Back Bay walking tour, July 8

In conjunction with this weekend’s History Camp Boston, I (Jake) am offering a walking tour of the Back Bay on Sunday, July 8.  We’ll meet at the corner of Beacon and Charles inside the gate of the Common at 10am.  Please register in advance or come see me at History Camp.

Details: The Back Bay is the Grande Dame of Boston’s neighborhoods. Here you will find fine dining, upscale shopping, and a grid of streets that actually makes sense. Looking around at the the cultural institutions located in Copley Square or the public art along the Commonwealth Avenue Promenade, it is hard to imagine that this area was once a trash and sewage filled lagoon. Continue reading Back Bay walking tour, July 8

The Charles River Esplanade (episode 87)

This week, over a half a million people from near and far will flock to the banks of the Charles River to celebrate our nation’s Independence Day.  Why did Boston decide to create new land dedicated to recreation along the river, and how did some of that land end up being used for a highway instead?  The story begins with the Storrow family.  Listen now!


Continue reading The Charles River Esplanade (episode 87)

Immigration in Boston (episode 86)

In this week’s episode, we use three classic episodes to turn the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant rhetoric on its head. The President teaches us to be afraid of Central American and Middle Eastern immigrants and asylum seekers because of terrorism, crime, and an unfamiliar religion. Our ancestors had these same fears about earlier immigrant groups, groups that are today considered part of the fabric of America. In their day, Italian Americans were suspected of terrorism, Chinese Americans were blamed for organized crime, and Irish Americans were feared because of their unfamiliar and potentially dangerous religion.


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When Darkness Veiled the Sky (episode 85)

This week’s show relates three incidents across three centuries when daytime turned to darkness in the skies over Boston.  They weren’t solar eclipses.  Instead, they were a different natural phenomenon, one that was completely unpredictable and each time led to speculation that the end of the world was at hand.  


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The Broad Street Riot (episode 84)

The Broad Street Riot of 1837 was one of Boston’s many historical melees.  This one took place when a company of Yankee firefighters ran into an Irish funeral.  Despite our reputation as a coastal liberal enclave, Boston has a history of hostility towards newcomers.  When Irish immigrants began arriving in our harbor en masse, Yankee nativists welcomed them with violence and prejudice. Before long, a funeral procession in the wrong place at the wrong time led to a brawl with well over 10,000 participants and onlookers.


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Bathing Beauty Baffles Bashful Boston (episode 82)

We’re taking you to the beach for Memorial Day weekend.   111 years ago, champion swimmer Annette Kellerman was arrested on Revere Beach.  Her crime?  Appearing in public in a one piece bathing suit of her own design.  Along with being a record setting swimmer, Kellerman was a fitness and wellness guru, a vaudeville producer, movie actress, and a clothing designer.  Besides her athletic prowess, she was known for her physical beauty, appearing in Hollywood’s first nude scene. A Harvard professor would go so far as to claim that he had scientific proof that she was “the most beautifully formed woman of modern times.”   Puritanical Boston wasn’t prepared to see the exposed arms of such a specimen, so Kellerman was arrested for indecent exposure.


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The Sacred Cod (episode 81)

Meet the Sacred Cod, a five foot long wooden fish, carved and painted to resemble a cod. The mighty cod holds great prominence in Massachusetts history, as cod fishing was the first industry practiced by Europeans in the region. For perhaps 270 years or more, the Sacred Cod has served as a sort of mascot for the state House of Representatives, except for two days in 1933, when it went inexplicably missing.


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Suspects Escaped Blooper

By now, you’re all used to hearing me (Jake) stumble over words and phrases that should be simple to say.  This blooper shows that it’s not just me, even unflappable cohost Nikki sometimes has trouble pronouncing a simple phrase.  In this case, that phrase is “most of the suspects escaped,” from our recent episode about the shootout in Jamaica Plain.