Our Story: FKA Agassiz Baldwin Community
The Maud Morgan Arts Center is nestled under the FKA Agassiz Baldwin Community program umbrella.
About Agassiz Baldwin Community
Formerly called the Agassiz Neighborhood Council, Inc., Agassiz Baldwin Community, A Cambridge Corporation (ABC) is a private, non-profit, tax-exempt corporation that provides services and programs for Cambridge residents.
In August 2007, the agency changed its name to Agassiz Baldwin Community, A Cambridge Corporation to better reflect our citywide functions and constituency, as well as to honor a neighborhood luminary, Maria Louise Baldwin, first African-American headmistress in New England.
History
Fifty years ago, ABC began as a Cambridge Community School in the Cambridge Department of Human Services. We offered programs for adults and children in the then-called Agassiz School after school hours. In 1985, we incorporated as a not-for-profit, retaining the contract for community school services (such as the afterschool program) and the community forum, Agassiz (now Baldwin) Neighborhood Council. ABC purchased 20 Sacramento St., which we had rented from Harvard University, and grew our programs to include a gallery, preschool, and numerous community-building events, classes, and activities appealing to both those living in the neighborhood as well as a citywide audience.
Mission
ABC is a place that nurtures individual growth and creativity, builds connections, and serves as a forum for community advocacy.
We believe in:
- Welcoming and including everyone
- Lifelong learning
- Fostering a culture of creativity and cooperation
Our programs and services include:
—The Baldwin Neighborhood Council provides community members with the opportunity to have their voices heard as well as take action on a variety of issues and initiatives. It meets monthly (except for July and August). The Whistler, our community newsletter, includes the minutes from each month’s Council meeting as well as information about ABC’s programs, events, and other items of interest in Cambridge.
—Agassiz Baldwin Children’s Programs include afterschool, summer program, parent/child playgroups, and opportunities for middle school students to get work experience through our Youth Employment Program.
—Community events and services include our annual Thanksgiving Potluck Feast, the Kids Only Holiday Sale, and Backyard Block Party. We also offer technical support for community initiatives, resources and referrals on neighborhood issues, and neighborhood archives.
—The Living Well Network, a grassroots, volunteer-supported initiative to help older residents stay in their homes as they age. This network will include contiguous neighborhoods, Porter Square, Neighborhood 9, Mid-Cambridge, and abutting sections of Somerville.
Anti-Racism Work
Starting in 2016, members of (fka) Agassiz Baldwin Community recommitted to the organization’s long and winding journey of addressing institutional and structural racism through reflection on the programs we offer to our community and the manner in which they are delivered; our own policies and practices as an organization and their impact on our staff and program participants; and the ways we partner with institutions and participate in our wider local community.
To read more about our Anti-Racism work, please click here.
Land Acknowledgement
Agassiz Baldwin Community is located on the traditional homeland of the Massachusetts people. We recognize their close neighbors the Wampanoag and the Nipmuc.