Era: Immigrant Neighborhood (~1880-1960)
Immigration, first, second, and third-generation Americans, Settlement Houses, Irish politics, etc.
Part 1 of West End Hero Squares identified urban squares in the West End which the City of Boston renamed in honor of military personnel who died during service in WW1, and provided background on those soldiers and sailors. Part 2 will look at Hero Squares dedicated to those who served in WWII and the Korean War.
Hundreds of boys from the West End and other parts of Boston benefited from the financial, education, and moral support provided by the Burroughs Newsboys Foundation.
The tradition of dedicating city squares to service members lost in war began in 1898. Known as Hero Squares, the City of Boston has placed over 1200 memorials of this type throughout its neighborhoods. Easily overlooked as one navigates busy urban streets, an alert pedestrian walking through the West End will notice its share of these memorials to those who sacrificed their lives in duty.
Since its opening in 1821, the Massachusetts General Hospital has had a long tradition of caring for West Enders, Bostonians, and other patients from across the globe. This tradition includes a history of its nurses and doctors putting their own lives at risk while serving military personnel during wartime.
Throughout its history the West End has hosted the regional and national headquarters of many industry leaders, from shoes, to biscuits, and even caskets.
Publishing magnate Edwin Ginn put his wealth and energies to use by establishing the World Peace Foundation and constructing housing for 500 residents at the Charlesbank Homes in the West End.
Public baths are generally an unknown phenomenon in the United States today, but in the 19th and early 20th century, the public bath movement brought with it the creation of hundreds of outdoor and year-round bathing establishments in the country’s large cities, including Boston and the West End.
The urban origins of Boston College trace back to its first home on Harrison Avenue in the South End of Boston, but if its founders had had their way, its birthplace would have been in the West End.
