The Remarkable Photographs of Leon Abdalian (Event Video)

Aaron 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.

People, 20th CenturyJamaica Plain Historical SocietyApril 25, 2021event video, photography

Author Q&A with Heather Clark (event video)

Dr. 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.

Susan Dimock • Pioneering Female Surgeon

Susan 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.

People, 20th CenturyJamaica Plain Historical SocietySeptember 24, 2020Women's History, Medical Pioneer

Knapp Family Financial Records

In 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.

20th CenturyCharlie RosenbergSeptember 20, 2020dairy

'Jamaica Plain Spoken' Video Interview Project

Jamaica 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.

People, 20th CenturyJamaica Plain Historical SocietyAugust 10, 2020Oral History

C.J. Spenceley

A 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.

People, 20th CenturyJamaica Plain Historical SocietyApril 25, 2020building, businessman

Shoes & Brews: An Irish Family in Jamaica Plain, 1880-1940

Learn 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.

20th Century, PeopleCharlie RosenbergFebruary 7, 2020Oral History, Irish Catholics, Shoe Factory, breweries

Oral History, Walter Hoerner

Walter Hoerner worked for Haffenreffer Brewery from 1933 to 1959. He was the chief engineer at Haffenreffers's property at 251 Heath Street. The building was used primarily for storage and as a workshop for coopers who built and repaired wood barrels.

20th CenturyCharlie RosenbergDecember 18, 2019Oral History, breweries

Lieutenant John Thomas Carr, Purple Heart Recipient

In 1918 a US Coast Guard Cutter was torpedoed in the Irish Sea. One of its victims was from Jamaica Plain. One hundred years later his next-of-kin is being sought to receive the Purple Heart awarded to Lt. John Thomas Carr.

20th CenturyJamaica Plain Historical SocietyJune 18, 2019Peter O'Brien

The Lions of Forest Hills Cemetery

On the crest of Milton Hill, the highest drumlin in Forest Hills Cemetery, lie two recumbent stone lions shaded by upright Japanese yews, part of a monument honoring the artisan Pietro Caproni.

PeopleCharlie RosenbergMarch 18, 2019Richard Heath

James Michael Curley Photography Collection

A collection of 956 film negatives that document James Michael Curley during the years 1934-1958.

PeopleJamaica Plain Historical SocietyOctober 29, 2017Politician, Rascal King

Jimmy Lovett, the Last Farrier in Jamaica Plain

This story of the last practicing blacksmith in JP is based both on personal observation of Lovett’s McBride Street blacksmith shop in the 1940s and 1950s, and on an April 2017 interview with John R. Lovett, the last farrier’s son.

PeopleJamaica Plain Historical SocietyOctober 14, 2017Farrier, Peter O'Brien