history

Quincy

From the 1820s until the mid-20th century, thousands of skilled immigrant stonecutters found jobs in Quincy's granite industry. Shown here are quarrymen coming up in a "boat" for dinner in the Granite Railway Quarry, ca. 1920-1930. Courtesy Thomas Crane Public…

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Global Eats

Cast members of the theatrical production “One Sunday Afternoon” celebrating at the Russian Bear Restaurant on Newbury Street in December 1933, just days after the end of Prohibition. This restaurant opened a year earlier under the ownership of Mrs. L.B.…

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Jews in the Shoe Trade

Thousands of Russian Jews came to Lynn to work in its shoe factories. The economic life of the Lynn Jewish community was inextricably linked to the shoe industry, which became the major source of the Jews’ upward economic mobility. Even…

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Lynn

Immigrant neighborhood in downtown Lynn, looking up Amity Street from Washington Street, ca 1900. Courtesy of Lynn Public Library.

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A 1922 Postcard Of The Central Square In Cambridge Mass. The Postcard Shows A Busy Street With Many People Waiting To Board The Streetcar In The Middle Of The Street. On Either Side Of The Street Are Businesses And Individuals Walking On The Sidewalks.

Cambridge

Central Square became Cambridge's largest commercial center in the early 20th century, serving growing immigrant communities from Ireland, Canada, Portugal, and the West Indies. After World War II, the Square and an adjoining area known as "the Port" would become…

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A Postcard Of Dorchester Avenue. A Yellow Streetcar Travels Down The Street Along With A Horse-drawn Wagon. On Either Side Of The Street Are Mixed-use Buildings.

Dorchester

Postcard showing Dorchester Avenue near the corner of Savin Hill Avenue, ca 1913. Courtesy of the Dorchester Historical Society.

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A Postcard Of

Allston-Brighton

   Postcard of Harvard Avenue in Allston Village, between Commonwealth and Brighton Avenues, 1921. Courtesy of the Brighton Allston Historical Society.

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A Photograph Of An Intersection Between Two Dirt Roads. Horse-drawn Carriages Line One Of The Streets, In Front Of Commercial Businesses. The Buildings Are Are All Generally Two Or Three Stories And Are In A Colonial Style.

Roxbury

Corner of Dudley and Warren Streets (Dudley Square) in 1856, as Irish and other immigrants were first moving into this emerging streetcar suburb. Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library.

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