• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Business index
  • Contribute
  • Wellesley Square
  • Private schools
  • Camp
  • Eat
  • Schools
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Kids
  • About us
  • Events
  • Natick Report
  • COVID-19
  • Seniors
  • Letters to the editor
  • Live government meetings
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Write Ahead, Wellesley

A brief history of Wellesley and U.S. Presidents

February 18, 2011 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

George Washington visits Wellesley MA

Wellesley has a long and storied association with Presidents of the United States, starting with George Washington himself.

* As you may know, Washington Street running through the center of town is named after old George, who visited town in in November of 1789 on his Presidential Tour of New England. A plaque mounted on a stone (shown above) marks this historic occasion at Washington Park along the Charles River on River Street.

* President Ulysses Grant visited and stayed over at his cousin’s home  at 50 Woodlawn Ave. in 1875 when he was president as well as in 1868 while campaigning (during his earlier visit he addressed a meeting in a park that went on to become Wellesley Hills station).

* President Grover Cleveland, he of the two separated terms as President, stayed at the home of Stephen Simons in the late 1800s on land that is now home to the Wellesley Free Library. As far as I know, neither Grove Street or Cleveland Road in Wellesley are named after him.

Roger Babson, Babson College

* Business and finance whiz Roger Babson, who founded Babson College in 1919 as the Babson Institute, ran for President of the United State in 1940 as the candidate for the National Prohibition Party. According to the Babson College biography of its founder: “Although the church-affiliated party was best known for wanting to outlaw vices such as alcohol, gambling, and narcotics, as well as indecent movies and publications, the party also advocated reducing debt and taxation, conserving natural resources, aiding farmers, and ‘assuring workers and consumers a fair share of industry’s products and profits.’ Although Roger Babson knew his party would not win the election, he felt it was his duty to bring its moral and religious agenda to the nation. Out of a field of eight candidates, Roger Babson followed fourth behind Franklin Roosevelt, Wendell Willkie, and Norman Thomas.”

Hillary Rodham, Wellesley College

* In 1969, Hillary D. Rodham, later Clinton, delivered the student commencement speech. Clinton, who was First Lady from 1993 to 2001 and the Democratic candidate for the 2016 election, was at the time of her 1969 commencement speech the President of the Wellesley College Government Association. She paid a visit to Wellesley College in 2007 while on the presidential nominee campaign trail, as seen in this video. Clinton is delivering the 2017 Wellesley College commencement speech too.

* In 1980, the last debate before the Massachusetts Republican Primary (which was held on March 4th) was at Dana Hall’s Bardwell Auditorium. Wellesley historian Beth Hinchliffe, who attended,  says the event  wasn’t sponsored by the school, but just happened to be held there.  “Two of the participants were Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush — so we got two Presidents in one night then,” she says.

* In 1990, then-First Lady Barbara Bush gave the commencement address at Wellesley College, and brought as her special guest visiting Soviet First Lady Raisa Gorbachev (read the former First Lady’s remarks here).

A couple of other tidbits:

* In 2010, the Babson Executive Conference Center named John Mills as its executive chef. One of his claims to fame: Having cooked for both Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush.

* Nearby in Natick, on Rte. 135 west just past the Natick Roche Bros., stands the Henry Wilson Shoe Shop, commemorating the former Massachusetts senator who served as vice president under Ulysses Grant in the 1870s.

(Thanks to Beth Hinchliffe, Josh Dorin as well as Wellesley College and Babson College media relations and archivists for their assistance)

Anyone got anything else worth mentioning on this topic? If so, please comment below or send us a note here

print

Share

Filed Under: History, Holidays

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You have to agree to the comment policy.

Linden Square, Wellesley
Wellesley United Soccer
Wonderful Wellesley

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

 

Advertisements

Wellesley Square
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Cheesy Street Grill
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Fay School, Southborough
Wellesley Theatre Project
Volvo
Admit Fit, Wellesley
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click on Entering Natick sign to read our Natick Report

Entering Natick road sign

Most Read Posts

  • Wellesley High holds special August ceremony for grad injured in car crash
  • Congrats to all those sweaty, determined Pan-Mass Challenge riders
  • Wellesley arts news: Davis Museum previews fall exhibits; Abstract art welcomes you to the library
  • An hour in a Wellesley garden—a visit to Little Red
  • Wellesley is back to being a dry town

Upcoming Events

Aug 15
1:00 pm

Wellesley Neighbors, Open Lunch

Aug 17
10:00 am - 11:00 am

Tour at Boston Outdoor Preschool Network

Aug 17
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Al Fresco Dinner and Music on the COA Patio

Aug 20
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Code Ninjas JR Workshops

Aug 24
10:00 am - 11:00 am

Tour at Boston Outdoor Preschool Network

View Calendar

Popular pages

  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads

Recent Comments

  • Ellen S on The Underrated Cure: Gardening’s Effect on Mental Health
  • Mary Ann on First taste: Wellesley Square’s new Lockheart Restaurant
  • Mary Ann on First taste: Wellesley Square’s new Lockheart Restaurant
  • Michael Maggard WHS '85 on In remembrance: Martha ‘Martie” Cherry Fiske, award-winning Wellesley teacher who fought for job rights
  • Katherine Fellows on Wellesley outdoor watering restrictions to come with a bit of ‘enforcement’

Links we like

  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Taquitos.net
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (24)
  • Animals (418)
  • Antiques (49)
  • Art (581)
  • Beyond Wellesley (49)
  • Books (368)
  • Business (1,514)
  • Camp (11)
  • Careers/jobs (49)
  • Churches (81)
  • Clubs (229)
  • Construction (296)
  • Dump (127)
  • Education (3,125)
    • Babson College (251)
    • Bates Elementary School (16)
    • Dana Hall School (34)
    • Fiske Elementary School (9)
    • Hardy Elementary School (44)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (43)
    • MassBay (55)
    • Schofield Elementary School (24)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (2)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (11)
    • Upham Elementary School (35)
    • Wellesley College (610)
    • Wellesley High School (970)
    • Wellesley Middle School (204)
  • Embracing diversity (70)
  • Entertainment (792)
  • Environment (755)
  • Fashion (141)
  • Finance (14)
  • Fire (164)
  • Food (347)
  • Fundraising (615)
  • Gardens (161)
  • Government (565)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
    • 2022 Town Election (14)
  • Health (853)
    • COVID-19 (200)
  • Hikes (4)
  • History (389)
  • Holidays (406)
  • Houses (157)
  • Humor (47)
  • Kids (854)
  • Law (8)
  • Legal notices (6)
  • Letters to the Editor (63)
  • Media (70)
  • METCO (4)
  • Military (11)
  • Morses Pond (108)
  • Music (571)
  • Natick Report (30)
  • Neighbors (273)
  • Obituaries & remembrances (76)
  • Outdoors (643)
  • Parenting (63)
  • Police (757)
    • Crime (386)
  • Politics (551)
  • POPS Senior Profile (10)
  • RDF (6)
  • Real estate (334)
  • Religion (132)
  • Restaurants (335)
  • Safety (151)
  • Scouts (2)
  • Seniors (123)
  • Shopping (148)
  • Sponsored (6)
  • Sports (986)
    • Athlete of the Week (6)
  • STEM (107)
  • Technology (164)
  • Theatre (395)
  • Town Meeting (23)
  • Transportation (232)
  • Travel (17)
  • Uncategorized (1,231)
  • Volunteering (347)
  • Weather (178)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (277)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (19)
Deland, Gibson Insurance, Wellesley

© 2022 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login