"New England Boy's Song About Thanksgiving Day" (also known as "Over the River and Through the Woods") by Lydia Maria Child, published in Flowers for Childrenby Lydia Maria Child (Boston, 1845), p. 25. "Grandfather's house" is believed to have been inspired by Child's grandparents' home on 114 South Street in Medford.
Broadside illustrating key events in the enslavement, escape, arrest, return to slavery, and the later manumittence of Anthony Burns, who was returned to slavery under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 after his arrest in Boston in 1854. Printed in Boston by R.M. Edwards, printer, 129 Congress Street, 1855.
Illustrated broadside of the Emancipation Proclamation, showing portraits of some of the Founding Fathers and notable abolitionists, including Gerrit Smith, Charles Sumner, Wendell Phillips, and Lydia Maria Child. Printed by L. Franklin Smith, Philadelphia, PA, 1865.
Etching of the attempted arrest of Franklin Sanborn, 1860, published in Harper's Weekly, 14 April 1860. The caption reads, "Arrest and rescue of Frank B. Sanborn, Esq., at Concord, Massachusetts, on the night of April 3, 1860."
A page from the 1937 inventory of artworks at Tufts College, showing that the busts of John Brown and George L. Stearns were on display in the Eaton Library.
Photograph of a wagon in the distance on College Avenue in Medford near Tufts College, circa 1870. The trees lining the street gave its nickname "The Willows." The Stearns Estate bordered College Avenue.
Photograph of College Avenue, possibly in 1910. This stretch of the road was known as "The Willows" for its romantic arc of willow trees. The Stearns Estate bordered College Avenue to the north.
Cabinet card featuring the John Brown bust owned by Mary E. Stearns. This cabinet card was printed by Litchfield Studios in Arlington, MA. A handwritten note on the back of the card reads, "John Brown. From the Bust taken while awaiting Execution in the Virginia Prison, by order of Mrs. George L. Stearns, October 1859. This is the only marble Bust of the Martyr, at present writing - 1919 - in the world. It was only secured by the earnest entreaty of Mrs. Stearns, for whom, and his faithful friend Mr. Stearns, he cherished warm regard. E. A. Brackett, Sculptor."
Excerpt from the will of Mary E. Stearns, 1901. She dictates that a third part each of her remaining estate holdings should be given to Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, Berea College, and Tuskegee College, for "The George L. Stearns Memorial Fund of [that College]" for the purpose of "promoting in those several institutions the education and elevation of the youth of the South, and especially of the youth of the colored race, in whose interest and welfare my deceased husband George L. Stearns ever felt such a profound interest and to which he gave such devoted service."
Highboy (chest of drawers) acquired by Tufts College from the Stearns Estate around 1919, now (2017) located in the third floor lobby of Ballou Hall. Family tradition maintained that the this piece of furniture was made by Benjamin Frothingham, Jr., of Charlestown. In 1971, this highboy was located in the Wessell Library. In 1950, this highboy was located in the Gott Memorial Room in Eaton Library. This photograph was taken in August 2017.
Etching appearing in Harper's Weekly of the 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment singing "John Brown's Body." The caption reads, "'Marching on!--The Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Colored Regiment Singing John Brown's March in the Streets of Charleston, February 21, 1865.--[See page 172.]"
Portrait of Major George L. Stearns with his signature, taken in his military recruiter uniform. The portrait was taken by the Pack Brothers of Cambridge, MA, in 1863.
Attribution:
Pack Brothers
Attribution Statement:
Courtesy of the Medford Historical Society & Museum
The busts of John Brown (by Edward A. Brackett) and George L. Stearns (by Samuel Morse) on display in the Tisch Library. Photograph taken August 16, 2017.
Grandfather clock belonging to the Stearns Estate. It was bequeathed to Tufts University by Mary E. Stearns and has long been a decorative feature of the President's Office in Ballou Hall. This photograph was taken in August 2017.
Graves monument for Reverend Hosea Ballou at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA. It was sculpted by Edward Augustus Brackett. This photograph was taken in August 2017.
Bronze relief by Augustus Saint-Gaudens commemorating Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, the first formally recognized black regiment in the Union. The Memorial is borders the Boston Common and Beacon Street across from the front steps of the Massachusetts State House in Boston. The memorial took the artist 13 years to complete. It was dedicated on May 31, 1897. Visible in the upper corner are the Latin words "Omnia relinquit servare rempublicam," which translates to "He relinquished everything to serve the Republic." This photograph was taken in August 2017.
This painting shows the Stearns mansion in the center right and the farmhouse to the far right. In the distance on the hill are the buildings of Tufts College, with the tower of Goddard Chapel, East Hall, and West Hall visible through the trees. The road to the left is College Avenue; at the time it was known as the Willows because of the trees on either side. At the corner of College Avenue and the railroad tracks is College Hill train station. The Boston & Lowell Railroad operated on the tracks that separated Tufts College from the Stearns Estate's orchards.
Attribution:
William Hauk
Attribution Statement:
Image courtesy of the Tufts University Permanent Collection