FW: Community Petition and Flyer

[Joan Pasquale]

Hello All,
I was asked to forward the information below and attached out to community residents.
For more information please contact the project coordinator at the email address listed below.
 
Thank you,
Joan Pasquale

 

Dear Fellow Allston Resident,

The petition for Allston Square and Barry’s Corner Memorial Grove is now available to be signed.  We would very much like to have you sign it to name this new retail and residential commons Allston Square after the great painter Washington Allston, who gave our community its name, instead of “Barry’s Corner” named after no one.  However, to honor the good folks who lost their homes 45 years ago when the BRA and the City bulldozed their little community and built the Charlesview Apartments, we would like to name the Grove, which stands on the very spot where their homes once stood, Barry’s Corner Memorial Grove, in their memory. 

 

Please sign the petition so we can have an Allston Square – which North Allston rightly deserves, and a proper memorial for the good families that lost their homes and land those many years ago.  Thank you very much.

 

Allston Square Association

Renny McKinney, Coordinator

a...@rcn.com

 

[Eva Webster]

Barry’s Corner is a historic name that has almost gotten forgotten (newcomers to Allston-Brighton usually don’t know where it is).  Personally, as an Allston-Brighton resident, I’m opposed to getting rid of historic names. There is no reason for it whatsoever. I think that historic names should be treasured and cultivated.

Barry’s Corner is one of several town centers within Allston, but it has its own very unique history which even holds a lesson for future generations (it’s a story of heartless, arrogant politicians and city planners who unceremoniously destroyed what was good — a stable neighborhood of families who owned their homes — and created an ugly, soulless, impersonal, concrete structure to “warehouse” people).

Barry’s Corner and the immediate area is now about to gain new and lasting prominence with new vibrant development.  Great!  Keep the historic name. Revive it. Make sure it’s well publicized with signage, on maps, etc., so it becomes a well-known respectable destination, a landmark in North Allston.  And commemorate the place’s history anyway with a “Grove” installation.

If that petition for changing the name takes off, I hope that folks who respect history (perhaps ACA?) will circulate a counter-petition.

[Joan Pasquale]

Eva,
You should also include the Allston Square Association in your response - a...@rcn.com
As re: the request for me to forward the info, Mr. McKinney is not subscribed to the Google group.
 
Best,
Joan Pasquale

---

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2013 16:43:45 -0500
Subject: Re: [AB2006] FW: Community Petition and Flyer
From: evawe...@comcast.net
To: allstonbr...@googlegroups.com

--
--
To post to this group, send email to AllstonBr...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/AllstonBrighton2006?hl=en
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AllstonBrighton2006" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to allstonbrighton...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.

[allst...@rcn.com]

[Joan Pasquale]

Hi All,
Please respond to a...@rcn.com = Renny McKinney, Allston Square Association
The information forwarded is in regards to Mr. McKinney's Project.
 
Thank you,
Joan Pasquale


 

---

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2013 14:01:53 -0800
From: allst...@rcn.com
To: allstonbr...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [AB2006] Re: FW: Community Petition and Flyer

[Eva Webster]

Thanks, Joan. I’m copying this message to that group (curiously named for a place that does not exist).

Another argument:   If the “Barry’s Corner” name were to be eradicated, I think it would dishonor the people who used to live in that neighborhood, and went through hell when they were forcibly removed from their homes. It would be like renaming the West End neighborhood — the most famous victim of Urban Renewal, some other name.

Also, if the name is changed, in the future, when people interested in the history of Boston and urban development in America read somewhere about Barry’s Corner eminent domain scandal, they would be unable to find the place in person, or locate it on maps.

It’s very frustrating when historic places are hard to find because someone along the way irresponsibly changed the name, and obliterated the old one.

For that very reason (to commemorate a historic event, and to make the place easy to find for those who are interested), just a week or so ago, there was a big event in Boston to rename a small street where the infamous Coconut Grove fire took place.  Subsequently it had acquired the meaningless name Shawmut Ave. Extension -- but for historical reasons its name now is Coconut Grove Lane.

On 12/8/13 4:50 PM, "Joan Pasquale" <jpasqu...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Eva,
You should also include the Allston Square Association in your response - a...@rcn.com
As re: the request for me to forward the info, Mr. McKinney is not subscribed to the Google group.

Best,
Joan Pasquale

---

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2013 16:43:45 -0500
Subject: Re: [AB2006] FW: Community Petition and Flyer
From: evawe...@comcast.net
To: allstonbr...@googlegroups.com

Re: [AB2006] FW: Community Petition and Flyer Barry’s Corner is a historic name that has almost gotten forgotten (newcomers to Allston-Brighton usually don’t know where it is).  Personally, as an Allston-Brighton resident, I’m opposed to getting rid of historic names. There is no reason for it whatsoever. I think that historic names should be treasured and cultivated.

Barry’s Corner is one of several town centers within Allston, but it has its own very unique history which even holds a lesson for future generations (it’s a story of heartless, arrogant politicians and city planners who unceremoniously destroyed what was good — a stable neighborhood of families who owned their homes — and created an ugly, soulless, impersonal, concrete structure to “warehouse” people).

Barry’s Corner and the immediate area is now about to gain new and lasting prominence with new vibrant development.  Great!  Keep the historic name. Revive it. Make sure it’s well publicized with signage, on maps, etc., so it becomes a well-known respectable destination, a landmark in North Allston.  And commemorate the place’s history anyway with a “Grove” installation.

If that petition for changing the name takes off, I hope that folks who respect history (perhaps ACA?) will circulate a counter-petition.



On 12/8/13 3:52 PM, "Joan Pasquale" <jpasqu...@hotmail.com> wrote:

[allst...@rcn.com]

This is Anders.  I am very much in favor of Allston Square and Barry's Corner Memorial Grove.  It locates and elevates Allston while giving the proper credit to those who were displaced.  The new construction isn't even on the land on which the old, demolished Barry's Corner stood: it's across the street and was never part of the departed Barry's Corner.

While some, and only a few, older residents have ever heard of "Barry's Corner", most, and I mean almost everyone, has never heard of Barry's Corner.  As it's said, you cannot create the future by clinging to the past. No one will know where Barry's Corner is without a lot of explanation.  This is not good if you want people to find it on their own.  However, Allston Square is readily understood, especially when one says it's a mile south of Harvard Square.  We are not enamored with the old and run down tiny neighborhood any more than the City, the BRA and most of the North Allston community was then.  Even Joseph Smith, the then President of the Allston Civic Association wanted it torn down.  This is not the kind of place the new Allston wants to hang it's hat on. 

There will be at least 325 new people coming to our community, none of whom know anything about what this tiny sliver of land used to be called 45 years ago.  This new retail and residential commons is not for only a very, very few who already live here.  It's for many, many good new neighbors who will be moving to and living here.  There is no way to have a good location destination if you have a location no one can find.  No disrespect meant, but let's look at the future of our fine neighborhood, not the past.

There are many people who have lived here decades who have never heard of Barry's Corner, and with good reason.  The others, when given a choice, overwhelmingly prefer Allston Square.  Besides, there is, 3 miles away, the real Barry's Corner, with a lot of history behind it, in Cambridge, at the intersection of Rindge Avenue, Cedar Street and Rice Street.  It's where Tip O'Neil grew up and started his career.  It's a very famous, well-established location. 

If you want to attract new, good neighbors, you have to have a place people can get to, and the name Barry's Corner doesn't say where it is, how to get there and doesn't give Allston any real historical context.  And if someone says they know where it is, you have no way of knowing if they mean Cambridge Barry's Corner, which is an historical place, marked by a Historical Plaque and listed in the registry of historic places, or Barry's Corner, that appears to have no historical significance at all.  After all, it was only 52 houses bulldozed 45 years ago that no one outside of the immediate area new the families there called it by that name.

Let's have a name we can be proud of that gives Allston some stature.  Let's honor the painter of prodigious talent and world-wide acclaim, Washington Allston.  Let's put Allston on the map, as distinguished from Brighton.  And let's give those families that lost their homes a proper memorial, on the exact land they once owned and lived on, some for generations.

This is just my opinion after being here for quite some time and having never heard of Barry's Corner before Harvard started calling it that.  What exactly was there, anyway, besides the 52 houses.  Does anyone know?

I want what is best for North Allston, not in the past, but in the future.  Allston Square and the Barry's Corner Memorial Grove sure sounds good to me, while the name Barry's Corner has always sounded bad.  Allston is a lot better a community now than it was decades ago.  We should have a name, and a Square, we can be proud of, not cast our eyes backward to a place that has been gone and not forgotten by only a very, very few.  I like this community and want the best for it.  I'm for Allston Square, Washington Allston and Barry's Corner Memorial Grove-which will stand in perpetuity as a testament to those folks much better than a huge building across the street.

On Sunday, December 8, 2013 3:52:54 PM UTC-5, Joan Pasquale wrote:

[allst...@rcn.com]

there is no historic significance to the Barry's Corner in Allston.  The only thing it is famous for is the fight to prevent urban renewal.  As it is now, if you look up Barry's Corner you find no history except the fight to keep what was a pretty depressing houses and a luncheonette.  This is the only historical significance and it's not particularly a history anyone can be all that proud of.

On Sunday, December 8, 2013 3:52:54 PM UTC-5, Joan Pasquale wrote:

[lizbr...@aol.com]

Anders,

As a fairly recent settler in Allston Brighton I have always known the intersection of Harvard Ave and Western Ave as Barry's Corner. 

Sadly, I think you miss the point in stating it was "only 52 houses bulldozed 45 years ago". It wasn't "only 52 houses",  was a neighborhood, a community of people who lived there for many generations.  

Our Barry's corner was no less "real" that its counterpart in Cambridge.   The people who live there are of no less significance than the good people in Cambridge.  

Communities and neighborhoods matter, they are what make a city a living entity.  I hope the people who move into Barry's corner will be good neighbors, be civically engaged,  put down roots here and become involved in our community.  The true test for this new development will be if it makes North Brighton and North Allston a great place to live for families of all kinds so that we can make amends for the injustice of 45 years ago.

As that famous politician from Barry's Corner in Cambridge said, "All politics is local". 

Liz B

--

[Laura Bethard]

Agreed with Liz.  It would be nice if Allston was less divided between the long-term residents and the newer residents.  I remember when I was a new resident feeling deeply estranged from the existing permanent residents.  But the name-change petition feels disrespectful to me of the history of Allston, and I can't see that it's a step towards integrating the new and the old.  I'd rather make what we have a place to be proud of than just re-brand it.

Also, from a pragmatic standpoint, people will call it whatever they're going to call it, no matter what name you slap up on it.  It's very "Boston" to give directions by places that don't exist anymore.  And "Allston Square" sounds one word different from "Union Square Allston", so I don't see that it adds much clarity between existing locations.

 
Laura

-Yf thou were a latyn tretise ich wolde putte thee in the vernacular.

---

From: "lizbr...@aol.com" <lizbr...@aol.com>
To: allstonbr...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Monday, December 9, 2013 10:50 AM
Subject: Re: [AB2006] Re: FW: Community Petition and Flyer

[Bat_cave]

What a warped way of seeing what is historic and what is not. A geographic name becomes historic because of the long time it has been in use. Not all places are or need to be named for famous people.

On 12/8/13 5:38 PM, "allst...@rcn.com" <allst...@rcn.com> wrote:

[kathy clifford]

HI,
I'd like to add my two cents...
i am a life long resident of Allston and i take a small bit of offense at the idea that Barry's Corner has no significance.   it certainly did to all those that lived there!   Scollay square and  the site of the boston massacre aren't exactly things to be proud of either, but they are still landmarks.
 
i didn't live in Barry's Corner but i know several families that had.   To dismiss it as having no historical significance is not very polite.   I can understand the utility of calling the proposed area Allston Square, but i like that Barry's Corner is officially remembered too in some way... perhaps by a plaque in Allston Square?
 
Regards.

 

---

Date: Mon, 9 Dec 2013 16:19:31 -0500

Subject: Re: [AB2006] Re: FW: Community Petition and Flyer

From: Bat_...@comcast.net
To: allstonbr...@googlegroups.com

What a warped way of seeing what is historic and what is not. A geographic name becomes historic because of the long time it has been in use. Not all places are or need to be named for famous people.


On 12/8/13 5:38 PM, "allst...@rcn.com" <allst...@rcn.com> wrote:

there is no historic significance to the Barry's Corner in Allston.  The only thing it is famous for is the fight to prevent urban renewal.  As it is now, if you look up Barry's Corner you find no history except the fight to keep what was a pretty depressing houses and a luncheonette.  This is the only historical significance and it's not particularly a history anyone can be all that proud of.

[james creamer]

Maybe we should change the name to Dawes Corner since William Dawes rode his horse through there on the 18th of April in 1775.

[kathy clifford]

lol maybe!
frankly i've been puzzling over exactly where he road .... i have the idea that he road down franklin street (the street i live on) and have mentioned before to some group or other that we should have a plaque stating that too!  i can share it with the Barry's Corner group if i must. 
 
;)
regards,
 

---

From: jrcr...@rcn.com

To: allstonbr...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: [AB2006] Re: FW: Community Petition and Flyer

Date: Mon, 9 Dec 2013 17:21:04 -0500

[Eva Webster]

Kathy, why are you saying that Barry’s Corner can be remembered by a plaque in Allston Square?  Barry’s Corner is the historic name of the entire intersection, not just the area where the demolished houses stood.  The name may have fallen out of use, especially among newcomers, because of the population shift that occurred there, but it’s still the correct name.

People “commemorate” things that no longer exist, and Barry’s Corner as a geographic location exists even though the original residential enclave is gone.

I think we should have a permanent plaque about Barry’s Corner history (one that mentions the Urban Renewal aspect, of course) right in the public space of today’s Barry’s Corner -- not on Harvard’s private land. If Harvard is willing to build some “Grove” (a green area,  I suppose) -- OK. But keep in mind that in another 20 years or so, or after we are are all gone, Harvard can do on its land whatever it pleases. Therefore, commemorating the history of that neighborhood center belongs in the public sphere, not on private land.

Also, there are two issues here, one is the new large residential development (hundreds of units) that will be built next year, and whether it should have its own name. (Answer: it can have its own name, but Allston Square is not appropriate in my opinion because “Square” is a name that would be normally used for a public space that’s shaped like a square. No one would call the old, or new, Charlesview development a “Square”, would they?  A better name would be something like “Allston Court” perhaps — or we may even have a little competition to find the best name for this new development.)

The second issue is whether the intersection (that specific town center) should be given a new name at all -- when it already has its own historic name, but one that has not been sufficiently publicized by visible signage and so on throughout the years.  Now is the time to give Barry’s Corner original name new prominence and recognition.  Indeed, let’s start a new period in that location’s history — but under its traditional name. (It really makes no difference that Somerville also has Barry’s Corner — there are lots of street names that sound the same, but are located in different municipalities.)

I’m sure that community activists in North Allston are very preoccupied with dealing with Harvard, and probably don’t have time to think about historic installations — but that’s where the Historical Society may be of help. I do hope that BAHS can come up with some material about the history of entire Barry’s Corner (not just the homes that were lost), and we could have a great historic installation that would teach all new residents and businesses that will be moving into that area how this place emerged and when.

Lastly, please let’s keep in mind that there is such a thing as “history by common people”.  You don’t need to have had a major historic event happen for a place to be historic. It’s the long-term human activity that leaves a historic imprint (positive, and sometimes negative). And there are many geographic places throughout America that are named after regular people, usually those who were a part of its early history -- not only famous folks.  (For example, the street where my sister-in-law lives in a Chicago suburb is called Susan Court — a testimony to the original developer’s love for his daughter, I was told. I don’t see anything wrong about it.)

On 12/9/13 4:38 PM, "kathy clifford" <mrs_cl...@hotmail.com> wrote:

[Nancy Grilk]

Amen, Eva and all from our community who support keeping Barry's Corner Barry's Corner.  By the way, Allston Square has already existed.  It was just off Allston Street and intersected with Grigg's Place, not far from my home.  Where it was is now Ringer Playground.  

I find the condescending, dismissive comments that nothing ever happened at Barry's Corner and only nobodies lived there not helpful to the discussion.  And the arguments against the Barry's Corner name remind me of how those folks got screwed by higher ups many decades and now powers of the same ilk want to force their 'brand' on this triangle of urban history.

Bob Pessek, 32-year Allston resident 

[James Madden]

This thread on Barry's Corner and its historical meanings are fascinating.  I'd like to share a couple of resources for folks to explore what is a truly rich history in the area.

First, the City of Boston Archives has a great pre-urban renewal photo set of Barry's Corner on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityofbostonarchives/sets/72157634581831214/.  From these photos one can view what the neighborhood was before it was torn down - a late 19th/early 20th century streetcar suburb built in the vernacular of the era, hard up against institutional expansion and major industrial employers, and beginning to see a decline along the lines of most urban areas mid-century.  Without labels, you might guess these photos were of Cambridge or Dorchester.  Keep in mind when viewing them that these were taken after the urban renewal was planned and in such a manner as to justify urban renewal.

Second - while the architecture may have been flawed - the story of the Charlesview Apartments is an incredibly important piece of the history of community development.  In the wake of urban renewal's destruction, residents and religious institutions were able to band together, demand affordable housing, and build the Charlesview Apartments with cutting edge financial, legal, and architectural methods.  For four decades, the Charlesview Apartments provided badly needed housing and services.  They were even the original location of the Joseph Smith Health Center.  A brief on this chapter of Barry's Corner's history here http://charlesviewcommunity.org/about-us/history/ 

Third, the "corner" designation gives a hint of the area's original development.  Noting that this is a corner - Barry's Corner - shows that the area must once have been a small village (they named the intersection after a family that lived there!) and it shows that the area was an important crossroads or corner connecting settlements in Cambridge and Allston-Brighton.  Why a corner?  Why those odd street angles? What were these other areas it was connecting?  The name begs all of these questions, all of which lead to deeper study of the Boston area's rich history of neighborhood development.

I'll keep myself from rambling further, but I would encourage folks to engage more deeply with the history of Barry's Corner and dwell on how much that name hints at it.  

Cheers,

James Madden

[Kevin Carragee]

 To All:

I want to echo the many meaningful comments on the significance of place names and why Barry's Corner should remain Barry's Corner.

History matters or at least it should, although American society suffers from its ahistorical character. Barry's Corner should be remembered as a place where residents were displaced by misguided urban renewal efforts that destroyed city neighborhoods all across this country. We should not forget this history or the fight of Barry Corner residents to protect their neighborhood. Another Boston neighborhood-- The West End-- was destroyed at the same time, but its story was chronicled by an American sociologist, Herbert Gans, in his classic book, The Urban Villagers. And because of this, the West End's destruction remains in the collective memory of people and planners who care about cities.

The story of the West End and Barry's Corner was a story of urban planning by elites that ran amuck, violating the needs and interests of working people. And this was repeated across the United States (my family was displaced from the Lower East Side in New York City by misguided plans implemented by Robert Moses and it remained their "lost community" throughout their lives, and I was raised on stories of what was lost).

So.. by remembering Barry's Corner and by retaining its name, we remember what was lost when working people are displaced by decisions by people who "knew" better, but, in fact, did not. And that lesson is not restricted to the Barry's Corner of the past, but extends to other places at other times, including our own.

Cordially,

Kevin M. Carragee

[Joan Pasquale]

 

From: a...@rcn.com
To: jpasqu...@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: #8 - FW: [AB2006] Re: FW: Community Petition and Flyer
Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2013 12:46:15 -0500

Dear Kevin,

You wrote, “Barry's Corner should be remembered as a place where residents were displaced by misguided urban renewal efforts that destroyed city neighborhoods all across this country.

 

The reason for Barry’s Corner Memorial Grove is exactly what you want.  There will be a plaque that tells the story of Barry’s Corner’s residents fight and list the names of the displaced families.  I notice you didn’t mention any of the actual people that were displaced.  And your opinion about urban renewal in general indicates that you may be opposed to the concept in general, not the improvement in our community specifically.  It’s OK to have whatever opinion you like, but are you sincere or just change averse as a concept, not the improvement of our dear North Allston?

 

You also wrote, “by retaining its name, we remember what was lost when working people are displaced by decisions by people who "knew" better, but, in fact, did not.”  I’m sure you know the great Joseph M. Smith who walked the streets to build support and ultimately create proper a medical care facility for the community he loved with the medical center that now carries name.  He did not support the protestors and wanted the urban renewal that improved our community.  Are you saying that Joseph M. Smith “’knew’ better, but, in fact, did not?”  I don’t think that’s either fair or accurate, but you are, of course, entitled to you opinion and I’m glad you shared it.

 

Very best,

 Renny McKinney

[shake...@gmail.com]

"Allston Square" is such a dull name. Isn't this part of the city already named after Washington Allston? Why do we need to put the word "Allston" on an intersection that is already in Allston? Barry's Corner is at least distinctive. 

We already have "Allston Village" and many people refer to Union Square as "Union Square - Allston" to differentiate it from Union Square in Somerville. Is this re-branding to make things more confusing for someone who doesn't know the neighborhood well?

Sorry, I might be for this if you could come up with a better name. Allston Square is unimaginative and boring. If you can't improve upon "Barry's Corner," then leave it be. I think that the sentiment behind wanting to change the name are good, but it will have the unintended effect of making the place a whole lot less interesting. 

A better tribute to the history of the area and its former residents would be to retain the Barry's Corner name. 

[Joan Pasquale]

From my perspective: 
If you wish to create a specific location or community event as a destination point, it helps to add the name of the town where it's located in order for it to be memorable and bring positive attention to the town where it's located. The location in question could be a viable destination point for more than Allston - Brighton residents provided that it's marketed as such, with the idea of creating a steady flow of visitors/consumers which assists a business district's financial stability and helps to put Allston on the map as an intergenerational place to visit, shop, eat, etc. Destination Points don't just happen - they're created, and this is an opportunity to further assist with re-branding, marketing Allston as a positive, viable destination point versus it's present branding as just college town party central.  Allston is much more than that.
 
Joan Pasquale

 

---

Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2013 09:45:56 -0800
From: shake...@gmail.com
To: allstonbr...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [AB2006] Re: FW: Community Petition and Flyer