African AmericansImmigrant NeighborhoodImmigrationNeighborhood LifeWomen

Boarding Houses in the West End

Boarding Houses played an important role in the housing system during the age of industrialization and immigration in Boston and the West End. Along with lodging and rooming houses, they were the only alternative for those in need of affordable and transitional living space in the neighborhood until the arrival of tenements and apartment buildings. Boarding houses also offered women of the period one of the few ways to earn a decent income.

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Immigrant NeighborhoodSportsWomen Drawing of two women facing each other and wearing boxing gloves. The woman on the right is shown delivering a punch to the face of the other with her left hand. The woman on the left attempts to block with her left hand.

Two Girls in the Ring: An Unsanctioned West End Boxing Match

In September 1886, an unofficial boxing match took place on Staniford Street between two young girls, Lizzie and Mollie. The bout involved a makeshift ring, drawn-up terms, a referee, and two-hundred young people in a crowd. When a police officer arrived, the fight quickly ended, but the event made front-page news, and linked the West End to a century-old tradition of women and girls’ boxing in 1700s Britain.

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