Art & LiteratureImmigrant NeighborhoodNeighborhood Life Photograph of Hyman Bloom.

Hyman Bloom and the West End Community Center

Hyman Bloom is remembered as a key figure from the Boston Expressionist movement, praised for his mystical and vibrant paintings. Bloom, in addition to being a visionary artist, offers us a window into Boston’s settlement houses in the 1920s and ‘30s. The West End Community Center, and its artist-teacher Harold Zimmerman, nurtured the creativity of a generation of future artists, from Bloom to Jack Levine.

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Immigrant NeighborhoodNeighborhood LifeSocial & Religious Institutions Image of a newspaper article with the headline "Reunion of the West Enders", and three photographs of a woman and two men below.

After the First Mass: West Enders at St. Joseph’s Church

St. Joseph’s Church was established in 1862 on Chambers Street in the West End, near the site of the first public Catholic mass in Boston. In the early 1900s, the St. Joseph’s Association, an organization of parishioners, hosted an annual party at the church which also held many notable funerals, marriages, and worship services. Decades after urban renewal, West Enders reunited at annual masses at St. Joseph’s to honor deceased fellow residents.

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ModernNeighborhood LifeReports & AnalysisUrban Renewal Photograph of an elderly man sitting with his dog next to a pile of stone and concrete debris.

Urban Renewal and Social Isolation

Urban renewal projects, like that in the the West End, have long promised to revitalize aging urban areas, create economic opportunities, and improve living conditions for residents. Despite these positive intentions, urban renewal has also resulted in false promises, the physical destruction of neighborhoods, and forced removal of residents. Such negative impacts have resulted in social isolation, lost social connections, and loneliness.

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