"A Black community has flourished in pockets of Riverside since about 1800," Williams says.

According to 1990 census data, about 35 percent of Riverside's residents listed themselves as Black.

Many residents say they believe that a fundamental change took place in neighborhood with the construction of Putnam Gardens, a federally-funded housing project constructed on the corner of Callender and Putnam Streets in 1952.

"It became very run down. This was not a neighborhood to be out in," says one resident who wishes to remain anonymous. "There were heroin sales in broad daylight."

The once Black and white ethnic neighborhood took on a sizable number of Haitian, Hispanic and Asian immigrants, residents say.

"Since the projects were built in 1952, we've had a mix of all nationalities," Ward says.

As in other urban areas across the country, changing neighborhood patterns led to some racial tensions in Riverside during the 1960s.

"Back in the late 60s there was tension. It started to get a little rough," Goulopoulos says. "People who don't know the neighborhood seem to think it's a dangerous neighborhood."

In fact, according to the historical commission, Riverside residents rejected a plan in 1976 to build a new park out of "fear that a park would become a crime-producing no-man's-land."

Reclaiming Riverside

The frustration felt by residents perhaps was epitomized best by the 1970 demonstration at Harvard's commencement by Riverside activist and former City Councillor Saundra Graham.

Graham and a band of followers marched onto the stage, seized the microphone, and criticized Harvard's construction of Mather House and Peabody Terrace, extending the college's sprawling campus into the residential Riverside neighborhood.

Since that period, Riverside residents have worked hard to improve Riverside's image as a quiet and peaceful family neighborhood.

Riverside residents currently are working closely with the Cambridge Police Department to improve neighborhood security, most notably by forming tenant coalitions, neighborhood watch groups and community policing programs.

"It's a joint effort. It's not the police doing all the work," says Williams, who coordinates community policing efforts. "We're tying all service providers in the city together. This frees up police time for more serious law enforcement."