charles River 69 In 1957 Ursuline Academy moved from Boston s Back Bay to a 28 acre 110 000 m2 parcel in Upper Dedham 70 The Ursuline nuns who ran the school purchased the property which included a grand manor house designed by Boston architect Guy Lowell The house described as one of the grandest of grand mansions west of Boston and comparable to what one would see in Newport was built by Francis Skinner for his new wife Sarah Carr in 1906 71 Today the mansion once known as the Federal Hill Farm has the richest and most elaborate residential rooms in Dedham and serves as a convent for the sisters who run the school 71 Churches editIn 1907 the Methodist congregation built a new church in Oakdale Square at the corner of Oakdale Avenue and Fairview Streets 72 St Luke s Lutheran Church expanded their chapel in West Roxbury in 1917 before building a new church at 950 East Street on the site of the former Endicott School 73 in 1960 72 The Riverdale Congregational Church grew out of a Sunday School class held in William Lent s boathouse 74 Mr and Mrs Henry Bingham donated money and land to build the church which was completed in 1914 and expanded in the 1960s 74 When the church closed the church donated their remaining funds in 1992 to be used as a scholarship for a member of the graduating class of Dedham High School who attended the Riverdale School 75 As of 2001 update the building was used by the Calvary Baptist Church 74 The Christian Science congregation first held services in the Odd Fellows Hall in 1920 and in 1930 moved to the Masonic Hall 76 In 1932 they bought Nathaniel Ames house moved it to the back of the lot and built a new church 76 The cornerstone for the church was laid in December 1938 and a steeple was added after 1940 76 The first service was held on March 3 1940 76 By the 1930s St Mary s was one of the largest parishes in the Archdiocese with over 6 000 parishioners and 1 300 students in Sunday School 77 During the middle of that decade there were four priests and six nuns ministering to the congregation 77 In the 1950s it became clear that a second parish was needed in Dedham and so St Susanna s Church was established in 1960 to serve the needs of the Riverdale neighborhood 78 76 When St Susanna s opened it had 300 families while 2 500 stayed at St Mary s 79 Before the first mass was said in the new church on February 11 1962 services were held at Moseley s on the Charles 76 Fellowship Bible Church edit Baptists began holding meetings in East Dedham in 1822 80 The East Dedham Baptist Church was founded in 1843 and was renamed the First Baptist Church in 1919 81 In 1994 Roslindale s Grace Baptist Church merged with the Dedham church and the new congregation became known as Fellowship Bible Church 80 81 In 1843 they built a small church near Maverick Street 80 In 1852 a new wooden church was constructed on Milton Street on the corner of Myrtle Street 81 80 Canton s Jonathan Mann commissioned a new bell weighing 2 000 pounds to be cast by the William Blake Company of Boston and presented it to the church on February 20 1882 81 In 1911 a belfry was added to the church and the bell was placed in it 81 80 c By 1972 the wooden church was in such disrepair that it needed to be torn down 81 A new church was built on the same site that year 80 81 The John J Duane Wrecking Company of Quincy demolished the 1852 church in August of 1972 and the church offered their bell to the wrecking company in partial payment of the bill 81 The company sold it to Charlie and Margaret Spohr and the couple placed it in one of their lush gardens in their Quissett estate 81 Following the Spohrs deaths the property was given to a trust which maintains the gardens free of charge for the public 81 The Church attempted to re obtain the bell in 2005 but the trust declined to sell it back 81 Economy editDedham Square edit In 1900 the Greenleaf Building was finished on the corner of High and Washington Streets opposite Memorial Hall 82 It was designed and built by Luther C Greenleaf and his architectural firm of Greenleaf and Cobb 82 The building was home to the waiting rooms and offices for the trolley company stores a banquet room offices and an apartment for the janitor 82 It was razed in the 1940s 82 On March 1 1967 Ma Riva s Sub Shop opened in Dedham where Emily and Addie s was in 2018 83 It eventually would become D Angelos and then bought out by Papa Gino s 83 Both are still headquartered on the old Route 1 in Dedham In 1903 there were nine blacksmith shops in Dedham The last one listed in the town directory Frank P Kern of Williams Street appeared in 1941 84 Oakdale edit A six storefront building was built in Oakdale Square at the corner of Oakdale Avenue and Sanderson Avenue in 1925 85 Neighbors complained however that it would create a blind corner for motoroists and the building inspector tried to shut the construction down 85 The builder John Picone of Newton sued the Town to resume construction 85 The case made it to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court where Associate Justice Henry K Braley ruled in favor of Picone 85 The main store in the building would go on to house Danny s Supermarket Stop amp Shop Tedeschis and 7 11 85 7 11 shut down in the fall of 2022 85 The Rust Craft Greeting Card Company moved to Dedham in 1954 from Kansas City 86 In 1958 they built what was at the time the largest greeting card factory in the world on what is today Rustcraft Road 87 They were the first company to sell greeting cards with a fitted envelope and introduced cards for Easter Valentine s Day St Patrick s Day anniversaries and more 87 The building has been used for a variety of other purposes since 1980 87 East Dedham edit By the early part of the 20th century East Dedham had become developed as a busy mill village 88 The neighborhood had schools churches and homes in addition to the commercial district known today as East Dedham Square centered at the intersection of High and Bussey Streets 88 The textile mills along Mother Brook began closing in the 1910s and 1920s however as owenrs sought cheaper labor and more favorable conditions in the south 88 89 Dedham Drive In edit On August 11 1948 the Dedham Drive In opened on the Providence Pike 90 The Town Selectmen and business leaders joined Michael Redstone in cutting a ceremonial length of film as hundreds of cars lined up on Elm Street to get in 90 Fun and Fancy Free and Blondie in the Dough played on opening night 90 It was the 20th drive in in Massachusetts 90 Permission to build the open air theater an exact copy of the drive in Redstone had operated on Long Island for the previous 10 years was granted in the fall of 1947 90 Prior to the construction of the drive in the 23 acre parcel was an eyesore 90 It had housed Farquhar s Nursery at one point but a moonscape was created after it closed and gravel and loam was removed from the site 90 Originally the screen was the 60 feet by 42 feet but it was enlarged sometime before the fall of 1955 90 Over time the theater stopped showing first run films and instead ran B movies 90 In 1954 the United Christian Youth Movement held the first of an annual sunrise Easter service at the theater 90 St Luke s Lutheran Church took over in 1961 and they continued the tradition until at least 1977 90 The drive in closed in the late 1970s or early 1980s 90 In 1973 Showcase 1 2 3 a traditional indoor movie theater also owned by Redstone opened next door 90 Legacy Place was built on the site in the 20th century and the Showcase Cinema de Luxe sits on the exact site of the old drive in 90 Television and film editSee also History of Dedham Massachusetts 2000 present Television and film Dedham has been the setting or filming location of a number of films and television shows In 1920 a film version of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow s poem The Bell of Atri was filmed in Dedham on the Town Common 91 The screenplay was written by Ethel Howard Lincoln a Dedhamite 91 d The hundreds of extras or supes put on their 18th century attire in Memorial Hall 91 The extras had a picnic on the Common while the major players ate at the Dedham Inn 91 The film was used as part of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Be Kind to Our Dumb Animals campaign 91 The film was lost in a fire at the MSPCA in 2008 91 In the 1980s the Endicott Estate was featured in an episode of Spenser For Hire 92 57 The 1982 cult classic Pieces was filmed mainly in Madrid but also included the same Dedham Square bank robbed in Eddie Coyle 93 Anne of Green Gables edit William Desmond Taylor s 1919 silent film Anne of Green Gables was filmed in Dedham 94 95 After the studio purchased the rights to the book they sent a scout to New England to find a filming location 96 He declared Dedham to be the quaint New England village they were looking for but choosing the Fairbanks House as the title home was an odd choice as it did not resemble the Nova Scotian farmhouse that served as the inspiration 97 e It was the favorite role of star Mary Miles Minter who starred as Anne Shirley It was while in Dedham that Minter fell in love with Taylor who was 30 years older than she was 99 Taylor and the film crew arrived in Dedham in July and filmed at First Church and Parish in Dedham St Paul s Church the Endicott School the lawn of the Endicott Estate the Charles River the Captain Onion House and the Dedham Woods 100 They also filmed in Islington 100 In addition to local landmarks there were 75 locals who were cast as extras and James Burke s Jersey cow and Arthur Benson s prize porkers were also shown 101 The film also starred Paul Kelly 102 A picnic was held at the Fairbanks House for the film crew after production finally ended in August having been delayed by an unusually rainy summer 100 Minter spoke at the Fairbanks family reunion where she was presented with a bouquet of American beauty roses 100 It was released on November 23 1919 94 On December 1 the film was shown for the first time in Memorial Hall 101 There was a second showing later in the week and two more the following week 101 It is considered to be a lost film After Taylor was murdered and Minter and her mother were named suspects the studio and many theater owners destroyed their copies of the films 103 104 None are known to have survived 103 The Friends of Eddie Coyle edit See also History of Dedham Massachusetts 2000 present The Friends of Eddie Coyle and the Citizen s Bank robbey On October 17 1972 The Friends of Eddie Coyle was shot at the Dedham Plaza showing W T Grant s Woolworth s Barbo s Furniture Liggett s Drugstore Capitol Supermarket Friendly s and Plaza Liquors 105 A few weeks later on December 1 the crew shot the film s opening scene in Dedham Square 105 The South Shore Bank f was the used as the bank robbed in the film 105 Local businesses including Geishecker s P J s Pastry Shop McLellan s and Gilbert s Package Store can be seen as the movie s bank manager drives through the Square 105 Robert Mitchum signed autographs for fans in between takes 105 Technology and modernization editEast Dedham urban renewal project edit In 1965 Town Meeting voted to declare East Dedham Square blighted and undertake an urban renewal project 106 The measured passed by a single vote more than was needed to reach the two thirds majority required 106 The project was scaled back from 26 to 14 acres but nine residential properties were taken forcing the relocation of 42 families 106 Much of East Dedham Square was raised 107 In the 1920s the neighborhood was home to a haberdashery an undertaker stables a grocery story a bakery a pharmacy a dentist and more 107 After the project a strip mall public housing a parking lot and condo development took their place 107 Telephone history and changes edit The first transatlantic direct dial telephone call was made by Sally Reed in Dedham Massachusetts to her penpal Ann Morsley in Dedham Essex in 1957 108 It was witnessed by Reed s teacher Grace Hine Dedham s former chief telephone operator of 39 years Margaret Dooley Selectman Arthur Lee and several representatives of New England Telephone and Telegraph Company 108 109 The call took place at the Dedham Historical Society and was placed by the president emeritus of the Society Dr Arthur Worthington 109 The call was made possible by the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company s new telephone exchange building at 387 Washington Street 109 Construction had begun on the building in July 1954 when the previous wooden structure the 88 year old J Everett Smith Market building was demolished 109 It was not until late in 1955 when construction on the new building began 109 The cornerstone was laid on April 4 1956 with a time capsule placed inside 109 At the cornerstone laying ceremony were several selectmen telephone company officials the town s postmaster police chief Walter Carroll and State Representative Francis Harding 109 Father William Kennedy of St Mary s Church delivered an invocation and Reverend Leland Maxfield of the Westwood Baptist Church offered a benediction 109 The new facility enabled Dedham residents starting at 2 01 am on Sunday December 1 1957 to make direct dial calls Previously residents asked an operator at a building on Church Street next to the Dedham Public Library to connect lines using the exchange DEdham 3 109 The new direct dial exchanges were either DAvis 6 or DAvis 9 109 The telephone company ran ads in the Dedham Transcript to alert customers to the change and the Avery School PTO hosted a workshop to help explain the new system 109 While the new systems enabled residents to obtain new phones in colors other than black it also resulted in the layoffs of 176 operators who worked in the Church Street facility 109 As of 2023 update the building is mainly a switching center for Verizon FIOS internet telephone and television subscribers 109 Automobiles edit Around 1900 Dr Harry K Shatswell of School Street built and drove a steam powered horseless carriage through the streets of town 110 This was two years after the first automobile went on sale in the United States That same year Theodore Burgess purchased three French automobiles for himself and his wife who is thought to be the first woman to drive in Massachusetts 110 In 1903 there were 11 cars registered in Dedham 110 William Kissam Vanderbilt was pulled over by Dedham Police Department officers Smith Hatch and Crocker in August 1906 53 He was accused of scorching through town at a speed of 30 miles per hour 53 Vanderbilt was driving from Boston to his family vacation home The Breakers in Newport Rhode Island 53 He claimed he was warned of the speed trap in West Roxbury and thus was only doing 12 miles per hour as he drove through town with his wife and a mechanic 53 His brother had been pulled over for speeding on the same stretch of road just one week earlier 53 Vanderbilt said he was going to fight the ticket and crowds gathered outside the courthouse the following week in hopes of seeing the tycoon and racecar driver 53 They were disappointed however when he attorney arrived instead to pay the 15 fine 53 Holidays editIndependence Day edit Wagon burnings edit Beginning in the early 1900s and continuing until the 1990s bonfires would be held first in Oakdale Square and then in the Manor to celebrate the 4th of July 111 It would usually begin at midnight either on July 3 or July 4 when a young person would climb onto the roof of the Church of the Good Shepherd and ring the bell 111 112 g This would signal others to bring old farm carts they had stolen into Oakdale Square and light them ablaze 111 112 In the early days through the 1930s police and fire officials were on hand to keep order and maintain safety 111 112 As farm carts became scarcer as Dedham and surrounding areas became more developed and less agriculutral people would begin building their own carts for the express purpose of burning them 111 Other times carts would be stolen from other area communities that still had a large farm presence such as Medfield or Sharon 112 They would be hidden in backyards and garages until it was time to bring them to the fire 112 In 1938 when no carts could be found an old outhouse was used instead 111 112 A cart had been stolen from Canton but police stopped the boys who were transporting it 112 The fires would often grow so large and so intense that windows in the Square would crack and tar would melt 111 112 By 1959 the fires had grown so intense that the Town adopted a by law perhaps one of a kind to outlaw the practice No person shall set fire to or burn or cause to be moved through any way or street of the Town any waste material paper wood or any inflammable substance on any wagon cart buggy push cart or on any vehicle with the intention of setting fire to or burning same on any way or street of the Town 111 The last fire in Oakdale Square took place in 1963 111 112 When police and the fire department arrived to shut it down they were pelted with rocks cherry bombs and full cans of beer from the thousands of people there 112 111 When the fire department attempted to douse the flames a reveler jumped into the firetruck and turned off the ignition 112 He was arrested 112 This proved to be too much for Police Chief Walter Carroll and Fire Chief John Hartnett and they vowed to end the tradition 113 July 4 1964 was rainy which kept the crowds at home and the police shut down Oakdale Square on the evenings of July 3 and July 4 1965 114 Several years later the tradition was revived in the Manor but after an explosion and an intense fire melted the siding on a nearby house in 1990 the tradition was finally ended 111 115 In that year propane soaked wood in a camper trailer exploded leading to destruction 114 A block party was held in MacDonald Square and attended by hundreds of people preventing a fire from taking place 115 Smaller attempts were made in the following years but the tradition died after that 116 Antiques and Horribles parade edit See also History of Dedham Massachusetts 1800 1899 Independence Day As time went on the Antiques and Horribles parade became less of a lampoon of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts parade and more of a general costume parade 117 Those who marched in the parade and the floats they rode on came to be satarical poking fun at current events and public figures 117 The 1907 parade included Siamese twins the Wild Man of Borneo a bearded lady a bicycle navy and a nondescript what is it man or woman a nickle a guess 117 The Dedham Transcript said that parade gave the jokesmiths a grand opportunity to wok off superflous wit 117 During World War II marchers dressed up as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were booed during the 1942 parade 117 The tradition continued until the 1950s when it became a more traditional parade with bands and others including Rex Trailer 117 Safe and Sane 4th Campaign edit During the early years of the century the Playground Association of America encouraged people to celebrate Independence Day safely without fireworks or other rowdy behavior 117 In 1908 the Dedham Transcript ran a list of things not to do on the 4th that was a mixture of both real and tongue in cheek including Don t encourage small boys to fire large canons Don t throw firecrackers at passing bicyclists Don t aim a sky rocket at an upstairs window Don t put firecrackers on the steps of a church Don t put firecrackers under old ladies dresses 112 Flag Day edit Main articles Flag Day United States and Flag Day Parade In 1967 the Flag Day Parade began and quickly became one of Dedham s most beloved traditions 118 The parade has occasionally rejected controversial floats In 1975 the Parks and Recreation Commission unanimously refused to allow an anti busing float during the nearby Boston desegregation busing crisis 119 In 1971 after Arthur Mr Wake Up America Stivaletta claimed to be a co sponsor of the parade Recreation Director James E Dunderdale publicly clarified that the Parks and Recreation Department was the only sponsor 120 Fires edit1923 dry meadows fire edit Starting around 1908 the bogs around the Charles and Neponset Rivers were declared to be pest holes and drained 121 During a drought in the summer of 1923 the now dry meadows caught fire and burned for weeks 121 Fires burned in Rodman s Woods off of Westfield Street and Job s Island h as well as in Broad Meadow in Needham and Purgatory Swamp in Canton 121 Smoke was so thick that car crashes were common and a driving ban was instituted in Dedham Square 121 Streetcars in the area had to be guided by men holding ropes and carrying lanterns 121 Members of the Department of Public Works and civilians joined the fire department which only numbered eight men to try and put out the flames through September and into October 121 The fires became an attraction of sorts with spectators coming to watch frogs chipmunks and screeching birds trying to escape the flames 121 The fire was not extinguished until it rained on October 15 121 After two months of fire the stream produced by the rain was as thick as the smoke which had drifted as far north as Reading at times 121 Log Cafe fire edit Shortly after 2 a m on October 19 1940 a fire at the Log Cafe on Bridge Street was called in 122 123 The fire destroyed the Cafe and Breed s boathouse 122 Chief Henry J Harrigan entered one of the buildings to inspect the progress of the fire when the floor beneath him gave way causing him to fall 15 feet stunning him and causing him to become overcome by smoke and heat 122 123 124 Fireman Joseph C Nagle despite the blinding smoke and flames rushed into the building and carried Chief Harrigan outside suffering burns and smoke inhalation in the process 122 123 124 Nagle was brought to the Dedham Emergency Hospital and a firefighter worked on Harrigan with a pulmanator before he was taken to the Faulkner Hospital by several police officers in an ambulance 124 Harrigan a 47 year veteran of the force died slightly after 4 a m leaving behind a wife and four daughters 122 A plaque was unveiled in his honor outside the main firehouse on the 75th anniversary of his death and both Harrigan and Nagle were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor 122 123 124 Harrigan s funeral at St Mary s Church was attended by 1 500 people including chiefs from 100 cities and towns 124 Rockland Street edit In 1994 a difficult fire broke out on Rockland Street A woman was trapped inside and was rescued by members of Engine Company 3 The Henry J Harrigan Medal of Honor was established to honor the members of Engine Company Three for their bravery 125 126 Wars editWorld War I edit See also Barnes Memorial Park During World War I 642 men from Dedham served and 18 died 127 The first to enlist was Henry W Farnsworth who fought with the French Foreign Legion and was killed in action at Tahure France in October 1915 127 Robert Bayard also died early in the war 128 His name is memorlized on a boulder at the Riverdale School along with two other soldiers from Pine Heights Charles Clough and Stanley Luke 128 Of the 60 soldiers who voluntarily were inoculated with the germs that caused trench fever two Joseph Fiola and Norman G Barrett were from Dedham 127 To honor those who served and died in the war the Town set aside 23 acres of marshland at the corner of East Street and Eastern Avenue and created Memorial Park 128 Across the street a memorial was erected at the corner of East Street and Whiting Ave 127 When it was dedicated on May 17 1931 the pastor of St Mary s Church Fr George P O Connor noticed that the Latin inscription at the top Pax Victus translated to peace to the vanquished instead of peace victorious 128 In 1936 the monument needed repairs and the commander of the American Legion i looked into the matter further 129 He brought up the issue at Town Meeting and newspapers around the country started running stories about how Dedham had mistakenly erected a monument to the enemies the Americans had defeated 130 A sum of 400 was appropriated to change the inscription to Pax Victoribus or Peace to the Victors but it was eventually changed to simply Pax 130 World War II edit Many Dedhamites served in the armed forces during World War II One John Hayes was a pilot who earned a Bronze Star and a Distinguished Flying Cross 130 While stationed at Camp McCauley in Salzburg Austria in 1954 he began taking children suffering from whooping cough on flights 130 The high altitude helped to alleviate some of their pain and discomfort 130 He made over 100 flights with sick children and became known as the Whooping Cough Captain 130 After he died in 1954 when his single engine plane crashed a nine foot granite oblisk was erected by local officials near the airfield in tribute to him 130 Dedham s dogs also played an part in the war effort The Dogs For Defense set up a training center for canines at the Karlstein polo grounds j In July 1942 the first class of 35 dogs were graduated after an eight week training program 131 They had emotional goodbyes with their owners and were then sent off to undisclosed assignments 131 At least two Dedham dogs took part including a Belgian shepherd named Teddy who was owned by the Allgaier family 131 Another dog Bessie was owned by Ford and Josephine Friend s family 131 After the war when Bessie would hear fireworks on the 4th of July she would hit the ground and hide under the nearest table just as she was trained to do during the war 131 k Vietnam War edit See also John Andrew Barnes III During the Vietnam War a group of friends known as the Dedham Seven served in the war 132 Two of them did not return home 132 Private First Class Neil Thalin was killed in action and Robert Todd was missing in action 132 The remaining members have all committed to being cremated and having their ashes interred on Veteran s Hill at Brookdale Cemetery 132 Others from Dedham who were killed include John Barnes Bernard Dutton Angelo Larraga Frank Litchfield l and Robert Todd 132 During Barnes second tour in Vietnam his unit came under attack during the Battle of Dak To Barnes was killed when he jumped on a grenade to save the lives of wounded comrades For conspicuous gallantry that was above and beyond the call of duty Barnes posthumously received the Congressional Medal of Honor Within hours of learning that Barnes was to be awarded the Medal of Honor a Blue Ribbon Commission was established by the Town of Dedham to make plans for a John A Barnes Memorial Day 133 m On April 19 1970 The Town of Dedham rededicated Memorial Park as Barnes Memorial Park 133 New towns and subdivisions editSee also History of Dedham Massachusetts 1635 1699 Parishes precincts and new towns History of Dedham Massachusetts 1700 1799 Parishes precincts and new towns and History of Dedham Massachusetts 1800 1899 New towns and subdivisions With the division and subdivision of so many communities Dedham has been called the Mother of Towns 135 Community Year incorporated as a town 136 Notes Plainville 1905 Eastern section of town was part of the Dorchester New Grant of 1637 Separated from Wrentham New neighborhoods edit By 1910 the area on the opposite side of the Charles River began to be developed 137 It was once known as Dedham Island or Cow Island as the Long Ditch connected the river in two spots and bypassed the great bend 137 Today the neighborhood is known as Riverdale 137 After his father s death in 1898 Ebenezer Talbot Paul n inherited a vast tract of land that stretched from what is today known as Oakdale Greenlodge Endicott and the Manor 14 as well as the family home at 390 Cedar St 138 o In the 1920s he began subdividing the land into house lots 14 and named the streets after members of his family 139 Paul Street was named for him while Taylor Ave was named for his wife Mariette Taylor 139 Dresser Ave was named for his mother Susan Dresser and Crane Street for his grandmother Martha Crane 139 He proposed calling the new neighborhood Ashcroft Woods 14 Some of the proposed streets were never built and a proposed intersection of Beech Street with Turner Street never materialized likely due to a large rock in what was once known as Ogden s Woods 14 It was proposed that the name Mt Vernon Street be continued on the other side of the Boston and Providence Railroad but it was named Kimball Road instead 14 Paul died in 1930 but most of the homes were not built until the 1950s 14 The Sprague farm by the Neponset River became known as the Manor and in the last major development of town the Smith Farm became the neighborhood of Greenlodge 137 140 Greenlodge became known in its early days as the Peanut Butter Valley as it was said that after paying for their expensive new homes that residents could only afford to eat peanut butter sandwiches 15 John F Kennedy editA reception and campaign rally was held at the Ames Junior High School for John F Kennedy in September during the 1952 United States Senate election in Massachusetts 141 p Kennedy returned to the Oakdale School in October 141 In 1953 he was the keynote speaker at the annual meeting of the Holy Name Society at St Mary s Church 141 He spoke before 800 people at the school hall 141 When he was running for reelection in October 1958 Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy were the guests of honor at a dinner at the Hotel 128 141 They then went to a reception at the Dedham High School 141 When Kennedy was assassinated on November 22 1963 Dedham mourned with the rest of the country 141 On the National Day of Mourning on November 25 there was a public memorial service at noon in Dedham Town leaders veterans groups the Knights of Columbus the police and fire departments the Women s Auxiliary and the Dedham High School marching band processed from Memorial Park to Dedham Square 141 When they reached the police station clergy from the various churches in Dedham gave brief remarks 141 There was a volley fire and a bugler who played taps 141 The 5th annual torchlight parade was canceled the night before the annual Thanksgiving Day football game against Norwood High School but Dedham won the game at home by a score of 30 0 141 A few weeks later at the 153rd annual meeting of the Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves a moment of silence was held for the late president and the new president Lyndon B Johnson was elected as a member 141 Proposals to memorialize the president were considered in the weeks that followed with the selectmen originally considering a standing memorial somewhere on public property 141 They later decided that a scholarship would be established at the High School to better embody some of the warmth of the late president for people some of his love for athletics and his interest in literature 141 Other edit nbsp A postcard of Dedham Square as it appeared in the early 1900s 1900s edit In 1900 a talented young lawyer from Boston bought a home with his new wife at 194 Village Avenue Sixteen years later Louis D Brandeis rode the train home from his office and his wife greeted him as Mr Justice While he was at work that day his appointment to the United States Supreme Court had been confirmed that day by the United States Senate Brandeis was a member of the Dedham Country and Polo Club and the Dedham Historical Society 47 as well as a member of the Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves 142 He wrote to his brother of the town saying Dedham is a spring of eternal youth for me I feel newly made and ready to deny the existence of these grey hairs 47 Anna Huntington Smith moved to Dedham and established the Pine Ridge Pet Cemetery and animal sanctuary 143 The facility was to be a place where the working horses of Boston could rest or if needed be euthanized 144 Smith built an electrified stall on the property which she called the House of the Blessed Release that would kill the horse whenever it happened to wander into it 143 If a horse could be saved it was given a few weeks of rest and then returned to its owner along with a warning to take better care of the animal 143 As motors took the place of horses the facility eventually changed its focus to cats and dogs instead 145 1910s edit In 1919 the Dedham Fire Department switched from horse drawn apparatus to motorized trucks 123 1920s edit In 1920 a man s skeleton was found hanging from a tree in the woods near Wigwam Pond 146 Another was unearthed on the eastern shore of the Pond in 1923 when workers were digging a foundation for a house 146 In 1921 the local American Legion post moved into the home at the corner of East Street and Whiting Avenue originally built by Charles and Mary Brown 147 148 The Legion purchased the house with a 35 000 donation from Henry B Endicott s widow 148 149 In 1927 a stone bench and memorial plaque were installed at the keye the site where the first settlers disembarked from their canoes on the Charles River where the river makes its great bend near what is today Ames Street 150 151 It was designed by Charles E Millis 152 1930s edit nbsp The start of a 1936 road race in Oakdale Square with Tarzan Brown and Johnny Kelley During the 1936 tercentenary celebrations Olympians Ellison Tarzan Brown and Johnny Kelley ran in a mug hunt 153 The roughly 9 5 mile race was the third annual and was sponsored by the Oakdale Athletic Club and organized by Harold Rosen 153 The start was in Oakdale Square and the finish was at Stone Park 153 1940s edit During World War II there were 2 400 men and women who served in every branch of the armed forces 154 On them 55 were killed in action 154 1950s edit In 1956 the American Legion moved from the Shaw House to 155 Eastern Avenue 148 The Dedham Public Schools then used the house as their administrative offices 147 148 In 1957 Joseph Demling a resident of Macomber Terrace walked into Town Hall with the carcass of the 35 pound bobcat 155 He asked for a 20 bounty on the animal citing a by law passed by the Town Meeting in 1734 155 The Town originally balked suggesting that the animal came from Needham but eventually paid Demling the money he requested 155 1960s edit In July 1961 Connie Hines returned with great fanfare to Dedham after appearing on Mr Ed 156 The 1948 Dedham High School graduate rode into Dedham Square in a convertible with a Dedham Police Department escort 156 The red carpet was rolled out for her in front of Memorial Hall 156 Town officials gave her a Key to the Town and Ralph Eaton her principal at Dedham High School presented her with a bouquet of roses 156 She later hosted a reception of Hotel 128 for her high school classmates 156 After an executive order 157 signed by President John F Kennedy in 1961 allowed federal employees to unionize the Federal Employees Veterans Association met in an emergency convention in Dedham They voted to reorganize themselves into the National Association of Government Employees today a large and powerful public union 158 David Stanley Jacubanis robbed a bank in Dedham in 1962 after he was paroled in Vermont He was for a time on the Federal Bureau of Investigation s 10 Most Wanted List The day after Thanksgiving 1963 Santa Claus arrived by helicopter and landed at the Dedham Plaza 141 1980s edit Mike Weir q entered the Guinness Book of World Records for throwing a grape the longest distance into the mouth of another person 159 Population editThe population of Dedham has grown more than 10 times since 1793 reaching its peak around the year 1980 Historical populationYearPop 17501 500 160 18001 973 88 18012 000 161 18303 057 88 18373 532 162 18657 198 88 163 r 18886 641 164 YearPop 1892 gt 7 000 165 19087 774 166 19106 641 164 19159 284 167 193011 043 167 194015 136 168 195015 508 169 YearPop 196018 407 169 197023 869 169 198026 938 169 199025 298 169 200023 782 169 200223 378 170 Notes edit A new public safety building for both the police and fire departments was opened on March 12 2023 11 Stivaletta is the father of Arthur Stivaletta 19 Parr and the Historical Society differ in the year the belfry was added Parr says 1910 while the Society says 1911 Lincoln s mother Doris Howard was principal of the Avery School for many years 91 The author of the book L M Montgomery was displeased with the film as a whole as she thought it was too New England and not enough Prince Edward Island 98 As of 2023 it is a Citizen s Bank The tradition of ringing the bell at midnight dated back to the 1880s 112 Job s Island is now a peninsula at 91 Common Street A man named Hamilton 129 Located near the present day Rashi School 131 The Friend family live on Emmett Avenue in East Dedham Litchfield was a 1965 graduate of Dedham High School Just two months before he was scheduled to return home he stepped on a booby trap and was killed 132 The Commission was chaired by Stan Embress a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Jacob Jones Post the same post in Dedham that Barnes joined after his first tour of duty 134 Also on the commission were the Town s three selectmen Charles M McGowan Francis W O Brien and Daniel P Driscoll as well as Edgar George Ralph Timperi John McMillian Robert F X Casey James McNichols James Tansey and James Cline 134 Ebenezer Talbot Paul s parents were Susan and Ebenezer Paul When he died in 1930 his estate was worth 1 2 million in 2022 dollars His wife Marietta died in 1942 at the age of 92 They had no children 14 The house was torn down and a new one built in the winter and spring of 2023 Kennedy s cousin John Fitzgerald and his wife Helen nee Fitzhenry lived at 49 Meadow Street in Dedham 141 Weir would later become chief of the Dedham Police Department 159 27 of the population was foreign born 88 References edit a b Sleeper Bill Almost Law Stirs Dedham Daily Boston Globe February 6 1960 p 1 permanent dead link Dedham Historical Society 2001 p 12 a b States Dedham has no fire engineers The Boston Globe April 23 1923 p 7 Retrieved November 20 2019 via Newspapers com nbsp a b c East Dedham Firehouse Dedham Historical Society Archives May 13 2017 a b DedhamFire November 8 2018 TBT In the 1800 s the area of High at Westfield St was known as Connecticut Corner and was the center of business activity in Dedham This station was built in 1906 on Westfield St and still exists today as a private residence Tweet via Twitter a b c d e Dedham Historical Society 2001 p 16 Dedham Historical Society 2001 p 15 a b Dedham Historical Society 2001 p 14 a b UFO Follows Car in Massachusetts PDF UFO Investigator April 1974 National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena 2 a b c Parr 2009 a b c d e Parr James L March 11 2023 Where in Dedham The Dedham Police Station Dedham Tales Retrieved March 13 2023 a b Coughlin Gail Dedham s Indigenous Histories PDF Dedham Museum and Archive Retrieved June 29 2023 a b c Dedham Historical Society 2001 p 13 a b c d e f g h i Parr James L November 12 2022 Who put the Paul in Paul Park Part 2 Dedham Tales Retrieved November 19 2022 a b c Parr 2009 p 21 Parr Jim March 11 2024 A Short History of the Dedham Incinerator Dedham Tales Retrieved March 14 2024 Women Enjoy Swim at Dedham The Boston Globe August 17 1907 p 12 Retrieved March 17 2015 a b c d e Tiny cemetery recalls a forgotten story The Dedham Times March 6 1998 a b c d Brems Lisa April 12 1998 For baby cemetery a taxing reemergence The Boston Globe p 17 Retrieved October 1 2019 Brems Lisa April 19 1998 Dedham Town Meeting vote accepts baby cemetery The Boston Globe p 45 Retrieved October 1 2019 Stimson asked The Boston Globe July 31 1902 p 5 Retrieved September 23 2019 a b c d e f Joseph H Soliday The Boston Globe Boston Massachusetts December 18 1947 p 29 Retrieved December 27 2019 via Newspapers com nbsp a b Secretary of the Commonwealth 1908 p xciv a b Secretary of the Commonwealth 1908 p lxi a b The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1910 p xcv a b The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1910 p xi Bridgman A M A Legislative Souvenir 1916 PDF Vol XXV Stoughton Mass The Pequa Press Inc p 97 a b c d e John K Burgess of Dies at His Dedham Home The Boston Globe December 10 1941 p 17 Retrieved November 20 2019 nbsp a b Public officials of Massachusetts 1925 1926 Boston Review 1925 Retrieved December 23 2019 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1947 Public officials of Massachusetts 1947 1948 Boston Review Retrieved December 23 2019 a b Public officials of Massachusetts 1927 1928 Boston Review 1927 Retrieved December 23 2019 a b Public officials of Massachusetts 1929 1930 Boston Review 1929 Retrieved December 23 2019 a b Public officials of Massachusetts 1929 1930 Boston Review 1929 Retrieved December 23 2019 a b Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1931 p 139 a b Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1931 p 309 a b c d e f g h i Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1955 Public officials of Massachusetts 1955 1956 Boston Review Retrieved December 23 2019 a b c d The Dedham Historical Society amp Museum s trivia answer The Dedham Times Vol 29 no 35 September 3 2021 p 14 Dedication of the Quincy Schoolhouse Dedham Massachusetts June 4 1910 Dedham Historical Society s archives a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link a b c d e f Dedham Historical Society 2001 p 24 The Dedham Historical Society amp Museum s Trivia Time The Dedham Times Vol 29 no 35 September 3 2021 p 2 a b c d Unruly Fans Stone Officials as Dedham Tops Norwood The Boston Globe November 29 1946 p 7 Retrieved November 24 2022 via Newspapers com a b 7 Norwood Boys Admit Hurling Paint at School The Boston Globe November 30 1956 p 39 Retrieved November 24 2022 via Newspapers com a b c d e f Doug Linder 2001 The Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law Archived from the original on February 20 2007 Retrieved January 14 2007 Jean O Pasco 2005 Sacco and Vanzetti were guilty said novelist Upton Sinclair in a rediscovered note Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on September 27 2007 Retrieved January 14 2007 Robert D Attilio La Salute e in Voi the Anarchist Dimension RecollectionBooks com Archived from the original on September 8 2006 Retrieved January 15 2007 a b c d Parr 2009 p 60 a b c Hana Janjigian Heald 2005 Prominent Supreme Court Justice was a Dedham Resident Dedham Historical Society Newsletter November Archived from the original on December 31 2006 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Parr 2009 p 59 Robert D Attilio 6 Aug 2004 Sacco Vanzetti Case University of Pennsylvania Retrieved January 15 2007 Parr 2009 p 60 61 a b c Parr 2009 p 61 a b c Parr 2009 p 62 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Parr 2009 p 68 The Endicott Estate James Joyce Ramble Archived from the original on December 31 2006 Retrieved December 15 2006 a b c History The Endicott Estate Archived from the original on December 8 2006 Retrieved December 15 2006 Robert Hanson 1999 Stories Behind the Pictures in the Images of America Dedham Book Dedham Historical Society Newsletter December Archived from the original on December 31 2006 a b c Sandy Coleman 2005 05 12 Historic mansion opens doors in gala celebration of 100 years Boston Globe Retrieved December 26 2006 Carol Gerwin 1999 Where the heck is the governor s mansion Commonwealth Fall Chapter 471 of the Acts of 1969 Dedham The Boston Globe March 15 1972 p 40 a b c d Fin Com Rates Library as Best Endicott Garage Use The Dedham Transcript February 25 1971 a b c d e Endicott Branch Library Favored By Finance Unit The Patriot Ledger February 26 1971 a b c d 2 Acres At Endicott Estate Asked For Branch Library The Patriot Ledger December 9 1971 a b Endocott Branch Library Opened The Dedham Transcript February 11 1973 Bids made on Converting Garage To Branch Library The Dedham Transcript July 13 1972 General The Patriot Ledger October 12 1972 a b c d e Parr 2009 p 27 a b c d Murphy Jeremiah V August 19 1964 Oldest Wooden House Smashed by Skidding Car The Boston Globe Morning ed p 1 via newspapers com The History of Noble and Greenough School Noble and Greenough School Archived from the original on November 30 2006 Retrieved January 15 2007 History of Ursuline Ursuline Academy Archived from the original on December 31 2006 Retrieved January 9 2007 a b Historic House Tour Set For Sunday May 18 Dedham Historical Society Newsletter April 2003 Archived from the original on December 31 2006 a b Dedham Historical Society 2001 p 29 Dedham Historical Society 2001 p 20 a b c Dedham Historical Society 2001 p 33 Declaration of Trust Riverdale Congregational Church Scholarship Fund a b c d e f Dedham Historical Society 2001 p 34 a b Smith 1936 p 102 Saint Susanna Archdiocese of Boston Retrieved March 13 2015 Berry Jason 2012 Render Unto Rome Crown Publishers p 109 ISBN 9780385531344 a b c d e f Dedham Historical Society 2001 p 30 a b c d e f g h i j k Parr James L April 28 2024 Where in Dedham First Baptist Church East Dedham Dedham Tales Retrieved April 28 2024 a b c d Parr James May 16 2010 The Greenleaf Building a b Happening Hoods Dedham Square WCVB Chronicle January 25 2018 Retrieved January 25 2018 Dedham Historical Society 2001 p 40 a b c d e f Parr James L November 18 2022 The more things change Dedham Tales Retrieved February 18 2023 THE RUST CRAFT GREETING CARD COMPANY PDF Dedham Historical Society News Letter Dedham Historical Society and Museum 2 a b c Dedham Historical Society 2001 p 44 a b c d e f g Neiswander Judy May 15 2020 Tales from Mother Brook Part 5 Citizens The Dedham Times Vol 28 no 20 p 8 Sconyers Jake and Stewart Nikki December 18 2017 Episode 59 Corn Cotton and Condos 378 Years on the Mother Brook Hub History Podcast Retrieved December 26 2017 a href Template Cite podcast html title Template Cite podcast cite podcast a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Parr Jim August 11 2023 75 Years Ago The Dedham Drive in Opens Part 1 Dedham Tales Retrieved August 15 2023 a b c d e f g Parr 2009 p 80 The Endicott Estate in Dedham Massachusetts British Broadcasting Company Retrieved 2006 11 29 dead link Kahn Joseph P September 14 2010 Chuck Hogan s favorite local movies and books The Boston Globe Retrieved 2014 11 08 a b Anne of Green Gables amp Dedham Dedham Historical Society Newsletter May 1998 Archived from the original on 14 August 2007 Higham Charles 22 February 2006 Murder in Hollywood Solving a Silent Screen Mystery Terrace Books p 64 ISBN 978 0 299 20364 1 Retrieved 5 March 2020 Parr 2009 p 74 Parr 2009 p 75 Parr 2009 p 78 Parr 2009 p 76 7 a b c d Parr 2009 p 76 a b c Parr 2009 p 77 Anne of Green Gables The 1919 Film TickledOrange com Archived from the original on 2008 05 11 Retrieved 2006 11 30 a b Parr 2009 p 79 Gammel Irene Lefebvre Benjamin eds 2010 Anne s world a new century of Anne of Green Gables Toronto University of Toronto Press p 198 ISBN 9781442611061 OCLC 759157304 a b c d e Parr 2009 p 81 a b c Dedham Now amp Then East Dedham Square PDF Dedham Historical Society amp Museum Newsletter May 2019 3 a b c Dedham Historical Society 2001 p 45 a b 375 years of contentment A special supplement to the Dedham Transcript September 2011 a b c d e f g h i j k l m Parr James June 24 2023 New England Telephone and Telegraph Building Verizon Dedham Tales Retrieved June 24 2023 a b c THE INTRODUCTION OF THE HORSELESS CARRIAGE IN DEDHAM PDF Dedham Historical Society Newsletter May Dedham Historical Society 2017 permanent dead link a b c d e f g h i j k Parr Jim July 2 2023 Circle the Wagons Repost from 2010 Dedham Tales Retrieved July 2 2023 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Parr 2009 p 103 Parr 2009 p 103 4 a b Parr 2009 p 104 a b Parr 2009 p 105 Parr 2009 p 106 a b c d e f g Parr 2009 p 102 Heald Hana Janjigian June 12 2015 Dedham s 48th Annual Flag Day Parade Set for Sunday The Dedham Times p 1 Dedham says no antibusing float The Boston Globe June 11 1975 p 48 Retrieved October 23 2021 via Newspapers com Blake Andrew June 15 1971 Flag Day Parade organizer furls a would be sponsor s banner The Boston Globe p 19 Retrieved October 23 2021 via Newspapers com a b c d e f g h i Parr 2009 p 22 a b c d e f Town to Honor Former Fire Chief at Ceremony This Sunday The Dedham Times October 16 2015 p 1 a b c d e Angiolillo Paul October 21 2015 Firefighters and family unveil plaque to Henry Harrigan The Dedham Transcript Retrieved October 21 2015 a b c d e Heald Scott October 23 2015 Fire Department Unveils Plaque Honoring Chief Harrigan The Dedham Times Bowen Max December 31 2015 Dedham s top stories of 2015 The Dedham Transcript Retrieved January 1 2016 Seltz Johanna December 31 2015 Two Dedham firefighters presented with medal for bravery Boston Globe Retrieved July 9 2023 a b c d A Look at Dedham in World War I Wicked Local Swampscott April 6 2017 Retrieved April 7 2017 a b c d Parr 2009 p 113 a b Parr 2009 p 114 a b c d e f g Parr 2009 p 115 a b c d e f Parr Jim March 15 2024 Dogs for Defense Dedham Tales Retrieved March 18 2024 a b c d e f Heald Scott June 9 2023 In solemn ceremony town observes Memorial Day The Dedham Times Vol 31 no 23 p 4 a b Parr James May 31 2010 2 Dedham Heroes John A Barnes III amp Henry Farnsworth Retrieved October 24 2017 a b Dedham Soldier Receives Posthumous Medal of Honor The Dedham Times November 10 2017 p 6 A Brief History of Norwood Town of Norwood Massachusetts Archived from the original on December 6 2006 Retrieved November 27 2006 Massachusetts City and Town Incorporation and Settlement Dates William Francis Galvin Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Retrieved July 13 2019 a b c d A Capsule History of Dedham Dedham Historical Society 2006 Archived from the original on October 6 2006 Retrieved November 10 2006 Parr James L November 11 2022 Who put the Paul in Paul Park Part 1 Dedham Tales Retrieved November 19 2022 a b c Parr James L November 12 2022 Paul Park Bonus Material Dedham Tales Retrieved November 19 2022 Hanson 1976 p 244 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Parr Jim November 22 2023 60 years ago Kennedy and Dedham Dedham Tales Retrieved November 23 2023 Bob Hanson Historical Sketch The Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves Archived from the original on March 13 2007 Retrieved November 29 2006 a b c Parr 2009 p 87 In Dedham A Cemetery To Honor Our Animals WBUR August 24 2010 Retrieved August 3 2023 Parr 2009 p 88 a b Parr 2009 p 14 a b Reunited Dedham Historical Society amp Museum Newsletter November December 2021 1 Retrieved November 12 2021 a b c d Dedham Historical Society 2001 p 125 Open New Clubhouse Boston Post February 23 1921 p 2 Retrieved April 27 2015 via Newspapers com nbsp Abbott 1903 pp 290 297 Parr 2009 p 18 Massachusetts Bay Tercentenary Dedham Dedham Transcript The Transcript Press Inc October 6 11 1930 a b c Nason Jerry July 17 1937 Dedham Run Tonight Features Kelley Brown and Zamparelli Daily Boston p 7 permanent dead link a b Dedham Museum amp Archive s exhibit on World War II extended through Veterans Day The Dedham Times Vol 31 no 23 June 9 2023 p 16 a b c Parr 2009 p 11 a b c d e Parr 2009 p 94 Executive Order 10988 Government Information University of Michigan Library lib umich edu Retrieved May 23 2021 NAGE Quick Facts National Association of Government Employees Archived from the original on November 29 2006 Retrieved January 3 2007 a b Heald Scott October 6 2023 Peter Megdal sets new world record in cycling Vol 31 no 40 p 1 Cook Edward M Jr 1970 Social Behavior and Changing Values in Dedham Massachusetts 1700 to 1775 The William and Mary Quarterly 546 580 doi 10 2307 1919704 JSTOR 00435597 Sean Murphy 2006 Historian recalls the Fairbanks case Dedham s first big trial Daily News Transcript Retrieved November 30 2006 dead link John Hayward 1839 Massachusetts towns in 1839 Boyd amp White Concord N H Retrieved December 10 2006 1865 Massachusetts Census a b Rev Elias Nason M A 1890 A Gazetteer of the State of Massachusetts CapeCodHistory us Retrieved December 10 2006 Leahy William Augustine 1892 The Catholic churches of Boston and its vicinity and St John s Seminary Brighton Mass a folio of photo gravures with notes and historical information Boston McClellan Hearn and Co Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts 1908 p 57 a b Guide Book To New England Travel 1919 Population of Massachusetts Cities Towns amp Counties Census Counts and Current Estimates 1930 1998 with Land Area and Population Density in 1990 PDF City of Newton Massachusetts Archived from the original PDF on December 8 2006 Retrieved December 12 2006 a b c d e f State Data Center Mass Inst for Social amp Economic Research Population of Massachusetts Cities and Towns 1940 1990 PDF Boston Metropolitan Planning Agency Archived from the original PDF on February 6 2004 Retrieved December 10 2006 Massachusetts Minor Civil Division Population Estimates PDF U S Census Bureau Archived from the original PDF on September 8 2004 Retrieved December 10 2006 Works cited editAbbott Katharine M 1903 Old Paths And Legends Of New England PDF New York The Knickerbocker Press pp 290 297 Retrieved October 6 2018 The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1910 Election Statistics Retrieved December 27 2019 Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1931 Election Statistics 1931 Retrieved December 23 2019 Dedham Historical Society 2001 Images of America Dedham Arcadia Publishing ISBN 978 0 7385 0944 0 Retrieved August 11 2019 Hanson Robert Brand 1976 Dedham Massachusetts 1635 1890 Dedham Historical Society Lockridge Kenneth 1985 A New England Town New York W W Norton amp Company ISBN 978 0 393 95459 3 Parr James L 2009 Dedham Historic and Heroic Tales From Shiretown The History Press ISBN 978 1 59629 750 0 Secretary of the Commonwealth 1908 Election Statistics Retrieved December 27 2019 Smith Frank 1936 A History of Dedham Massachusetts Transcript Press Incorporated Retrieved July 18 2019 Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts 1908 Report of the Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Retrieved June 2 2021 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title History of Dedham Massachusetts 1900 1999 amp oldid 1221976607, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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