John Osborn
John Osborn was a painter, paint dealer, and member of the Ancient & Honorable Artillery Company who purchased the first Harrison Grey Otis House from Otis when he moved to Mt. Vernon Street in 1801.
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Topic: Art & Literature
Art, fine arts, artists, books, film, authors, actors, other creative forms
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy was an actor best known for his iconic role as Mr. Spock on the original Star Trek. He grew up in the West End, and was trained in performance at the Elizabeth Peabody House.
Joseph Levine
Joseph Levine grew up in a Russian Jewish immigrant family in the West End, and became one of the most successful movie producers and distributors in the United States during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.
Sarah Josepha Buell Hale
Sarah Josepha Hale was one of the most successful women in writing and publishing in nineteenth-century America, and her letters and editorials were instrumental to the creation of Thanksgiving as a national holiday. Hale is connected to the old West End because one of her poems, “Mary’s Lamb,” was set to music by Lowell Mason at the Bowdoin School.
Veda Borg
Veda Borg was born in the old West End, and became “Boston’s own” as an actor in many movies from the 1930s to the 1950s.
Lawrence Berk
Lawrence Berk grew up in the West End, on the north slope of Beacon Hill, and founded the Berklee School of Music after pursuing his passion for music from a young age.
Mary Antin
Mary Antin, a Russian Jewish immigrant at the turn of the twentieth century, was a notable author who lived briefly in the tenements shared by immigrants in the old West End.
Hyman Bloom
Hyman Bloom was a Latvian immigrant to the West End who become the first Abstract Expressionist. His work features powerful – often morbid – themes juxtaposed with bright colors to create striking works of art.