October 2021 Newsletter

Hello,

Since my last message to all of you, a lot has happened at The WEM (including this new branding). Programs have returned, as promised, and it has been wonderful to start seeing many of you around the neighborhood again! I’ve been deeply moved by the continued generosity of our community and am happy to say that, thanks to you, the Museum remains on sound footing after what the Board and I had expected to be a challenging second year of closures and reduced hours.

Getting programs running again has been a big effort, and I want to thank all of the speakers, tour guides and volunteers who’ve made that possible. Hopefully most of you have gotten to see one of those programs in person or on Facebook, or will in the near future.

We’ve also begun our renovations with a new floor, and are working with Chan Ascher Architecture on the next stages of that plan. The aforementioned new branding was implemented on the first of October, and it’s up on our social media, emails and website already. Slowly, but steadily, we are moving towards an updated website, which will include a collection of hundreds of articles and pages.

In this edition of our newsletter, we look back at some recent programs and look ahead to some upcoming dates and events. Plus, we will tell you about some people who’ve made significant contributions to the West End and will be honored on November 12 right here on Lomasney Way.

Please read on to learn more, and I look forward to seeing you at The WEM!

Best wishes,
Sebastian Belfanti
Director, The WEM

An Effort to Create a Better Experience for Visitors and an Enhanced Examination of this Vital Neighborhood

By Susan Gilbert

As the West End community continues to grow and evolve over the coming decades, the museum dedicated to telling its story is also undergoing an evolution. Now into its second decade as Boston’s only neighborhood museum, The West End Museum (WEM) has begun a substantial renovation project aimed at updating the facility, layout and exhibits to better share the story of the West End with new generations—from current neighborhood residents, to tourists, to the children and grandchildren of displaced West Enders. If you want to see the beginning of that change you don’t have to look far, the Museum has a new logo.

According to WEM Director Sebastian Belfanti, a new floor and other physical improvements have already been completed. The museum is working with Chan Ascher Architecture, which is generously donating their time to plan the Museum’s structural improvements. Outside the Museum, a new sidewalk has been installed as the Alcott building, rising at the site of the old West End garage, nears completion.

Museum renovations are expected to continue on and off for the next 18-24 months, Belfanti said. “We are moving ahead with renovations as we secure funding and are committed to keeping the museum open throughout the process.”

By Leigh Blander

Like other Boston museums that delayed new programming until after lockdowns had lifted, The WEM has been busy these past few months organizing and launching an eclectic mix of programming—from bicycle roller racing to a spooky reminiscence of one of the West End’s notorious neighborhood jails. As the Museum continues gearing up from a quiet pandemic period, more robust programming is being planned for the winter and spring of 2022.

October brought the Halloween spirit to Lomasney Way with Ghosts in the Museum, a historic talk about the Leverett Street Jail, which was located approximately where The WEM sits now and housed inmates from 1822-1851. Museum President Duane Lucia shared stories about some of Leverett Street’s infamous prisoners.

“Leverett Street Jail was the epicenter of some of the most contentious social and legal issues of the day,” Lucia said. You can read more about Ghosts in the Museum in the Beacon Hill Times.

In a nod to the neighborhood’s more than 120-year history as a center of bicycling, the WEM partnered with MassBike in September to launch the exhibit Cycling Legends of the West End, which will run through February. At the launch party, visitors enjoyed roller racing and other fun activities. Bikes Not Bombs, a Boston nonprofit that provides bicycles as a vehicle for social change, held a free bike tune-up day for Museum visitors on Oct. 22. Exhibit talks included stories about Kittie Knox, who broke color barriers in cycling in the late 1800s, and Annie Cohen Kopchovsky, the mother-of-three who set off on an around-the-world biking trip in 1894.

By Leigh Blander

Boston’s West End is known for many things: its rich immigrant history, connections to the abolitionist movement, urban renewal, and many famous actors, athletes, and artists. But the neighborhood has another distinction—it has been home to three major jails, including the notorious Leverett Street lockup.

Leverett Street

The Leverett Street Jail opened in 1822 approximately where The West End Museum stands now.

“It was the epicenter of some of the most contentious social and legal issues of the day,” said Duane Lucia, WEM Board president.

The jail was infamous for overcrowding and mixing inmates, regardless of the severity of their crimes. Seven of 10 women incarcerated there were innocent, arrested purely on the word of others for offenses like speaking out about politics.

The jail held many hangings, which were visible from the street and neighboring apartment windows.

Some of its most well-known inmates included:

● Dr. John Webster, convicted and hanged for the 1849 murder of George Parkman
● Don Pedro Gilbert, the last pirate executed in Boston
● Abner Kneeland, who preached birth control, women’s property rights and interracial marriage. Kneeland was the last person in the U.S. convicted of blasphemy.
● William Lloyd Garrison, the abolitionist leader, suffragist, and social reformer was held temporarily for his own protection against an angry mob.

Charles Street

The Leverett Street Jail closed in 1851 and was replaced by the Charles Street Jail, which housed inmates during the 19th and 20th centuries. The site of the old jail was integrated into the Liberty Hotel, which opened in 2007. Famous inmates at Charles Street included Malcolm Little (Malcom X), Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Boston Mayor James Michael Curley and birth control activist William R. Baird Jr.

‘Hey kid, how ya doin’?’

Joe Greenberg, of Brookline, grew up in the West End and remembers walking by the Charles Street Jail often.

“Some of the prisoners would yell from their cells, ‘Hey kid, how ya doin’?’ I would stop and have conversations with them. I got to know several of the prisoners, including (bank robber) Willie Sutton.”

Judge Garrity Spends the Night

In 1971, prisoners sued the Suffolk County sheriff, saying that overcrowding at the Charles Street Jail violated their constitutional rights. Federal Judge W. Arthur Garrity — best known for his 1973 ruling desegregating Boston public schools – spent a night in jail in 1973. He agreed with the inmates and declared the jail’s conditions unconstitutional. He ordered it to be closed.

The Charles Street Jail didn’t close, though, until 1990, when the current Suffolk County Jail on Nashua Street opened. It holds about 700 prisoners in 13 different units.
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