Description
Book SynopsisA People's Guide to Greater Bostonreveals the region's richness and vibrancy in ways that are neglected by traditional area guidebooks and obscured by many tourist destinations. Affirming the hopes, interests, and struggles of individuals and groups on the receiving end of unjust forms of power, the book showcases the ground-level forces shaping the city. Uncovering stories and places central to people's lives over centuries, this guide takes readers to sites of oppression, resistance, organizing, and transformation in Boston and outlying neighborhoods and municipalitiesfrom Lawrence, Lowell, and Lynn to Concord and Plymouth. It highlights tales of the places and people involved in movements to abolish slavery; to end war and militarism; to achieve Native sovereignty, racial equity, gender justice, and sexual liberation; and to secure workers' rights. In so doing, this one-of-a-kind guide points the way to a radically democratic Greater Boston, one that sparks social and environmental
Trade Review“It’s a timely, intelligent, and necessary guide, one that deepens our understanding of where we live now and reminds us of the power that regular citizens have to work against powers and systems that are, now as then, in urgent need of change.” * Boston Globe *
"A new kind of guidebook to Boston and surrounding towns . . . [that's] less
Lonely Planet and more Howard Zinn. . . . Instead of giving an overview of the Freedom Trail and introducing readers to the hot restaurants and hotels of Boston, this guide uncovers the forgotten stories of radicals and activists hidden in every neighborhood and suburb." * HUBHistory *
"This book makes history intimate, showing how we must be constantly vigilant against every attempt at depriving us of a quality of life worth working for. Reading this book should inspire and hopefully empower. It does more than scratch the surface." * Socialism and Democracy *
"Think you know all about Boston? Think again. 3 local co-authors comb through centuries of Greater Boston’s history to discover untold stories from underrepresented communities. . . . Not your average guidebook." * GBH *
"One of our favorite books of 2020." * New England Historical Society *
Table of ContentsList of Maps
INTRODUCTION: UNSETTLING GREATER BOSTON
1 BOSTON’S HISTORIC CORE
Boston Harbor
Deer Island | Griffi n Wharf | Rainsford Island Hospital | Central
Wharf/James and Thomas H. Perkins and Company | Long Wharf/Boston
Fruit Company | Fort Strong, Long Island | Nixes Mate
Shawmut Peninsula
DOWNTOWN BOSTON
The Boston Common | Anne Hutchinson House Site | Odeon Theatre
| Liberty Square | Marlboro Hotel and Chapel | Boston Court House |
American House/John F. Kennedy Federal Building |
John P. Jewett and Company | Daily Evening Voice | Exchange
Place/Boston Bellamy Club/Immigration Restriction League | Faneuil Hall |
Dewey Square | The Parker House | United Fruit Company |
Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company/The Vault |
Gay Community News
THE NORTH END AND THE WEST END
Onesimus-Mather House | Cooper Street Armory | Parmenter Street Chapel |
Great Molasses Flood Site | The West End Museum
BEACON HILL
James Bowdoin Home Site | David Walker Home | Abiel
Smith School/Museum of African American History | Julia Ward Howe
Residence | Henry Cabot Lodge House
CHINATOWN/THE SOUTH COVE
Denison House | 1903 Immigration Raid Site | New England
Telephone Company Exchange/Verizon Building | The Common Cupboard |
The Naked i | The Metropolitan/Parcel C
South End
Tent City | Haley House | Cathedral of the Holy Cross |
South End Press | Villa Victoria Center for the Arts | Blackstone Square
The Back Bay and the Fenway
The Newbry | Armory of the First Corps of Cadets/The Castle |
The Youth’s Companion Building | The Rat | Fenway Park |
Marian Hall, Emmanuel College/Boston Women’s Health Book Collective |
Symphony Road Community Garden | College of Public and Community Service, UMass Boston
| Massachusetts Competitive Partnership
2 OTHER CITY OF BOSTON NEIGHBORHOODS
Charlestown
Charlestown Navy Yard | City Square Park | Charlestown High School football field
East Boston
Maverick Square | The East Boston Immigration Station/Navy Fuel Pier
Airport Edge Buffer | Boston Logan International Airport | Lewis Family Home |
Neptune Road Edge Buffer Park | Suffolk Downs
South Boston
L Street Bathhouse/BCYF Curley Community Center | Police Station 6/
Patriot Homes | South Boston High School/Excel High School | South
Boston District Courthouse | South Boston Heights Academy | Carson Beach |
South Boston Residents for Peace/Tony Flaherty Home |
Seaport Common
Roxbury and Mission Hill
Saint Cyprian’s Episcopal Church and Toussaint L’Ouverture Hall |
Franklin Lynch Peoples’ Free Health Center | Saint Mark’s Social
Center | Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative | Mission Main
Dorchester, Mattapan, and Hyde Park
Camp Meigs Playground | The William Monroe Trotter House |
James Reeb House | Christopher Gibson School | Boston
Welfare Department, Grove Hall Office/Mother Caroline Academy and Education
Center | Temple Beth Hillel | Laura Ann Ewing Home/Columbia
Point Housing Project | Columbia Point Health Center/Geiger-Gibson
Health Center | US Armed Forces Recruiting Station and Dorchester District
Courthouse | The Boston Globe Headquarters | Combahee River
Collective | State Temple Church of God in Christ
Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, and West Roxbury
Brook Farm | Theodore Parker Unitarian Universalist Church |
Science for the People/Helen Keller Collective | Southwest
Corridor Park | City Life/Vida Urbana | Bikes Not Bombs (The Shop) |
William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute
Allston and Brighton
Nonantum | Noah Worcester House | Barry’s Corner |
Saint John’s Seminary | Power-One Corporation Factory Site |
Binland Lee House
3 ADJACENT CITIES
Cambridge and Somerville
Ten Hills Farm | Harvard Indian College/Matthew Hall |
Elmwood | Ursuline Convent | Riverside Cycling Club | Old
Mole/The Middle East and Zuzu Restaurant and Nightclub | Polaroid/
Tech Square | 888/The Women’s Center | Sojourner: The Women’s
Forum | Dollars & Sense | Old Cambridge Baptist Church | Food Not Bombs |
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard
University | Ray and Maria Stata Center, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology | Harvard Square Public Toilet
Chelsea and Everett
Chelsea Naval Hospital | Labor Lyceum | Chelsea Salt
Terminal | Exxon Mobil Everett Terminal
4 NORTH OF BOSTON
Lowell
Wamesit | Saint Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Church/
UTEC | The Voice of Industry and Middlesex Standard | Saint Patrick
Church | Socialist Hall
Lawrence
Lawrence Experiment Station/Ferrous Site Park | American Woolen
Company | Franco-Belgian Hall | North Lawrence Railroad Station |
Jonas Smolskas House | The Arlington Mills | Schaake’s Block |
The Essex Company Headquarters Compound/Lawrence History Center |
Bread and Roses Housing | 1984 Riot Epicenter
Haverhill
Grand Army of the Republic Park | Old Haverhill City Hall
Newburyport
William Lloyd Garrison House | Caleb Cushing Homes
Salem
East India Marine Hall/Peabody Essex Museum | Lyceum Hall |
Pequot Mill/Shetland Industrial Park | Proctor’s Ledge | The
Derby House | North Shore Community Development Coalition/Punto
Urban Art Museum
Lynn
Town Hall | Kimball and Butterfield/The Awl | Frederick Douglass
House | High Rock Tower Reservation | Lyceum Hall | River
Works/General Electric | Lynn Woods Reservation
5 WEST AND SOUTH OF BOSTON
Waltham
Walter E. Fernald State School | Raytheon Corporate Headquarters
Concord
The Robbins House | Brister’s Hill | Concord Jail | MCIConcord/
The Concord Reformatory
Plymouth and the South Shore
Cole’s Hill | Old Country House/1749 Court House | Plimoth
Plantation | Maypole Hill Park | Wessagusset Memorial Garden
6 THEMATIC TOURS
Native Greater Boston Tour
Malcolm and Martin Tour
Sacco and Vanzetti Tour
Bread and Roses and More Tour
The One Percent of Greater Boston Tour
The Nature of Greater Boston Tour
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Credits
Index
