Uncover the little known stories of the queer residents of the West End of Boston. From artists and authors to activists and brothel owners, the West End has been home to a number of trendsetters, leaders, and artists who embraced a life outside the norm. Celebrate the lives and legacies of LGBTQ West Enders with pride.
There are quite a few stories of mischief, murder, and mayhem that once rocked the West End’s streets. Learn about the gambling bookies on the corners of Causeway Street, the perpetrators of the legendary Brinks robbery who almost got away with it, and why exactly the Last Tenement made it to the present. The crimes of the West End’s past were varied and villainous. Join guest-curator Emily Sweeney of the Boston Globe as The West End Museum brings criminal headlines to life.
The Story of Boston’s BIG DIG Open February 18, 2026 – May 31, 2026 From 1991 to 2006, Boston undertook an ambitious project: put the Central Artery that ran through Downtown underground, create a new tunnel to the airport, and install the world’s first asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge. On top of all that, the City promised…
This special exhibit, running between October 2025 through February 2026, explores the perilous but promising journeys of the immigrants traveling to start a new life in Boston. Learn about a century of European immigration through the stories of three of the West End’s major ethnic groups. Find out why they left, how they traveled, and what awaited them on Boston’s shores. From Irish fleeing famine on coffin ships, to Jews seeking religious freedom and security, to Italian families searching for opportunity, every immigrant has a story. This exhibit features a video on the history of American Nativism in Boston, a theme that is more relevant than ever.
The West End Museum and WE Tree Boston invite artists, neighbors, and tree-lovers to participate in Trees of Thoreau Path, an art competition and exhibition celebrating the beauty, significance, and importance of trees in our West End community.
A mini exhibition featuring the work of architect Miguel Rosales. Get a glimpse behind the designs of Boston bridges.
The Charlesbank Open from June 11 through October 26, 2025 This special exhibit explores the Charlesbank, the first section of the Boston Esplanade to become parkland. Gradually filled in during the late-nineteenth century, in the 1880s landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. designed a trailblazing park here. The landscaped grounds became an integral site for…
An Illusion of Freedom: Boston and the Fugitive Slave Laws Open from February 27th through June 1st of 2025. This exhibit explores the documentary history of the legalization of slavery in the United States, and the creation of federal laws prioritizing the rights of slaveholders over basic human rights. Focused on the period from the…
Jimbo Jim “Jimbo” Campano: Hero of the West End, running through the fall and winter of 2024, is a tribute to the life of Jim Campano, the chief founder of The West End Museum. This special exhibit follows Jim’s journey that started as a young boy living with his large Italian-Lithuanian family on Poplar Street…
The theme of this summer’s art competition is The West End Through My Eyes. Artists submitted works that communicated what the West End means to them individually.