Harriet Hammond Elliston
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 If you recognize or know any of the people in the 1912 CSW photo, |
 - 1911: Starting at age seven, Harriet went to the Gillman School, later called the Cambridge School for Girls, for two years. The school eventually moved to Weston, MA, and is now known as the Cambridge School of Weston. Harriet's children and Granddaughter also went to the Cambridge School of Weston (Elizabeth Penn Elliston, '54; Eric Rowley Elliston, '60; Lelia Carolyn Orrell, class of 1980). |
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| - 1915: Harriet's early education started at the Cooperative Open Air School, later known as the Shady Hill School in Cambridge, MA where she learned art, music and poetry. As one of the first graduates, not to mention the oldest surviving graduate, she has many fond memories of Shady Hill and her last year there upon graduating from the first 9th grade class back in 1918. Class was usually held on the back porch of Mrs. Hocking’s house on Quincy Street. One of Harriet's favorite memories is when Mrs. Hocking, being a poet herself, invited Robert Frost to her class. Mr. Frost encouraged them to sing with him "Blow the Man Down"!
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| Harriet also remembers an American history play about Paul Revere's ride, where she played the part of Paul Revere, and building the city of Boston using little houses carved out of soap.
- 1920: Afterwards, Harriet went to the Cambridge (Ringe and Latin) School, graduating at age 16 in 1920. She then spent two years as a teenager in Italy and France, learning to speak the languages and experience other parts of the world first hand. While traveling she became interested in anthropology, and wanted a formal education in the field (atypical course of study for women of the time). |
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- 1924: In 1924, Harriet was accepted to Radcliffe College, but the women's college did not offer an anthropology major. Though Radcliffe was an annex to Harvard University, it wouldn't be until 1943 that women would be allowed to take courses at Harvard. But this did not stop Harriet. She obtained special permission to major in anthropology and was the first at Radcliffe to major in field.
- 1928: She graduated from Radcliffe in 1928 and was given a small travel grant in recognition of her accomplishments at the College. She decided to go to South Africa to study the Bushman. Her bags were almost packed when her parents expressed their concerns about her traveling so far away. As Harriet puts it, "they were afraid I would meet some man, get married and never come home." So instead she used the travel grant to go to England and enrolled at Oxford University in 1929 to focus more intensely on anthropology. After graduate school, she returned to Cambridge, MA, and worked at the Harvard Peabody Museum reconstructing pottery and creating South African exhibits. - 1935: Harriet left the Peabody Museum in 1935 after she met, fell in love with and married the love of her life, Dr. William A. Elliston, and surgeon from Ipswich, England. Within six months she knew this was "the one". They were married and had three children: Elizabeth Penn in 1936; William in 1938, who died of pneumonia two years later, and Eric Rowley in 1941. They bought a small six-acre farm in Weston, MA in 1937. Harriet remembers going to a party in Weston after Roosevelt was elected, and someone said to her "why did you vote for Roosevelt? Nobody nice voted for Roosevelt." She soon discovered that she and her husband were two of only three democrats in the entire town! Harriet still lives in the farmhouse, and is happy to say that there are a lot more liberals in Weston today! |
- 1945: In 1945, Harriet and Bill raised over 300 chickens for egg production. Harriet had a local egg route, delivering eggs from the back of her old Ford Beach Wagon to people in Weston, Waltham and Wayland. They also started a flower farm, growing flowers to cut and sell on the street out front of the house. The farm slowly transformed itself from poultry to peonies. What started as a hobby or "fun thing to do" has grown into a small, almost for profit, business run by her Granddaughter, and still operates today under the name of Elliston Farm.
- 1947: The Un-American Activities Committee targeted thousands of people across the United States, especially people who were human rights activists like both Harriet and Bill. Their names appeared on a blacklist as possible communists because of Harriet's support of the post-war Anti-Franco movement in Spain. They were questioned informally.
| - 1955-1970: This part of Harriet's life probably represents the beginning of some of her greatest contributions to community. Always known for her liberal views and human rights activism, Harriet marched with Martin Luther King on Boston Common and was interviewed during the march by WCRB about the experience. She actually met and spoke with Dr. King at an organizational meeting in a Boston apartment. Harriet and others started the Roxbury-Weston Day Camp and Programs. Harriet and Bill grew raspberries and held a raspberry festival every year to raise money for Roxbury-Weston Programs. She also went to the Freedom School once a week to work on improving race relations, and helped organize the one-day Boston schools boycott to protest segregation. Harriet was also active with the League of Women Voters and the President of the Women's Community League in the Town of Weston, Massachusetts. |  |
Harriet remembers working for equal rights for women in the 1970’s, and marched in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her daughter for abortion rights and in support of pro-choice movement. She and Bill also helped start the Weston Forest and Trail Association, a private non-profit group dedicated to purchasing and conserving land and open space in Weston. With others, and working together as a team, Harriet and Bill successfully helped protect 125 acres of land and 15 miles of trail for WFT and over 2,000 acres for the town as a whole. Harriet has been on the board of Land's Sake, non-profit suburban farming group, for over 15 years, and has always been involved in environmental affairs. 1980 - Present: Harriet began to lose her eye sight due to macular degeneration. Though legally blind, she still enjoys all forms of art. She recently found the courage to pick up a brush again and see what might find itself on the paper. She overcame her insecurities about not seeing well and let her hands move the pencil or brush across the paper, allowing her memories and experienced hands be her eyes. Two of her recent works painted in 1999 are on display at TCAN and in the e-tour. I asked my Grandmother what she thought her greatest achievement was in the past 95 years….. She said, "The best thing I ever did was to marry Bill Elliston". I asked her why, and she said...
1965 – 1979: With her children grown and Bill retired, Harriet's love for painting really blossomed. She always painted and sketched, but wanted to learn more about watercolor technique. She took many classes at the DeCordova Museum, and other art classes from time to time. Bill Elliston had retired by this time, so the two of them traveled around the world. Harriet was especially taken by New Zealand, Australia, and Haiti. She was most prolific in her painting during this time, and her appreciation of the landscape and of nature is reflected in her use of color, movement and perspective.
Reflections: Since we started planning this show, Harriet has repeatedly said that she is "not a painter". She believes that unlike herself, painters are people who are driven to paint, people who must paint, and people who are talented. Because of her deep respect and appreciation for the arts and artists, she believes it would be disrespectful to call herself a painter.
"because he was forward looking and creative, and I can't imagine a life without him."
Website Design and Biographical Sketch written by Lelia Orrell Elliston