Additions to the Charles River Esplanade had been made during the 1930s only by omitting an important part of the project, a proposed highway from the Longfellow Bridge to the Cottage Farm (Boston University) Bridge, which had provoked tremendous protest. After Helen Storrow, the wife of the now deceased James Storrow, supported a group opposed to the highway, it was dropped; part of the funding was to have come from a million-dollar gift from her.
The Charles River Esplanade was expanded in the 1930s, but only by removing a crucial element of the project, a proposed highway from the Longfellow Bridge to the Cottage Farm (Boston University) Bridge, which sparked significant opposition. After Helen Storrow, the wife of the late James Storrow, supported a group opposing the highway, it was abandoned; part of the funding was intended to come from a million-dollar donation from her.