February 2022 NewsletterA Message from the Director Hello Friends of The WEM, In every newsletter since I started as Museum Director, I’ve written some version of, “This has not been anything like I was expecting.” Until now, that comment has always been followed by a note on the effects of COVID, but as many of…
Warrior for Women’s Justice in the West End: Arianna SparrowBy Yasmeen Freightman Throughout America’s history, our search for a more just society has often progressed through activism and reform. People challenge the status quo for the sake of social justice to improve the republic. Those improvements often take the forms of new and amended laws…
A West End Romance That’s Lasted Decades This Valentine’s season, we’re sharing the love story of Martha and Joseph Morello, who met in the old West End. On February 14, 2022, they celebrated the 60th anniversary of their engagement. Here is Joseph’s story in his own words. He submitted it to The WEM after reading…
New Members Join West End Museum BoardBy Leigh Blander This February, The West End Museum’s Board of Directors elected two new members during its Annual Meeting. Katie Burke is an archivist at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site in Brookline, where she preserves, processes and digitizes museum collections. She also participates in interpretive programs…
West End Museum Fast-Tracking RenovationsBeacon Hill Times The West End Museum was already planning to close for a couple of months next year to allow for an extensive renovation, but that timetable and fundraising goals for the project are now being fast-tracked as the museum reels to recover from last month’s flooding. “It would’ve been…
Historic New England to Explore ‘Reimagining’ Otis HouseBeacon Hill Times Historic New England is taking a fresh look at the Otis House to explore options for the next chapter in the history of this Charles Bulfinch-designed National Historic Landmark at 141 Cambridge St. “We definitely want to create an engaging visitor experience and also enhance…
Upcoming Walking Tour Focuses on Colonial New Englanders’ Drinking HabitsBeacon Hill Times Colonial New Englanders drank roughly three times as much alcohol as Modern Americans, and an upcoming walking tour will explore this phenomenon before making its way to the Green Dragon, one of the city’s most historic watering holes. The program, called “Fox’d and…
The West End Museum FloodBeacon Hill Times On January 15, a burst pipe on the fourth floor of West End Place — a mixed income complex at 150 Staniford Street — inundated the West End Museum (WEM) with over two-inches of water, and displaced around 25 families, who were temporarily relocated to the nearby Boxer…
Support the WEM as We Rebuild Please consider supporting The West end Museum as we work to rebuild after flooding destroyed the Museum on January 15th. The Museum has worked for more than a decade to preserve the story of the West End, foster community for the displaced and current residents of the neighborhood, and…
Burst pipe shuts down West End museum, destroys some artifactsWCVB A museum in Boston is closed for the foreseeable future after a broken pipe made a mess out of the facility and destroyed some artifacts. “So, I was actually here. There was a big bang, it started raining,” said West End Museum Director Sebastian Belfanti. Belfanti said…