David Walker
David Walker, an African-American abolitionist who lived on the north slope of Beacon Hill, published a prominent book of the anti-slavery movement after traveling to many parts of the United States.
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Harriet Tubman and the Boston Anti-Slavery Movement
Harriet Tubman, a self-emancipated slave, remains the most famous and successful Underground Railroad conductor in United States history. She played an important role in Boston as an emancipator and activist for African Americans and women.
Maria Stewart
One of the first American women of any race to give a public address in the nineteenth century, Stewart was one of Boston’s prominent Black abolitionists who lived on the north slope of Beacon Hill in the 1830s.
Harry J. “Doc” Sagansky
“Doc” Sagansky, the Jewish gambling boss who became the oldest organized crime figure to serve prison time, is one of the old West End’s more notorious residents. The money Sagansky made from illegal bookkeeping funded his business ventures and philanthropy: legitimate on the surface, corrupt at the source.
Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin and George Ruffin
Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin and George Ruffin were eminent African-American residents of the West End in the late nineteenth-century. Josephine’s newspaper, The Woman’s Era, was published from her home and instrumental to the founding of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) in 1896. She was its first vice president.
John Rock
John S. Rock was an accomplished Black dentist, doctor, lawyer, and abolitionist lecturer who resided on the north slope of Beacon Hill shortly before and during the Civil War.
Sumner Redstone
Sumner Redstone was a West Ender and controlling shareholder of Viacom CBS. Redstone worked with his father to establish a series of companies, eventually forming one of the U.S.’s largest media companies.
Richard H. Recchia
Richard H. Recchia, an Italian-American sculptor, achieved early artistic success growing up in the West End before achieving fame at major exhibitions.