1895-2017
Guide to the Collection
Restrictions on Access
The Cambridge Boat Club records are stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@masshist.org.
Three boxes of records are CLOSED to researchers, EXCEPT current officers of the Cambridge Boat Club, until 40 years from the date of their creation.
There are restrictions on the use of this collection. Users must sign an agreement stating that they understand these restrictions before they will be given access to the collection.
Abstract
This collection consists of the records of the Cambridge Boat Club, a private recreational boating and social club on the Charles River in Cambridge, Mass., including meeting minutes, membership records, financial and property records, and printed material. The collection also contains records related to the Head of the Charles Regatta, first held by the Cambridge Boat Club in 1965.
Historical Sketch
The Cambridge Boat Club is a private recreational club in Cambridge, Mass., founded in 1909 for "encouraging athletic exercises[,] boating and yachting, and establishing and maintaining a place for social meetings." Its first directors included Arthur H. Brooks, Robert Walcott, Stoughton Bell, W. Rodman Peabody, Joseph Thorp, James J. Myers, and William S. Hall. The club's boathouse, built on the north bank of the Charles River in the fall of 1909, was designed by architect John W. Ames.
Candidates for membership in the Cambridge Boat Club are proposed by current members and must be approved by the Membership Committee. Originally the club offered three levels of membership: single, family, and associate. Members could rent out club boats (or rent racks for storing their own boats), swim in the summer, skate in the winter, and attend social events such as teas, dances, and private parties. Since its founding, the club has expanded its membership, events, and community outreach. Annual meetings are held in March.
The club's boathouse was originally built along Memorial Drive at the foot of Ash and Hawthorn Streets, on public land leased from the Cambridge Board of Park Commissioners. In 1921, all Cambridge riverfront parks were placed under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan District Commission (now the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation). The Cambridge Boat Club was eventually forced by the MDC, in 1947, to relocate its boathouse upstream to Gerry's Landing, to make way for the extension of Memorial Drive. The building underwent extensive renovation in the 1990s.
In response to growing interest in rowing, the Cambridge Boat Club established a Rowing Committee in 1932. In 1965, this committee held the first Head of the Charles Regatta, which has become the largest one-day regatta in the world. The regatta was incorporated in 1996, and its directors are appointed by the Cambridge Boat Club board.
Below is a list of Cambridge Boat Club presidents:
1909-1915 |
Arthur H. Brooks |
1915-1921 |
William S. Hall |
1921-1926 |
Stoughton Bell |
1926-1930 |
Henry R. Brigham |
1930-1934 |
Robert G. Henderson |
1934-1937 |
George A. Macomber |
1937-1939 |
Alexander Bright |
1939-1942 |
Rufus Frost Hale |
1942-1944 |
Robert R. Duncan |
1944-1947 |
Horace Frost |
1947-1951 |
Robert T. P. Storer |
1951-1953 |
Albert B. Wolfe |
1953-1956 |
Fairfield E. Raymond |
1956-1959 |
Charles S. Bolster |
1959-1962 |
Edward B. Witte |
1962-1964 |
Kenneth W. Brown |
1964-1966 |
Dwight H. Andrews |
1966-1968 |
Paul K. McElroy |
1968-1970 |
Donald O. Auger |
1970-1972 |
Lawrence G. Copley |
1972-1974 |
J. J. Gerald McCue |
1974-1976 |
D'Arcy G. MacMahon |
1976-1978 |
Sidney Gleason |
1978-1980 |
Kenneth Lynch |
1980-1982 |
E. Beale Wilson |
1982-1984 |
Gail Pierson Cromwell |
1984-1986 |
Nancy C. Slamin |
1986-1988 |
David M. Banash |
1988-1990 |
Stephen E. Carr |
1990-1992 |
Paul H. Curtiss |
1992-1994 |
Thomas K. Sherwood |
1994-1996 |
Nigel Gallaher |
1996-1998 |
John Lambert |
1998-2000 |
William Becklean |
2000-2002 |
Malcolm Gefter |
2002-2004 |
Carmen Garufo |
2004-2006 |
Joseph Bouscaren |
2006-2008 |
Jerome Murphy |
2008-2010 |
John R. Born |
2010-2012 |
Gregory Benning |
2012-2014 |
Larry Elswit |
2014-2015 |
Linda Muri |
2015-2017 |
John Grant |
2017-2019 |
Jane Morse |
2019- |
Beth Mooney |
Sources
Cambridge Boat Club. Cambridge Boat Club: A Centennial History 1909-2009. Cambridge, Mass.: Cambridge Boat Club, 2009.
Cambridge Boat Club website. https://www.cambridge-boat-club.org/. Accessed 11 Jan. 2019.
Collection Description
This collection consists of the records of the Cambridge Boat Club, a private recreational boating and social club on the Charles River in Cambridge, Mass., including meeting minutes, membership records, financial and property records, and printed material. Minutes of board of directors meetings, annual meetings, and special meetings make up the bulk of the collection and include correspondence, reports, and other papers related to the membership, governance, finances, rules, committees, events, and other work of the club. Minutes also document the establishment, in 1965, of the Head of the Charles Regatta and its growth and incorporation.
Membership records consist of logbooks recording members' use of rental boats, records of boat damages, proposals for membership, correspondence, and other papers. The collection also contains an early account book of the club and correspondence of select treasurers.
Many records in the collection relate to the property of the Cambridge Boat Club, including a book of bonds purchased by members to fund the boathouse move to Gerry's Landing in 1947, as well as a number of reports, plans, contracts, permits, and other papers documenting extensive building renovations in the 1990s.
Acquisition Information
Deposited by the Cambridge Boat Club, May 2013, with subsequent additions.
Restrictions on Access
The Cambridge Boat Club records are stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@masshist.org.
Three boxes of records are CLOSED to researchers, EXCEPT current officers of the Cambridge Boat Club, until 40 years from the date of their creation.
There are restrictions on the use of this collection. Users must sign an agreement stating that they understand these restrictions before they will be given access to the collection.
Restrictions on Use
The records of the Cambridge Boat Club have been placed on deposit at the Massachusetts Historical Society. The Massachusetts Historical Society does not claim ownership of the literary rights (copyright) to correspondence by individuals in this collection. The Massachusetts Historical Society cannot give permission to publish or quote from documents to which it does not hold copyright. Use of these materials does not imply permission to publish. It is the sole responsibility of the researcher to obtain formal permission from the owners of the literary rights (copyright) to publish or quote from documents in this collection.
All reproductions, including photocopies and digital photographs, are for personal use only. Personal use copies may not be donated to or deposited in other libraries or archives, or made available to other researchers, without the written permission of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. Meeting minutes, 1930-1938, 1959-2017
Arranged chronologically (with gaps).
This series, the largest in the collection, consists of Cambridge Boat Club board of directors meeting minutes (with gaps), as well as minutes of annual and special meetings. Subjects discussed at meetings include membership, governance, finances, facilities, rules and policies, committees, events, and many other matters. The series also contains correspondence related to matters before the board; treasurer's, secretary's, and committee reports; notices and memoranda; agreements; and other papers, including copies of minutes with directors' annotations. The series does not contain any papers dated before 1930 or between 1938 and 1959.
Included in this series are minutes related to the planning, finances, and growth of the Head of the Charles Regatta, as well as its changing relationship to the Cambridge Boat Club and its incorporation in 1996.
Minutes, 1930-1938
Bound volume.This volume contains manuscript minutes of board of directors meetings, annual meetings, and joint meetings with the House Committee and other committees. Included are minutes related to the club's dispute with the Metropolitan District Commission over the possible extension of Memorial Drive and removal of the boathouse. (The building was relocated in 1947.) Loose items removed from this volume are filed in Folders 2-4.
Items removed from volume of minutes, 1932-1938
Minutes, 1959-1992
Minutes, 1993-2017
II. Membership records, 1937-2017
This series contains records generated by or related to Cambridge Boat Club members, including logbooks used to sign out rental boats, records of boat damages, notices for member events, proposals and letters of support for membership, and other correspondence and papers.
A. Logbooks, 1937-1965, 2000-2001
Arranged chronologically.
The logbooks in this subseries were used by Cambridge Boat Club members to sign out rental boats. Entries include date, name, boat, distance traveled, and sometimes accumulated mileage. Included are listings of race results and occasional annotations. Logbooks of 2000 and 2001 contain notes related to boat damages.
Logbook, Feb. 1937-Dec. 1944
Logbook, Apr. 1948-June 1954
Logbook, June 1954-June 1955
Logbook, June 1955-Dec. 1957
Logbook, Jan.-Dec. 1958
Logbook, Mar.-Dec. 1959
Logbook, Feb.-Dec. 1960
Logbook, Mar.-Dec. 1961, Mar. 1963
Logbook, Mar.-Nov. 1963
Logbook, Nov.-Dec. 1963, Mar. 1964-Jan. 1965
Logbook, Jan.-Dec. 1965
Logbook, 2000
Logbook, 2001
B. Boat repairs and maintenance log, 1999-2005
This book was used by members to record damages to rental boats. Entries include date, boat, member, description of damages, and action taken, if any.
C. Member events, 1969-2017
Arranged chronologically.
This subseries contains notices for Sunday Night Suppers, a series of dinners featuring speakers on various topics; socials, including parties, dances, classes, banquets, gardening days, etc.; and wine dinners. Also included are a few letters, notes, and promotional materials for speakers. Many of the papers are those of J. J. Gerald McCue, former president of the Cambridge Boat Club and chairman of the Sunday Night Entertainment Committee beginning in 1975.
D. Proposals for membership, 1995-1999
Note: The papers in this subseries are CLOSED to researchers, EXCEPT current officers of the Cambridge Boat Club, until 40 years from the date of their creation.
This series contains proposals for membership, as well as letters of recommendation and letters from proposed members to the Membership Committee.
E. Miscellaneous membership papers, 1987-1998
Note: The papers in this subseries are CLOSED to researchers, EXCEPT current officers of the Cambridge Boat Club, until 40 years from the date of their creation.
This small subseries consists of miscellaneous papers related to Cambridge Boat Club membership during the tenures of David M. Banash, the club's president from 1986-1988, and John Lambert, president from 1996-1998. Banash papers relate primarily to proposed members and include welcome letters and expense vouchers. Lambert papers consist of correspondence with members about rentals, boats, events, guest rowing privileges, complaints, and other matters. Included are letters from senior veteran rower Barnet Phillips III (1917-2004), a member during World War II who competed in the Head of the Charles Regatta in his eighties.
III. Financial and property records, 1895-2005
This series contains an early account book of the Cambridge Boat Club, correspondence of select treasurers, and records related to club property, facilities, and maintenance. Property records include a bond book documenting the funding of the boathouse move in 1947, as well as many reports, plans, contracts, permits, proposals, surveys, letters, and other papers related to the building's renovation in the 1990s.
A. Financial volumes, 1910-1976
Arranged chronologically.
Account book, 1910-1929
Disbound.Included are daily accounts for memberships, rentals, event admissions, and other revenue, as well as wages, repairs, taxes, utilities, and other expenses, 1926-1929; accounts with individual members, arranged alphabetically, 1911-1929; and other accounts.
Bond book, 1947-1976
This book contains 25-year non-interest-bearing debenture bonds issued by the Cambridge Boat Club in October 1947 "in return for monies advanced by certain members to finance the essential moving of the Club building up-river." Included are lists of bondholders, bond certificates, notes of payment, indemnity agreements, and correspondence about bonds. Loose items removed from the volume are filed in Folders 6-8.
Items removed from bond book, [1947-1976]
B. Treasurers' correspondence, 1911-1935, 1982-2005
Arranged chronologically.
This subseries consists primarily of incoming and outgoing correspondence of Cambridge Boat Club treasurers Stoughton Bell, Cecil H. Smith, Charles Putnam Smith, and Gail Pierson Cromwell related to dues, fees, bills, checks, boathouse repairs, and other financial and membership matters. Correspondence from 1931-1933 includes many letters to and from Grace H. Mason, the club's bookkeeper. The subseries also contains miscellaneous accounts, receipts, statements, and memoranda.
Correspondence of Bell, Smith, and Smith, 1911-1935
Correspondence of Cromwell, 1982-2005
Note: These papers are CLOSED to researchers, EXCEPT current officers of the Cambridge Boat Club, until 40 years from the date of their creation.
C. Property records, 1895-2005
Arranged chronologically.
This subseries contains records related to the main building and other property of the Cambridge Boat Club, including a boat shed constructed on the grounds in 1975. The bulk of the records document a large renovation project undertaken in the 1990s to expand the clubhouse for additional boat storage, offices for the Head of the Charles Regatta, ADA-compliant restrooms, and space for the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School rowing program. The treasurer of the club during the 1990s was Gail Pierson Cromwell, and many of the papers reflect her role in the renovation.
Legal documents, 1895-1985
Included are leases; contracts; permits; plans; tax documents; insurance policies; copies of the 1895 land deed, 1895 plan, and 1909 certificate of incorporation; and other legal documents, as well as supporting correspondence and printed material.
"Cambridge Boat Club: Repair, Maintenance, and Replacement Program," 1972
Metropolitan District Commission, 1972-2001
Correspondence about boat shed, with plan, 1973-1975
"Cambridge Boat Club: A Plan for Physical Development and Maintenance," 1977
Papers related to dock, with plans, 1982-1999
Property appraisal, 1984
Facilities survey, 1993
Correspondence with community organizations about use of boathouse, 1995-1997
Renovation project, 1995-1998
Disbound binder.Included are notices, fact sheets, letters, memoranda, cost estimates, reports, plans, meeting minutes, and Cambridge Boat Club member feedback.
Renovation project, 1995-1999
Disbound accordion file.The papers in this file relate to the Metropolitan District Commission, Charles River Basin Master Plan, Charles River Watershed Association, and Cambridge Conservation Commission and include notices, meeting minutes, permits, correspondence, proposals, and shoreline surveys, as well as Cambridge Boat Club member feedback.
Charles River Basin Master Plan, 1996-1998 (first draft)
Renovation contracts, 1996-1999
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, 1996-2000
Building Renovations Committee, 1996-2000
"Foundation Engineering Report: Proposed Addition to the Cambridge Boat Club," 1997
Public letters about renovation, 1997
Site survey, 1997-1998
Building permit application, with plans, 1997-1999
Cambridge Conservation Commission Order of Conditions, 1997-1999
Board of Zoning Appeal, 1997-1999
Department of Conservation and Recreation, 1997-2005
"Renovations and Addition to the Cambridge Boat Club," 1998
"Environmental Site Assessment: Cambridge Boat Club Property," 1998
Real estate appraisal, 1998
"Renovations and Addition: The Cambridge Boat Club," 1998-1999 (revised)
Bank loan, Cambridge Trust Co., 1998-2001
Cambridge Boat Club profile and floor plan, [1990s]
IV. Printed material, 1963-2011
This series consists of printed material by and about the Cambridge Boat Club, including yearbooks, bulletins, and club histories.
A. Yearbooks, 1966-2006
Arranged chronologically (with gaps).
Cambridge Boat Club yearbooks are printed booklets containing lists of officers, directors, and committee chairmen and members; calendars; by-laws; house and boating rules; Rowing Committee regulations; and member directories.
Yearbooks, 1966-1978
Yearbooks, 1979-2006
Note: These papers are CLOSED to researchers, EXCEPT current officers of the Cambridge Boat Club, until 40 years from the date of their creation.
B. Bulletins, 1966-2007
Arranged chronologically (with gaps).
The Cambridge Boat Club bulletin is a newsletter for members containing news of events, programs, nominations, etc.
C. Miscellaneous printed material, 1963-2011
Arranged chronologically.
This subseries contains pamphlets, books, and other printed items about the club.
May, Ralph. "The Cambridge Boat Club." Cambridge Historical Society Proceedings 39 (26 Mar. 1963): 125-43. Offprint.
Pamphlet; 2 copies.MacMahon, H. E. "Historical Highlights: The Cambridge Boat Club, 1909-1986." [s.l.]: [s.n.], 1986.
Pamphlet; 2 copies. Also draft and proof.Cambridge Boat Club. Cambridge Boat Club: A Centennial History 1909-2009. Cambridge, Mass.: Cambridge Boat Club, 2009.
Book.Newspaper clippings, obituaries, programs, exhibit displays, etc., 1977-2011
V. Oversize material
This series consists of oversize plans and maps pulled from the rest of the collection.
Preferred Citation
Cambridge Boat Club records, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.
Persons:
Organizations:
Subjects:
Materials Removed from the Collection
Photographs from this collection have been removed to the Cambridge Boat Club photographs.