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Browsing named entities in The Cambridge of eighteen hundred and ninety-six: a picture of the city and its industries fifty years after its incorporation (ed. Arthur Gilman). You can also browse the collection for November, 1857 AD or search for November, 1857 AD in all documents.
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The Cambridge of eighteen hundred and ninety-six: a picture of the city and its industries fifty years after its incorporation (ed. Arthur Gilman), The public Library. (search)
The public Library. William J. Rolfe, Litt. D.
The Public Library had its origin in the Cambridge Athenaeum, which was incorporated in 1849 for the purpose of establishing a lyceum, library, reading-room, etc. The beginning of the library was made in 1855, when Mr. James Brown, of Watertown, bequeathed one thousand dollars to the institution, to be used in the purchase of books; but it was not until November, 1857, that the library was opened to the public.
The next year (1858) the Athenaeum sold its building (afterwards used as a city hall) to the city, which obligated itself to contribute at least three hundred dollars a year, for fifty years, to the support of the library, and to maintain it forever for the benefit of the inhabitants of Cambridge.
It now received the name of the Dana Library, in honor of Mr. Edmund T. Dana, who had given the land for the site of the Athenaeum building.
Later Mr. Dana, by a codicil to his will, left fifteen thousand dollars for the increas