Posts tagged Women's History
The Women of the Kindergarten for the Blind (Event Video)
The Women of the Kindergarten for the Blind (Event Video)

Jen Hale, Lead Archivist of the Perkins School for the Blind talks about the remarkable women associated with the Kindergarten for the Blind in Jamaica Plain during the late nineteenth century. The Kindergarten was the first of its kind in the United States and had considerable support from prominent women in the Boston area, including Isabella Stewart Gardner, Louisa May Alcott, and an eleven year old Helen Keller. After opening its doors to students in 1887, the Kindergarten was staffed by several exceptional women and some of the lasting impacts of their innovations may be surprising to audiences. 

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VictorianJamaica Plain Historical Societyevent video, Perkins School for the Blind, Women's History, Education
A Boston Harbor Islands Adventure (Event Video)
A Boston Harbor Islands Adventure (Event Video)

A talk by Stephanie Schorow and volunteers from the Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands on A Boston Harbor Island Adventure: the Great Brewster Journal of 1891. In July 1891, four intrepid women from Lowell, Massachusetts, set off for Great Brewster Island in Boston Harbor for an adventure they would remember all their lives. Calling themselves “the Merrie Trippers,” the women created a journal of their 17-day sojourn with entries, illustrations and photographs. But they did not include their names. In an illustrated lecture Schorow explores the journal’s discovery, its intriguing entries and photographs, and how volunteer researchers managed to identify the writers. Some of the volunteers read excerpts.

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VictorianJamaica Plain Historical Societyevent video, Women's History
Sculptor Evelyn Longman and the Slocum Monument at Forest Hills Cemetery
Sculptor Evelyn Longman and the Slocum Monument at Forest Hills Cemetery

There are four sculptures by Daniel Chester French at Forest Hills Cemetery but one is actually largely the work of his only woman assistant, his protégé Evelyn Beatrice Longman (1874 -1954). Longman was French’s only female assistant but went on to be a well-known sculpture in her own right. She successfully practiced her art creating both public and private commissions for 50 years.

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VictorianJamaica Plain Historical SocietyWomen's History, scuplture, Richard Heath