The Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association (est.1795) of
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
, was "formed for the sole purposes of promoting the
mechanic arts and extending the practice of benevolence."
Founders included
Paul Revere
Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, Sons of Liberty member, and Patriot and Founding Father. He is best known for his midnight ride to a ...
, Jonathan Hunnewell, and
Benjamin Russell. Through much of the 19th century, the association organized conferences and exhibitions devoted to innovation in the mechanical arts.
History
The group first met in 1795 at the
Green Dragon Tavern
]
The Green Dragon Tavern was a public house located on Union Street (then known as Green Dragon Lane) in Boston's North End. A popular meeting place for both the Freemasons and the Sons of Liberty, it was demolished in 1832.
History
The proper ...
. Paul Revere acted as chairman.
Subsequent meetings took place at
Concert Hall (Boston, Massachusetts), Concert Hall and elsewhere. The group officially incorporated in 1806.
Its constitution proclaimed:
"It is universally admitted that the combined operation of the mechanic powers hath been the source of those useful inventions and scientific arts, which have given to polished society its wealth, conveniences, respectability, and defence, and which have ameliorated the condition of its citizens. Rational, therefore, is the inference, that the association of those who conduct those powers will prove highly beneficial to them, by promoting mutual good offices and fellowship; -- by assisting the necessitous; -- encouraging the ingenious; -- and rewarding the faithful."
Founding members included tailors,
hatters
Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter.
Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of g ...
, hairdressers, bakers, blacksmiths,
whitesmith A whitesmith is a metalworker who does finishing work on iron and steel such as filing, lathing, burnishing or polishing.
The term also refers to a person who works with "white" or light-coloured metals, and is sometimes used as a synonym for tinsmi ...
s, goldsmiths, watchmakers,
coopers, engine-builders, painters, printers, bookbinders, booksellers,
currier
A currier is a specialist in the leather processing industry. After the tanning process, the currier applies techniques of dressing, finishing and colouring to a tanned hide to make it strong, flexible and waterproof. The leather is stretched an ...
s, shipwrights,
riggers, sailmakers, ropemakers, cabinet-makers, housewrights, masons, bricklayers, paint-sellers, saddlers,
farrier
A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves, if necessary. A farrier combines some blacksmith's skills (fabricating, adapting, and adj ...
s, furriers,
cordwainer
A cordwainer () is a shoemaker who makes new shoes from new leather. The cordwainer's trade can be contrasted with the cobbler's trade, according to a tradition in Britain that restricted cobblers to repairing shoes. This usage distinction is ...
s, silk-dyers. Among the first members were Paul Revere and Paul Revere, Jr., goldsmiths; Benjamin Russell, printer; David West, bookseller; Samuel Perkins, painter; Ephraim Thayer, engine-builder; Jedediah Lincoln, housewright;
Edmund Hartt
Edmund Hartt (1744-1824) was a master carpenter and owned the shipyard in Boston, Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachuse ...
, shipwright; Samuel Gore, painter; and several dozen others.
Later members included
Joseph T. Buckingham,
Alexander Parris
Alexander Parris (November 24, 1780 – June 16, 1852) was a prominent American architect-engineer. Beginning as a housewright, he evolved into an architect whose work transitioned from Federal style architecture to the later Greek Revival. Parr ...
and
Thomas Waldron Sumner Thomas Waldron Sumner (1768–1849) was an architect and government representative in Boston, Massachusetts, in the early 19th century. He designed East India Marine Hall and the Independent Congregational Church in Salem; and the South Congregatio ...
.
Festivals & exhibitions
Beginning in 1809 the association held "Triennial Festivals" which continued through the 19th century. The festivals alternated venues, sometimes taking place in
Faneuil Hall
Faneuil Hall ( or ; previously ) is a marketplace and meeting hall located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts. Opened in 1742, it was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others ...
, sometimes in the Music Hall, and elsewhere. From 1837, the association organized large exhibitions of mechanical innovations and related curiosities. The exhibitions, which took place every two years, were held in large indoor spaces such as
Quincy Hall
Quincy Hall (born 31 July 1998) is an American track and field athlete who competes over 400 metres and 400m hurdles.
Early life
From Kansas City, Missouri, Quincy Hall participated in track, football and wrestling at Raytown South High School ...
.
Library
In 1820, William Wood established a library that continued under the supervision of the main body of the association until 1828, when the newly formed
Mechanic Apprentices Library Association took over. The Apprentices Library then operated for several decades thereafter.
In 1892 the library ceased; its collections were "distributed throughout repositories in Boston.
Other activities
Throughout its history the association collected and distributed charitable funds to the needy.
During the early 19th century the association promoted efforts to expand educational opportunities for apprentices and other boys. One outcome was the establishment in 1821 of the first public high school in America, the
English High School of Boston
The English High School of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, is one of the first public high schools in America, founded in 1821. Originally called The English Classical School, it was renamed The English High School upon its first relocation ...
(originally the English Classical School). A number of prominent members of the association served on the school committee that created English High School. The school was also modeled after a similar effort by the mechanics of Edinburgh, Scotland.
It also ran "an evening school in the mechanical arts" 1820-1859. "In 1900 the first classes of the MCMA Trade School began. The Trade School provided classes in electrical wiring, drafting, and carpentry, among many others. During World War I, the enrollment dropped substantially and the school closed in 1917. Following this closure the MCMA promoted classes held at the
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT) is a private institute of technology in Boston, Massachusetts. Wentworth was founded in 1904 and offers career-focused education through 21 bachelor's degree programs as well as 13 master's degrees.
Histo ...
in Boston."
Beginning in the late 1840s the association "invested in the
Revere Hotel."
Buildings
Around the 1860s and 1870s the association's Mechanics Hall was located at Bedford Street and Chauncy Street. A new
Mechanics Hall was constructed for the association in 1881 on
Huntington Avenue
Huntington Avenue is a secondary thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, beginning at Copley Square, and continuing west through the Back Bay, Fenway, Longwood, and Mission Hill neighborhoods. Huntington Avenue is signed as Route 9 ...
, at West Newton Street near
Copley Square
Copley Square , named for painter John Singleton Copley, is a public square in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, bounded by Boylston Street, Clarendon Street, St. James Avenue, and Dartmouth Street. Prior to 1883 it was known as Art Square due to it ...
. Architect
William Gibbons Preston
William Gibbons Preston (September 29, 1842 – March 26, 1910) was an American architect who practiced during the last third of the nineteenth century and in the first decade of the twentieth. Educated at Harvard University and the École des ...
designed it. Like its predecessor, the new Mechanics Building featured an auditorium, sometimes referred to as the Grand Hall. The building was demolished in 1959.
By 1988 the association conducted its business from quarters in
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...
.
See also
*
Mechanics Hall (Boston, Massachusetts), Huntington Ave.
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
{{Commons category, Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association
Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association website
Image gallery
;MCMA exhibitions
Image:1839 exhibit MCMA Boston.png, 1839
Image:Interior view showing flower arrangements, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg, 13th MCMA exhibit, Park Square, 1878
Image:Interior showing wares, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views 2.jpg, 13th MCMA exhibit, Park Square, 1878
Image:Interior showing wares, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views 3.jpg, 13th MCMA exhibit, Park Square, 1878
Image:Interior showing wares, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg, 13th MCMA exhibit, Park Square, 1878
Image:1881 Simmons MCMA exhibit Boston.png, 1881 MCMA exhibit
Image:1895 exhibit MCMA Boston.png, Electric fountain, 1895 MCMA exhibit
;Mechanics Hall, Bedford Street (1860s-1870s)
Image:1869 Mechanics Hall Nanitz map Boston detail BPL10490.png, Detail of 1869 map of Boston, showing area of Mechanics Hall at Bedford and Chauncy Streets
Image:Mechanics' building, Boston, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg, Mechanics Hall, Bedford St.
;Mechanics Hall, Huntington Avenue (1881-1959)
Image:Boston 1888 SampsonMap BackBay detail.jpg, Detail of 1888 map of Back Bay, showing the new Mechanics Hall on Huntington Ave.
Image:2350779035 MCMA Boston.jpg, Sportsman's Show, Mechanics Hall, 19th century
Image:2350779177 MechanicsHall Boston.jpg, Sportsman's Show, Mechanics Hall, 19th century
Image:Streetcars and Mechanics Hall, March 1920.jpg, Mechanics Hall, Huntington Ave., 1920
1795 establishments in Massachusetts
Organizations based in Boston
History of Boston
Demolished buildings and structures in Boston
19th century in Boston
Buildings and structures demolished in 1959