Museum to Honor Leonard Nimoy, Other Notable West Enders of Jewish Decent During Jewish Descent During Jewish Heritage Month

Boston, MA—As part of Jewish Heritage Month, The West End Museum is celebrating notable West Enders of  Jewish descent. On Tuesday, May 17, the Museum will host its Jewish Heritage Honoree Night from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. The honorees are Leonard Nimoy, Fanny Goldstein and  Gladys Shapiro, all whom are being honored posthumously. Presentations to honoree family members and friends will be followed by a reception with refreshments.

Leonard Nimoy [1931-2015] Leonard grew up in Boston’s West End and never forgot his childhood community  and how it influenced his life. He revisited the area many times as an adult and—in the last year of his life—starred in his son Adam’s documentary, Leonard Nimoy’s Boston, which featured the neighborhood and the West End  Museum. Leonard said his experiences in public speaking at the West End House and in the theater program at the Elizabeth Peabody House “…set me on a path, which became my life’s work.” Leonard is most renowned for his role  as Mr. Spock in the Star Trek franchise. In 2015, an asteroid was named 4864 Nimoy in his honor. In 2016, the feature documentary, For the Love of Spock, surveyed his life and career. To West Enders, Leonard will always be a favorite son and a source of pride.

Fanny Goldstein [1881-1961] Fanny was born in Russia and emigrated with her family to Boston’s North End in  1900. In 1913, she became a librarian at North End branch of the Boston Public Library (BPL). In 1917, she helped  organize the Saturday Evening Girls, a club for immigrant girls, and edited the group’s magazine. From 1922 until her retirement in 1957, she served in the West End Branch of the BPL, where she built and published collections of  immigrant-themed books, pioneered exhibitions and initiated Negro History Week, Jewish Music Month, Catholic Book Week, Brotherhood Week and Jewish Book Week. This last event grew into the Jewish Book Council of America and the National Jewish Book Week Program. Fanny was the first Jewish woman to direct a branch library  in Massachusetts and, in 1954, became the BPL’s first Jewish woman curator of Judaica. After retiring, she served as literary editor of the The Jewish Advocate.

Gladys Shapiro [1911-2001] While small in stature, Gladys was a towering figure, especially for young women of  her day. She attended Portia Law School (now the New England School of Law) and, in 1937, passed the bar and  became a lawyer, a very rare achievement for women at that time. She began her practice in the West End and went on to be a successful and prominent trial lawyer. During urban renewal in the neighborhood, she fought hard  for property owners to receive fair market value and—together with Senator LoPresti—successfully saved the northern slope of Beacon Hill from demolition and redevelopment. During WWII, Gladys served as an officer in the Women’s Defense Corp and helped train members in Red Cross first aid. She held several offices in the Women’s  Democratic Party and actively campaigned for JFK when he ran for Congress and for president.

About the West End Museum:
The West End Museum is dedicated to the collection, preservation and interpretation of the history and culture of the West End  neighborhood. The Museum’s permanent exhibit, “The Last Tenement,” highlights the immigrant history of the neighborhood through its decimation under Urban Renewal in 1959; two additional galleries feature rotating exhibits. The Museum is located  near North Station at 150 Staniford St. Suite 7. Hours: Tuesday – Friday 12:00pm – 5:00pm; Saturday 11:00am – 4:00pm. Admission is free.