Boston Women's Heritage Trail Series of walking tours in Boston
The Boston Women's Heritage Trail is a series of walking tours in Boston , Massachusetts , leading past sites important to Boston women's history. The tours wind through several neighborhoods, including the Back Bay and Beacon Hill , commemorating women such as Abigail Adams , Amelia Earhart , and Phillis Wheatley . The guidebook includes seven walks and introduces more than 200 Boston women.[ 1]
The BWHT was created in 1989 by a group of Boston schoolteachers, librarians, and students. It is funded by the nonprofit Boston Educational Development Foundation. The BWHT presents teacher workshops, guided walks, and other activities to promote women's history .[ 2]
Walking tours
The list of BWHT walking tours currently includes tours of the Back Bay (East), Back Bay (West), Beacon Hill, Charlestown , Chinatown /South Cove , Dorchester , Downtown , Jamaica Plain , Lower Roxbury , Roxbury, the South End , and West Roxbury . It also includes the Artists Walk, which focuses on local women artists, and the Ladies Walk, which commemorates Abigail Adams, Lucy Stone , and Phillis Wheatley.[ 3]
Artists
The Artists walk centers on the Back Bay, where many women artists have lived, worked, and exhibited. The walk was designed to complement the 2001 Museum of Fine Arts exhibition, A Studio of Her Own: Women Artists in Boston 1870–1940 . Women mentioned include Helen M. Knowlton , Anne Whitney , and others.[ 4]
Back Bay East
The Back Bay East walk begins and ends at the Public Garden . Women mentioned include:[ 5]
Emily Greene Balch , economist, sociologist and pacifist; winner of the Nobel Peace Prize Amy Beach , composerIsabella Stewart Gardner , art collector and founder of the Gardner Museum Catherine Hammond Gibson, original owner of the Gibson House Museum
Mary Elizabeth Haskell, founder of the Haskell School for Girls
Harriet Hemenway and Minna Hall, founders of the Massachusetts Audubon Society Julia Ward Howe , abolitionist, activist, and author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic "Elma Lewis , arts educator and founder of the National Center of Afro-American Artists Florence Luscomb , architect and women's suffragistMary May, founder of the Brimmer and May School
Julia Oliver O'Neil, famous for marching in parades with her ten daughters in matching outfits
Lucina W. Prince, founder of the Prince School of Salesmanship
Belle P. Rand, founder of the French Library and Cultural Center
Sarah Choate Sears , art patron and artistAnne Sexton , Pulitzer-winning poetMary Pickard Winsor, founder of the Winsor School
Sculptors Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson , Anna Coleman Ladd , Mary Moore , Bashka Paeff , Lilian Swann Saarinen , Nancy Schön , Katharine Lane Weems , and Anne Whitney Also mentioned are Fisher College , Simmons College , and the Winsor School .
Back Bay West
This walk starts at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square and ends at the Boston Women's Memorial on the Commonwealth Avenue mall . Women mentioned include:[ 6]
Abigail Adams , first lady and presidential advisorSister Ann Alexis, administrator of Carney Hospital and the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul
Mary Antin , author and immigration rights activistAlice Stone Blackwell , women's suffragist, journalist, and human rights advocateMelnea Cass , civil rights activistLucretia Crocker , science educatorCharlotte Cushman , actress and art patronCarolyn L. Dewing, founder of the School of Fashion Design
Mary Baker Eddy , founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist Katharine Gibbs , founder of Gibbs College Louise Imogen Guiney , poet, essayist, and editorAnne Hutchinson , religious dissenterAlice M. Jordan, founder of the New England Round Table of Children's Librarians
Mary Morton Kehew , social reform leaderEllen Lanyon , artistElma Lewis , arts educator and founder of the National Center of Afro-American Artists Lucy Miller Mitchell , pioneering educatorMaria Mitchell , astronomerCecilia Payne-Gaposchkin , astronomerFrances Rich , sculptorEllen Swallow Richards , pioneering environmental chemistBeryl Robinson, educator and storyteller
Sarah Choate Sears , art patron and artistIsobel Sinesi of the School of Fashion Design
Muriel S. Snowden , community activistLucy Stone , suffragist and founder of the Woman's Journal Anne Sullivan , teacher of Helen Keller Phillis Wheatley , poetMarathon runners Joan Benoit , Bobbi Gibb , Nina Kuscsik , Rosa Mota , and Fatuma Roba
Sculptors Meredith Bergmann , Yvette Compagnion, Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller , Penelope Jencks , Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson , Amelia Peabody , Anne Whitney , Frances Rich , and Nancy Schön
Artists Cecilia Beaux , Susan Hinckley Bradley , Margaret Fitzhugh Browne , Mary Cassatt , Adelaide Cole Chase , Gertrude Fiske , Lilian Westcott Hale , Marie Danforth Page , Lilla Cabot Perry , Louise Stimson, and Sarah Wyman Whitman ,
Philanthropists Ednah Dow Cheney , Pauline Durant, Fanny Mason, Abby W. May, Pauline Agassiz Shaw , Jane Alexander, and Eileen Reilly
Religious leaders Abbie Child, Dr. Elsa Meder, Elizabeth Rice, Alice Hageman, and Donna Day Lower
Award-winning crafters Lydia Bush-Brown Head , Louise Chrimes, Winifred Crawford, Sister Magdalen, Margaret Rogers, Mary Crease Sears, and Josephine H. Shaw
Exeter Street Theater owners Viola and Florence Berlin
Beacon Hill
The Beacon Hill walk begins at the State House and winds through Beacon Hill, often in parallel with the Black Heritage Trail . Women mentioned include:[ 7]
Louisa May Alcott , authorRuth Batson , civil rights activistBlanche Woodson Braxton, the first African-American woman to be admitted to the Massachusetts Bar Association
Maria Weston Chapman , founder of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society Ellen Craft , escaped slave, author, and educatorRebecca Lee Crumpler , the first African-American woman physicianMargaret Deland , authorMary Dyer , one of the four executed Quakers known as the Boston martyrs Annie Adams Fields , authorLouise Imogen Guiney , authorHarriet Hayden , African-American abolitionistAnna E. Hirsch, the first woman president of the Board of Trustees of New England School of Law
Julia Ward Howe , abolitionist, activist, and author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic "Anne Hutchinson , religious dissenterSarah Orne Jewett , authorMary Eliza Mahoney , the first professionally trained African-American nurseSophia Palmer and Mary E. P. Davis, founders of the American Nurses Association
Susan Paul , African-American abolitionistElizabeth Peabody , founder of the first English-language kindergarten in the U.S.Rose Standish Nichols , landscape architectLinda Richards , the first professionally trained American nurseFlorida Ruffin Ridley , civil rights activistJosephine St. Pierre Ruffin , African-American publisher, civil rights leader, and women's suffragistMaria W. Stewart , African-American abolitionistHepzibah Swan , socialite and art patronHarriet Tubman , African-American abolitionist, women's suffragist, and Union spy who spent time in BostonAnne Whitney , sculptor, including Samuel Adams Faneuil Hall Marie Elizabeth Zakrzewska , physician and founder of the New England Hospital for Women and Children Sisters of the Society of Saint Margaret , founders of St. Monica's Home
Students of the Portia School of Law
Female founders of the Vilna Shul
Charlestown
Women mentioned on the Charlestown walk include:[ 8]
Rebecca Lee Crumpler , the first African-American woman physicianCharlotte Cushman , actressJulia Harrington Duff , the first Irish-American woman to serve on the Boston School CommitteeSarah Josepha Hale , author, instrumental in the creation of Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. and the Bunker Hill Monument Harriot Kezia Hunt , an early female physicianRosie the Riveter , in connection with the 8,000 women who worked at the Charlestown Navy Yard Squaw Sachem , Pawtucket leaderElizabeth McLean Smith, sculptor and president of the New England Sculptors Association
Elizabeth Foster Vergoose, also known as Mother Goose
The Chinatown/South Cove walk begins at the Boston Common Visitor Center, passes through Chinatown, and ends at Park Square . Women mentioned include:[ 9]
Sarah Caldwell , opera conductor and impresarioEdnah Dow Littlehale Cheney , writer, reformer, and philanthropistChew Shee Chin , founder of the New England Chinese Women's Association Harriet Clisby , physician and founder of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union Jennie Collins , humanitarian, and one of the first working-class American women to publish a bookHelena Dudley , director of Denison House Amelia Earhart , aviator and social worker at Denison House Ruby Foo , restaurateurMargaret Fuller , journalist, critic, and women's rights advocate associated with American transcendentalism Pauline Hopkins , author, editor of The Colored American Mary Morton Kehew , social reform leaderRose Lok , aviator, the first Chinese-American woman pilot to solo at Logan Airport Mary A. Mahan, first woman to be admitted to the Massachusetts Bar Association
The Maryknoll Sisters
Annie McKay, Boston's first school nurse
Rose Finkelstein Norwood , labor organizerJulia O'Connor , labor organizerMary Kenney O'Sullivan , labor organizerElizabeth Peabody , founder of the first English-language kindergarten in the U.S.Vida Dutton Scudder , co-founder of Denison House Hannah Sabbagh Shakir , founder of the Lebanese-Syrian Ladies' Aid Society Frances Stern , one of the first nutritionists in the United StatesPhillis Wheatley , poetMembers of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Members of the Boston Women's Trade Union League
Residents of the YWCA "Working Girls Home"
Dorchester
The Uphams Corner walk in Dorchester, developed by students at Codman Academy, is the first in a planned series of Dorchester walks. Women mentioned include:[ 10]
Downtown
Starting at the State House and ending at the corner of Franklin and Washington Streets, the Downtown walk passes some of Boston's oldest historic sites. Women mentioned include:[ 11]
Abigail Adams , wife of John Adams Hannah Adams , the first woman in the U.S. who worked professionally as a writerJennie Loitman Barron , the first woman appointed to the Massachusetts Superior Court Clara Barton , founder of the American Red Cross Alice Stone Blackwell , women's suffragist, journalist, and human rights advocateMaria Weston Chapman , founder of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society Lydia Maria Child , abolitionist and women's rights activistLucretia Crocker , science educatorSheila Levrant de Bretteville , artistDorothea Dix , activist on behalf of the indigent insane who created the first generation of American mental asylumsJulia Harrington Duff, the first Irish-American woman to serve on the Boston School Committee
Mary Dyer , one of the four executed Quakers known as the Boston martyrs Mary Baker Eddy , founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist Annie Adams Fields , authorEliza Lee Cabot Follen , author and abolitionistAbiah Franklin, mother of Benjamin Franklin
Sarah and Angelina Grimké , abolitionists and women's suffragistsMary Tileston Hemenway , philanthropistHarriet Hosmer , sculptorAnne Hutchinson , religious dissenterHelen Hunt Jackson , authorEdmonia Lewis , sculptorMary Livermore , journalist and women's rights advocateGrace Lorch , teacher and civil rights activistAmy Lowell , poetFlorence Luscomb , architect and women's suffragistAbby May , school founder, activist, and one of the first social workers in MassachusettsJane Mecom , sister and confidant of Benjamin Franklin Elizabeth Murray , businesswoman and proto-feminist during the American RevolutionJudith Sargent Murray , women's rights advocate, essayist, playwright, and poetMary Kenney O'Sullivan , labor organizerSarah Parker Remond , African-American abolitionistSusanna Rowson , playwright and actressJosephine St. Pierre Ruffin , African-American publisher, civil rights leader, and women's suffragistFrances Slanger , the first American nurse in Europe to be killed in combat during World War IILucy Stone , suffragist and founder of the Woman's Journal Anne Sullivan , teacher of Helen Keller Elizabeth Foster Vergoose, also known as Mother Goose
Mercy Otis Warren , political writer of the American RevolutionPhillis Wheatley , poetFemale dressmakers, milliners, and operators of Dress Reform Parlors
Female lecturers at the Tremont Temple
Female organizers of the New England Holocaust Memorial
Female speakers at Faneuil Hall , including Susette La Flesche and Sarah Josepha Hale
Jamaica Plain
Women mentioned on the Jamaica Plain walk include:[ 12]
Emily Greene Balch , economist, sociologist and pacifist; winner of the Nobel Peace Prize Ednah Dow Littlehale Cheney , writer, reformer, and philanthropistMary Emilda Curley, wife of James Michael Curley
Susan Walker Fitzgerald , the first female Democrat elected to the Massachusetts State LegislatureMargaret Fuller , journalist, critic, and women's rights advocate associated with American transcendentalism Maud Cuney Hare , musician, musicologist, and civil rights activistElizabeth Peabody , founder of the first English-language kindergarten in the U.S.Sylvia Plath , poetEllen Swallow Richards , pioneering environmental chemistMary Joseph Rogers , founder of the Maryknoll SistersPauline Agassiz Shaw , philanthropist and social reformerJudith Winsor Smith , abolitionist and women's suffragistLucy Stone , suffragist and founder of the Woman's Journal Marie Elizabeth Zakrzewska , physician and founder of the New England Hospital for Women and Children
Ladies Walk
The Ladies Walk celebrates the lives of First Lady Abigail Adams , suffragist Lucy Stone , and poet Phillis Wheatley . It starts at the Boston Women's Memorial on Commonwealth Avenue and ends at Faneuil Hall .[ 13]
Lower Roxbury
Women mentioned on the Lower Roxbury walk include:[ 14]
North End Walk
The North End walk begins at Faneuil Hall, passes through the North End, and ends at St. Leonard's Church , one of the first Italian churches in the U.S. It overlaps at several points with the
Freedom Trail. Women mentioned on this walk include:[ 15]
Charlotte Cushman , actressGoody Glover , the last person to be hanged in Boston as a witchFanny Goldstein , librarian and the founder of Jewish Book Week Edith Guerrier , founder of the Saturday Evening Girls Sarah Josepha Hale , founder of the Boston Seaman's Aid Society Lina Frank Hecht , founder of the Hebrew Industrial SchoolHarriot Kezia Hunt , an early female physicianRose Fitzgerald Kennedy , mother of John F. KennedyClementina Poto Langone , Italian-American civic leaderJudith Sargent Murray , women's rights advocate, essayist, playwright, and poetRachel Walker Revere, wife of Paul Revere
Pauline Agassiz Shaw , founder of the North Bennet Street Industrial School Helen Osborne Storrow , philanthropistSophie Tucker , entertainerFemale fundraisers for St. Leonard's Church
Roxbury
Women mentioned on the Roxbury walk include:[ 16]
Melnea Cass , civil rights activistJessie Gideon Garnett , the first African-American woman dentist in BostonEllen Swepson Jackson , educator and activistElma Lewis , arts educator and founder of the National Center of Afro-American Artists Mary Eliza Mahoney , the first professionally trained African-American nurseLucy Miller Mitchell , daycare pioneer, co-founder of Head Start and Freedom House Sarah-Ann Shaw , television reporterMuriel S. Snowden , co-founder of Freedom House , recipient of MacArthur Genius Grant Maude Trotter Steward, newspaper editor
Geraldine Trotter, editor and activist
South End
The South End walk starts at Back Bay Station and ends at the Boston Center for the Arts . Women mentioned on the Sound End walk include:[ 17]
Louisa May Alcott , authorTina Allen , sculptorMaria Louise Baldwin , African-American educator and civic leaderMary McLeod Bethune , educator and school founderMelnea Cass , civil rights activistHattie B. Cooper, leader of the Women's Home Missionary Society
Lucretia Crocker , science educatorEstella Crosby, co-founder of the Boston branch of the National Housewives League
Wilhelmina Marguerita Crosson , educator and early advocate of black history educationRebecca Lee Crumpler , the first African-American woman physicianFern Cunningham , sculptor; created the first sculpture honoring a woman (Harriet Tubman ) in a Boston public space[ 18] Mildred Davenport , renowned African-American dancer and dance instructorMary Baker Eddy , founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller , artist, sculptorFrieda Garcia , community activistAnna Bobbit Gardner, the first African-American woman to be awarded a bachelor's degree from the New England Conservatory of Music
Louise Imogen Guiney , poet, essayist, and editorHarriet Boyd Hawes , pioneering archaeologistCoretta Scott King , civil rights activist and wife of Martin Luther King Jr. Annie McKay, Boston's first school nurse
Cora Reid McKerrow, local businesswoman
Louise Chandler Moulton , author and criticMary Safford-Blake , the first woman gynecologistSusie King Taylor , escaped slave, author, and the first African-American Army nurseHarriet Tubman , African-American abolitionist, women's suffragist, and Union spy who spent time in Boston
Julia O. Henson , activist, donated the building for Harriet Tubman House in 1904Myrna Vázquez , renowned actress in Puerto Rico; South End community activistAnna Quincy Waterston , authorE. Virginia Williams, founder of the Boston Ballet
Mary Evans Wilson , founder of the Women's Service ClubCommunity activists Jeanette Hajjar, Helen Morton, and Paula Oyola
Members of the Boston Ladies' Auxiliary of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
Members of the Lebanese-Syrian Ladies' Aid Society
Students of the Boston Normal School and the New England Female Medical College
Residents of the Bethany Home for Young Women, St. Helena's House, and the Franklin Square House
West Roxbury
Women mentioned on the West Roxbury walk include:[ 19]
Kathleen Coffey, first woman Chief Justice of West Roxbury District Court
Mary Draper , Revolutionary war activistMargaret Fuller , journalist, critic, and women's rights advocate associated with American transcendentalism Sophia Ripley , feminist associated with American transcendentalism Evelyn Shakir , Lebanese-American scholar and authorMarian Walsh , Massachusetts state senatorLocal activists Alice Hennessey, Ellen McGill, and Pamela Seigle
See also
References
Further reading
External links
