“All Roads Lead to Needham” is the title of Gloria Greis’s fourth book, released at the end of 2025. The phrase also summarizes her take on the town’s history. “People tell me that nothing ever happened here,” Greis, who serves as the executive director of the Needham History Center & Museum, said, but her research makes her case for Needham’s historical relevance.
The book is a collection of well-crafted essays that Greis has written since 2018 for the Needham Times, the History Center’s newsletter and for Needham Local. They are accompanied by stunning photography, almost all from the History Center’s collection.
Being a local history guru may seem like a strange gig for someone who majored in Archaeology at Yale and got a Ph.D in Anthropology from Harvard, but Greis said that her enduring interest has always been history.
Greis moved to Needham in 1991 and for the next 11 years worked as a collection manager at Harvard’s Peabody museum, specializing in Human Osteology, the study of bones. She said that she slowly became absorbed in the affairs of the town. When the town searched for an executive director of the History Center in 2002, she applied. In the decades since, Greis has shared the town’s history in writings spanning a wide range of topics.
The book includes narratives of 19th-century scientific discoveries in botany and food hygiene and the work of astronomers at observatories on Bird’s Hill. It follows the local militias that fought for American independence. It covers the role Needham played in abolition and race relations.
But it also includes lighter themes. Greis tells the story of when cricket was Needham’s favorite pastime, and digs into the roots of the oldest high school football rivalry, Needham vs. Wellesley. There is the story of how Needham split from Dedham, and how Wellesley escaped Needham’s grasp a century and a half later. There are portrayals of businesses past: a pickle factory on Harris Avenue and the ice harvest at Rosemary.
“These are some of my favorites,” Greis said. “I have enough for three more volumes.”
Select Board Member Kevin Keane, a member of the History Center Board, has worked with Greis in multiple capacities, including organizing the annual April 19 walk to Battle Road following the Needham militia’s route to confront the Redcoats at Menotomy, the bloodiest battle of a bloody day.
“She’s always curious about things and has a way of sleuthing out a story,” Keane said. “She’s a real historian.”
Keane said that even though Greis is not a Needham native, her knowledge of the town is encyclopedic. He praised her thorough grasp of N.C. Wyeth’s work and her ability to tell the story of the industrial revolution in Needham.
He remembers a 250th anniversary event that was attended by history buffs from all the towns whose militias fought at Menotomy.
“When they heard that Gloria was in the building, there was a shout out to her,” Keane said. “Her research has identified almost every soldier in every militia. She is very well-respected in her field.”
Moe Handel, also a member of the board that oversees the History Center and a former member of the Select Board, said that Greis is the town’s most important historical asset. “She’s a great presenter and writer,” he said. “She makes it very easy to understand and relate to the history of the town.”
Greis’s list of publications, essays and professional accomplishments span a vast array of topics. She has discussed George Washington’s very brief trip to Needham. No, he never slept here, but he had a drink of water, said it was quite palatable, but that the roads and fields were too rocky. She has lectured about the myth of Viking settlement in the area, and Needham’s transition from an agricultural town to a suburb. She gives talks to seniors at North Hill, many of whom are new to Needham, and to elementary school students.
Greis’s role as the History Center’s executive director is more than serving as a historian. Early in Greis’s tenure in Needham, the organization faced a pivotal decision. The museum was outgrowing its home on Glendoon Road. Greis said that the only bathroom was up a steep set of stairs that was impractical for many visitors.
“There was no parking on the street,” Handel said. “We were always irritating the neighbors.”
Greis helped to pull together a new site for the museum in the front yard of the Newman school that is easily accessible for seniors and for the many classes of school students that visit. It comprises two historic buildings that were moved to the site. The Little Red Schoolhouse was moved from near the corner of Webster and Central in 2005. The move took 16 hours and the electric and cable companies had to drop wires to let the building pass. Today the Little Red School house still hosts classes, as well as art and photography exhibits.
It is joined to the 1834 Mills House which travelled only 200 feet. Greis said that it was part of a real estate deal for builder Dave Tocci, who created Jenna Circle and built four modern homes next door. Tocci paid for the move and for the new foundation. Greis said that Tocci, a former history teacher with deep Needham roots, “was motivated to make it work and was very generous.”
The History Center leases the land from the town for one dollar a year, and according to Handel, is totally self-sustaining. “We rely on memberships, sponsorships and contributions. We run on budget every year,” he said.
Greis gets pulled into discussions on many town matters that impinge on history. Among many other assignments, she was consulted in naming the Sunita Williams school, in organizing the town’s 300th anniversary observations and is currently working on updating the town seal.
“The job is full of delightful surprises,” she said. Each day opens new and unexpected avenues in exploring centuries of town history. In December, the museum got a 1766 map of Needham from the Canton Historical Society and the museum’s archivist, Polly Attridge, unearthed evidence of a 19th-century bathhouse on Hunnewell Street.
Greis describes her role as town historian as a “dream job,” because there is always more to explore.
“History is infinite,” she said. “It’s everybody’s lives all together.”
The book is available for purchase at the History Center’s gift shop.
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