Cambridge History Minute: Meet 'The Women of the Bee'

CAMBRIDGE, MA — On Nov. 1, 1861, sixteen teenagers met at the Cambridge home of noted botanist Asa Gray for the first meeting of what would become The Bee.

This week's Cambridge History Minute looks back at that group, a soldiers' aid society that organized to assist troops fighting in the Civil War.

According to a historical sketch provided by the Cambridge Historical Society, "They gathered weekly to knit socks and make shirts, nightclothes, quilts, and bandages for local units for the duration of the war." The Bee coordinated with the St. Louis-based Western Sanitary Commission to distribute their goods to soldiers on the front or to hospitals.

Writes the Historic Society, "While mainly devolving into a social club, the Bee would continue to produce bedding, towels, and nightclothes for the newly opening Cambridge Hospital, a relationship that would last throughout their existence. They later produced clothing and bandages for subsequent war efforts such as the Spanish-American War and World War I" in addition to other efforts.

The Bee eventually disbanded in 1931.

Read more and dig into the history of The Bee through Historical Society records here.

Original members included: Susan Hunt Dixwell, Caroline Louisa Parsons, Julia Bragg (niece of Asa Grey), Mary Elizabeth Harris, Mary Helen Deane, Mary Greenwood Buttrick, Mary Oliver Hastings, Helen Rebecca Allyn, Ruth Charlotte Dana, Elizabeth Ellery Dana, Lucy Nichols, Mary Nichols, Anna Winter Page, Clara Crowninshield Thies, Katharine Vanderburg Toffey, and Emily Cabot Atkinson.

The photo above is credited to Frederick Klem. Taken in 1880, it features Bee members Elizabeth Swan Bolles, Alice C. Allyn and Elizabeth Harris.

Every few weeks, Patch will be featuring images from the Cambridge Historical Society and other sources to give you a glimpse into the city's past. Send your historic family photos or images of city life to alison.bauter@patch.com for a chance to be featured on Cambridge Patch.