In the past 2 posts, we’ve told you about our founder, Anna Harris Smith, and the restoration of her Dorchester home. The North Bennet Street School has been working on the house for about 2 years now, however the connection between the school and the League goes back even further.

In 1914, the League used the North Bennet Street School as a temporary holding facility for animals that would be transported to the Boston shelter. A clip from The North End Lantern urges readers to bring stray dogs, cats, and birds there.  Rich Friberg was unaware of the Clapp House history when he first signed on to the project. However, now almost 100 years later, the North Bennet Street School and the Animal Rescue League of Boston have crossed paths again.

The North Bennet students took the old Clapp house foundation and restored it while staying true to its originality. Whoever buys the renovated Clapp house cannot alter the work the North Bennet Street students have done without petitioning to make changes. “It takes the right person to buy the house,” Friberg says.

It also takes the right person to create an organization that has lasted not only 113 years, but has saved thousands of animals’ lives. The Animal Rescue League of Boston has done the same. The League has built upon the foundation Anna Harris Smith created while still remaining true to her intended purpose.