Cambridge History Minute: Thanksgiving 1938

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Europe was already in turmoil in November of 1938, but you wouldn't know it from this Cambridge family's smiling faces in their Thanksgiving Day picture.

Earlier that same month, Nazis and their supporters in Germany had looted and burned thousands of Jewish businesses and hundreds of synagogues on Kristallnacht, the "night of broken glass." Britain had only just wrapped up negotiations over troops and land rights with Italy's Benito Mussolini. The U.S. was three years out from joining the fight.

But in Cambridge, who's to say? It could be the conversation over the turkey revolved around more benign subjects, like Seabiscuit's defeat of War Admiral earlier that same month.

The family above is the Stoutamires, shown outside of their home in 1938 on Thanksgiving. The family has been in Cambridge since the 1800s, according to the Cambridge Historical Society, which shared the photo above with Patch.

We here at Patch wish you a happy Thanksgiving, full of great conversations over the dinner table and smiling family photos of your own.

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.