Special to the Times
The West End Museum, located at 150 Staniford St., Suite 7, has announced its May events calendar, including an author talk centered around immigrant communities in modern Boston; the second event in our 2026 performing arts series; and two walking tours – there’s something for everyone.
“Harry ‘Bucky’ Lew: An Early Black History of Basketball The First Black Professional Basketball Player” comes to the museum on May 2 at 11 a.m. Join author Chris Boucher and Harry ‘Bucky’ Lew’s granddaughter, Wendy Johnson, for a conversation about the life and legacy of Lew as the first Black professional basketball player.
“Title town in the West End,” a walking tour presented by Boston Sports Tours, takes place on May 2 at 1 p.m. Meet at the Government Center MBTA stop for a walking tour led by the founder of Boston Sports Tours, Kathryn Harris. Get outside and learn all about the West End’s role in making Boston ‘The City of Champions.’
“Developers in Dialogue” is then scheduled for May 3 at 3 p.m. at the museum. Hear from Berkeley Investments’ Dan McGrath, Venley Developments’ Joseph Venley, and PWC’s Brendan Mallon at an open panel discussion and networking opportunity for individuals from all corners of the real estate, investment, construction, and development industry. Drinks will be generously provided by Currently Wine Company.
“Immigration, Community, and Identity: A Conversation with Shubha Sunder” takes place on May 6 at 6 p.m. at the museum. In collaboration with The Immigrant Learning Center and the Institute for Immigration Research at George Mason University, WEM will be connecting the neighborhood’s long history of immigration with the present through an author talk centered around Sunder’s work ‘Optional Practical Training,’ which explores themes of immigration and belonging today.
“Body Revealed, the Spirit Unbound: The Art of Hyman Bloom and the Music of Hovhaness and Sibelius” is then scheduled for May 10 at 3 p.m. Join The WEM at The HUB50 Community Room for a musical performance and lecture featuring the art of the West End’s Hyman Bloom alongside the music of his contemporaries Alan Hovhaness and Jean Sibelius. Together, these works invite reflection on the body as both material and vessel: a site of decay, transformation, and perhaps – spiritual continuity. This musical performance will be preceded by a short lecture from Vanessa Formato, Archivist at Mass Eye and Ear Institute’s museum and archives. Formato will be discussing the work of Bloom’s relationship to the larger history of anatomical art.
“Remnants of Urban Renewal Walking Tour” takes place May 16 at 11 a.m. Get outside with former museum curator Duane Lucia during a one and a half hour walking tour exploring the few buildings that were not destroyed by urban renewal in the 1950s and ‘60s when more than 50-acres of tenement buildings occupied by roughly 7,000 residents that were demolished under the premise of ‘slum clearance’ in The West End. Those that remain represent an impressive lineage of early Boston architects and the legacy of the neighborhood that was turned to rubble.
Finally, WEM’s Boston Themed Trivia returns May 21 at 6 p.m. to The Pennyweight Hotel. Flex your local knowledge and enjoy tasty food and drinks. This event is not to be missed.
More information and links to purchase tickets can be found online at: thewestendmuseum.org.