Medford and Its Historical Significance

Now, in my fourth year of work at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, I feel as though I’m able to recite arcane Tufts knowledge in my sleep—while walking backward, like a diligent tour guide! However, as much as I enjoy reciting the saga of Jumbo the mascot for the umpteenth time, I also love learning new facts about the Tufts campus and the surrounding areas.On two occasions, I’ve visited the Isaac Royall House, located 5 minutes from the Tufts campus at 15 George Street in Medford. Royall, a rum distiller, slaveholder, and trader of Antiguan slaves, owned over 500 acres. George Washington and his generals stayed in the main house during the early months of the Revolutionary War. Today, visitors to the grounds can peruse a public museum, the Royalls’ home, and the site of the oldest standing slave quarters in New England. Indeed, in February of 1782, a slave named Belinda, who had toiled at the estate for 50 years, spoke before the legislature of Massachusetts to courageously petition her right to a fraction of the late Isaac Royall's inheritance.Born in Medford, Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) was an outspoken novelist, journalist, abolitionist, and advocate for the rights of women and Native Americans. However, she is best remembered for her 1844 poem entitled, “A Boy’s Thanksgiving Day.” We now know it as the Thanksgiving song, “Over the River and Through the Woods.” The title refers to the Mystic River. Grandfather’s house is still located at 114 South Street, just a few blocks from the Tufts campus, in Medford. In 1976, Tufts purchased and restored the site.Did you know that “Jingle Bells” was also composed in Medford? James Lord Pierpont (1822-1893) composed the seasonal tune in 1857. At the time, men used “cutters”—also known as “one horse open sleighs”—to race the mile-long route between Medford and Malden Squares.If you’re walking along College Avenue, you’ll see the massive Cousens Gymnasium complex. In the mid-nineteenth century, this land was the site of the George L. Stearns Estate—and a stop on the Underground Railroad. In the 1860’s, Stearns, a local merchant, operated a safe house, assisting enslaved individuals to escape from the South to the North. Stearns was also one of the “Secret Six” who lent his friend, John Brown, financial support for his 1859 anti-slavery raid on Harper’s Ferry, VA.One of my majors is American Studies, so it fascinates me that Medford has been home to slaveholders, enslaved African Americans, male and female abolitionists, and fugitives on the Underground Railroad. As a history buff, I love that the greater Boston area is rife with sites of historical significance. Visiting places like Lexington, where the colonists' revolt against England began, and the textile mills at Lowell has helped me attain a better grasp of social struggles in the United States.

Boston may be remembered for its Tea Party, but only Medford inspired Thanksgiving and Christmas songs that are beloved to this very day!