Boston

Ok so this was not in Boston but in some small random place in Massachusetts that I stopped to get gas. If I drank coffee I may have been a little bit more excited but it is nice to know that I can just drive down the road a little to find a taste of home.

The view from my hotel room

Some of you will remember that I visited Boston in February 2006 when I was living in Vermont. That trip gave me a taste of things to go back and see in the warmer weather. On my first trip I took a trolley tour around the city, had lunch at Cheers and wandered around the outside of Fenway Park. My most recent trip was not very long but I managed to get a few things done.

My very first stop (once I found it) was at Fenway Park. This of course is the long time home of Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox. It also happens to be the oldest park in the majors. They were going to tear it down and build a new one a few years ago but they decided instead just to renovate a little. The have added a bunch of new seats including on top of the Green Monster (that is the huge green wall in left field for those of you who don't know) and a few other places but getting tickets to a game is still pretty hard. I lucked out and did managed to get a ticket (really good seats too). I did not realize what a hot ticket they were until I got there and found out that every game in May and June is already sold out. The game I attended ended up being standing room only (that way they can get a few more hundred people in the park). To get seats on the green monster (where I am standing) you go into a lottery and if you win you HAVE to buy four tickets but no more than four (at just over $100 a piece). There are waiting lists to get season tickets. People really are crazy for thier Red Sox. There are still seats with obstructed views (some seats actually have poles right in front of them and some of the original seats are still there. I got the pleasure of experiencing the game from seats that have been there since the early 70's. (Pictures to follow I promise)

From the top of the Green Monster

The next day I made my way over to the State Capitol for a tour.

There is so much history in Massachusetts so I had to take a trip to where some of it would have taken place. The House of Representatives was actually in session (discussing the budget) at the time so I got to check that out, however I was there during the lunch break so did not get to see anything (actullay I was there around 12:30 and they were suppose to come back to session at 12:15 but apparently they were taking an extended lunch break.....it is fun to see tax dollars at work). It is also interesting to know that the State House was bulit on John Hancock's cow pasture. John Hancock was the first Governor elected in Massachusetts (also the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence). I found it amusing to find out that there is a wooden cod hanging in the House of Representatives (the Sacred Cod) and a wooden mackeral hanging in the Senate Chamber (The Holy Mackeral). Members actually will not sit unless they are there (it's a superstition thing).

Nurses Hall. This statue is a memorial to all the nurses that took part in the Civil War

The Senate Chamber. Home of the Holy Mackeral. It is also directly beneath the gold dome. It is considered to be the centre of Boston.

I then took a great walking tour along the Black Heritage Trail. It was really amazing. The tour goes through Beacon Hill which is now a very upscale, majority white neighborhood however in the late 1700's and most of the 1800's it was home to one of the largest free and self emancipated black populations in the US. I think a lot of people who walk these streets everyday have no idea of the role they played in US history. It is interesting to know that Massachusetts was the first state to sanction slavery in 1641. In 1783 Massachusetts then became the first state to abolish slavery. It wasn't until 1865, after the end of the civil war, that the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in every state.

54th Regiment Memorial. The 54th regiment was the first black regiment to be recruited to fight in the civil war by the north. This was in 1863 after President Lincoln responded to the increased pressure from black and white abolitionists. This memorial sits across the street from the State Capitol.

George Middleton House. This is the oldest extant home built by African Americans on Beacon Hill. It was built in 1787.

This is a typical street in Beacon Hill. The Fugitive Slave Law was passed in 1850 (basically the law allowed slave catchers to come up to free states from the southern states where slavery was still legal, capture escaped slaves and return them to slavery. It also allowed them to take any black person without proper documentation to be taken into slavery, even if they were born free). Beacon Hill was a very close community and people looked out for each other. On many occasions self emancipated slaves would have been found running up this street to escape slave catchers. More often than not those slave catchers would have been attacked by members of the community and the escaped slave would have remained free.

Alleys like this were used to get from street to street without having to walk up and down them. Self emancipated slaves also would have used them to escape slave catchers. After the beating they usually got on the street, most slave catchers were hesitant to head down an alley to chase anyone.

Lewis Hayden House. Now Lewis Hayden has a very cool story. He was born a slave in the south but eventually escaped to Canada. From there he sent a letter to his former owner basically telling him I am a free man now and you can send who you like but you will never own me again. He then decided that he could help more people by returning to the US so moved to this house in Beacon Hill as a self emancipated man. This house then became a very important and well known stop on the underground railroad. It housed two-thirds of the fugitive slaves that came through Boston. Lewis Hayden use to sit in the window at night with a candle and a rifle almost begging slave catchers to try to get in. Story goes he kept two kegs of gun powder behind the front door and if anyone came in he would light them and blow the place up. Nobody came in and nobody was captured while in Lewis' care.

Abiel Smith School. In 1835 this became Boston's first black public school. The conditions were terrible, students were overcrowded and white head masters were abusive to the black students. Many black parents removed thier children from the school in protest and they were educated in the African Meeting House next door. It also was not built to handle the number of children that were being taught there but the neighborhood was still fighting for equality. The school remained open until 1855 when Boston public schools were integrated. It now houses the Museum of Afro-American History.

The African Meeting House. This is the oldest extant black church edifice in the US. For many years it was the centre of the black community in Beacon Hill. It was a church, a school, and the centre of social, educational and political activity in the black community. It became known as the "Black Faneuil Hall" since black issues were not discussed in the actual Faneuil Hall. Many of the 54th regiment were recruited from this site. When the black community started to migrate out of the area in 1870, this building became many things including a Jewish synagogue. The Museum of Afro American History now owns it again and is in the process of restoring it. I guess I will have to make a trip back to see it when it is completed.

Well as you can see I had a great trip back to Boston and yes I am a history nerd and I am totally okay with that. Can't wait to check out a whole lot more.

Julie