At risk:
A "dream," a "gentleman's agreement,"
and an act of joint stewardship
Here are summaries of fourteen documents and maps from the 1960-70s era which reflect the community's and donors' perception that Estabrook preservation was an act of joint stewardship,
supported by both individual and community generosity, and that there was
an understanding that the Middlesex School would continue to maintain
its land east of Bateman's Pond as a nature preserve. Donations and
bargain sales for the Harvard purchase were made at the time with this
community understanding in mind.
(1) Middlesex School Alumni Bulletin,
May 1963. School headmaster Monk Terry reports his commitment to a
"1400-acre preserve in the woodland to the east of the pond."
For a discussion, a full text, and a GIF file, click
here.
"Of
tremendous interest to biologists and laymen alike is the exciting
proposal to establish the woodland on the other side of the pond as a
wildlife sanctuary. Retired hut-builders and those of you who, in
the sturdy early days of skiing, wandered through the winter woods to
Punkatasset, will not be surprised to hear that the School land abuts
the largest piece of uninhabited property within seventy-five miles of
Cambridge. In it out of sight of highways and split level ranch houses,
living as they always have, are deer and fox, coon, otter, and muskrat,
porcupine, weasel and woodchuck. The Harvard Museum of Comparative
Zoology and the Town Conservation Commission of Concord are working
with the School to try to make this dream come true, and in the
studio at the top of Eliot we are preparing a contour map covering the
whole 1,400 acres under consideration. In time we hope to see our
older students helping college. graduates with research projects
centered on these woods. Surely the grandsons of boys now in School
will rejoice to live beside this quiet, protected area."
(2) Concord Free Press, Nov. 24, 1965:
In mid-1960s, the Director of Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology
(MCZ) Ernst Mayr & Curator Charles Lyman made a public announcement of
the proposed Estabrook Woods study area: "The...area will be owned
by Harvard...and by Middlesex School, which already owns some of the
land, & a few small parcels to be held by the Concord Land
Conservation Trust....Middlesex School has used the area as part of its
science program for wild-life study."
[Background: The Harvard Overseers'
Visiting Committee to its Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ)
recommended in 1960s that "to continue [the MCZ's] reputation as
the outstanding university zoological museum in the world....a project
having high priority is the acquisition of a field station in
Concord." Note: The chairman of the MCZ Visiting Committee in
1966-67 was Nathaniel Davis, pres. of Middlesex School's Trustees (and
the vice-chair was Monk Terry, recent Middlesex headmaster.]
(3) Concord Journal, Nov. 25, 1965:
"It is planned that the Estabrook Woods would form the center of a
balanced ecological study area....The entire outdoor laboratory would be
available to other universities as well as the biology students at
Middlesex School. The school owns 100 acres of the woods and has
already shown its interest by joining some generous Concord citizens in
loaning money for the first purchases and options." (Click
here to see the map that accompanied the article.)
(4) 1965-66 "Ecological Study Area
for the Biological Community of Harvard University" (The Committee
co-chaired by Lawrence Terry and Thomas Flint: MCZ): "The
Estabrook Woods [and the adjacent Great Meadows] National Wildlife
Refuge... would... serve as a living laboratory for generations.... The
biology students of Middlesex School would also be welcome. The School
also owns 100 acres of the woods and has also shown its interest by
joining some generous Concord citizens in loaning money for the first
purchases...of Estabrook Woods." (Click
here to see the map that accompanied the booklet. )
(5) 1966: "The acquisition embraces
two parcels, one of more than 400 acres and the other of over 200
acres.... Approx. another 100 acres of adjoining Middlesex School woods
is to be jointly used with Harvard for wildlife study" [Concord
Journal & Concord Free Press, 6/9/66]. Middlesex "owns 100 acres
of the Concord tract" [Boston Herald, 2/13/66]. (Click
Here to see map accompanying the article.)
(6) November, 1966. In "The Concord
Field Station--An Ecological Outdoor Laboratory within 20 miles of
Cambridge at Concord," ( MCZ, rev.11/66): "Near the
northwestern border of the tract, Middlesex School (a well known and
respected preparatory school) owns land which is kept as a nature
preserve. The School has an active biology department and teachers and
students have found the area invaluable.... Indicative of the
enthusiasm on the part of Concord is a fine contour map of the entire
region which was made by residents with the help of students from the
Middlesex School."
(7) Dec. 8, 1996. Public statement by Barbara
Lawrence (Schevill) of MCZ staff and Concord: "Monk Terry was
one of the founders of 'Estabrook Woods' because he believed access to
such a big, undeveloped tract of land of land would be a tremendous asset
to...Middlesex...as an out-of-door laboratory...As Monk knew, this takes
big tracts of undisturbed land. The school's property would be enlarged by
the adjacent Harvard land & Monk's firm belief in the importance of
the project made us all believe that this edge of the woods was a secure
and lasting relationship for Harvard's property." [In 1978, Monk
Terry, Middlesex 's headmaster for many decades referred to "our
beloved Estabrook Woods."]
[Background: Prof. Ernst Mayr, Thomas
Flint, "Lawrence Terry, Headmaster of Middlesex School," and
Egbert Newbury of Concord were "prime movers...to establish
Harvard's Biological Research Preserve. All were strong advocates of
land conservation and open space preserves, and all were keenly aware of
pressure from many sources to sell for development" [Jan 1997
Letter from Concord Land Conservation Trust's David Emerson], Mr.
Emerson was active in the MCZ campaign and also gave a conservation
restriction on his large Estabrook tract.]
(8) During the 1960s, according to
CLCT's David Emerson the
attached concept map was used during the Harvard, MCZ, and Nature
Conservancy fund-raising projects and was distributed widely. Note that
Middlesex land east of Bateman's Pond is an integral part of the proposal,
and that the western edge of the area shown as "Middlesex"
actually crosses the old causeway which is the subject of the current
wetlands permit. (The hand-drawn asterisks are a contemporary notation:
the double asterisk locates the site of the currently proposed Middlesex
project; the single asterisk locates the site of the 1970s subdivision
that is the subject of the next entry.)
(9) May, 1970 letter from MCZ's Concord
Field Station Acting Dir. Charles Lyman to Concord neighbors:
Writing about a subdivision which was proposed in 1970 for on property
adjacent to Middlesex's now-proposed "B-land," Director Lyman
wrote about its understanding: "The Director [of Harvard's MCZ] is in
whole-hearted agreement with me that the best interests of [its] Concord
Field Station would be served by having this area [which is next to
Middlesex's currently-planned project] remain in its present state. We
were originally attracted to the Estabrook Woods because it was one of the
few large unspoiled tracts within reasonable commuting distance of
Harvard. It was our hope that further development in the area would be
confined to the land adjacent to Monument St. & Lowell Rd. and that
the inner area of Estabrook Woods would remain untouched....If at any
time it becomes possible to purchase this land from its present owners and
thus keep it in its present condition, we would be most anxious to do
so."
(10) Dec. 9, 1992 letter to Middlesex
board from Concord Land Conservation Trust's Marion Thornton:
"In the early 1960s Middlesex School and a few key landowners,
including the CLCT, played a key role in preserving a core of 600 acres of
this special and unique area....Two other large landowners in Estabrook
Country that were approached by CLCT at that time indicated that they
would be willing to preserve border[ing] land if Middlesex School would
lead the effort." (Cf. Bemis letter of 1994.)
(11) April 12, 1993 letter from Chair,
Concord Selectmen to Middlesex School: "It is no secret that the
Town of Concord [desires] that the Estabrook Woods be preserved....We have
expended Town dollars and private monies for land acquisitions to defend
the Estabrook boundaries. This public commitment...grows out of the...
[1960s] preservation effort...led by Lawrence Terry and Thomas Flint....Donors
to [that] campaign clearly believed that the Woods would be preserved as
an ecological study area for the use of Harvard, area scholars...and,
expressly, Middlesex School."
(12) 1994 Ellie Bemis letter to
Middlesex trustees: "Under the persuasion of Middlesex's headmaster
Monk Terry, my grandfather sold his land to Harvard to help form their
Field Station. He did this with great trepidation because his land was his
sole bank account and only limited preservation restrictions were assured.
Still he loved his land, and it was the best alternative at the time for
preservation. Middlesex School played a leading role at that juncture
in persuading not only landowners but many other citizens to join hands
for the greater good, as I trust you will do now"
(13) Oct. 7, 1998: the former MCZ
Director of the MCZ (at the time of the Estabrook acquisition) Ernst
Mayr wrote to S. Ells: "The news [of the proposed
development]...is indeed most distressing. All of us who worked so hard
for the preservation of the Estabrook Woods felt sure that this wonderful
piece of nature was saved for all times. Monk Terry, at that time master
of Middlesex School, was one of our most enthusiastic supporters. We
did not have to buy this land because at that time Middlesex School was as
passionately for the preservation of their piece of Estabrook Woods as we
were. I am afraid there was no formal agreement on that point, but it was
a 'gentleman's agreement.' I am sure Monk Terry would be horrified about
the present plans."
(14) January-March, 1999. Dr. Mayr, one
of the world's preeminent evolutionary biologists, wrote the Middlesex
School, "I had hoped, however, and I still hope, that the leadership
of the School will continue to agree that what will be of enduring
educational value to both institutions is to preserve the core of the
Woods as a teaching and research preserve, and to act consistently with
those purposes on buffering land. I acknowledge that Middlesex School has
recently offered to place other (though somewhat peripheral) land under
restriction by way of mitigation, but I fear that the phased development
into the core will not only itself do harm but also will encourage others
to increase the intensity of development. (For full text, click
here.) His letter also suggested an
environmental curriculum for the Estabrook Woods.
[Note: Also hyperlinked above are four
maps. These date from the 1960s and confirm that the Middlesex
School property east of Bateman's Pond was understood to be within the
proposed ecology study area. The maps are found (a) in "The Concord
Field Station--An Ecological Study Area" (MCZ 1965-66); (b) in a
concept map distributed to the public, potential donors, and landowners
at the time of fund-raising and land acquisition; (c) in the Concord
Free Press of Nov. 25, 1965; and (d) in the Boston Herald of
Feb. 12 1966.]
[Rev. 3/29/2001 (SFE)]
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