Art Collection

This is the second of four famous engravings made of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, and it depicts British troops marching into Concord. The town of Concord is visible in the background, and certain buildings are identifiable, such as the meetinghouse on the left, Wright Tavern in the center and the county courthouse on the far right. In the lower right foreground are Major John Pitcairn and Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith of the British forces, who are shown standing on a hill and looking through a spyglass in order to observe the movements of the gathering colonial militia.

This painting depicts the events of the Battle of Fiske Hill, one of the skirmishes between the colonists and the British along Battle Road on April 19, 1775. As the British retreated from Concord toward Boston, they were harried by Colonial militia utilizing the high ground for cover. At Fiske Hill, British second-in-command Major John Pitcairn was thrown from his horse and injured during an ambush by the colonists; this caused the already-demoralized British troops to break formation and “run, rather than retreat,” in the words of one officer. Upon reaching Lexington, a relief force led by Earl Percy (whose portrait hangs in the Genealogy Room) arrived to provide support. Although Parsons is best known for his landscapes and sporting scenes, he also produced a number of works depicting episodes from local history during the decades he lived in Lexington. 

This oak long case clock was made by the E. Howard Watch & Clock Company of Boston. Its namesake, Edward Howard, was one of the most respected horologists of his time, and the company – founded in 1842 as E. Howard & Co. – specialized in making high-quality clocks and watches of all kinds. But by 1881, after several years of financial difficulties, Edward Howard retired and sold out his shares in the company. The new management focused mainly on producing wall clocks, though other types were made on commission. This clock was most likely one of the latter, as the clock face is decorated with an image of the Minuteman statue and other patriotic motifs, including eagles in flight, while the case is affixed with a plaque stating, “Presented by Freeman J. Doe for the Cary Memorial Library to the Town of Lexington A.D. 1907.” 

The Lexington High School graduating class of 1926 was made up of 88 students – 47 men and 41 women. This photo includes individual portraits of each student, as well as those of the school’s 16 faculty members. These students were graduating in the midst of the decade known as the ‘Roaring Twenties,’ years that were filled with economic growth and social change. The rise of mass production made a wide range of products – such as radios, refrigerators and automobiles – affordable to the growing middle class, while at the same time, significant societal changes were taking place, which included the passage of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote. Additionally, the increasing urbanization of America had a significant societal impact, as for the first time in history, more Americans were living in cities than on farms.

James E. Purdy (1859-1933) was born in Saco, Maine and established a photo studio with business partner C.H. Howard on Tremont Street in Boston in 1896. His initial focus was on selling prints of celebrity photographs to magazines and newspapers, and in order to differentiate his work from that of his competition, Purdy offered a range of printing processes, using carbon, silver bromide and platinum to create images that ranged from subtle to dramatic. In addition to his portrait work of famous figures, ranging from actresses and artists to diplomats and clergymen, his studio also became known as the main photographer of high school classes in the Boston area for much of the 20th century. 

This map shows Lexington center as it looked in the late 19th century. Clearly visible is the Middlesex Central Railroad, a subsidiary of the larger Boston and Lowell Railroad, running through the center of the town. Opened in 1873, it was a continuation of the rail service between Lexington and Boston which had begun in the mid-1800s. The ease of travel between the town center and the city due to multiple daily trains brought significant changes to Lexington through population growth and demographic shifts, as the town transformed from a farming community to a middle-class commuter suburb.

This map shows the village centers of Lexington and East Lexington, as well as borders with the neighboring towns of Lincoln, Bedford, Burlington, Woburn, Winchester, Arlington, Belmont and Waltham. The rail connection between Lexington Center and Boston led to population growth and a demographic shift due to an influx of both working-class laborers attracted by the prospect of jobs on the railroad and middle-class businessmen who wanted to live in a more peaceful countryside setting while still commuting to work in the city. These changes exacerbated a rivalry between the village centers of Lexington and East Lexington that had been ongoing throughout the 1800s. The residents of East Lexington believed that the size of their population and economic contributions as the town’s commercial hub deserved more recognition in town governance and the location of town buildings, while residents of Lexington Center felt that since it had been established first, it was the logical civic center. The arrival of the railroad permanently shifted the commercial heart of town to Lexington Center, and as the advent of automobile transportation closed the distance between the two village centers, the rivalry faded.

This wintry scene depicts Monument House, which stood on the southwest corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Muzzey Street.  Built in 1802 by Amos Muzzey, Monument House was not only the most popular tavern in Lexington, but it also served as a community gathering place, hosting numerous town functions such as public dances and dinners. Benjamin Muzzey inherited Monument House from his father and in 1847, replaced it with Lexington House, a large hotel meant to capitalize on the influx of visitors brought to town by the Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad, which had opened the previous year. The hotel burned down in 1892 and was rebuilt and operated as the Leslie Hotel until the 1900s, when it changed hands and became the Paul Revere Tavern. The building was torn down in 1929 in order to make way for a new structure which housed the Lexington Trust Company. Since then, it has been home to Shawmut Bank and is now a Santander Bank. The plaque on the frame states “Monument House 1888, Mass Ave. at Muzzey St. Courtesy of the Depositors Trust Co., 1972.”

Philip Brown Parsons (1896-1977) was born in West Medford, Massachusetts and attended the Boston School of Painting and the Child-Walker School of Art in Boston. While there, he studied with pupils of Howard Pyle, a notable artist and illustrator of the late 19th century. Parsons painted mainly landscapes and sporting images, and he also worked as an illustrator, creating covers for magazines such as National Sportsman, Hunting and Fishing and Outdoors. Parsons lived in Lexington for over 40 years and was the President of the Lexington Arts and Crafts Society, as well as a member of the Guild of Boston Artists. 

This print depicts a scene from Paul Revere’s famous ride from Boston to Lexington and Concord on the night of April 18, 1775. Parsons has captured the urgency and importance of Revere’s mission through the facial expressions of both man and horse, while the drama of the moment is heightened through the contrast between Revere’s wildly rearing horse and the quiet farmhouse in the background. Parsons lived in Lexington for over 40 years, and a number of his works dealt with local history, as can be seen elsewhere in the Cary Library collection.

Born in 1838, Ellen Dana was the granddaughter of Ambrose Morell, a Frenchman who served in the French army under Napoleon before escaping to America. Little is known of her life, although she is thought to have been a prominent social figure and a friend of Julia Ward Howe, a noted social activist who wrote ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic.’ Upon her death in 1913, Ellen Dana bequeathed her East Lexington estate to the Lexington Home for the Aged, which had previously struggled to find a facility. The cost of renovating and maintaining the home and property was too much for the organization, and it was sold in 1916 in order to fund the purchase of 2027 Massachusetts Avenue, which became the location of the Lexington Home for the Aged until 2010. The building was re-named The Dana Home of Lexington in 1970 in honor of the original gift. This portrait of Ellen Dana as a young girl is accompanied by a letter from Elizabeth Harrington, the original founder of the Lexington Home for the Aged, suggesting the establishment of such a place – in her own words, “a Home for such aged people as have no secured home of their own.”

This is the first of four famous engravings made of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, and it depicts the skirmish on the Lexington town green. At dawn on April 19, 1775, 700 British soldiers clashed with around 80 militiamen, killing eight and wounding nine. The disparity between the two forces is highlighted by the crisp formations of the British in contrast to the colonists, who are lying wounded or fleeing from the green.

This is the third of four famous engravings made of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, and it depicts the British troops exchanging fire with local militiamen at North Bridge. The British had marched to Concord to look for arms and munitions, which had been moved in advance of their arrival, and in the course of their unsuccessful search, the regulars lit several buildings on fire. Around 400 militiamen from Concord and neighboring towns had assembled near North Bridge and incorrectly thought that the British planned to burn the entire town. In reaction to this perceived threat, the militia engaged with a contingent of troops that had been left at the bridge, and the short skirmish left three British soldiers dead and nine wounded.

One of America’s first aircraft carriers, the U.S.S. Lexington CV-2 was named after the Battle of Lexington, which was the first real skirmish between the colonists and the British in the Revolutionary War. Launched in 1925, the Lexington served in the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet for the duration of her career. She was sent to the Coral Sea in 1942 to prevent the Japanese from invading Papua New Guinea. The Battle of the Coral Sea lasted from May 4-8 and is notable as one of the first air-sea battles in which aircraft carriers faced each other without engaging directly, relying mainly on their aircraft to inflict damage. On May 8, the Lexington was hit by two torpedoes and two bombs, which caused a series of explosions. Out of the nearly 3,000 crew members on board, 216 were killed in action before the ship was abandoned and then deliberately sunk in order to prevent its capture by the Japanese, making it the first American aircraft carrier to be lost in World War II. This is a remnant of the flag that flew over the aircraft carrier during the battle and it was a gift from the surviving officers and men of the U.S.S. Lexington to Cary Library.