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Homer House

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Homer House, or the William Flagg Homer House, is a historic house on Pleasant Street in Belmont, Massachusetts, United States, built in 1853 by a wealthy Boston merchant, and used by his nephew, artist Winslow Homer, as the setting of several of his works. It serves as the headquarters of the Belmont Woman's Club which bought it in 1927 to save it from demolition. The club uses the house as the setting of many of its community events, while the club and its members act as the house's stewards, preserving and restoring it. In 1979 Homer House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Belmont Pleasant Street Historic District.

Homer House
Belmont Woman's Club, the William Flagg Homer House, in 2017
Map
General information
Architectural styleMansarded Italianate
Address661 Pleasant Street, Belmont, Massachusetts, US
Coordinates42°23′50″N 71°10′40.7″W / 42.39722°N 71.177972°W / 42.39722; -71.177972
Year(s) built1853
Technical details
Floor count3
Grounds54,854 square feet (5,096.1 m2)
Other information
Number of rooms15

House

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The New Town of Belmont, Massachusetts, Winslow Homer, 1859

Homer House is a 15-room mansarded Italianate mansion built in 1853, on a hill overlooking Belmont town hall and town center.[1][2] At the time, the house was part of West Cambridge, Massachusetts, and became part of Belmont when that town was founded in 1859.[1] Franklin Tucker of Patch described the house as having a "magnificent circular staircase in the grand foyer, exquisite artisan work, likely produced by early Italian immigrant workers, 1850 circa tiles and brass tub in the up-stair bedrooms, and original chandeliers and stain glass windows and rotunda."[3] A cupola provided cooling for the building.[4]

The house includes "the original metal-lined cold storage room in the kitchen ... an oval-shaped dining room with curved doors, sitting parlors with bay windows, and a magnificent library with oak paneling and its huge brick fireplace."[3] There is a non-original 1870s iron stove in the kitchen.[3]

The hill, the only USGS-listed hill in Belmont,[5] was named Wellington Hill after American Revolutionary War Colonel Jeduthan Wellington (1750–1838), who built a chartered turnpike road on it and used his oxen to help travelers' wagons ascend it.[6] The land the house stands on was part of 14 acres (5.7 ha) originally purchased by Roger Wellington, a prominent early settler, in 1636.[7] It was passed on within the Wellington family for generations, until the nineteenth century when it was sold in 1826 for US$400 to Jeduthan Wellington's son-in-law Samuel O. Mead, then by him for $5,000 to another Wellington son-in-law, William Flagg Homer.[8][9]

Homer family

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Boston merchant William Flagg Homer

The house eponym, William Flagg Homer, was a wealthy Boston merchant. The house was built for him and his wife, Adeline Wellington Homer, to use as a summer residence.[1][10] Their daughter Agnes married Boston cotton merchant William E. Stowe who built the stick style Stowe House in Belmont to the west of Homer House.[11]

 
"The War — Making Havelocks for the Volunteers", Winslow Homer, Harper's Weekly, Volume V, June 29, 1861
 
Winslow Homer in 1857

Artist Winslow Homer (1836–1910) has been called America's greatest painter.[12] He was the son of William Flagg Homer's youngest brother Charles Savage Homer (1809–1898).[13] Charles was a less successful businessman, who lost money in the California gold rush, and Winslow spent much of his first two decades, and many later summers, visiting while living nearby in a modest rented farmhouse.[1][14] A Cladrastis kentukea tree, sometimes called Yellowwood or Yellow wood,[15][16] that Winslow planted there grew to be a National Champion Tree in the 1990s,[17] until being later removed.[18] His artwork The New Town of Belmont was created on the day of Belmont's incorporation.[8] The War — Making Havelocks for the Volunteers, 1861, is set in the Homer House parlor,[1] and depicts upper-class young women sewing cloth neck covers for Union soldiers during the first two months of the American Civil War.[19] Others of his artworks set in and around Homer House include Croquet Scene, What Shall We Do Next?, and The Robin's Note.[3][14][1][20]

After William Flagg Homer's death in 1883, the house was sold to neighbor Susan Blake for $21,000.[8] The Homers and Stowe are buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery.[21]

  • Works by Winslow Homer in and around Homer House
  •  
    Croquet Scene, 1866
  •  
    What Shall We Do Next?, 1869
  •  
    The Robin's Note, 1870

Belmont Woman's Club

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1920s Poster at the Belmont Woman's Club

The Belmont Woman's Club held its first meeting on February 11, 1920, with a membership of 400 "including all the prominent women in Belmont", according to the Boston Globe.[22] It was part of the popular woman's club movement in the United States of the time, which played a large part in achieving women's suffrage in the United States in the year of the club's founding.[23] The Belmont Woman's Club hosted classes in civics, parliamentary law, and drama, as well as sponsoring book discussions, philanthropy, and arts and crafts. By 1926, the Club had 600 members and a waiting list of 100 more, all women from the town of Belmont.[24] Mrs. Carl L. Schrader, an early president of the club,[25] became president of the Massachusetts State Federation of Women's Clubs in 1930,[26] then chairman of fine arts in the General Federation of Women's Clubs, in which positions she traveled the country, giving talks and assisting local committees.[27][28][29][30]

The club bought Homer House in 1927 to save it from demolition, for a short time calling it Blake House, believing the woman who bought it after Homer to have been its first owner.[31] It has used it as its headquarters ever since, hosting lectures and community events.[8]

The modern Belmont Woman's Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, open to all persons.[23] Its male and female members act as stewards of Homer House, among diverse activities such as scholarships for high school seniors, and a 1993 gala concert in honor of Belmont resident Masako Owada's marriage to the crown prince of Japan.[32][33] It continues to hold a regular speaker series, often in Homer House, and open to the public.[23][34] It also hosts the annual Belmont strawberry festival, first held in 1859, the year of Belmont's founding, now serving as a commemoration of when Belmont was a town of farms.[35][36]

Stewardship of Homer House

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In 1979 the Woman's Club worked to have the Belmont Pleasant Street Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[37][38] Homer House was pointed out as particularly prominent or outstanding within the district.[39][2][40] In 2010, the approximately 54,854 square feet (5,096.1 m2) of land around the house were donated to the Belmont Land Trust, to be held under a conservation restriction which prevents future development.[41]

In May 2013, the Belmont Woman's Club began weekly tours of the Homer House, including inviting visitors to a turn at croquet on the front lawn, where Winslow Homer sourced his croquet-themed 1860s paintings.[42][14] In 2015, the This Old House television program filmed an episode at the Homer House, exploring its plumbing and cupola, used for the equivalent of air conditioning.[43][4] In 2016, the Homer House and grounds served as the first of several annual "Literacy on the lawn" events for children in honor of Beatrix Potter's birthday, with readings, painting, croquet, and a petting zoo.[44][45] The 2019 event celebrated Dr. Seuss.[46]

In 2017, William Flagg Homer House was selected as the site of the Junior League of Boston annual designer show house.[47] Twenty rooms and spaces on the first and second floors were renovated, each by different teams of local designers, as a temporary museum of interior design, to benefit the Junior League's charitable programs for Boston area women and at-risk girls.[48][49] The library was transformed into a Wunderkammer or cabinet of curiosities, the kitchen kept the antique stove but added modern appliances, while the bedroom became "an ode" to Princess Charlotte.[50][51][52] After the October–November exhibition, the designers' furniture was removed but the wall coverings, including restored lincrusta, paint, and modern kitchen appliances remained.[48][53][8] A Woman's Club fundraiser during the event raised money for a handicapped accessible bathroom on the first floor, which was installed in 2018.[54][8][37] An earlier Homer House designers' showhouse, in October 1995, was not associated with the Junior League.[55]

 
Croquet Players, 1865, Winslow Homer

The grounds of the house have been the site of multiple hands-on projects by local residents. In 1995, when the grounds of the house had fallen into disrepair, a project led by the local Boy Scout troop cleared away brush.[56] In 2000, Belmont school children searched the Homer House grounds to gather seed cones from two copper beeches that Winslow Homer depicted in his 1865 Croquet Players painting, for preservation in a Florida nursery for famous trees.[57] In 2012 one of the two famous beeches, suffering from a hazardous crack, was cut down.[18] By 2014 the Club had replaced the copper beeches with new ones.[58] In 2020, 18 Belmont High School and Middle School students helped Woman's Club members and other adult volunteers landscape the Homer House grounds, removing invasive plants and replacing them with donated native ones.[59]

As an old building, Homer House needs continuous funds to preserve and restore it.[3] In August 2013, Homer House received one of the first grants of Belmont money from the Community Preservation Act, $10,000 to an architect and a consulting engineer with Belmont ties for a detailed conditions assessment and treatment plan.[60][61][62] In 2014, the Belmont Savings Bank Foundation provided a $2,000 grant to restore the Homer House cupola, which had been damaged by winter weather to be unsafe for weekly visitors.[63][64] In 2014 and 2015, the Belmont Woman's Club hosted fashion shows of local celebrities to benefit Homer House.[65][66] In 2019, and again in 2024, the Belmont Woman's Club hosted a Dancing with the Belmont Stars competition fundraiser for the Homer House. The 2019 contest included local celebrities Will Brownsberger, Candy O'Terry, Becca Pizzi, Jimmy Tingle, and Marian T. Ryan, and raised $12,000.[67][68] The 2024 contest raised over $25,000.[69]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Brown, Nell Porter (June 6, 2016). "The 1853 Homer House in Belmont". Harvard Magazine. Archived from the original on May 18, 2024. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Morgan, Keith N. (July 17, 2018). "Pleasant Street Historic District". Archipedia. Society of Architectural Historians. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e Tucker, Franklin (May 24, 2010). "Belmont Women's Club Celebrates Homer House". Belmont, MA Patch. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024. Very similar article a year later: Tucker, Franklin B. (July 21, 2011). "Travel Back in Time at the William Flagg Homer House". Belmont, MA Patch. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Tzouvelis, Joanna Kaselis (October 1, 2015). "'This Old House' renovates Belmont home". Belmont Citizen-Herald. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  5. ^ "Hills of Belmont, Mass". Hills of the Boston Basin. Archived from the original on June 15, 2024. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
  6. ^ Drake, Samuel Adams (1880). History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county. Boston : Estes and Lauriat. p. 251.
  7. ^ Griswold, A. W. (1892). A few facts concerning Roger Wellington and some of his descendants. Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son. p. 7. Archived from the original on September 15, 2024. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Murphy, Wendy (September 12, 2018). "Two Years of Homer House Restoration Success". Belmont Citizens Forum. Archived from the original on May 18, 2024. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  9. ^ Griswold, A. W. (1892). A few facts concerning Roger Wellington and some of his descendants. Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son. p. 18. Archived from the original on September 15, 2024. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  10. ^ "Homer, William Flagg (1802-1883)". Arlington Historical Society. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  11. ^ "Stick Style: 1860-1890". www.belmont-ma.gov. Belmont, Massachusetts. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  12. ^ Tallman, Susan (April 6, 2022). "The Melville of American Painting". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on June 3, 2024. Retrieved June 3, 2024. In 1995, when the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, D.C., assembled a magisterial retrospective, Homer was still "America's greatest and most national painter."
  13. ^ Cross, William R. (April 12, 2022). Winslow Homer: American Passage. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-374-60380-9. Archived from the original on September 15, 2024. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  14. ^ a b c ""Summer" is Coming! Belmont site associated with Winslow Homer opens for tours and "Croquet Summer" exhibit beginning May 25". Belmont Citizen-Herald. May 20, 2013. Archived from the original on September 15, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  15. ^ "Notable trees in Belmont" (PDF). Town of Belmont, Massachusetts. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  16. ^ McLean, Danielle (July 26, 2014). "A look at Belmont's most distinguished trees". WickedLocal.com. Retrieved September 15, 2024. He said rumors say the Yellow Wood Tree was planted by the Winslow Homer family on its estate in the 1800s. He said yellow wood trees are typically rare in Massachusetts.
  17. ^ Higgins, Richard (March 14, 1999). "Ancestral titans - Champion trees grace Wellesley, nearby towns". The Boston Globe West Weekly. p. 60 (West-8). Retrieved September 15, 2024. a yellowwood tree planted by Winslow Homer
  18. ^ a b Foster, Ruth S. (February 10, 2012). "Famous 150-year-old Winslow Homer copper beech tree in Belmont cut down". Belmont Citizen-Herald. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  19. ^ "The War – Making Havelocks for the Volunteers (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. 5, no. 235, cover)". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  20. ^ Richards, Rebecca (October 6, 2013). "Call for artists inspired by Winslow Homer". Belmont Citizen-Herald. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  21. ^ "Mount Auburn Gallery". Belmont Historical Society. October 2013. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  22. ^ "Belmont Woman's Club Closes With 400 Members". The Boston Globe. February 12, 1920. p. 16. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  23. ^ a b c "Belmont Woman's Club celebrating centennial anniversary". Belmont Citizen-Herald. September 21, 2019. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  24. ^ ""President's Day" Observed at Belmont Woman's Club". The Boston Globe. November 18, 1926. p. 33. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  25. ^ ""Bearers of the Light" Makes Strong Appeal". The Daily Item. November 6, 1923. p. 8. Archived from the original on July 7, 2024. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  26. ^ Titus, Alice F. (May 16, 1930). "Merely Personalities About Women at Federation Meeting; Mrs Schraeder New President". The Daily Item. p. 4. Archived from the original on September 15, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  27. ^ "Chautauqua Club Arranges Program for 44th Season". The Buffalo News. June 28, 1932. p. 11. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  28. ^ Morehouse, Lucille E. (October 30, 1938). "American Art Week Exhibit Opens At Ayres Featuring Hoosier Painters". The Indianapolis Star. p. 10. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  29. ^ "Women's Council Studies Traffic Safety Problem". Casper Star-Tribune. December 3, 1936. p. 3. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  30. ^ "Mrs. Schrader Will Address Jr. Clubs Here On Thursday". The Paducah Sun-Democrat. November 3, 1940. p. 12. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024. Mrs. Schrader, in great demand as a public speaker, covers a wide range of subjects, specializing in books, the educational phases of the motion picture and related subjects. She has consistently taken the viewpoint of youth, of life in the making, as her associations with school and camp life have been continuous. She has been teacher in a Teachers' College, director and manager of a girls' camp, chairman of literature and drama for the Massachusetts Federation of Women's Clubs and later president of the Massachusetts Federation and director of the General Federation for her state. For more than ten years she has been giving book talks on the radio until she won for herself the sobriquet "The Book Lady of the Air."
  31. ^ "Lecture and Tea at the New Belmont Woman's Club House". The Boston Globe. April 14, 1927. p. 4. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  32. ^ "About Us". Belmont Woman's Club. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  33. ^ Sullivan, Mark (June 6, 1993). "Feting Japan's Royals in Belmont". Boston Globe. p. 68. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  34. ^ Palma, Kristi (June 10, 2021). "5 things to do when visiting Belmont". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  35. ^ The Belmont Historical Society (2004). Belmont. Arcadia Publishing. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-7385-3634-7. Archived from the original on September 15, 2024. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  36. ^ Belmont High School Yearbook. Belmont High School. 1959. pp. 72–73.
  37. ^ a b Tzouvelis, Joanna (September 27, 2018). "Mission to protect and preserve Belmont's historic home on the hill". Country Gazette. Archived from the original on September 15, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  38. ^ "Pleasant Street Historic District". National Register. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  39. ^ "Belmont area declared historic". The Berkshire Eagle. July 16, 1979. p. 5. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  40. ^ Morgan, Keith N. (July 17, 2018). "Pleasant Street Historic District". Archipedia. Society of Architectural Historians. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  41. ^ "Belmont Woman's Club CR". Belmont Land Trust. Archived from the original on May 27, 2024. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
  42. ^ "1853 Homer House to open to public". The Worcester Telegram & Gazette. May 12, 2013. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024. Also available as Belmont Woman's Club (May 3, 2013). "Massachusetts Site Associated with Artist Winslow Homer Opens This Summer". PRNewswire. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  43. ^ "Season 37 Episode 3 - Belmont Victorian : Bracing the Basement". This Old House. October 1, 2015. Archived from the original on September 15, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  44. ^ Tzouvelis, Joanna (July 31, 2016). "Belmont Woman's Club celebrates Beatrix Potter's birthday with 'Literacy on the lawn'". Belmont Citizen-Herald. Archived from the original on June 6, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  45. ^ Tucker, Franklin B. (July 31, 2016). "Celebrating A Bunny's Author's Birthday At A 'Re-energized' Homer House". The Belmontonian. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  46. ^ "Celebrating a Literary Treasure". Literacy on the Lawn. Belmont Woman's Club. Archived from the original on June 6, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  47. ^ Tzouvelis, Joanna (April 26, 2017). "Designer Show House to help revive Homer House". Country Gazette. Archived from the original on May 18, 2024. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  48. ^ a b Dame, Jonathan (October 4, 2017). "MetroWest decorators amaze in 2017 Designer Show House". The MetroWest Daily News. Archived from the original on July 19, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  49. ^ "2017 DESIGNER SHOW HOUSE MEDIA KIT" (PDF). Junior League of Boston. October 1, 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  50. ^ Tzouvelis, Joanna (October 6, 2017). "Show House officially opens Oct. 7". Country Gazette. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  51. ^ Katz, Marni Elyse (September 28, 2017). "Designers Show House Coming to Belmont". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  52. ^ Katz, Marni Elyse (October 5, 2017). "Belmont villa shows off dramatic designs". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024. Also available as Katz, Marni Elyse (October 7, 2017). "This Bold House". The Boston Globe. p. B2. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
  53. ^ Giardi, Sandy (October 31, 2017). "5 Takeaways from the Junior League of Boston's 2017 Designer Show House". Boston Design Guide. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  54. ^ "Belmont Woman's Club gears up for Show House fundraiser Oct. 17". Wickedlocal.com. September 26, 2017. Archived from the original on August 4, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  55. ^ "Sunday Best: The World of Winslow Homer". The Boston Globe. October 1, 1995. p. 70. Archived from the original on September 15, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  56. ^ Foster, Ruth (August 27, 1995). "Scouts lead restoration project". Boston Globe. p. 65. Archived from the original on September 15, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  57. ^ Higgins, Richard (November 10, 2000). "Seed bank will preserve offshoots of Belmont beeches". The Boston Globe. p. 43. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
  58. ^ McLean, Danielle (July 26, 2014). "A look at Belmont's most distinguished trees". Belmont Citizen Herald. Archived from the original on August 23, 2024. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  59. ^ Passero, Barbara (September 11, 2020). "A model of intergenerational collaboration benefits Homer House in Belmont". Belmont Citizen-Herald. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  60. ^ Tucker, Franklin B. (August 26, 2013). "Homer House Begins Preservation Effort". Belmont, MA Patch. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  61. ^ Kazanjian, Edward A. (September 7, 2013). "Homer House project finds architect". Belmont Citizen-Herald. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  62. ^ Wolf Architects, Inc; MacLeod Consulting, Inc (May 2014). "William Flagg Homer House Belmont Woman's Club Building Survey and Investigation" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on September 15, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  63. ^ Tucker, Franklin B. (July 2, 2014). "Belmont Savings Serves Homer House a Cupola of Loving Care". The Belmontonian. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  64. ^ Alix, Laura (August 3, 2014). "Saving The Homer House". Banker & Tradesman. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  65. ^ Tucker, Franklin B. (October 21, 2014). "Local Celebs Will Walk the Fashion Runway Sunday for the Homer House". The Belmontonian. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  66. ^ Kaselis Tzouvelis, Joanna (October 27, 2015). "Local celebrities model in fashion show". Belmont Citizen-Herald. Archived from the original on September 15, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  67. ^ Tzouvelis, Joanna (March 12, 2019). "Local 'stars' aim to preserve Homer House through dance". Country Gazette. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  68. ^ Byrne, Mary (April 2, 2024). "Belmont Stars Lace Up for Charity Dance-Off". Belmont Voice. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  69. ^ "Belmont's Shining Stars". Belmont Voice. April 12, 2024. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
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  • Belmont Woman's Club
  • Winslow Homer's Belmont, March 22, 2018. Documentary highlighting Winslow Homer's life and career in Belmont, and the Homer House. Produced by the Belmont Woman's Club and the Belmont Media Center.
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