Upcoming Events Sponsored by West End Museum
Join the West End Museum for an author talk with Dan Dain as he walks us through his new book, “A History of Boston” on Thursday, Jan. 25, at 6 p.m. at The Hub on Causeway Community Room at 52 Causeway St.
Learn about how certain policies have caused urban success and failure throughout Boston’s history, and how the West End neighborhood has been impacted by these cycles. Dan will talk about this history and its implications for Boston’s future. There will be time at the end for a Q&A session.
Tickets cost $10 each and can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-history-of-boston-with-daniel-dain-tickets.
Also, the WEM will sponsor its Boston Trivia Night on Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 6:30 p.m. at Causeway Boston at 65 Causeway St.
Put your Boston history knowledge to the test at our second trivia night, held at Causeway Restaurant and Bar. Sign up with your friends and form a team or join one on the spot. The winning team will win a prize from the WEM.
Tickets cost $10 each and can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/boston-trivia-night-ticketsl.
Free Skating With Friends Returns Jan. 28 to the Frog Pond
Skating with Friends, sponsored by the Friends of the Public Garden, returns on Sunday, Jan. 28, to the Frog Pond in the Boston Common. This free event includes free skate rentals and hot cocoa. Skating sessions begin at 10 a.m.; noon; and 2, 4, and 6 p.m., with space limited to 225 skaters per 90-minute session. Friends and neighbors are encouraged to arrive 30 minutes prior to each session to secure their free tickets.
The Vilna to Hold International Holocaust Remembrance Day Event on Jan. 28
In commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, The Vilna Shul at 18 Phillips St. will offer a multi-faceted and interactive event on Sunday, Jan. 28, from 3 to 5 p.m.
The event, co-sponsored by Facing History and Ourselves and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, and presented in partnership with Boston’s 3G and the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, will open with a gallery talk by Boston-area photographer and montage artist, Leslie Starobinsky, along with a viewing of her photo exhibit, ‘Looming in the Shadows of Lodz.’ The event will also feature a screening of ‘Who Will Write Our History?’ – filmmaker Roberta Grossman’s documentary about the Oyneg Shabes Archive.
Following the screening, conversations will center on such questions as Why is it important who tells your story?; What are the consequences of someone else telling your story?; In what ways can we be sensitive to the idea that as we consume news today, the identity of the storyteller will shape our perception of the story and the people involved?; How does this relate to your own experiences consuming and/or producing media?; Whose story do I tell, and how do I tell it?; What story about my community and culture should I preserve for future generations?; How is storytelling a form of resistance? ; and What tools can we use to tell our stories?
Participants will then have the opportunity to share what they have created with another participant whose story is different from their own. In this way, the program intends to build community, create connections between participants of varied backgrounds, and engage attendees in dynamic experiences linking history to their own stories and legacies.
Tickets for the event cost $18 each. Visit https://vilnashul.org/events/event/ihrd to purchase tickets or for more information.
Second Back Street Neighborhood Project Meeting to be Held Virtually on Feb. 1
The Esplanade Association will hold its second Back Street Neighborhood Project Meeting to discuss ongoing safety projects at Esplanade entrances on Back Street. The meeting will take place via Zoom on Thursday, Feb. 1, at 6 p.m.
During this gathering, EA representatives will review progress made to-date, hear neighborhood feedback, and discuss proposed plans for additional safety improvements. Your presence and insights will greatly contribute to the success of the meeting, and the project.
Register for the meeting via zoom at https://bit.ly/BackStMeeting.
To learn more about the project, visit esplanade.org/crosswalks; and to learn about other pathway safety initiatives, visit esplanade.org/pathways.
Upcoming Events Sponsored by the Nichols House Museum
The Nichols House Museum will hold a Community Open House at 55 Mt. Vernon St. on Tuesday, Jan. 30, from 4 to 6 p.m., in commemoration of Rose Nichols’ birthday.
Stop by the Nichols House to enjoy a piece of birthday cake, meet the staff, and explore the museum. Guests will enjoy family-friendly activities and opportunities for a behind-the-scenes peek as well.
Also, the Nichols House Museum will examine Madeline Yale Wynne’s recently rediscovered ‘Garden of Hearts’ chest in the context of the Arts and Crafts Movement, which came to prominence in Deerfield, Mass., during the early 20th century, during a virtual program on Tuesday, Feb. 6, at 6 p.m.
Daniel Sousa, the assistant curator of Historic Deerfield, will be on hand for a discussion on Wynne (1847-1918), who has been called the “leading intellectual light of the Deerfield Arts and Crafts Movement,” as well as the ‘Garden of Hearts’ bride’s chest she created in 1903.
Adorned with paint, decorative carving, hammered-copper panels, wrought-iron hinges, and semi-precious stones, the chest was inspired by 18th-century Connecticut Valley chests and can now be found in Historic Deerfield’s collection. Its front lid depicts a landscape with three inverted heart-shaped trees along a winding river. The chest has been called “a tour-de-force of Arts and Crafts design” that showcases Wynne’s talents as a painter, metalsmith, and woodworker, and it’s widely considered her greatest artistic accomplishment.
The cost to attend is $10 per person general admission and $5 per person for museum members. Visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/garden-of-hearts-madeline-yale-wynne-deerfields-arts-crafts-movement-tickets-761897665427?aff=oddtdtcreator to register for the event. The program will be recorded, and guests will receive limited access to the recording for a limited time after the event.
Upcoming Events Sponsored by West End Museum
The West End Museum presents ‘Unveiling the MGH Archives’ on Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 6 p.m. at The Hub on Causeway Community Room at 52 Causeway St.
Step into the captivating world of medical history with Lucy Ross, Archivist of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Ross will guide us through the history of the MGH Archives, housed in the historic Resident Physician’s House. Delving into the archives, which hold the official records of the hospital dating back to its beginnings, participants will explore the ghastly and charming quirks of medical history. Materials held in the archives span from the Ether Collection, to 19th-century surgical case records, to an 1849 ticket to a chemistry lecture by Dr. John Webster (of the infamous Parkman-Webster murder case). There will be time at the end for an archival show-and-tell, and to answer any questions.
Tickets cost $10 each and can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unveiling-the-mgh-archives-tickets.
Also, the West End Museum presents ‘African American History in the West End: Resistance and Redlining’ on Saturday, Feb. 17, at 11 a.m. at The Hub on Causeway Community Room at 52 Causeway St.
Join the West End Museum and the Afrimerican Academy for a walking tour and lecture on African American history in the West End neighborhood. The program will move chronologically, beginning with a brief walking tour to discuss the 19th-century history of Joy Street (previously Belknap Street), where local Black Americans congregated to form the first populous West Boston (renamed from New Fields) community. Here, the community built the oldest standing Black church in the United States, founded a school, and developed a successful elite, including William Cooper Nell and Lewis Hayden. They, and many others, were instrumental in founding the Abolitionist movement. After the tour, Marlon Solomon, Founder and Senior Project Engineer of the Afrimerican Academy, will delve into the poignant history of Boston’s redlining and the consequential urban renewal projects.
Visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/african-american-history-in-the-west-end-resistance-redlining-tickets to purchase tickets and for more information.
WECA to Meet Thursday, Feb. 8, at Amy Lowell Apartments
The West End Civic Association (WECA) will hold its next meeting in person on Thursday, Feb. 8, at 6 p.m. in the Community Room at Amy Lowell Apartments at 65 Martha Road.
Guests from the City’s Office to Residential Conversion Program will present an overview of this pilot program for downtown office buildings, and they will leave plenty of time for Q&A from the audience.
Masks are encouraged.
Upstairs Downstairs to Hold in-Store 13th Anniversary on Saturday, Feb. 10
Upstairs Downstairs Home will be celebrating its 13th anniversary during an in-store event at 69 Charles St. on Saturday, Feb. 10, from 4 to 6 p.m.
Free Lessons in American Mahjong Offered at West End Branch Library
The Friends of the West End Library will be offering lessons in American Mahjong to new and experienced players at no cost.
The group meets on Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m., on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month in the Community Room of the West End Branch Library, 151 Cambridge St.
To sign up or for more information, email Audrey Tedeman ([email protected]) or Julia Forbes ([email protected]).