February 2023 Newsletter

Message from Director Sebastian Belfanti
West End Heritage Nominees
Archives Spotlight: Old West End House Jackets
The WEM/WECA Connection

Hello Friends of the WEM,

Since our last newsletter, Bob and I have been ever-more focused on moving the WEM toward reopening. While there won’t be a full breakdown of our plans until the next newsletter, I do want to update you on where we are. The big points being: (1) We are getting very close to having full control of our space back, as the work being done by our building is wrapping up. The offices are mostly back up and running now too, which has been great. (2) Architectural plans are in their final stages and starting to go out to bid, meaning that we will begin our own construction work to get the Museum back to being a Museum before too long. (3) We are in the final stages of selecting an exhibition design firm. This is a really big decision, as the vendor we select will play a sizable role in helping us present our story to you, and the rest of the public. Along with the architectural plans, vendor selection will go in front of our Board of Directors in a few weeks! (4) Funding has been secured to support the construction of the Museum galleries. We have also raised enough to cover the installation of a significant portion of our exhibit materials — enough to open — but there is still a gap between “done” and where we are now. While that will not delay our reopening, it will likely mean that some elements of the final design will appear in the year or so after we reopen to the public. I’m working on finding the funds for this actively, and very much appreciate all the donations we’ve been receiving. Every little bit helps.

Best wishes,

Sebastian Belfanti

Museum Director, The WEM

Every year The West End Museum honors a few people who have made meaningful and lasting contributions to the neighborhood and the city of Boston. At this year’s annual Heritage Celebration, being held on Friday, March 15, we posthumously celebrate three people, each of whom had an enormous impact. They are Dr. Ronald Tompkins, Thomas Maguire and Charles Bulfinch.

Ronald Tompkins 1951-2022

A native of Louisiana, Dr. Tompkins was a healer at the hospital in the West End. Following medical school, he did his surgical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and remained there for his entire distinguished career, focusing much of his attention on burn victims. He became Chief of the Division of Burn Surgery at MGH and was Chief of Staff for Shriners Hospital for Children in Boston for 22 years. In addition, he was named the Sumner M. Redstone Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School.

Read more HERE….

The West End Museum archives are stored in a 20 x 30-foot room one floor above the Museum on Staniford Street. The room is filled with relics of the old West End neighborhood, including more than 1,500 photographs, thousands of letters, as well as items like trophies, shoeshine boxes and even plumbing from old West End buildings. Moving forward, the Museum will spotlight different items from the archives on a regular basis. Here is our first:

This set of varsity jackets, worn by members of the recently demolished West End House, dates back to the 1950s, according to WEM Archivist and Curator Bob Potenza.

The West End House, which opened on Blossom Street in 1906, was a hub for newly arrived immigrants and offered clubs, classes, sports teams and more to families in the neighborhood. (The building was sold in 1962 and the West End House moved to a new building in Allston.)

These jackets are from two West End House clubs, the Storrows (named after benefactor James Storrow) and the Brenners (named after a popular West End House coach).

“To me, these jackets represent the pride West Enders felt in their neighborhood and institutions, despite others’ view that the West End had become a slum,” Potenza said.

“In clubs like the Brenners and Storrows, boys learned leadership, communication and organizational skills,” he added. “The impact the West End House had on city youth from mainly working-class families cannot be overlooked.”

The jackets will be featured in an exhibit when the Museum reopens after renovations later this year.

Learn more about the WEM archives HERE.

West End Museum Executive Director Sebastian Belfanti is now also the president of WECA, the West End Civic Association. We spoke to Belfanti about his newest role and how WECA and the Museum can work together.

What is the West End Civil Association?

WECA, and its many committees, serves as an advocate for the West End and West Enders and an interface between neighboring communities and political representatives. WECA has very active Zoning & Planning and Greenspace Committees. Zoning & Planning is the most important committee, as it plays a major role in shaping development in the neighborhood.

What is your role at WECA?

WECA’s president serves as a public face for the organization, and as a primary contact. There’s a lot of overlap in contacts between this role and my work at the Museum, but WECA is an advocacy-focused organization, and a 501(c)4. WEM is a 501(c)3 public charity, which limits the amount of advocacy we can do, though WEM often supports WECA programs and pushes for the neighborhood when it can. WECA’s big targets right now include increasing green space in the West End, preventing over-development and improving public safety—especially related to traffic and illegal parking.

What are your goals for WECA and for the WECA/WEM partnership?

WECA has struggled a bit through the pandemic, and the organization needs to rebuild its membership base this year, while continuing its extensive work advocating for the public good of the community. WEM and WECA are working together on an interesting project around historic preservation that meets both organization’s missions. We’re hopeful that there will be more chances like this to work together down the line.

How can WEM and WECA support each other more moving forward?

WEM and WECA are largely symbiotic. The Museum benefits from people knowing what and where the West End is, and WECA benefits from the sense of community provided by organizations like the Museum, the West End Community Center and others. The biggest chance for us to do something together in the past year was around redistricting. Former WECA President Joe McDonald (who is also on WEM’s Board) and I both spoke at public hearings on redistricting. Joe offered a practical argument for reuniting the West End, and I offered a historical and emotional justification. Those efforts, supported by a lot of letters, were ultimately responsible for the political reunification of the current (and historical) West End for the first time since it was ripped apart by urban renewal. I know both organizations are very proud of that. Together, we’re proving strong enough to heal some of the scars left on this neighborhood.