A talk focusing on the remarkable achievements of sculptor Evelyn Beatrice Longman, the only female student and assistant in the studio of Daniel Chester French. The two artists shared a close professional and personal relationship and the presentation highlights the many intersections and cross-currents between their works, including the exquisite Slocum Memorial in Forest Hills Cemetery.
Read MoreA talk entitled Historic Images of James Michael Curley and His Family which was a joint presentation by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and the JPHS. Video of an event that was held via Zoom on November 11, 2021.
Read MoreA talk entitled The Legacy of Pauline Agassiz Shaw which was given as part of the Lowell Lecture Series at the Paul Revere House. Video of an event that was held via Zoom on October 12, 2021.
Read MoreDr. Mary Morey Pearson was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka and graduated from the Boston University School of Medicine in 1885. She lived at 45 Eliot Street from 1910 to the end of her life (1931). She worked as the Medical Director for the American Benefit Society for much of her career and was an advocate for homeopathic medicines. It’s thought she had a medical practice at her home.
Read MoreThe Q&A session that came after the film screening of Borderland: The Life and Times of Blanche Ames Ames. Video of an event that was held via Zoom on June 5, 2021.
Read MoreAaron Schmidt, the Curator of Photographs for the Boston Public Library’s Special Collections speaks about Leon Abdalian. The photographer Leon Hampartzoum Abdalian was born in 1884 in what was Cilician Armenia, then located in the Ottoman Empire (now modern Turkey). He migrated with his family to the United States in April of 1896 and they eventually settled in JP. It is believed that he was largely self-taught as a photographer. For most of the time he was photographing (1913 -1967) he also worked full-time as a conductor on the Boston Elevated Railway.
This program was supported by a grant from the Bridge Street Fund, a special initiative of Mass Humanities. Photograph collection at the Digital Commonwealth.The event was held on April 25, 2021 at 2:00 p.m via Zoom.
Read MoreDr. Heather Clark discusses her acclaimed biography Red Comet: the Blazing Path and Brief Life of Sylvia Plath. Heather talks about her motivation for undertaking this book and the journey she took while writing it. After that, she takes questions from the audience.
Read MoreSusan Dimock was among the first female physicians in the US recognized as a surgeon. Apprenticed at the age of 18 to Dr. Marie Zakrzewska at the New England Hospital for Women and Children, Susan was recognized as exceptionally talented. In September of 1873, a seven-year-old girl from Nantucket was admitted to the NEHWC with a large tumor. Using ether as anesthetic, Dr. Dimock performed an operation to remove the tumor.
Read MoreIn August 2020 the JPHS was contacted by Keith Hammitte, who owns the house at 24 John A. Andrews Street. Keith had found an old toolbox in his basement containing hundreds of financial records of Robert F. Knapp, who had previously lived in the house.
Read MoreJamaica Plain Spoken was a video/interview project that JP musician Rick Berlin started with his friend Todd Drogy in 2004. It consists of over sixty interviews with people of all genders, beliefs, ages and ethnicities. Just a bunch of local characters describing their lives and offering their opinions about Jamaica Plain. The project was stopped due to a lack of funding, so the YouTube clips are all that remain. Those links are gathered here.
Read MoreA brief biography of Christopher Jackson Spenceley, a Boston businessman of the latter half of the 19th century who constructed the C.J. Spenceley Block in 1888. The yellow brick building that stands at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and West Walnut Park.
Read MoreLearn about the Glennon family living in Jamaica Plain and Roxbury from 1880-1940. Employment in the Thomas G. Plant Shoe Factory and the Burton Brewery provided the family with both opportunity and hardship.
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