The history of Dedham, Massachusetts in the 20th century saw great growth come to the town. It played host to the Sacco and Vanzetti trial, saw the Endicott Estate and a number of schools constructed, a great deal of economic development, and growth in the number of services provided by the Town.

Government A bill establishing a representative town meeting was established in 1928, and then amended in 1948. It was almost amended again when a resident used a friendly representative in a neighboring community to introduce and pass a bill in the General Court. A charter was adopted later in the century, and amended again in the 21st century. The Department of Public Works was created in 1933.

There was a great many immigrants in East Dedham during the early part of the century, mostly working in or around the mills along Mother Book. This contributed to a sense of "otherness", and, as late as 1909, the Town Report referred to those residents as "foreigners."

Fire department

The first fire chief was appointed in 1920. Prior to that there was a four-member Board of Fire Engineers who had charge over fires. Hurricane Carol knocked down the East Dedham firehouse's 80 foot bell tower on August 31, 1954. It flew across the station and landed on 219 Bussey St, the house next door, where Maria Guerriero was feeding her one-year-old son, Joseph. It also crushed three cars parked on Bussey St.

A firehouse was constructed on Westfield Street, near High Street, in 1906. The lower level had horse stalls, a stable room, a hose wago, and engine room, and an opening to the paddock in the rear. The second story had a sleeping room, a company room, a lavatory, a bath, and a hay and grain room. The building housed horse drawn steamer engines. It went out of service sometime in the 20th century, but still exists as a private residence.

Firefighters began wearing uniforms in 1906.

Police department

After the department purchased its first police motorcycle in 1923, Abe Rafferty was appointed the first motorcycle officer. By 1936, there were 18 officers.

In December 1973, the Dedham Police Department investigated the sighting of several unidentified flying objects over town. A young couple on a date had their car followed by UFO while they drove through Dedham.

Headquarters The department was located on the first floor of Memorial Hall until Town Clerk John Carey locked the doors for the last time on March 16, 1962. The building was demolished in April 1962 after a new town hall was built on Bryant St. The police took up temporary residence in the new town hall for a year while a new police station was built on the Memorial Hall property.

On April 29, 1963, the Police Department moved into their new headquarters on the corner of High and Washington Streets. It included a fallout shelter in the cellar that featured walls of 6-inch reinforced concrete and a lead window cover that could be put in place to shield occupants from fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion. It also housed the Civil Defense Communication Center.

Recreation

In the early 1900s, the ancient Indian burial ground near Wigwam Pond was leveled to make way for athletic fields and a commercial shopping area. The last person known to have been buried there was Sarah David, the wife of Alexander Quapish.

The Recreation Department was begun in the 1930s with an effort to build and staff three playgrounds around town. By the 1960s there were 10 playgrounds. The first Recreation Commission was elected in 1941.

In 1951, the Town of Dedham purchased a three acre plot from the Paul estate for $2,625 and built Paul Park on it. Several hundred people attended the dedication ceremony on June 8, 1952.

The Commonwealth took much of the Town Forest in the 1950s to construct Massachusetts Route 128. The state returned 71 acres in the median to the Town in 1972 for use of hikers and picnickers.

Swimming, fishing, boating, and ice skating were popular activities on Mother Brook. In 1925, the Town built a bathhouse on what is today Incinerator Road to replace the 1898 bathhouse that burned down in 1923. It was set aside for women and girls to use on Tuesday and Friday afternoons.

After Proposition 2½ led to the elimination of the Recreation Director position in 1980, Anthony "JuJu" Muccaccio took over the position for a year pro bono. He was then hired full time and began running the parade, an activity he continued even after his retirement in 2010.

Youth Commission At a 1971 Town Meeting, a proposal to convert the Endicott Estate's garage into a teen center was voted down. That same year, the Commission moved into the Knights of Columbus Building in Dedham Square. The Commission was only supposed to use the two rented rooms as office space, but youths congregated there anyway, causing problems for the other tenants in the building. As a result, the Commission was evicted as of January 1, 1975.

Baby Cemetery

Land purchased in the late 1940s by Joseph Stivaletta, a local developer, was once home to the Temporary Asylum for Discharged Female Prisoners. He discovered 11 small, oval stones made of marble marking the graves of children and, rather than disturb them, set the land aside and did not build a home on it. When Massachusetts Route 128 was being constructed, Stivaletta convinced then-Transportation Secretary John Volpe to move the road rather than disturb the graves. Volpe's family came from the same small town in Italy as Stivaletta.

Town Meeting voted to accept the cemetery in 1998 after being gifted the land from the Stivaletta family.

Town Forest In 1927, Dedham established a Town Forest to the west of Federal Hill, near the Westwood border. In the 1950s, the Commonwealth took the land to construct Massachusetts Route 128. The forest was very rocky, however, so it was decided to build the highway around the forest rather than blast through the rock, in essence making the forest the median strip of the highway. The state gave the 77 acre forest back to the town in 1973.

20th-century representation in the General Court Dedham was represented by a number of women and men in the Great and General Court of Massachusetts.

Year Representative Senator Notes1900Arthur Clark 1905 Joseph Soliday 1906 Joseph Soliday 1907 Joseph Soliday William Otis Faxon 1908 Joseph Soliday William Otis Faxon 1909 Joseph Soliday 1910 Joseph Soliday / William G. Moseley Bradley M. Rockwood 1911 William G. Moseley Bradley M. Rockwood 1916 John A. Hirsch 1925 John K. Burgess Samuel H. Wragg 1926 John K. Burgess Samuel H. Wragg 1927 John K. Burgess Samuel H. Wragg 1928 John K. Burgess Samuel H. Wragg 1929 John K. Burgess Samuel H. Wragg1930 John K. Burgess Samuel H. Wragg1931 John K. Burgess Samuel H. Wragg1932 John K. Burgess Samuel H. Wragg1933 James M. McCracken Samuel H. Wragg 1934 James M. McCracken Samuel H. Wragg 1935 Mason Sears Samuel H. Wragg 1936 Mason Sears Samuel H. Wragg 1937 Mason Sears Samuel H. Wragg 1938 Mason Sears Samuel H. Wragg 1939 Mason Sears 1940 Mason Sears 1941 Mason Sears 1942 Mason Sears 1947 Francis Appleton Harding Mason Sears 1948 Francis Appleton Harding Mason Sears 1949 Francis Appleton Harding 1950 Francis Appleton Harding 1951 Francis Appleton Harding 1952 Francis Appleton Harding 1953 Francis Appleton Harding 1954 Francis Appleton Harding 1955 Francis Appleton Harding 1956 Harold Rosen 1957 Harold Rosen 1958 Harold Rosen 1959 Harold Rosen 1960 Harold Rosen 1961 Harold Rosen 1962 Harold Rosen 1963 Harold Rosen 1964 Harold Rosen 1965 Harold Rosen 1966 Harold Rosen 1967 Harold Rosen 1968 Harold Rosen 1969 Harold Rosen / Charles M. McGowan 1970 Charles M. McGowan Robert L. Crawley 1971 Charles M. McGowan Robert L. Crawley 1972 Charles M. McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1973 Charles M. McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1974 Charles M. McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1975 Charles M. McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1976 Charles M. McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1977 Charles M. McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1978 Charles M. McGowan Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1979 Charles M. McGowan / Deborah R. Cochran Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1980 Deborah R. Cochran Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1981 Deborah R. Cochran Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1982 Marie-Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1983 Marie-Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1984 Marie-Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1985 Marie-Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1986 Marie-Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1987 Marie-Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1988 Marie-Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1989 Marie-Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1990 Marie-Louise Kehoe Arthur Joseph Lewis Jr. 1991 Marie-Louise Kehoe Christopher M. Lane 1992 Marie-Louise Kehoe Christopher M. Lane 1993 Marie-Louise Kehoe Marian Walsh 1994 Marie-Louise Kehoe Marian Walsh 1995 Maryanne Lewis Marian Walsh 1996 Maryanne Lewis Marian Walsh 1997 Maryanne Lewis Marian Walsh 1998 Maryanne Lewis Marian Walsh 1999 Maryanne Lewis Marian Walsh

Public schools Quincy School

In April 1909, Town Meeting voted to appropriate $60,000 to build a new Quincy School and $6,000 for furnishings, fittings, and grading. The original school, it was said at the time was "only held together by the last coat of paint [and had] clearly outlived its usefulness."

The new school was completed on budget and built at the intersection of Greenhood, Quincy, and Bussey Streets. It was dedicated on June 4, 1910. Within the two-story building were ten rooms. It measured 79' by 140' and was made of brick with sandstone trimming. The interior was outfitted with hard pine.

That the new school was built, opined the Dedham Transcript, was due to "the good influence of [the German Quincy Homestead Association] in building up this thrifty village [which] cannot be understated; and the growth and early success of this school were largely due to the efforts of its members."

The new school was used until 1982 when declining enrollment and Proposition 2½ forced its closure. Town Meeting authorized the sale of the property to a developer in 1982, but only after off-duty police officers and firefighters were able to find and bring enough Town Representatives to reach a quorum.

Dedham High School

Buildings

From 1916 to 1959 the high school was located at 70 Whiting Avenue, today the site of Loewen Field. Governor Calvin Coolidge took part in the dedication ceremony. In 1932, a new wing was added at a cost of $200,000. Later, this wing was used as the Oakdale Junior High School.

Special laws were passed by the Massachusetts General Court in 1957 allowing the town to use Stone Park across the street to build a new high school.Chapters 64 and 65 of the Acts of 1957 Classes began at 140 Whiting Avenue in 1959, and continue to the present. The building cost $2 million to construct, but even before the building opened town officials knew that it would be too small to house all of the students of the post-war baby boom.

An addition to this building was constructed in 1967, which consisted of a new academic wing with 28 new classrooms and an additional gymnasium. Plans also included the construction of a new athletic practice field and tennis courts along High Street. Land was taken by eminent domain for the expansion, including the mansion once owned by R.O. Storrs.

In 1976 a new library, a larger cafeteria, modern science laboratories, swimming pool, and more classrooms were added. The old cafeteria was converted into an auto body shop, and is currently the home of the town's Facilities Department. The library was renovated and expanded in 1999.

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