Dorchester Historical Society

Dorchester Illustration no. 2197

Irving Colpack

Caption on verso: Dorchester Yout Wins Newsboys Harvard Scholarship.  Irving Colpack a newsboy of the Dorchester District of Boston was the winner of this year’s scholarship to Harvard University.  The scholarship was founded in 1906 by the Boston Newsboys Protective Union and covers the cost of the first year’s tuition.  It is awarded to the boy who passes the Harvard admission examinations with the highest percentage.  Colpack is a graduate of the Boston Latin School.  9/10/25

The following is from:

from: http://cambridgehistoricaltours.org/about-us/our-guides/irving-kolpeck/

Irving Colpack , 1908-1930

Born in 1908, Irving Colpack lived in Dorchester, MA with his two older brothers.  Like his brothers before him, he was a newsboy who delivered 200 newspapers on weekdays and 400 copies of the Sunday edition weekly.  In 1925 he was accepted to Harvard and received the Boston News Protective Union’s Harvard Scholarship for being the newsboy in the Boston area with the highest marks on his Harvard entrance exam.  He graduated from Harvard and went on to pursue his Masters at the University of Chicago.  He passed away one year into his studies in Chicago.

_____

The Dorchester Illustration is sent occasionally. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the illustration, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration no. 2196

St. Matthew’s Church appeared in American Architect and Building News, March 20, 1918.

In 1888 Father Fitzpatrick of St. Gregory’s bought a lot of land at the corner of Norfolk and Darlington Streets, and two years later opened a temporary church on the site. It opened on Christmas Day, 1890, and remained as a ward of St. Gregory’s until it became St. Matthew’s Parish in 1900. The new Saint Matthew’s on Stanton Street was the creation of Father John A. Donnelly, 1907-1923, the second pastor of the parish, and the new church building was ready for use in 1923.

St. Matthew’s was designed by Cambridge architect, Charles Greco, who designed many church buildings, Catholic and Jewish, in Boston, Cleveland, Miami, Brockton, Jamaica Plain (Immaculate Conception) and Cambridge. He also built fire houses in Cambridge.

_____

The Dorchester Illustration is sent occasionally. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the illustration, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration no. 2195

Today we have a view of the gates of Cedar Grove Cemetery in 1885.

The following is from the Cemetery’s website:

http://cgcem.org/

CEDAR GROVE CEMETERY was organized three years after the end of the Civil War when Dorchester was still an independent town. The land granted for burials was in the southernmost area of the town, bordering on the Neponset River and downstream from the Milton lower falls. It was blanketed with cedar trees and rose gently over a puddingstone ledge. There was a small pond, filled in many years ago, near today’s main entrance. The area was home to a variety of bird life and small animals, remote in a rural setting.

Now, nearly 150 years later, the twenty-first century has burgeoned around this peaceful spot. Still, the Cemetery has managed to preserve its identity as a green patch of nature, a place for quiet contemplation amidst the surrounding bustle and tumult.

It is no accident that Cedar Grove Cemetery enjoys this distinction. Its Trustees, now and in the past, have made it a policy to maintain the natural beauty and protect its unique ecology while providing the community with those services for which it was organized. Today, in the early years of the twenty-first century, the Cemetery is, and will continue to be, committed to this policy.

Cedar Grove Cemetery takes pride in its natural beauty and formal gardens. The Cemetery is non-sectarian, and is managed by a Board of Trustees as a non-profit organization. As a wildlife sanctuary, we have sightings of deer, geese, turkeys, pheasants, groundhogs, rabbits, hawks, and raccoons. All of the flowers for our Spring planting program and our flower areas are grown in our greenhouse. We also have flowers for sale to the public from about mid-May to the end of July.

We cordially invite you to visit us, inquire about space, have a tour, or just enjoy our beautiful grounds, open daily from 8:00 am — 7:00 pm. Our professional staff is available to help you from Monday through Friday from 8:30 am — 4:00 pm, and on Saturday from 8:30 am — 12:00 pm.

_____

The Dorchester Illustration is sent occasionally. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the illustration, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration no. 2194

Crusher Casey and Family

This illustration is a press photo with the following caption on the back: July 13, 1957.  This is the lovely family of Jim (Crusher) Casey of Melville Ave., Dorchester.  They are shown viewing daddy’s portrait posed after he won the Pacific Coast Wrestling Championship. L-R: Jim, Patty 6 yrs, Mrs. Casey (Myrtle), Jim Jr. 10 yrs, and Steve 9 yrs.

The Casey family lived at 35 Melville Avenue.

How many Crusher Casey’s were there? 

The following comes from : http://www.legacyofwrestling.com/Casey.html    describing Jim’s brother Steve.

Steve “Crusher” Casey was a former six-time World Heavyweight Champion and one of the famous Casey Brothers, along with Jim and Tom.  He stood 6’0″ and weighed in at 200 pounds.  Casey arrived in East Boston in 1936 from County Kerry, Ireland.

Casey made history at the Boston Garden on February 11, 1938.  He defeated Lou Thesz in a two-of-three-falls match to capture the AWA World Heavyweight Title.

Casey opened a Boston bar in 1949 named Crusher Casey’s.  In 1968, three armed men robbed the bar and injured Casey and killed one of the customers.  Casey recovered.  He died of cancer in 1987 at the age of 78.

Note: The bar, Crusher Casey’s, was owned by both Jim and Steve, so perhaps they were both Crusher Casey.

_____

The Dorchester Illustration is sent occasionally. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the illustration, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

May 29, 2015 The Dorchester Historical Society received an award from the Massachusetts Historical Commission for the renovation of the Clapp Family Barn.

Dorchester Illustration no. 2193   Third Dorchester High School

 The third high school building is located at the corner of Talbot Avenue and Centre Street. Designed by Hartwell, Richardson and Driver and built in 1900, it later became Dorchester High School for Girls, later Girls’ Latin School, later Boston Latin Academy and now Latin Academy Apartments.

 __

The Dorchester Illustration is sent occasionally. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the illustration, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration no. 2192

Second Dorchester High School

The second high school, which was located at the corner of Dorchester Avenue and Centre Street, was used as the high school from about 1870 until 1900 when the high school in Codman Square was constructed due to a need for larger space. After that date the older building was used as a school for lower grades. This School was named the Elbridge Smith School for the third master of the high school who served 24 years. It was replaced by the Patrick O’Hearn School in 1957.

 __

The Dorchester Illustration is sent occasionally. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the illustration, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration no. 2191

First Dorchester High School

The first high school building in Dorchester was built in the early 1850s at the corner of Dorchester Avenue and Gibson Street, where the Dunkin Donuts is located now.

The school was organized in December, 1852, with a membership of fifty-nine pupils of both sexes, representing the [lower schools]: Everett, Mather, Adams, Gibson, Winthrop, Norfolk, and private schools. The first principal was William J. Rolfe, the present Shakespearean authority, who held the position for four years. Mr. Rolfe’s successor was Jonathan Kimball, who remained for nine years.

__

The Dorchester Illustration is sent occasionally. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the illustration, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

“Lost Boston” by Anthony Sammarco
2 p.m. Sunday, May 17
 William Clapp House
195 Boston St.
Dorchester, MA 02125

Join DHS for an illustrated lecture by Anthony M. Sammarco, author of “Lost Boston.” The book is the story of some of Boston’s once well-known institutions that were demolished, lost to fire, or neglect. Learn about the Readville Trotting Park, the Boston Garden, the City Point Aquarium, Jordan Marsh Department Store, as well as the Parker House, Tremont House and Hotel Pelham.

The May program is also the Dorchester Historical Society’s annual meeting, which includes an election of members to the DHS board of directors.

Dorchester Illustration no. 2190

 Dorchester High School chemistry class, 1901.

 Dorchester’s third high school building was constructed in at the corner of Talbot Avenue and Centre Street in Codman Square the year before.  It later became Dorchester High School for Girls, later Girls’ Latin School, later Boston Latin Academy and now Latin Academy Apartments.

__

The Dorchester Illustration is sent occasionally. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the illustration, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org