Boston Women's Heritage Trail facts for kids
The Boston Women's Heritage Trail is a special series of walking tours in Boston, Massachusetts. These tours take you past places that were important to amazing women in Boston's history. You can explore different neighborhoods like the Back Bay and Beacon Hill. The trail celebrates women such as Abigail Adams, Amelia Earhart, and Phillis Wheatley. The official guidebook has seven walks and tells the stories of more than 200 Boston women.
The Boston Women's Heritage Trail (BWHT) was started in 1989. A group of Boston schoolteachers, librarians, and students worked together to create it. A nonprofit group called the Boston Educational Development Foundation helps fund the BWHT. They also offer workshops for teachers, guided walks, and other activities to teach people about women's history.
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Explore the Trail: Walking Tours
The Boston Women's Heritage Trail has many exciting walking tours. Each tour focuses on a different part of Boston and the women who made a difference there. Some of the tours include the Back Bay (East), Back Bay (West), Beacon Hill, Charlestown, Chinatown/South Cove, Dorchester, Downtown, Jamaica Plain, Lower Roxbury, Roxbury, the South End, and West Roxbury. There's also a special Artists Walk and a Ladies Walk.
Artists Walk
The Artists Walk explores the Back Bay area. Many talented women artists lived, worked, and showed their art here. This walk was created to go along with a big art show at the Museum of Fine Arts in 2001. It highlights artists like Helen M. Knowlton and Anne Whitney.
Back Bay East Walk
The Back Bay East walk starts and finishes at the beautiful Public Garden. You'll learn about many inspiring women on this tour:
- Emily Greene Balch: An economist and sociologist who worked for peace. She even won the Nobel Peace Prize!
- Amy Beach: A famous composer who wrote beautiful music.
- Isabella Stewart Gardner: A passionate art collector who founded the amazing Gardner Museum.
- Harriet Hemenway and Minna Hall: These two women started the Massachusetts Audubon Society to protect birds and nature.
- Julia Ward Howe: An activist who fought against slavery and wrote the famous song "The Battle Hymn of the Republic".
- Elma Lewis: An arts educator who founded the National Center of Afro-American Artists.
- Anne Sexton: A poet who won a Pulitzer Prize for her writing.
- Many sculptors like Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson, Anna Coleman Ladd, and Nancy Schön are also featured.
Back Bay West Walk
This walk begins at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square and ends at the Boston Women's Memorial. This memorial celebrates important women on the Commonwealth Avenue mall. Here are some of the women you'll discover:
- Abigail Adams: The wife of President John Adams, she was also a smart advisor to him.
- Alice Stone Blackwell: A strong supporter of women's right to vote, a journalist, and a human rights champion.
- Melnea Cass: A powerful civil rights activist who worked for equality.
- Mary Baker Eddy: The founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist.
- Anne Hutchinson: A brave religious leader who challenged old ideas.
- Maria Mitchell: A pioneering astronomer who discovered a comet.
- Phillis Wheatley: An incredible poet who was one of the first African-American women to publish a book of poetry.
- Famous marathon runners like Joan Benoit and Bobbi Gibb.
- Many artists, sculptors, philanthropists (people who give money to good causes), and religious leaders.
Beacon Hill Walk
The Beacon Hill walk starts at the Massachusetts State House and winds through the historic Beacon Hill neighborhood. It often follows parts of the Black Heritage Trail. You'll hear about:
- Louisa May Alcott: The beloved author of Little Women.
- Ruth Batson: A civil rights activist who fought for equal rights.
- Rebecca Lee Crumpler: The very first African-American woman doctor.
- Mary Dyer: One of the Quakers who was executed for her religious beliefs in early Boston.
- Harriet Hayden: An African-American abolitionist who helped people escape slavery.
- Julia Ward Howe: Also featured here for her work against slavery and her famous song.
- Mary Eliza Mahoney: The first professionally trained African-American nurse.
- Elizabeth Peabody: She started the first English-language kindergarten in the United States.
- Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin: An African-American publisher, civil rights leader, and women's rights activist.
- Harriet Tubman: The famous "Moses of her people" who helped many enslaved people find freedom. She spent time in Boston.
- Marie Elizabeth Zakrzewska: A doctor who founded the New England Hospital for Women and Children.
Charlestown Walk
On the Charlestown walk, you'll learn about:
- Rebecca Lee Crumpler: The first African-American woman doctor, also mentioned on this trail.
- Sarah Josepha Hale: She was very important in making Thanksgiving Day a national holiday in the U.S. She also helped with the Bunker Hill Monument.
- Rosie the Riveter: This walk connects to the 8,000 women who worked at the Boston Navy Yard during World War II.
- Mother Goose: Yes, the famous nursery rhyme character! Elizabeth Foster Vergoose, also known as Mother Goose, is connected to Charlestown.
Chinatown/South Cove Walk
This walk starts at the Boston Common Visitor Center, goes through Chinatown, and ends at Park Square. Some of the women highlighted are:
- Sarah Caldwell: A talented opera conductor and leader.
- Amelia Earhart: The famous aviator (pilot) who also worked as a social worker at Denison House.
- Margaret Fuller: A journalist and writer who fought for women's rights.
- Rose Lok: The first Chinese-American woman pilot to fly solo at Logan Airport.
- Phillis Wheatley: The poet, also featured on this walk.
- Women who were part of labor unions like the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
Dorchester Walk
The Dorchester walk, developed by students, is the first in a planned series for this area. It includes:
- Alice Stone Blackwell: A women's rights activist and journalist.
- Anna Clapp Harris Smith: She founded the Animal Rescue League.
- "Ann & Betty": Two enslaved women buried in Dorchester's oldest graveyard, whose stories are remembered.
Downtown Walk
Starting at the State House, the Downtown walk takes you past some of Boston's oldest historic sites. You'll hear about:
- Abigail Adams: The wife of John Adams, also featured here.
- Hannah Adams: The first woman in the U.S. to work professionally as a writer.
- Clara Barton: The amazing founder of the American Red Cross.
- Dorothea Dix: An activist who worked to improve care for people with mental illness.
- Mary Dyer: The Quaker martyr, also mentioned here.
- Mary Baker Eddy: The founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist.
- Abiah Franklin: The mother of Benjamin Franklin.
- Sarah and Angelina Grimké: Sisters who were strong abolitionists and fought for women's right to vote.
- Anne Hutchinson: The religious dissenter, also featured here.
- Edmonia Lewis: A talented sculptor.
- Lucy Stone: A leading suffragist and founder of the Woman's Journal.
- Anne Sullivan: The incredible teacher of Helen Keller.
- Mother Goose: Elizabeth Foster Vergoose, also featured here.
- Phillis Wheatley: The poet, also featured here.
- Mercy Otis Warren: A political writer during the American Revolution.
Jamaica Plain Walk
On the Jamaica Plain walk, you'll learn about:
- Emily Greene Balch: The Nobel Peace Prize winner, also featured here.
- Margaret Fuller: The journalist and women's rights advocate, also featured here.
- Maud Cuney Hare: A musician, music historian, and civil rights activist.
- Elizabeth Peabody: The kindergarten founder, also featured here.
- Sylvia Plath: A famous poet.
- Ellen Swallow Richards: A pioneering environmental chemist.
- Lucy Stone: The suffragist, also featured here.
- Marie Elizabeth Zakrzewska: The physician and hospital founder, also featured here.
Ladies Walk
The Ladies Walk is a special tour that celebrates three very important women: Abigail Adams (a First Lady), Lucy Stone (a leader for women's right to vote), and Phillis Wheatley (a groundbreaking poet). This walk starts at the Boston Women's Memorial and ends at Faneuil Hall.
Lower Roxbury Walk
On the Lower Roxbury walk, you'll find out about:
- Melnea Cass: The civil rights activist, also featured here.
- Mildred Daniels: A dedicated community activist.
- Students of Girls' High School.
North End Walk
The North End walk begins at Faneuil Hall and goes through the North End, ending at St. Leonard's Church. It crosses paths with the Freedom Trail. Women on this walk include:
- Charlotte Cushman: An actress.
- Goody Glover: The last person to be hanged in Boston for being accused of witchcraft.
- Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy: The mother of President John F. Kennedy.
- Judith Sargent Murray: A writer who advocated for women's rights.
- Rachel Walker Revere: The wife of Paul Revere.
- Sophie Tucker: A famous entertainer.
Roxbury Walk
On the Roxbury walk, you'll learn about:
- Melnea Cass: The civil rights activist, also featured here.
- Jessie Gideon Garnett: The first African-American woman dentist in Boston.
- Elma Lewis: The arts educator, also featured here.
- Mary Eliza Mahoney: The first professionally trained African-American nurse, also featured here.
- Lucy Miller Mitchell: A pioneer in early childhood education and co-founder of Head Start.
- Muriel S. Snowden: A community activist and co-founder of Freedom House.
South End Walk
The South End walk starts at Back Bay Station and ends at the Boston Center for the Arts. Here are some of the women you'll meet on this tour:
- Louisa May Alcott: The author, also featured here.
- Mary McLeod Bethune: An educator and school founder.
- Melnea Cass: The civil rights activist, also featured here.
- Rebecca Lee Crumpler: The first African-American woman doctor, also featured here.
- Fern Cunningham: A sculptor who created the first public sculpture in Boston honoring a woman (Harriet Tubman).
- Mary Baker Eddy: The founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist, also featured here.
- Coretta Scott King: A civil rights activist and the wife of Martin Luther King Jr..
- Susie King Taylor: An escaped enslaved person, author, and the first African-American Army nurse.
- Harriet Tubman: The abolitionist and Union spy, also featured here.
- E. Virginia Williams: The founder of the Boston Ballet.
- Students of the Boston Normal School and the New England Female Medical College.
West Roxbury Walk
On the West Roxbury walk, you'll discover:
- Kathleen Coffey: The first woman Chief Justice of West Roxbury District Court.
- Mary Draper: A Revolutionary War activist.
- Margaret Fuller: The journalist and women's rights advocate, also featured here.
- Sophia Ripley: A feminist writer.
- Marian Walsh: A Massachusetts state senator.
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