LGBTQ+ History Hub

LGBTQ+ History Hub graphic

This hub is a work in progress. Have some resources to add? Let us know! In This Hub Introduction Cambridge is a well-known leader in LGBTQ+ rights. The city was first in Massachusetts to perform gender-affirming surgery in 1972, and in 2004 it became first in the country to grant same-sex marriage licenses. City government…

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India Pavilion 

Compiled by Deb Mandel, 2022 Years 1979 – present Location 17 Central Square, Western Ave. Website: https://indiapavilion.com/ History Indian food in New England was born here. ​In 1979, Mohan Singh bought a Central Square pizza house and turned it into an Indian restaurant – something not found anywhere else in Boston at the time. Not…

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Simeone’s 

Compiled by Deb Mandel, 2022 Years  1949-1976 Locations 41 Pearl St. (1946-1949) 21 Brookline St. (1949-1976) History Simeone’s, whose motto was, “choice foods skillfully prepared served promptly and courteously,” opened on February 24, 1949 on Brookline street in Central Square, after moving from its original 60-seat 41 Pearl St. location. Its menu included pizza, popular…

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Cambridge Community Television

Cambridge Community Television nurtures a strong, equitable and diverse community by providing tools and training to foster free speech, civic engagement, and creative expression while connecting people to collaboratively produce media that is responsive, relevant, and effective in a fast-changing technological environment. CCTV has archival film and video footage of Cambridge dating back to the…

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Guided Tour: Food and Mending in Central Square

Guided Tour

As a source of both physical and emotional sustenance, food is intricately tied to our survival as individuals and as a community. During the twentieth century, food also played an important role as a means by which Cambridge visitors and residents could learn about and connect with their neighbors across racial, ethnic and class lines.…

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Self-Guided Tours: Mapping Feminist Cambridge

Yellow rectangle with women's symbol collaborative and words Cambridge Commission on the Status of Women

Produced by the Cambridge Commission on the Status of Women, these tours highlight feminist, socialist, and educational institutions that emerged and thrived in Cambridge. Two tours are offered: Inman Square Central Square

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Cambridge Love Letters

Red envelope with words "Cambridge Love Letters" written on white paper coming out of envelope

In June 2021, History Cambridge held and event called “Cambridge Love Letters” at Starlight Square. We asked members of the larger Cambridge community to send us their love letters to the city. These are some of the submissions. Dear Cambridge, When I first arrived in your port twenty-one years ago, I had no idea how…

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Self-Guided Tour: Women Activists of Riverside 50 Years After Suffrage

Stop 1: Begin the tour in Central Square With the passage of the 19th Amendment one hundred years ago this past August (2020), American women won the right to vote. Rather than a culmination, this event marked the beginning of a long fight for equal treatment and equity that is still far from over. Fifty…

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