My giant Wellesley regret: Never picnicking high above Paintshop Pond

September 24, 2020 by Bob Brown 7 Comments

I’ve run by the spot dozens, maybe hundreds, of times over the years along the Boston Marathon course in Wellesley and have often thought to myself: I really should picnic there some time.

Not that I picnic often. But when I do, I like it to be a little different.

And different this would have been, overlooking the once notoriously contaminated Paintshop Pond, which sits between Lake Waban and Morses Pond just south of Rte. 135.

Someone plopped a picnic table atop the dam some years ago that would put you at a safe distance from any lingering junk swirling around the pond. An excellent story map about the pond from Jessica Ostfeld, Wellesley College ’20, refers to “a lovely picnic spot up at the northern end of the Pond” that I assume refers to this most distinct and carefree piece of patio furniture. A few years back we included the table in a roundup of top Wellesley picnic spots, alongside those at Town Hall and various other Wellesley public spaces.

But alas, the Paintshop Pond table is no longer there. New wooden stairs are, along with a shiny new “No trespassing” sign that warns all to steer clear.

As if losing another Rte. 135 running route landmark, “Coney” the sidewalk Catalpa tree, wasn’t a big enough blow.

wellesley paintshop pond picnic table — Picnic table overlooking Paintshop Pond near Wellesley College campus (photo from 2015).

Getting to the bottom of this

I’ll confess that my first thought when I saw the picnic table was gone was that Wellesley College’s fun police had confiscated it and put up the sign.

But apologies to that crew. It turns out this is actually Wellesley Department of Public Works/Water Department land.

“The Park & Tree Division recently installed those steps to make access to the dam a bit safer for our folks that need to get down there for inspections,” says Wellesley DPW Director Dave Cohen.

The Wellesley DPW, however, isn’t taking credit for the picnic table’s demise.

Origin story

Legend has it, according to Cohen (who can’t confirm this), is that “the table was seen floating by and was plucked out of the water and enjoyed a nice stay on the ledge.”

Such a dramatic rescue story only adds to the mystique of this secluded spot.

Being the romantic fool that I am, I assumed the table would stay there forever. It’s not like the area was never used. I’d seen others who had discovered the somewhat secret waterfront location. How I now regret that I’d never put into action my dream of one day breaking out my special picnic backpack—a weirdly brilliant giveaway from a former employer—that I’d been holding on to for just the right moment.

And now, like so many dreamers before me, I must face the bitter disappointment that my picnic has been rained on.

As it turns out, the water giveth and the water taketh away.

According to Cohen, someone apparently pushed the table back into the drink recently, “probably out of COVID boredom.”

His team first removed it from the water, and then banished the table from the area rather than have to deal with future vandalism or safety issues on the ledge.

Meanwhile, I eagerly await the possible reopening of the Wellesley DPW Recycling & Disposal Facility give-and-take area. Might the picnic table turn up there?

Probably not. But I think my picnic backpack just might.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s 1998 Wellesley College speech: ‘The Supreme Court: A Place for Women’

September 19, 2020 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The late Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the annual Wilson Lecture at Wellesley College in 1998, and titled it “The Supreme Court: A Place for Women.” That was five years after President Bill Clinton appointed her to the court.

WILSON LECTURE“The Supreme Court: A Place for Women”Delivered by
The Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Associate Justice
The Supreme Court of the United Statesat
Wellesley College
November 13, 1998Two frontrunners are responsible for my visit this evening: Diana Chapman Walsh, Wellesley’s President, highly regarded in academic, medical and management circles, and celebrated, too, in the pages of Runner’s World, and Barbara Preiskel, a dear friend whose extraordinary service on Fortune 500 boards is surpassed by just one thing – her devotion to making opportunities to aspire and achieve genuinely open to all people.

To gain an introduction to Wellesley, I watched in the company of my Court staff, a videotape called “Hillary’s Class,” a film made by a young woman I knew in her growing up years. It is a remarkable documentary of the way things were and an aid in thinking about the way things should be.

My talk tonight centers on the same themes—the way things were, are, and will be. The setting is the place I know best nowadays; the title, The Supreme Court: A Place for Women. Let me begin with a question Justice O’Connor and I are sometimes asked. Does it make any difference that you are there? Do women judges decide cases differently by virtue of being women? As a first response, I have several times quoted, as has Justice O’Connor, the words of Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Jeanne Coyne. In her experience, Justice Coyne said, “a wise old man and a wise old woman reach the same conclusion.”

And so they do. But it is also true, I am convinced, that women, like persons of different racial groups and ethnic origins, contribute to the United States judiciary what a fine jurist, the late Alvin B. Rubin of Louisiana, described as “a distinctive

[Read more…]

How to legitimately access Wellesley’s Lake Waban path during the pandemic

August 21, 2020 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

To be clear: We’re not suggesting you should break Wellesley College’s COVID-19 rules and venture onto the campus or Lake Waban path this summer or fall. The school needs to keep its community safe.

(Whether the college can legally restrict the public from accessing Lake Waban, technically a Great Pond, is questionable.)

Lake Waban boardwalk, Wellesley, Summer 2016 — Lake Waban boardwalk

But if you’re desperate to wander the campus, and in particular hit the trail around Lake Waban, there is a legit way short of forking over $76K to attend the school. Yes, we’re talking about working there.

Among the gigs that the college is hiring for:

COVID-19 in perspective: Wellesley & the 1918-19 influenza pandemic

May 13, 2020 by Bob Brown 4 Comments

The new coronavirus isn’t influenza. And I’m not an historian. But in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have been inspired to dig up a series of reports from early in the 20th century to get a sense of how the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic affected Wellesley.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, “The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history.” About 675,000 people died during the pandemic from flu (based on the H1N1 virus) in the United States, including the young and old. Some 80,000 COVID-19 deaths have been reported in the U.S. so far.

Research out of Wellesley College released in March sought to find lessons from the pandemic a century ago, which hit in 3 waves, the most severe during the fall of 1918 outside of typical flu season. They found that isolation and social distancing strategies were used to contain the virus and proved effective the earlier and longer they were implemented.

Wellesley College and the influenza pandemic

Wellesley College, which was founded in 1870, itself felt the effects of the 1918 flu (Babson College, founded in 1919, dodged it.)

Like other schools at the time, Wellesley College created makeshift infirmaries on campus to isolate and treat sick students. It also banned students from getting too close to sailors returning from World War I. A Boston Globe headline from Jan. 21, 1919 read: “WELLESLEY GIRLS BARRED FROM COMING TO BOSTON,” though a Jan. 31 headline read “Wellesley College to Break Quarantine to See Show” at the Copley Theatre.

Annual reports issued by Wellesley College’s administration cited the serious impact of the influenza pandemic on its community. The 1918-1919 report documents the situation: “The year had hardly opened when the prevailing influenza became epidemic and made many demands upon the administration of the College. Immediate adjustments were necessary to provide for the care of students who could not be accommodated at Simpson Hospital. Joslin, The Elms and Lovewell were emptied of their regular students in quick succession, and converted into temporary hospitals, while Horton House, which came into the possession of the College on October first, was filled with convalescent students within twenty-four hours.”‘

Some 255 cases were reported, and sadly, a freshman from Cincinnati “was unable to withstand the attack of influenza” and passed away.

[Read more…]

Wellesley College campus, Lake Waban path closed to public due to coronavirus concerns

March 31, 2020 by Bob Brown 4 Comments

Wellesley College recently asked nicely for people outside of its community to stay clear of campus, but throngs were still descending upon it as of this past weekend. Cars were lined up along Rtes. 16 and 135, creating something of a circus for the students and campus employees who remain during the coronavirus outbreak. The already narrow path around Lake Waban had become uncomfortably crowded for anyone trying to stay socially distanced.

Now the College has issued an update, backed by the Town of Wellesley and Wellesley Police Department:

Effective March 31, Wellesley College campus is closed to the public.

Campus buildings and facilities are only open to students remaining on campus, faculty, and staff. All athletics facilities—indoor and outdoor, including the track, fields, and tennis courts—are closed. Only Wellesley College registered vehicles will be permitted to park in campus parking lots.

Additionally, both the College and the Hunnewell family, owners of the property next to the College that also borders Lake Waban, have decided to close the privately owned walking path around Lake Waban to the public. Only faculty, staff, and students (no guests) are welcome to walk on Wellesley College’s portion of the lake path, and around campus, while maintaining social distance.

Wellesley police have offered to help the College enforce this by limiting parking along Route 135, Route 16, and Pond Road, and our Campus Police will ask visitors they encounter on campus to leave immediately.

Boardwalk, Lake Waban, Wellesley — Boardwalk through the marsh at Lake Waban

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Wellesley College burned down on this date in 1914

March 17, 2020 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

wellesley fire pillars Wellesley College will remember March 17, 2020 as the day on which students were to vacate campus as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Whether some will be back for commencement in late May remains to be seen (a student-organized faux-mencement was held last week).

Another March 17 that already lives in infamy on campus was the one that took place in 1914. Wellesley College’s College Hall, which was school for the first 39 years of its existence, burned to the ground in just four hours.

Remains of that building have been preserved and recognized on campus, and can be seen by veering off the trail around Lake Waban.

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wellesley college fire pillars

Wellesley College holds faux-mencement

March 15, 2020 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Wellesley College is requiring students to leave campus in light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, with some possibility that commencement could still be held in late May. But not taking chances about formal commencement ceremonies happening, students organized their own faux-mencement before heading off.

Eliminating the endless, cliche-laden speeches by muckety-mucks could be a model for any future commencement ceremony. This seemed way more fun.