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Slavery & Abolition in Roxbury
RHS History & Justice Lecture Series
Don’t miss the History and Justice Lecture Series co-sponsored by the Roxbury Historical Society and the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry.
First Church in Roxbury – 10 Putnam Street, Eliot Square,
Roxbury, MA 02119
Community dinner at 6 PM. Lecture at 6:30 PM.
Free and open to the public.
January 9, 2017 – Abolition and Slavery in Roxbury
With State Rep. Byron Rushing
Feb 13-The Roxbury Defenders
Learn the history of this group founded by attorneys in 1971 to defend people in Roxbury accused of crimes, and to provide legal advice to those who needed it.
Four former members of the Roxbury Defenders who later all became prominent judges will participate. The Honorable Leslie Harris, Associate Justice, Suffolk Juvenile Court (Roxbury) (retired),
the Honorable Geraldine Hines, Associate Justice, Supreme Judicial Court (retired), the Honorable Roderick Ireland, Chief Justice, Supreme Judicial Court (retired) and the Honorable Milton Wright, First Justice, Roxbury Division, Boston Municipal Court (retired)
March 13 – Stopping a Highway:
The story of how an unlikely multiracial coalition of urban and suburban residents, planners, and activists emerged to stop an interstate highway
Featuring Dr. Karilyn Crockett, Director of Economic Policy and Research, Small Business Development with the City of Boston
Remembering Henry Hampton In Roxbury
A conversation with Callie Crossley of 89.7 WGBH and Honorable Judge Leslie Harris about the historical 88 Lambert Avenue estate in Roxbury, a former residence of Henry Hampton and the Harris Family.
The discussion will also explore the early years of Blackside, Inc. production company of Eyes on the Prize founded by Mr. Hampton and established in Roxbury.
Thursday, June 8th, 2017 | 6:30 pm
First Church in Roxbury 10 Putnam St. Roxbury, MA
RSVP: roxburyhistory@gmail.com
Co-Sponsors: Haley House Bakery Cafe & The Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry
Roxbury History Speaker Series – Update
The Roxbury History Speaker Series is free and open to the public.
All are welcome
Wednesday October 21 – New Location
Through Snow, Strikes and Strain:
The Archaeology of Moving Boston
Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building, School Committee Room
2300 Washington St, Roxbury
Talk begins at 7PM.
Bostonians have tackled problems with mass transportation for the past 200 years. Explore the challenges of Boston’s early mass transit systems through artifacts, maps, and photographs! The talk will highlight archaeological investigations at the Metropolitan Horse Railroad site in Roxbury Crossing. See how horses pulled sleds and steam cars pushed plows during crippling winters, and teams of men pulled cars when horses could not! Come learn how our forefathers dealt with some of the same problems the MBTA deals with today, from crowding to crashes, and snow to strikes.
Presented by Miles Shugar, archaeologist and GIS Specialist at Mass Historical Commission
Tuesday November 17
African Americans and the Military
Haley House Bakery Cafe
Talk at 7PM. Come early for dinner and to guarantee seating
African Americans have participated in the military from the American Revolution to the present day, when the country they fought for denied them the most basic rights of citizens.
Moderated by Barry Gaither, Director of the Museum of the National Center of Afro American Artists. Gaither will provide information on veterans with parks named for them in Roxbury-Carter Playground, Ramsey Park and Justice Gourdin Veterans Memorial Park. Dr. Chad Williams, author of Torchbearers of Democracy: African American Soldiers in the World War I Era will offer an overview of the long history of blacks in the military, including anti war sentiment and pacifism. Dr. Williams is Chair of the Dept of African and Afro-American Studies at Brandies University.
Panel members sharing their own experience will include The Honorable Charles Walker, whose father was a Tuskegee Airman.
Wednesday December 9
Stokely Carmichael – A Conversation
Haley House Bakery Cafe
Talk at 7PM, Come early for dinner and to guarantee seating
Dr. Peniel Joseph, author of Stokely: A Life with Chuck Turner and Representative Byron Rushing, who both knew Stokely. Turner worked with Stokely in 1968 while forming the Black United Front. A lively conversation about Black Power, Stokely’s influence in Roxbury, and his legacy in light of today’s world and the Black Lives Matter Movement.
Dr. Peniel Joseph is Professor of History at Tufts University and founding Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democray.
Roxbury History Speaker Series
The Roxbury History Speaker Series is free and open to the public.
All are welcome
Wednesday October 21
Through Snow, Strikes and Strain: The Archaeology of Moving Boston
Haley House Bakery Cafe
Talk at 7PM. Come early for dinner and to guarantee seating
Bostonians have tackled problems with mass transportation for the past 200 years. Explore the challenges of Boston’s early mass transit systems through artifacts, maps, and photographs! The talk will highlight archaeological investigations at the Metropolitan Horse Railroad site in Roxbury Crossing. See how horses pulled sleds and steam cars pushed plows during crippling winters, and teams of men pulled cars when horses could not! Come learn how our forefathers dealt with some of the same problems the MBTA deals with today, from crowding to crashes, and snow to strikes.
Presented by Miles Shugar, archaeologist and GIS Specialist at Mass Historical Commission
Tuesday November 17
African Americans and the Military
Haley House Bakery Cafe
Talk at 7PM. Come early for dinner and to guarantee seating
African Americans have participated in the military from the American Revolution to the present day, when the country they fought for denied them the most basic rights of citizens.
Moderated by Barry Gaither, Director of the Museum of the National Center of Afro American Artists. Gaither will provide information on veterans with parks named for them in Roxbury-Carter Playground, Ramsey Park and Justice Gourdin Veterans Memorial Park. Dr. Chad Williams, author of Torchbearers of Democracy: African American Soldiers in the World War I Era will offer an overview of the long history of blacks in the military, including anti war sentiment and pacifism. Dr. Williams is Chair of the Dept of African and Afro-American Studies at Brandies University.
Panel members sharing their own experience will include The Honorable Charles Walker, whose father was a Tuskegee Airman.
Wednesday December 9
Stokely Carmichael – A Conversation
Haley House Bakery Cafe
Talk at 7PM, Come early for dinner and to guarantee seating
Dr. Peniel Joseph, author of Stokely: A Life with Chuck Turner and Representative Byron Rushing, who both knew Stokely. Turner worked with Stokely in 1968 while forming the Black United Front. A lively conversation about Black Power, Stokely’s influence in Roxbury, and his legacy in light of today’s world and the Black Lives Matter Movement.
Dr. Peniel Joseph is Professor of History at Tufts University and founding Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democray.
Roxbury History Series: The Dearborn School
Join us Wednesday, January 21, 2015 at 7:00 pm at Haley House Bakery Cafe, 12 Dade St, Boston for The History of the Dearborn School, a slide show narrated by Barry Gaither, Director of the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists.
Barry will also share the story of Louis Mailou Jones, the most famous graduate of the school. Jones was an internationally known artist, a member of the Harlem Renaissance and a personal friend of Barry.
The Dearborn Middle School, built in 1913 has been home to four historic schools: The High School of Practical Arts, the first public vocational school built for girls; Girl’s High, Roxbury High, a peaceful school during the Boston desegregation order; and the Dearborn Middle School.
The school is slated to be razed for the construction of a new STEM school (grades 6-12) on the same site. Neighborhood residents have joined together to oppose the demolition and are asking for the school to be built on a different site in Roxbury.
We welcome everyone to join us for the slide show, short film and talk, and for open discussion after the presentation. The program is free – come early for dinner and get a good seat!
Co-sponsored by the Roxbury Historical Society, Haley House Bakery Café, and the Roxbury PATH Forward Neighborhood Association.
Walking Tour of Roxbury’s Historic Buildings
Join the the Roxbury Historical Society, Roxbury Path Forward Neighborhood Association and the Mount Pleasant Avenue Neighborhood Association on Saturday, October 25 for a free Architectural and Historical Walking Tour of the Moreland Street and Mount Pleasant Avenue Historic Districts.
The 90 minute tour will start at 2PM at the Warren House, 130 Warren Street in Roxbury.
Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, the Moreland Street Historic District is significant for its distinguished architecture representing a range of the styles and residential building types prevailing in the Boston area from 1840 to the 1920s, for the evolution of its urban/suburban plan, as an important example of Boston’s “streetcar suburb” development, and for its associations with the lives of persons of national and local importance, particularly General Joseph Warren and members of his family.*
In addition to showcasing examples of the district’s fine architecture, the tour will visit sites associated with Admiral John A. Winslow, a Civil War hero, authors Hamlin Garland and Epes Sargent and, reflecting important demographic shifts that began in the late 1800s, the politically influential Curleys and O’Neils.
The tour will also highlight educational, charitable and religious sites, including the former site of Roxbury Latin School, Roxbury’s oldest public school building (now a church), the Lutheran Church built in 1923, the Carmelite Monastery in the Mt. Pleasant Avenue Historic District and the Dearborn School.
Widespread community opposition to the proposed demolition of the Dearborn building, built in 1911-12 as the High School of Practical Arts, has inspired this tour.
Architectural historian and preservationist Steve Jerome, tour leader, was first introduced to Roxbury’s historical resources as a School Programs Aide at the Historic Neighborhoods Foundation. On the tour he will share some of his recent research findings on Roxbury architecture including new findings about the High School of Practical Arts and its neighboring structures.
Meeting place and time:
Saturday, October 25, 2:00 PM,
Warren Homestead, 130 Warren Street, Roxbury, MA
A reception will follow the ninety-minute walk.
Roxbury’s Southwest Corridor
Before the new Orange Line was constructed, Archaeologists dug the site.
What did they find?
Come find out on Wednesday, October 22 at 7 PM at Haley House Bakery Cafe, 12 Dade Street in Roxbury.
Join us to learn about the archaeology of Roxbury’s Southwest Corridor! Archaeologists Beth Bower and Miles Shugar will present their work on these fascinating archaeological sites that were excavated in the 1970s before the construction of the Orange Line subway.
Beth’s work uncovered a variety of interesting sites, including breweries, factories, foundries, and housing from the 18th-19th centuries. Miles will then discuss one of these sites, the Metropolitan Railroad Company Site, in more detail. Horse-cars and an electric street railway hub operated from 1850 to 1920 at the present-day Roxbury Crossing MBTA station.
The archaeology of horse-car street railways and technological change will be illustrated through artifacts, documents, and photographs of Boston’s early mass transit systems.
Haley House Bakery Cafe opens at 5 PM for dinner. This free event is sponsored by the Roxbury Historical Society and Haley House Bakery Cafe begins at 7 PM.
A Massachusetts Archaeology Month Program