Alonzo Meserve
Alonzo Meserve, principal of the Bowdoin School on Myrtle St. from 1886 to 1914, made significant contributions to Bowdoin’s student body and Boston’s ongoing struggle against racism.
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Era: Immigrant Neighborhood (~1880-1960)
Immigration, first, second, and third-generation Americans, Settlement Houses, Irish politics, etc.
The West End House’s Debate Clubs
In the early twentieth century, the West End House hosted debates between high school literary societies on controversial and important issues. The debates were judged by lawyers and educators in Boston and adopted the format of competitions at the collegiate level.
Ukrainians of the West End
Far from their country of origin, Ukrainian immigrants and their descendants in the West End maintained connections and advocated for justice in their mother country.
Where is the West End?
Executive Director Sebastian Belfanti explains the many answers to a common question: where, geographically, is the West End?
Adelaide Cromwell: Mapping Community in the Black West End
Adelaide Cromwell, the late sociologist who taught at Boston University and founded BU’s African American Studies program in 1969, documented and visualized the West End’s historic Black community in the 1800s.
Mapping Amateur Radio Stations in the 1920s West End
Mapping Amateur Radio Stations in the 1920s West End Overlaying historic maps of the West End over a map of present-day Boston can contextualize the locations of amateur radio stations in the West End during the 1920s. Leon W. Bishop, an early pioneer of amateur radio broadcasting, moved to 18 Irving Street in the West…
Joseph Lee, Jr. and the Founding of Community Boating
Joseph Lee, Jr. founded the “Community Boat Club” in 1937 so that West End youth could sail out from the Charles River Esplanade. Community Boating, Inc. was officially incorporated in 1946, and remains the oldest continuously operated public boating organization in the United States.
An Appeal for Children’s Recreation and Community-Led Development in the 1930s West End
Ten-thousand West Enders received a creative New Year’s greeting card demanding improvements in children’s recreational opportunities, from William F. Brophy, a lawyer who worked in the West End, and James Lee, Jr., the son of the “Father of the Playground Movement” in America.