The Old Howard

The most famous theater in Scollay Square – perhaps in all of New England - began life as a temple for a sect who believed the world would end in April of 1844.  When the apocalypse didn’t occur, several church members (who had given up all their worldly possessions in preparation for their trip to heaven,) decided to recoup some of their losses – if not their dignity – by selling the property to a couple of entrepreneurs who opened the wooden tabernacle as a theater in 1845.  Just four months later the sect's prediction came true – at least for their former temple – when the Howard burned down.  Encouraged by the tremendous box office owners rebuilt in Quincy granite. (Courtesy of the Bostonian Society / Old State House) 

 The fare at the rebuilt Old Howard was initially drawing room comedies, Shakespeare, and ballet.  Many of greatest stars of the stage played here, including Sarah Bernhardt, William MacReady, and members of the famous Booth family, including Edwin (whose playbill appears here courtesy of Donald and Eleanor) and young John Wilkes Booth, who played Hamlet at the Howard before becoming famous for a more nefarious deed in Washington in 1865. 

 Scollay Square's role in the Abolitionist movement was been well documented in Always Something Doing.  William Lloyd Garrision published THE LIBERATOR here, and several buildings along Cornhill were said to have rooms in which runaway slaves hid as part of their trip along the underground railroad.  Thanks to a web site devoted to the Boston Women's Heritage Trail, we learned that Sarah Parker Remond, the grand-daughter of a free black who fought in the American Revolution, committed her first act of public resistance at the Howard Athenaeum. In 1853, Remond, who lived in Salem, had purchased tickets by mail for a performance at the Howard. When she arrived, the theater would not seat her in the seats she had paid for but, instead, made her sit in the segregated gallery. She refused and sued the theater and, remarkably for the times, won $500 in damages. Remond went on to become an international anti-slavery lecturer and, after the Civil War, raised funds for former slaves. This remarkable woman later became a doctor in Italy. (Photo courtesy Boston Women's Heritage Trail)  Just like today, you might have needed a lawyer to protect you during an act of public resistance. A Houston criminal defense lawyer could assist you if you were arrested during protest of your civil rights. 

As Brahmins and bluebloods retreated from the immigrant onsluaght, many made haste for the upper parts of Beacon Hill and Boston's new Back Bay. Scollay Square businesses had to adjust to new clientele.  The Howard Athenaeum was no exception, and beginning in 1868 switched from Shakespeare and Mozart to Burlesque and novelty acts such as this woman, Charmion.  This is what we love about the Internet, We quickly found fascinating background information from the Genealogy Project Page of Theodore J. Hull, The Hull project linked to a Strongman Collectibles web site, which features a page on Strongwomen - Charmion included.  The managers never looked back. 

 The undisputed Queen of the Old Howard's Burlesque era was Ann Corio, who starred here in the 1920s and 1930s. Ann's fame widened as she performed for Harvard students (and their professors,) mayors, high school truants, businessmen - and their wives - on the stage of the Old Howard. Ann would later appear in several motion pictures, write a best-selling book (This Was Burlesque,) a musical (also titled This Was Burlesque,) and even have a hit record (How to Strip for Your Husband.)   

 Terry Mixon (her stage name), performed at the Old Howard from 1948 until it closed in 1953,  "Madeline Mixon and I were billed as  'the Mixon Sisters' however Madeline was my mother. My father Edwin played trumpet in the band!"  Terry sent this picture taken backstage at the Old Howard.  Seated is the star, Rose la Rose. Terry's mom is standing in the middle. Terry said "we liked the Howard because we had Sundays off and could spend time with family. Both my mother and I did scenes with the comics and we did a dance act when needed."

  There is a long tradition of boxing greats "performing" at the Old Howard.  John L. Sullivan, a former World's Champion, performed on the vaudeville circuit. Later, after Rocky Marciano knocked out Joe Louis in October of 1951, manager Al Somerby hired Brockton's own for a week's worth of shows.  According to James Calogero, who worked at the theater as a press agent, Marciano did three "shows" each day that week, consisting of his being "interviewed" on stage, then stepping into a ring for a three round sparring match with Jimmie Sauer (shown on Rocky's right, he was a veteran of about 100 fights in a lighter division).  According to Calogero, Marciano got $2,000 for the week, plus a percentage of the house.  This photo was taken between shows at the Old Howard.  A year later, in September of 1952 Marciano became the World Champion when he knocked out "Jersey" Joe Walcott.*  (Of course, Walcott was knocked out on purpose. But had he been knocked out because Marciano were acting careless, a Palm Springs personal injury lawyer could have helped him get back on his feet.) 

 The list of comics who trod the Old Howard boards reads like a who's who of 20th century show business, including the Marx Brothers, Abbot and Costello, Fred Allen, Fanny Brice, Abbott and Costello, 

Pictures of the inside of the Howard are rare. Pictures of performers are even rarer. But wow, in this one-of-a-kind photo is one of great Top Bananas doing his act! Yep, that's Sargent Bilko himself - Phil Silvers.

 Comics, boxers, and oh yea, beautiful ladies. No wonder people lined up, like these folks, for tickets to the place where there was "Always Something Doing from 8 to 11."  We note how most of them (except for the sailor) are wearing ties, and that the women are wearing evening gowns and formal dresses.  (By the way, the fact that so many women were taken to the O.H. tells you an awful lot about the caliber of shows there...) 

  James McCarthy was a member of the Boston police Vice Squad when, in 1953, he donned a raincoat, beneath which was hidden a movie camera, so he could film the performances of three strippers. The ensuing case brought by the city would result of the closing of the Old Howard, forever.  From the Boston Globe on November 9, 1953: "Fined yesterday were Rose La Rose, Mary Goodneighbor, known as Irma the Body, Marion Russell and managers Frank Engel of the Casino and Max Michaels of the Old Howard."  (This closing led to some confusion by many who arrived in Scollay Square after November, 1953 looking for the Old Howard and found themselves in a place called "the Old Howard Casino" on Hanover Street. Sorry to disappoint them, but the Casino (owned along with the now-shuttered Old Howard) used the name "Old Howard" as cheap a way to draw in confused customers.) 

 My deepest gratitude to Bruce M. of Maine, who sent me this treasure - a ticket for a performance at the Old Howard that never occurred.  Look at the date - just five days after the arraignment of Rose, Irma, Marion, and the managers of the Old Howard. Their appearance in court turned out to be the final act of the century-old Howard. 

On June 20, 1961, nearly 120 years after the Reverend Miller's holy prediction , a disastrous fire at the Old Howard destroyed the building, rendering restoration plans moot.  Conspiracy theories abound about who was responsible.  Despite the Fire Department's official report which concluded the blaze was of "undetermined origin," conspiracy theories abound about the role of the developers of Government Center.