West End – The West End Museum

An ornate yellow ticket listing a $10 price, Sect5ion E, Row H, Seat 14, and a picture of the old Boston Garden

Fight Night: West End Boxers featured on the Old Boston Garden’s opening night

When the gates of the newly-built Boston Garden opened in November of 1928, ticket holders flooded in to witness a world championship match befitting a celebration surrounding the city’s new sports venue. Local boxers from Boston also had the honor of appearing that night, including a teenage amateur champ from the West End named Arthur “Hy” Diamond. Diamond was just one representative of a West End sporting culture whose fame spread far beyond the confines of this small, immigrant neighborhood.

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A circular seal with American and Kingdom of Italy flags, a lion, and a woman representing Italy

The West End Dante Alighieri Lodge

The West End Dante Alighieri Lodge, a chapter of the Order Sons of Italy, was founded on November 28, 1926. The Order Sons of Italy reflected the values held by the West End’s Italian-American immigrant community in the early twentieth century.

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Business Immigrant Neighborhood

A man sits reclines wearing a tuxedo and bowtie

Leo Stone’s “Pin Money Club” and the Pyramid Club Craze

Leo H. Stone of the West End founded the “Pin Money Club” after the similarly designed “Pyramid clubs” grew rapidly throughout New England in 1949. Whereas pyramid clubs were “get rich quick” schemes vulnerable to racketeering, Stone’s Pin Money Club was based on smaller payouts and legally legitimate practices.

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African Americans Business Immigration Neighborhood Life Reports & Analysis West Boston Women

Ray Reddick’s African-American Ancestors in Boston’s Historic West End

Raymond Reddick, a lifelong Boston resident who is now 74 years old, has spent decades collecting, documenting, and speaking to different audiences about his extensive African-American family history with deep ties to the historic West End.

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Art & Literature Business Immigrant Neighborhood Neighborhood Life West Boston

The Howard Athenaeum

Between 1845 and 1961, the Howard Anthenaeum served as a center of performances for a wide variery of clientele. Beginning its life as an upper-class theater, it became a legendary venue for minstrel shows and burlesque until it was demolished as part of the Government Center urban renewal project.

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Business Immigrant Neighborhood Immigration Neighborhood Life Social & Religious Institutions Sports West Boston

Line drawing of 6 men. Five are in athletic wear and the sixth is wearing a suit

James Butler

James Butler (1845-1921) was a famous rower who lived most of his life in the West End after his family came to the US from Ireland. He was instrumental in founding the West End Boat Club on the Charles River in 1865, and won many races with his brother, Thomas Butler.

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Business Immigrant Neighborhood New Boston Sports Transportation & Industry

A large structure including 2 towers and a sports arena

The Origins of the Boston Garden

The story of the fabled Boston Garden is nearly as winding as the 10 tracks that snake from beneath its modern-day successor on Causeway Street. The intersection of frontier entrepreneurship and New England business interests, the arena came to represent the crosswinds of the rapidly changing American public and the economic forces that shaped it during the Roaring Twenties.

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African Americans New Boston Politics & Law Sports

A basketball player with his arm around his coach, both are smiling

Bill Russell

From 1956-1969, Bill Russell won eleven championships in thirteen seasons with the Boston Celtics, playing at the Boston Garden in the historic West End. Russell’s activism on and off the court advanced social justice and made him a role model for many athletes today.

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Fight Night: West End Boxers featured on the Old Boston Garden’s opening night

Leo Stone’s “Pin Money Club” and the Pyramid Club Craze

Ray Reddick’s African-American Ancestors in Boston’s Historic West End

The Howard Athenaeum

The Origins of the Boston Garden

Bill Russell

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