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Nov 10

Digging into the digitizing of Boston's Hero Squares

Have you ever walked by a Hero Square and wondered who it was named for? The City Archives is...

Nov 9

Notes from the Archives: The Great Fire of 1872

On November 9, 1872, the Great Fire of Boston destroyed more than 1,000 businesses in Boston’s...

Sep 15

Note from the Archives: Boston's two birthdays

Is Boston's birthday on September 7 or 17? The answer is more complicated than you realize!

Aug 13

Voices of Boston: In the wake of WWII, Morna Crawford moves to Fenway

Morna Crawford came to Boston after World War II to take a job at the Museum of Fine Arts. She...

Aug 6

Voices of Boston: Arts and culture in Boston's Black community

James Henderson, a black poet, playwright, and actor from Virginia, came to Boston in 1917. Boston...

Jul 30

Voices of Boston: The Jamaica Plain angel food cake robbery

Elizabeth Amberman recalls the Great Depression in Jamaica Plain and a robbery over Betty Crocker’s...

Dorchester Avenue at Fields Corner looking south, raffic and Parking Department photographs (5110.002)

Jul 16

Voices of Boston: Rapid transit, 'Social Fights,' and a hippopotamus in Dorchester

Franklin Park Zoo gets a hippo and Boston builds a rapid transit system. Three men reflect on...

Jul 10

Not forgotten: Keeping the legacy of the West End alive

In September 2019, a group of undergraduate students at Simmons University began work on a project...

Jul 9

Voices of Boston: Louise and Miss Ives discuss education and innovation in Roslindale

A Roslindale woman recalls her immigrant father’s claim that he had never truly experienced the cold...

July 4 Balloon Ascension ticket, 1861, City Council Committee on Celebrations, Collection 0140.013, Boston City Archives, Boston

Jul 3

Notes from the Archives: Celebrating Independence Day during the Civil War

On July 4, 1861, Bostonians celebrated Independence Day as they grappled with the reality of civil...

Jul 2

Exploring Boston's neighborhood histories: An intro to an Archives blog series

In the 1970s, Boston residents provided oral history interviews as part of the Boston 200...

Emancipation Day, 1888--East Main Street near 21st Southside, Richmond, VA, Valentine Richmond History Center

Jun 18

Notes from the Archives: Celebrating Juneteenth

On this day in 1865, Union General Gordon Granger read General Order No. 3 to the inhabitants of...

Grand Army of the Republic directory, 1892, City Council Committee records, (Collection 0140.001)

May 22

Notes from the Archives: Memorial Day in Boston

On May 30, 1868, Americans observed the country’s first Memorial Day.

May 7

Notes from the Archives: The Dragon on Washington Street

While cataloging Public Works Department photographs at the City Archives, intern Alyssa True...

Heffernan Street, August 9, 1965, Boston Redevelopment Authority photographs, Collection 4010.001

Apr 17

After the West End: The fight for Barry's Corner

Residents were arrested, tomatoes were thrown, furniture was tossed into the street. In a David-and...

320 children with Forsyth Certificates, each certificate representing 124 children totaling 39,680 with “All Dental Work Completed," 1922, Boston City Archives

Apr 10

Early steps towards universal children’s healthcare

At the beginning of the twentieth century, interest in public health and child welfare grew.

Cambridge Street looking towards Blossom Street, West End, Boston Redevelopment Authority photographs, Collection 4010.001

Apr 3

The West End: Slum or bustling urban neighborhood?

What characteristics do you think of when you hear the word "slum"? Deteriorated infrastructure...

Barton and Leverett Streets, July 19, 1959, West End Demolition Photographs (Collection 9800.008), Boston City Archives

Mar 27

The demolition of the West End

In the 1950s, the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) announced plans to "redevelop" the West End, a...

Staniford Street. May 9, 1958. Boston, MA. West End Urban Renewal project, Boston Redevelopment Authority photographs.

Mar 20

Through the viewfinder: Urban photography in the 1950s

The West End of Boston was once a diverse, bustling, working-class neighborhood of Boston. Then, in...

Petition to Operate Bowling Alleys on the Lord’s Day, 1947, Collection 0100.001, Boston City Archives

Mar 6

Bowling on the Lord's Day: The West End's bowling alleys

If you put 15 Hanover Street into a GPS, it will bring you to the middle of a crosswalk looking...

Frederick Mansfield Campaign pamphlet, 1929, Box 1, Folder 5, Political ephemera 9800.006, Boston City Archives

Mar 4

Notes from the Archives: Winning the women's vote

On August 18, 1920, 36 states ratified the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. Women’s...

Washington School, circa 1920-1950, Collection 0403.002

Feb 28

The West End's Washington School: A look at Boston's Public Schools, past and present

Boston's schools have always been an important part of the community! Early in the 20th century...

Drama "Erminie" at Elizabeth Peabody House, 1941. Photo by Roy J. Jacoby. MS22 P029 - Simmons University Archives

Feb 21

More than meets the eye: the Elizabeth Peabody House and Boston’s West End

From the outside, the Elizabeth Peabody House was an unassuming building in Boston’s West End...

Eva Whiting White, 1920, Courtesy of Simmons University Archives

Feb 14

Meet Eva Whiting White, the West End's pioneering social worker

Boston is a city known for its firsts. First subway, first public park, first public library, and...

Walker's Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the World, but in Particular, and Very Expressly, to Those of the United States of America, Written in Boston, State of Massachusetts, September 28, 1829.

Feb 12

David Walker: Boston's fiery anti-slavery writer

In the fall of 1829, Boston abolitionist David Walker wrote and published a pamphlet entitled,...

West End Urban Renewal Project sign, circa 1958-1959, Boston Redevelopment Authority photographs, Collection 4010.001, Boston City Archives

Feb 7

Remembering the West End: An introduction to a Boston City Archives blog series

Among the many transformations that Boston has undergone in its more than 300-year history, one of...

Drawing of Harriet Bell Hayden from her obituary, The Cleveland Gazette December 30 1893.

Feb 1

Boston's own Underground Railroad conductors: Harriet and Lewis Hayden

In January of 1846, the Hayden family moved to Boston. The Haydens became key leaders in Boston's...

Jan 15

#onthisday in 1919, molasses crashes through Boston's North End

On January 15, 1919, a 50-foot tall tank ruptured, sending 2.3 million gallons of molasses rushing...

Jan 7

Notes from the Archives: 150 years ago, Dorchester Joins Boston!

In January 1870, Boston annexed the Town of Dorchester. In honor of the 150th anniversary of...

A Memorial of Phillips Brooks from the City of Boston, 1893, Collection 0100.006

Dec 13

On this day in 1835, Phillips Brooks, author of "O Little Town of Bethlehem," is born in Boston

On this day in 1835, Phillips Brooks was born in Boston. Brooks served as the rector of Boston’s...

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