Immigrant NeighborhoodLGBTQ+West Boston An old street map of the North Slope of the West End of Boston. Labelled "Faces and Places" with numbers throughout the map.

Faces & Places: LGBTQ+ History in the West End

This is a self-guided version of our Faces & Places: LGBTQ+ History in the West End walking tour. From the late nineteenth century onward, this neighborhood was a hub for LGBTQ+ people in Boston, even when much of their history and activities flew under the radar. This area featured speakeasies, raids, Boston marriages, early publication of queer literature, famous gay bars, and AIDS epidemic protests. This tour will focus on the faces and places of the queer community in the West End and how they shifted over time.

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AbolitionAfrican AmericansPolitics & LawWest Boston A Black man wearing a suit stands, facing the camera, with his arm rested on a column.

Robert Morris

Robert Morris (1823-1882) was a prominent civil rights leader in Boston and the United States’ second African American lawyer. He built a successful career as a lawyer handling civil, criminal, and civil rights cases, while putting his life and livelihood on the line for causes he believed in: abolition, the protection of freedom seekers, the desegregation of schools, the integration of militias, equal rights for women, and fair representation for immigrants.

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Immigrant NeighborhoodMedicineWest Boston A black and white photograph of a nineteenth-century medical laboratory, showing microscopes, vials, and other medical instruments.

Allen Street House: Early Autopsies, Morgues, and Pathology at MGH

The Allen Street House, built in 1874 at Massachusetts General Hospital, became the center of early pathology and autopsy practices in Boston. The House’s morgue, autopsy amphitheater, and laboratories were used for experiments, research, and education. For over 80 years, it served as the symbolic and functional heart of the hospital’s pathology department, shaping both clinical knowledge and medical teaching.

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Art & LiteratureWest Boston A shirtless man poses for a black and white photograph. He is middle aged with a beard.

Southworth & Hawes: Early Photography in Boston

The partnership of Albert Sands Southworth and Josiah Johnson Hawes revolutionized early photography in the United States, particularly through their exceptional portrait daguerreotypes. Operating from 1843 to 1861, their renowned Scollay Square studio attracted elite clientele, including prominent political, intellectual, and artistic figures, as well as many notable West Enders. Their streetscapes of Scollay Square, the West End, and other Boston neighborhoods, and their commissioned works on historic events, documented Boston during a period of physical and cultural change.

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BusinessImmigrant NeighborhoodNeighborhood LifeSocial & Religious InstitutionsUrban Renewal A brightly colored postcard showing a bustling city square with businesses and people walking.

Scollay Square

Scollay Square was a vibrant entertainment hub in Boston from the mid-19th century to the early 1960s, known for its burlesque theaters, comedy shows, boisterous bars, and eclectic mix of businesses. Located directly next to the West End at the intersection of Cambridge, Court, and Tremont streets, it attracted both locals and out-of-town visitors, including sailors, with its lively nightlife and commercial offerings. The area was demolished in 1962 as part of an urban renewal project, to be replaced by Government Center.

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Art & LiteratureImmigrant NeighborhoodLGBTQ+ A photograph of a man in three-quarter profile. Nearly everything is in darkness except his face, turned to look at the camera, and his hands in the bottom right corner.

F. Holland Day

F. Holland Day was a publisher and photographer who lived in the historic West End around the turn of the 20th century. Though he never described himself in so many words, he may have had same-sex relationships with other men and is generally seen as traveling in LGBTQ+ circles during his life. In addition to his significance as an artist, he also had a close relationship with an Italian immigrant family, the Costanzas, from the Upper End of the West End while he lived on the north slope of Beacon Hill.

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Immigrant NeighborhoodSocial & Religious InstitutionsWomen A black and white photo that has been colorized of a woman sitting in the grass in front of a brick building.

Ruth Roman

Ruth Roman (1922-1999) was raised in the West End, her Jewish-Lithuanian family moving from tenement to tenement. Her fledgling interest in acting was nurtured at the Elizabeth Peabody Settlement House in the West End, where Ruth’s flare for the dramatics led to leading roles at its playhouse. While she is today remembered as a Hollywood film star – with standout roles in Lightning Strikes Twice (1951), Strangers on a Train (1951), and Tomorrow Is Another Day (1951) – the roots of her career can be found in the West End neighborhood.

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Immigrant NeighborhoodLGBTQ+Women In a black and white photo, two women blend into a busy living room filled with a piano, chairs, sculptures, and art hanging on the walls.

Boston Marriages

At the turn of the century, “Boston marriages” enabled women to live independently from men. These relationships were common among educated female employees of settlement houses in Boston and in the greater United States. In the West End, evidence for these relationships can be found among the literary women of the period.

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