CAPTION: The Museum of Afro-American History, which runs the African Meeting House, is located on Joy Street.

The old adage about what would happen if walls could talk certainly holds true for the 200-year-old African Meeting House on Joy Street, the first black church building built in Boston and the oldest African meeting house still standing in the country. The Museum of Afro-American History, which runs the African Meeting House, is hoping these walls will be able to say a little more – and say it more loudly – once its multi-million dollar restoration is complete. With a recent $250,000 donation from the Wal-Mart Foundation in celebration of Black History Month, the museum says it is about halfway toward reaching the fundraising goal of $8 million and a few months away from beginning renovations in earnest.
“When we come out of it, it’s going to be a really beautiful restoration,” says Rev. Edward Blackman, a member of the Board of Directors for the Museum of African American History. “My own sense is it is a holy space, a space where so much has been done for emancipation and freedom.”
The building was built in 1806, and over the years it has gone through several renovations and incarnations. An 1852 renovation modernized the building for that time period, and at the turn of the century it was for a time transformed into a synagogue. In the 1970s a fire prompted a restoration by the Park Service, and in the 1990s, some work was done to the outside to prevent deterioration. But this latest restoration effort, which was kicked off in the summer of 2006, is the most ambitious in many years.
“This is the first major restoration since the mid-19th century,” says Blackman.
The project includes adding a structure in the rear of the building to support a new elevator for handicapped access. Another big change will be raising the ground floor to its original 1855 position, as it currently is a few steps lower than the street entrance. There will also be a historic restoration of the windows and interior and the existing building façade and restoration and repair of several of the original pews, with the remainder to be replicated. Sound and heating improvements are also being made.
Blackman says the project is being financed by a mixture of state, federal, private and corporate donations. He said the Museum is appreciative of the Wal-Mart Foundation’s recent gift and hopes it will spur additional corporate donations.
“Hopefully it will encourage local businesses who have not yet stepped up yet to do so,” he says.
Once the restoration is complete, Blackman hopes it will raise the profile of the historic building, which is tucked away and keeps a low profile on Beacon Hill.
“It’s interesting how many people don’t even know it’s there. Even those who live on Beacon Hill don’t realize the building’s historical significance,” Blackman says. “We want to be make sure what we do to the building will make it able to be better
used.”
But one of the first things on the agenda post-renovation is a party of historical proportion.
“We’re going to have a ball, a real celebration,” he says.

Some local businesses on the Hill are coming out in support of Suffolk University’s plans for 20 Somerset Street, using the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s public comment period to draft favorable letters about the project.
The letters stand in contrast to the sentiments of many residents of the Hill, including the board of the Beacon Hill Civic Association, who have expressed deep reservations about increasing the student presence in the neighborhood.
Sam Maione of the Capitol Coffee House on Bowdoin Street expressed his belief that the plan to bring NESAD to Beacon Hill could help bring vitality to the community.
“The proposed art school at 20 Somerset Street represents an exciting opportunity which will redevelop the long vacant site,” wrote Maione in a letter to the BRA. Maione also praised the plan to redevelop Roemer Plaza into an “active public space.”
Maione’s feelings were echoed by Peter Fenerlis of the Capitol Barber Shop, who wrote that the art school’s relocation could be “good for local businesses.”
The owner of Café Quattro, a pizzeria and sandwich shop on Somerset Street that would become a neighbor for the new building, praised Suffolk for its commitment to integrating Suffolk students into the community. In a letter to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, owner Evan Butler pointed out that Suffolk has a system that allows students to use their campus cards to patronize local businesses.
Few would doubt that cafes and pizzerias would embrace a plan that might bring more college students to the neighborhood, as such businesses are traditionally patronized heavily by the college age demographic.
Some of the supporting letters from local businesses contained curiously similar wording, indicating that some type of form letter might have been used. For instance, State House Cleaners’ claim that “[t]he proposed art school at 20 Somerset represents an exciting opportunity,” reproduces exactly the wording from Maione’s letter. The owners could not be reached for comment.
Still, the letters point to a huge potential benefit to a portion of Beacon Hill’s business sector: while pricey antique shops and upscale markets like Savenor’s may not have much to gain, college students with disposable income could mean a boost for many traditional retailers.

Responding to one of the main concerns of residents, Suffolk University has released new data about the impact 20 Somerset Street will have on student presence in the Temple/Derne Street facilities.
According to Vice President John Nucci, the additional classroom space planned for 20 Somerset Street will allow Suffolk to cease using the Fenton Building for classes.
“Simply stated, as a consequence of a new academic/art school building at 20 Somerset Street, Suffolk University will no longer utilize the existing Fenton Building for classroom purposes,” said Nucci in a letter to the Suffolk University Task Force. “All Fenton Building classrooms will be eliminated and used to provide badly-needed space for facullty offices and other non-classroom uses.”
The end of the Fenton Building as a classroom facility will mean a reduction in the number of students in the Temple/Derne Street area by 600 to 1200 per day, according to data provided by Suffolk University.
Additionally, class meetings in the “residential” Beacon Hill will decrease an estimated 34 percent, from 495 to 328. The total number of classroom hours will shrink by 31 percent.
“Suffolk feels that this type of tangible reduction of students and classroom hours on residential Beacon Hill represents precisely the type of movement requested by many Beacon Hill residents,” said Nucci. “The 20 Somerset art school and academic building allows us to continue to shift more and more student life away from residential Beacon Hill.”
The new data comes in response to repeated demands by the Beacon Hill Civic Association for more detailed information about the 20 Somerset Street project, particularly how the project will impact student presence in the neighborhood. The BHCA has been adamant that any increase in students resulting from 20 Somerset should be offset by reductions in other areas of Beacon Hill.
Rob Whitney, the BHCA liaison to the Suffolk University Task Force, said that while the new concession was a step in the right direction, he still did not see how the additional classroom space would be offset, as there are only seven classrooms in the Fenton building, while 30 are proposed for 20 Somerset.
“Clearly this accommodation by Suffolk, although a good start, does not offset the anticipated increase [in classrooms],” said Whitney in a letter to the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
Suffolk is hoping to raze the current structure at 20 Somerset Street and build a state of the art facility to house its New England School of Art and Design, currently located in the Back Bay. In addition to studio and art displace space for NESAD, Suffolk also plans to use the building for general classroom space.
The BHCA voted last month to oppose the project, and drafted a letter of opposition to the Boston Redevelopment Authority. The project is currently in a public comment period while under review by the BRA.

The Suffolk University Communication and Journalism
Department recently opened its new, high definition television
studio at 73 Tremont Street in downtown Boston. Participating
in the ribbon-cutting ceremony were Suffolk’s Vice President
for External Affairs John Nucci of East Boston, Lab Instructor Jason
Carter, College of Arts and Sciences Dean Kenneth Greenberg, and
Communication and Journalism Chair Robert Rosenthal. The studio,
which will be the setting for television production and broadcast journalism
classes, will also be used to conduct broadcast television interviews with
local business, political, sports and cultural leaders.

Like many married couples, Carey Ward and her husband dreamed of starting a family together, and when the stress of unsuccessful fertility treatments took its toll, Ward turned to the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine for support. The Institute, which is part of Mass General, is world-renowned for being a leader in the study, advancement, and clinical practice of mind/body medicine. This summer, the Institute is moving from Chestnut Hill to Mass General’s Yawkey Center campus, and classes are already being offered there now.
Ward took a Benson-Henry class on coping with infertility, and it was so helpful that when she and husband recently adopted a child, she came back to Benson-Henry for help with the new challenges she faced as a mother. Ward, who balances being a parent with her work at Fidelity, enrolled in the Calm Mother, Happy Child program, and she says the support she received and the techniques she learned have been invaluable.
“I was looking to primarily learn good relaxation techniques. Being a new parent, working full-time with a husband working full-time, it’s very demanding,” she says.
Patricia Arcari, PhD, RN, is the director of the Clam Mother, Happy Child program. A mother of two whose professional expertise is in parenting, infertility and mindfulness meditation, Arcari say the program is an amazing tool for mothers.
“It’s an opportunity for mothers to be able to gather and connect with each other,” she says. “It’s important to give support and get support from other mothers who just ‘get it,’ because we’re all going through it together.”
Arcari says the program shows mothers how to tap in to their natural abilities and gain confidence through various techniques. Arcari teaches mothers about the Relaxation Response, a self-healing approach for reducing stress developed by Herbert Benson, the Director Emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute. Mothers also learn about “mindfulness,” a concept that focuses on being able to be present in the moment and enjoy what’s happening.
For Denise Studley, a Mass General nurse and a mother of two with a third child on the way, it was hard to imagine living in the moment before she took the Calm Mothers, Happy Child class.
“I would see my husband with my kids, and he has the amazing ability to get over it, live in the moment and be happy,” she says. “I was still thinking about how I had made dinner the night before and wondering why my kids didn’t eat their peas and carrots.”
She says the deep breathing and meditation techniques she learned have been helpful not only in her role as a mother, but also in other aspects of her life.
“It’s helped in the rest of my life too – with work, and with my husband,” Studley says.
Arcari says she gets great satisfaction from helping mothers tap into these natural techniques and learn to enjoy their time as mothers more by reducing stress.
“I feel so fortunate, and not only is it rewarding to me, but it’s also a privilege. And, it feeds me,” she says.
Arcari is hopeful that with the Institute’s move into the city, a whole new population of mothers will be able to utilize its services.
“I’ll think we’ll be able to reach new mothers, and that’s always a good thing,” she says.
It’s a good thing for busy and stressed mothers, too. Ward says she has told her friends and other new mothers about the program, and she says that having a place to talk honestly about the ups and downs of motherhood was key to helping her lead a more balanced life.
“Without this program, it would have been a lot harder,” Ward says. “I’ve thought to myself, ‘What would I have done without these programs?’ I think I would have been in a really hard spot.”

The next 12-week Calm Mother, Happy Child program starts April 2 at Mass General's Yawkey Center on Beacon Hill. The lunch-time program runs from noon to 1 p.m. on Wednesdays. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. Contact Maureen Gilbert at 617-732-9767 or email msgilbert@partners.org. It is just one of the programs offered at the Benson-Henry Institute – for more information, visit www.mbmi.org.