Immigrant NeighborhoodLGBTQ+West Boston An old street map of the North Slope of the West End of Boston. Labelled "Faces and Places" with numbers throughout the map.

Faces & Places: LGBTQ+ History in the West End

This is a self-guided version of our Faces & Places: LGBTQ+ History in the West End walking tour. From the late nineteenth century onward, this neighborhood was a hub for LGBTQ+ people in Boston, even when much of their history and activities flew under the radar. This area featured speakeasies, raids, Boston marriages, early publication of queer literature, famous gay bars, and AIDS epidemic protests. This tour will focus on the faces and places of the queer community in the West End and how they shifted over time.

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Immigrant NeighborhoodLGBTQ+Women In a black and white photo, two women blend into a busy living room filled with a piano, chairs, sculptures, and art hanging on the walls.

Boston Marriages

At the turn of the century, “Boston marriages” enabled women to live independently from men. These relationships were common among educated female employees of settlement houses in Boston and in the greater United States. In the West End, evidence for these relationships can be found among the literary women of the period.

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