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Leroy Anderson Square

2 Crawford Street,
Corner of Crawford and Chatham Streets
Cambridge, Massachusetts USA

Leroy Anderson Square is located at the corner of Crawford and Chatham Streets in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  The square is across the street from 12 Chatham Street, the boyhood home of composer Leroy Anderson.  The square is adjacent to the building at 2 Crawford Street.

 

Google Maps: Leroy Anderson Square, 2 Crawford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts USA

Updated April 8, 2023


Leroy Anderson Square

Cambridge, Massachusetts Mayor Michael Sullivan and the Cambridge City Council dedicated the corner of Chatham and Crawford Streets as Leroy Anderson Square on May 31, 2003.  Mayor Sullivan said in part that the naming of Leroy Anderson Square was "in honor of one of America's greatest composers of light music and the most inventive arranger for the Boston Pops."

In the June 9, 2003 edition of The Boston Globe, Richard Dyer wrote about the naming of Leroy Anderson Square:

"Dignitaries, neighbors, and passersby at the intersection of Crawford and Chatham streets" gathered, along with the composer's widow, Eleanor, and "her children and grandchildren as Mayor Michael A. Sullivan addressed the crowd, which was also serenaded by members of the Harvard University Band under Thomas Everett.  Anderson was conductor of the Harvard Band when the ingenuity of his arrangements attracted the attention of Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler."

 

Leroy Anderson Square dedicated:
Composer of 'Sleighride' and 'The Syncopated Clock' honored by Cambridge


"Leroy Anderson, one of the most frequently played American composers in the world, became part of Cambridge geography on May 31 when a square at the corner of Chatham and Crawford streets was dedicated to him. The son of Swedish immigrants, Anderson grew up in a house at 12 Chatham St., attended Cambridge High and Latin School (now Cambridge Rindge and Latin), and Harvard University (Class of 1929)." - Ken Gewertz, The Harvard Gazette. July 17, 2003. > > > More 2

 

Speaking at the dedication, Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart said:

//  The voice of Leroy Anderson became the voice of the Boston Pops in its dual commitment to approachability and to excellence.

 

Also at the dedication, composer and former Boston Pops conductor John Williams said:

//  He was an American original.  Leroy Anderson is one of the great American masters of light orchestral music.  Though we have performed his works countless times over the years at the Boston Pops, his music remains forever as young and fresh as the very first day on which it was composed. 3

 

Notes

  1. Leroy Anderson Square is located at the corner of Crawford and Chatham Streets in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  The square is across the street from 12 Chatham Street, the boyhood home of Leroy Anderson.  The square is adjacent to the building at 2 Crawford Street.

  2. Leroy Anderson Square dedicated: [a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2003/07/leroy-anderson-square-dedicated/" target="blank"], Ken Gewertz, The Harvard Gazette, July 17, 2003

  3. "Leroy Anderson Gets His Square", Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe, June 9, 2003

Google Maps: Leroy Anderson Square, 2 Crawford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts USA 1

Pdf file: Harvard Gazzette, complete article with photos of Dedication