Eben D. Jordan Jr. House Study Report

On April 2, 2024, the Boston Landmarks Commission posted a study report on the proposed designation (interior) of the Eben D. Jordan Jr. House as a Landmark under Chapter 772 of the Acts of 1975, as amended.

The Eben D. Jordan Jr. House is highly significant for its associations with a diverse range of people important to business, women's and African American rights, politics, arts, design, and culture. These individuals are associated with both the design and construction of the mansion and its subsequent use over decades as an important Beacon Hill institution for 99 years from 1924 to 2023.

The Eben D. Jordan Jr. House is significant at local, state, regional, and national levels as an important example of an in situ residential design by Wallace C. Sabine, founder of the field of architectural acoustics. The mansion has further significance at local and state levels for its association with Eben D. Jordan Jr. and several regionally important architects and designers and for its role as the first dedicated headquarters of the Women’s Republican Club of Massachusetts (WRC) following the ratification of the 19^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Prominent activists Harriet C. Hall and Anna Julia Child Bird founded the WRC as an explicitly interracial membership organization. It served as an important platform for women’s and African American civil rights advocates, in close proximity to the Massachusetts State House and related political actors who resided on Beacon Hill. Speakers included author and preservationist Clara Endicott Sears, former President Calvin Coolidge, George W. Goodman of the Urban League, and Matthew W. Bullock, an African American lawyer, politician, and human rights activist. The WRC also hosted social events open to the public, such as the recurring “officers dance” every Saturday during World War II. Those events attracted international stars who performed in the mansion, such as the Russian composer and conductor Igor Stravinsky and Adele Marcus, a leading pianist of the era.

READ THE EBEN D. JORDAN JR. HOUSE STUDY REPORT

(Report amended as of May 17, 2024 and amended again as of August 15, 2024)

The proposed designation will be discussed and voted upon at a public hearing on August 27, 2024. Please look for the meeting notice in the public notices section of our website.