Albert B. Wolfe Collection
Collection
Identifier: CHC040
Collection Description
Mr. Wolfe collected these papers during his tenures as Chairman of the Cambridge Historic Districts Study Committee (1961-1962) and as Chairman of the Cambridge Historical Commission(1962-1973). The records kept by Mr. Wolfe on the work of the Cambridge Historical Commission are the primary focus of this collection. They also are a reflection of Mr. Wolfe’s personal involvement in the work of the Commission; as chairman, as administrator, as attorney, and as a leading figure in the preservationist field. In the most significant area of the Commission’s work, The Survey of Architectural History, there is a paucity of materials available in the Wolfe Collection.
Dates
- 1877-1998
- Majority of material found within 1958-1998
Language of Materials
Material is in English.
Access
Collection is available for research under the CHC rules of use.
Copyright Notice
Copyright for materials resides with the creators of the items in question, unless otherwise designated.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to understand and observe copyright law and to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyright. Questions concerning copyright and permission to publish should be directed to the Cambridge Historical Commission Archives.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to understand and observe copyright law and to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyright. Questions concerning copyright and permission to publish should be directed to the Cambridge Historical Commission Archives.
Historical Note
Mr. Wolfe served as Chairman of the Cambridge Historic Districts Study Committee (1961-1962) and as Chairman of the Cambridge Historical Commission (1962-1973). Also included are a few personal papers from 1963 until the time of his death in 1998. During the entire period of his service to the City of Cambridge, Mr. Wolfe maintained his legal practice and worked out of the offices of his law firm, Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster, at 28 State Street in Boston.
Historic preservation undertakings, such as noted above, were enabled and empowered throughout the country by federal, state and local legislation passed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Mr. Wolfe was a pioneer in promoting these efforts. The Cambridge City Council moved quickly to implement these laws. In 1961 it adopted a resolution creating the Cambridge Historic Districts Study Committee; a group charged with proposing a plan for an historical preservation program for the city.
The papers of the Cambridge Historic Districts Study Committee are of interest for their description of the pioneer work done to identify the preservation needs of Cambridge and to propose specific steps to meet these needs. A major debate over the advantages of “historic sites” vs. “historic districts,” to define the historic units to be worked with, was resolved in favor of “historic districts.” Within a year, the Study Committee completed its mission by proposing the establishment of a permanent city agency, the Cambridge Historical Commission, to oversee and administer the city’s historic preservation program. Ordinance No. 727, passed by the City Council in 1962, established this Commission, and defined its membership and responsibilities.
The records kept by Mr. Wolfe on the work of the Cambridge Historical Commission are the primary focus of this collection. They also are a reflection of Mr. Wolfe’s personal involvement in the work of the Commission; as chairman, as administrator, as attorney, and as a leading figure in the preservationist field. Mr. Wolfe’s role as chairman placed him at a structural apex, which gives an overall view of every aspect of the work of the Commission. His role as an administrator records organizational structures, committee and Commission memberships and meetings, and budgetary and staff concerns. As an influential leader in the field, Mr. Wolfe maintained far flung contacts with many diverse individuals and institutions.
But Mr. Wolfe may have made one of his greatest contributions as an attorney, and in so doing have responded to one of the most important responsibilities assigned by the City to the Commission: the adjudication of cases regarding work on historic buildings. Mr. Wolfe presided over nearly forty such largely precedent setting cases. The records he maintained are in depth and meticulous, and reflect an important contribution to the preservation of the integrity of the community’s historical environment.
However, in the most significant area of the Commission’s work, The Survey of Architectural History, there is a paucity of materials available in the Wolfe Collection. This Survey produced a definitive, scholarly report on five Cambridge districts. Mr. Wolfe appointed a highly qualified Advisory Committee for each survey and selected a working staff of trained architects and historians. He also drew up a statement of purpose to guide the work. Then as an administrator, perhaps he stepped aside and delegated to experts. His records do not reflect his day-to-day, personal involvement in this significant effort. The bulk of these materials must be found elsewhere.
An exception to Mr. Wolfe’s apparent disengagement from the Commission’s historical endeavors can be found in the full records he maintained on historic sites. These background materials on over thirty locations, buildings and monuments were assembled in connection with the Commission’s program on Markers, Trails and Brochures. Two publications were produced using these materials, and they were also an integral part of the Commission’s collaborative effort with the National Park Service on The Historic American Buildings Survey undertaken in 1963, 1964, and with the Eastern Massachusetts Regional Planning Project in 1967.
In his role as leader and facilitator, Mr. Wolfe may be acknowledged for the superb results achieved by the Commission in its major undertaking: the historical surveys of Cambridge. On publication of the fifth and final survey report in 1977, Mr. Wolfe was able to write to Charles Sullivan, Executive Director of the Cambridge Historical Commission as follows: “With the completion of Report V: Northwest Cambridge. . . completing the Survey of Architectural History, Cambridge now has what is probably the most thorough, complete and professional history and analysis of its current built environment of any city as large in the world.”
Historic preservation undertakings, such as noted above, were enabled and empowered throughout the country by federal, state and local legislation passed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Mr. Wolfe was a pioneer in promoting these efforts. The Cambridge City Council moved quickly to implement these laws. In 1961 it adopted a resolution creating the Cambridge Historic Districts Study Committee; a group charged with proposing a plan for an historical preservation program for the city.
The papers of the Cambridge Historic Districts Study Committee are of interest for their description of the pioneer work done to identify the preservation needs of Cambridge and to propose specific steps to meet these needs. A major debate over the advantages of “historic sites” vs. “historic districts,” to define the historic units to be worked with, was resolved in favor of “historic districts.” Within a year, the Study Committee completed its mission by proposing the establishment of a permanent city agency, the Cambridge Historical Commission, to oversee and administer the city’s historic preservation program. Ordinance No. 727, passed by the City Council in 1962, established this Commission, and defined its membership and responsibilities.
The records kept by Mr. Wolfe on the work of the Cambridge Historical Commission are the primary focus of this collection. They also are a reflection of Mr. Wolfe’s personal involvement in the work of the Commission; as chairman, as administrator, as attorney, and as a leading figure in the preservationist field. Mr. Wolfe’s role as chairman placed him at a structural apex, which gives an overall view of every aspect of the work of the Commission. His role as an administrator records organizational structures, committee and Commission memberships and meetings, and budgetary and staff concerns. As an influential leader in the field, Mr. Wolfe maintained far flung contacts with many diverse individuals and institutions.
But Mr. Wolfe may have made one of his greatest contributions as an attorney, and in so doing have responded to one of the most important responsibilities assigned by the City to the Commission: the adjudication of cases regarding work on historic buildings. Mr. Wolfe presided over nearly forty such largely precedent setting cases. The records he maintained are in depth and meticulous, and reflect an important contribution to the preservation of the integrity of the community’s historical environment.
However, in the most significant area of the Commission’s work, The Survey of Architectural History, there is a paucity of materials available in the Wolfe Collection. This Survey produced a definitive, scholarly report on five Cambridge districts. Mr. Wolfe appointed a highly qualified Advisory Committee for each survey and selected a working staff of trained architects and historians. He also drew up a statement of purpose to guide the work. Then as an administrator, perhaps he stepped aside and delegated to experts. His records do not reflect his day-to-day, personal involvement in this significant effort. The bulk of these materials must be found elsewhere.
An exception to Mr. Wolfe’s apparent disengagement from the Commission’s historical endeavors can be found in the full records he maintained on historic sites. These background materials on over thirty locations, buildings and monuments were assembled in connection with the Commission’s program on Markers, Trails and Brochures. Two publications were produced using these materials, and they were also an integral part of the Commission’s collaborative effort with the National Park Service on The Historic American Buildings Survey undertaken in 1963, 1964, and with the Eastern Massachusetts Regional Planning Project in 1967.
In his role as leader and facilitator, Mr. Wolfe may be acknowledged for the superb results achieved by the Commission in its major undertaking: the historical surveys of Cambridge. On publication of the fifth and final survey report in 1977, Mr. Wolfe was able to write to Charles Sullivan, Executive Director of the Cambridge Historical Commission as follows: “With the completion of Report V: Northwest Cambridge. . . completing the Survey of Architectural History, Cambridge now has what is probably the most thorough, complete and professional history and analysis of its current built environment of any city as large in the world.”
Extent
3.6 linear feet (7 cartons)
Scope and Content
This collection records Albert B. Wolfe’s his tenure as Chairman of the Cambridge Historic Districts Study Committee (1961-1962) and as Chairman of the Cambridge Historical Commission (1962-1973). The work of the Cambridge Historical Commission is the primary focus of this collection but the records are also are a reflection of Mr. Wolfe’s personal involvement in the work of the Commission; as chairman, as administrator, as attorney, and as a leading figure in the preservationist field. In the most significant area of the Commission’s work, The Survey of Architectural History, there is a paucity of materials available in the Wolfe Collection. His records do not reflect his day-to-day, personal involvement in this effort but he did maintain full on historic sites. These background materials on over thirty locations, buildings and monuments were assembled in connection with the Commission’s program on Markers, Trails and Brochures. The few personal papers contained here concern primarily Mr. Wolfe’s presentations, particularly his speech to the American Bar Association in 1963, as well as correspondence, biographical materials, honors bestowed on him, and obituaries.
Collection Arrangement
- Series I -- Historic Preservation Legislation
- Series II -- Cambridge Historic District Study Committee
- Series III -- Cambridge Historical Commission - Members, Advisory Committees, Minutes
- Series IV -- Cambridge Historical Commission - Budget and Staff
- Series V -- Cambridge Historical Commission - Correspondence
- Series VI -- Cambridge Historical Commission - Architectural History Surveys of Cambridge
- Series VII -- Cambridge Historical Commission - Markers, Trails, Brochures
- Series VIII -- Cambridge Historical Commission - National and Regional Historical Surveys
- Series IX -- Cambridge Historical Commission - Commission's Inventory of Historic Cambridge Buildings and Sites
- Series X -- Cambridge Historical Commission - Historic Buildings and Sites - Cases
- Series XI -- Cambridge Historical Commission - Preservation Groups and Institutions
- Series XII -- Personal Papers
Physical Location
Collection is stored on-site
Provenance
The Albert B. Wolfe Collection was donated to the Cambridge Historical Commission in part by Mr. Wolfe himself and in part by his daughter, Diana Wolfe Larkin.
Processing Information
Processing and finding aid by H. Alice Dodds, April - October 2006.
Encoded by: Brittany Fox, September 2020.
Encoded by: Brittany Fox, September 2020.
- Title
- Inventory of the Albert B. Wolfe Collection, 1877-1998, bulk 1958-1998
- Author
- Processing and finding aid by H. Alice Dodds, April - October, 2006. Machine-readable finding aid by Brittany Fox, September 2020.
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Was Prepared Using Dacs
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Cambridge Historical Commission Archives Repository
Contact:
831 Massachusetts Avenue
2nd Floor
Cambridge Massachusetts 02139 US
617-349-4683
histcomm@cambridgema.gov
831 Massachusetts Avenue
2nd Floor
Cambridge Massachusetts 02139 US
617-349-4683
histcomm@cambridgema.gov