Anna clapp harris smith biography

Dorchester Illustration no.     Anna Harris Smith

Founder of the Animal Rescue League

Nearly everyone in Dorchester has heard of or used the services of The Animal Rescue League.  But few of us realize that it was founded by a Dorchester woman.

Anna Harris Smith () was born at 65 Pleasant Street, at the foot of Jones Hill, the house she lived in until   A large section of Jones Hill had been owned by the Clapp family almost since the founding of Dorchester in   Anna Harris was the grand-daughter of Samuel Clapp, who had a modest cooperage business. Her mother Anna Larkin Clapp married William Harris, a Boston printer.  Anna, the subject of this piece, married Huntington Smith, a publisher.  Anna&#;s occupation was journalist in the US Census.  A founder of the League in , she served as president of the Animal Rescue League from until her death in , and the League flourished under her leadership.

The following is from an article by Anthony Sammarco that appeared in the Dorchester Community News, ca.

The young Anna Harris, imbued with family connections and born to a world of comfort, was christened at the First Parish Church by her paternal grandfather.  As a child, she was intelligent and developed both a flair for music and a deep abiding feeling for animals and nature.  It was said that her father was a strict and religious man and that these values, instilled in his daughter, gave a deep spiritual devotion to her great cause of later years.

Anna Harris completed her education in Boston, after attending Miss Pope’s School on Meeting house Hill.   She became an accomplished musician, and taught music, giving informal recitals with her brother Samuel who was a talented violinist.  She also composed music for several songs.  The Harris family, comfortable and well-established, were among the leaders of local society.

In , Anna Harris marri

22 Jan Dorchester’s Anna Clapp Harris Smith subject of New Musical Composition

Posted at h in Blog by Historic Boston Inc

Francine Trester, a Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music, and Mary Smoyer, a founding member of the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail, recently alerted HBI to a new musical composition by Francine about five Dorchester women, including the early 20th century animal rights advocate Anna Clapp Harris Smith. Ms. Smith, who founded the Animal Rescue League. Smith was a life-long resident at 65 Pleasant Street in Dorchester, a house that dates to the and was the subject of a rehabilitation project by HBI between and HBI’s partnership with North Bennet Street School saved the house from demolition and restored it for sale to a first-time homebuyer in

Mary and Francine prepared this summary of how the composition “A Walk in Her Shoes” came to be.

What do Historic Boston, the Dorchester Women’s History Trail, the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail, Codman Square Academy, Berklee School of Music and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra have in common? Admiration for Anna Clapp Harris Smith, founder of The Animal Rescue League of Boston.

Here’s the story: Smith, a lifelong resident of 65 Pleasant Street, Dorchester, founded the Animal Rescue League in when she saw the plight of stray animals and beasts of burden on Boston streets. It still continues today: in the League assisted over 16, animals and 93% of them were adopted or returned home.

In , with a grant from the History Channel, and support of the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail, a group of students from Codman Square Academy met on Saturday mornings to blaze the Dorchester Women’s History Trail. They interviewed people, walked the neighborhood, searched the internet, read, did archival work at the Dorchester Historical Society, and designed and printed a brochure. One of the wom

On Tuesday, we celebrated our th anniversary and told you about the Anna (Clapp) Harris Smith home restoration project. Today, let&#;s take a closer look at the history of the property.

Historic Boston Incorporated and the North Bennet Street School, located in the North End and specializing in 17 to 19 century buildings, have partnered to restore the Anna Harris Smith house.  After receiving a grant from the Foundation, the organizations were able to acquire the historic Clapp residence. The restoration will reflect the home&#;s appearance circa  when Anna&#;s family resided there. Over the years, the house was somewhat modernized by past owners, but this only pertained to the exterior. However, the interior fell into decay and was in great need of repair.

The North Bennet students were entrusted by Historic Boston to restore the house to be as &#;period&#; as possible. Rich Friberg, the preservation carpentry faculty leader of the project, said that the group did not know that Anna lived there but was pleasantly surprised by that fact. Through the use of traditional tools and methods, the students have been able to turn back the clock to The up-to-date windows were replaced by handmade sashes of 12 panes over 12 panes, a design similar to the one the house had years ago. Even older than the design of the windows, the foundation of the Clapp house is speculated to be the original from the 17 century.

When North Bennet began the project, the front wall of the foundation was crumbling under the house. Historic Boston dug up the yard so that the stones could be withdrawn and reset for a secure foundation. Friberg stated that the banister in the house is most likely the original but they have yet to do anything with it since their work has focused mainly on the home&#;s exterior. The front door is not the original, but it was well researched and replicated.  The east elevation has just been finished and the completion of the north elevation is not too

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“Resident’s Concern Hatched Animal League.” By Anthony Sammarco. Dorchester Community News, September 14,

Nearly everyone in Dorchester has heard of or used the services of The Animal Rescue League.  But few of us realize that it was founded by a Dorchester woman.

Anna Clapp Harris Smith () was born at 65 Pleasant St. at the foot of Jones Hill, the house she lived in her entire life.  She was the daughter of William and Anna Clapp Harris, two children of prominent local residents.  William was the son of [this is incorrect] Rev. Thaddeus Mason Harris, minister of the First Parish Church on Meetinghouse Hill from to   Anna Clapp was the daughter of David Clapp, the noted printer whose Pleasant Street land had been owned by his family almost since the founding of Dorchester in

The young Anna Harris, imbued with family connections and born to a world of comfort, was christened at the First Parish Church by her paternal grandfather.  As a child, she was intelligent and developed both a flair for music and a deep abiding feeling for animals and nature.  It was said that her father was a strict and religious man and that these values, instilled in his daughter, gave a deep spiritual devotion to her great cause of later years.

Living Life of Luxury

Anna Harris completed her education in Boston, after attending Miss Pope’s School on Meeting house Hill.   She became an accomplished musician, and taught music, giving informal recitals with her brother Samuel who was a talented violinist.  She also composed music for several songs.  The Harris family, comfortable and well-established, were among the leaders of local society.

In , Anna Harris married Huntington Smith of Boston; he was the editor of the Boston Beacon, later to become its owner and publisher.  The Smiths lived in Anna’s family home, which had been built on the stone foundations of the Thomas Jonses House, reputedly built in

The Clapps had purchased the original hou