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In: Architectural, Artifacts, Roxbury, Tessil Collins
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Saint Cyprian’s Church, the humble brick and stone shadowed edifice at Melnea Cass Boulevard, Tremont Street, and St. Cyprian’s Place (formerly Walpole Street) holds a secure legacy in the story of West Indian immigrants, their role and settlement in Roxbury and Boston racial activism. An enduring part of the building are its stained glass windows and the honor they pay to saints, rectors and civil rights leaders. This post is a homage to the church of my birth, baptism, confirmation and youth. Our thanks to Cynthia Staples for allowing us to republish this post from her Word+Images blog. We are preparing companion posts reflecting theRead More →

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In: Architectural, Forest Hills, Rosalyn Delores Elder, Roxbury, South End
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In 1948, a master highway plan for metropolitan Boston was developed, the Southwest Expressway, also known as the South West Corridor Project. The implementation of that highway plan is an example of how structural racism pervades so many aspects of our daily life. This plan was part of a proposed nation-wide system of highways and it included extending an eight to twelve lane highway, Interstate 95, through Boston and Cambridge. The impetus for a nationwide system had been building since the 1930s, but was postponed by two momentous events, the Great Depression in the 1930s and World War II in the early 1940s. After WWII,Read More →

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In: Architectural, Dr. Shirley Zavin, Historic Boston, Nubian Square
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This post is an except from a 1978 proposal by Dr. Shirley Zavin, Executive Director of Boston 350.Historic Boston, Inc. has worked tirelessly over the years with developers on this parcel of land that includes the Nawn Factory, Eliot Burial Ground and Eustis Street Firehouse. On the north perimeter of the Burying Ground is a large brick factory building constructed ca. 1868 by Owen Nawn.  The site, however, has a much longer history of commercial and industrial use.  A soap boiler was active here by 1815; subsequently a large wood factory building was constructed and occupied by a “morroco dresser.”  As previously mentioned, tanning was one ofRead More →

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In: Architectural, Dr. Shirley Zavin, Historic Boston, Nubian Square
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This post is an except from a 1978 proposal by Dr. Shirley Zavin, Executive Director of Boston 350.Historic Boston, Inc. has worked tirelessly over the years with developers on this parcel of land that includes the Nawn Factory, Eliot Burial Ground and Eustis Street Firehouse. The two woodframe, hip-roof Federal style houses at 2066 and 2070 Washington Street are the only remaining pre-19th century buildings on that street in Roxbury. The smaller house (2070 Washington street) was built ca. 1784 by the housewright Josiah Cunningham as his home and workshop.  The larger house next door, which Cunningham built for his neighbor, Captain Jesse Doggett, ca. 1788, wasRead More →

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In: Colonial, Dr. Shirley Zavin, Historic Boston, Landmarks, Nubian Square
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This post is an except from a 1978 proposal by Dr. Shirley Zavin, Executive Director of Boston 350.Historic Boston, Inc. has worked tirelessly over the years with developers on this parcel of land that includes the Nawn Factory, Eliot Burial Ground and Eustis Street Firehouse. The John Eliot Burying ground is one of the three oldest in Boston.  The first recorded burial occurred in 1633: the oldest surviving stone is that of Rev. Samuel Danforth’s infant son, dated 1653. Buried there are many famous early Roxbury citizens, including John Eliot, minister of the First Church of Roxbury; Eliot’s translations of biblical texts into native AmericanRead More →