The Boston Women's Heritage Trail is a series of walking tours in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, leading past sites important to Boston women's history. The tours wind through several neighborhoods, including the

Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on Land reclamation, reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the ...

and Beacon Hill, commemorating women such as

Abigail Adams Abigail Adams ( ''née'' Smith; – October 28, 1818) was the wife and closest advisor of John Adams, the second president of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States. She was a founder o ...

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...

, and

Phillis Wheatley Phillis Wheatley Peters, also spelled Phyllis and Wheatly ( – December 5, 1784), was an American writer who is considered the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Gates Jr., Henry Louis, ''Trials of Phillis Wheatley: ...

. The guidebook includes seven walks and introduces more than 200 Boston women. The BWHT was created in 1989 by a group of Boston schoolteachers, librarians, and students. It is funded by the nonprofit Boston Educational Development Foundation. The BWHT presents teacher workshops, guided walks, and other activities to promote

women's history Women's history is the study of the role that Woman, women have played in history and Historiography, the methods required to do so. It includes the study of the history of the growth of woman's rights, women's rights throughout recorded history, ...

Walking tours

The list of BWHT walking tours currently includes tours of the Back Bay (East), Back Bay (West), Beacon Hill, Charlestown,

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

/ South Cove, Dorchester,

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Jamaica Plain Jamaica Plain is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Settled by Puritans seeking farmland to the south, it was originally part of Roxbury, Massachusetts, Roxbury. The community seceded from Roxbur ...

, Lower Roxbury, Roxbury, the South End, and

West Roxbury West Roxbury is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, bordered by Roslindale and Jamaica Plain to the northeast, the village of Chestnut Hill and the town of Brookline to the north, the city of Newton to the northwest, t ...

. It also includes the Artists Walk, which focuses on local women artists, and the Ladies Walk, which commemorates Abigail Adams,

Lucy Stone Lucy Stone (August 13, 1818 – October 18, 1893) was an American orator, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist and Suffrage, suffragist who was a vocal advocate for and organizer of promoting Women's rights, rights for women. In 1847, ...

, and Phillis Wheatley.

Artists

The Artists walk centers on the Back Bay, where many women artists have lived, worked, and exhibited. The walk was designed to complement the 2001 Museum of Fine Arts exhibition, ''A Studio of Her Own: Women Artists in Boston 1870–1940''. Women mentioned include Helen M. Knowlton, Anne Whitney, and others.

Back Bay East

The Back Bay East walk begins and ends at the Public Garden. Women mentioned include: * Emily Greene Balch, economist, sociologist and pacifist; winner of the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

Amy Beach Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (September 5, 1867December 27, 1944) was an American composer and pianist. She was the first successful American female composer of large-scale art music. Her "Gaelic" Symphony, premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra ...

, composer * Isabella Stewart Gardner, art collector and founder of the Gardner Museum * Catherine Hammond Gibson, original owner of the Gibson House Museum * Mary Elizabeth Haskell, founder of the Haskell School for Girls *

Harriet Hemenway Harriet Lawrence Hemenway (1858–1960) was a Boston socialite who cofounded the Massachusetts Audubon Society with Minna B. Hall. Hemenway was the wife of Augustus Hemenway. During the Gilded Age, it became fashionable for women to wear hats ...

and Minna Hall, founders of the

Massachusetts Audubon Society The Massachusetts Audubon Society, commonly known as Mass Audubon, founded in 1896 by Harriet Hemenway and Minna B. Hall and headquartered in Lincoln, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "protecting the nature of Massachuset ...

Julia Ward Howe Julia Ward Howe ( ; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American author and poet, known for writing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as new lyrics to an existing song, and the original 1870 pacifist Mothers' Day Proclamation. She w ...

, abolitionist, activist, and author of "

The Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is an American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe during the American Civil War. Howe adapted her song from the soldiers' song " John Brown's Body" in November 1861, and sold ...

" *

Elma Lewis Elma Ina Lewis (September 15, 1921 – January 1, 2004) was an American arts educator and the founder of The Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts and the National Center of Afro-American Artists. In 1981 she was one of the first recipients of t ...

, arts educator and founder of the National Center of Afro-American Artists *

Florence Luscomb Florence Hope Luscomb (February 6, 1887 – October 13, 1985) was an American architect and women's suffrage activist in Massachusetts. She was one of the first ten women graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her degrees ...

, architect and women's suffragist * Mary May, founder of the Brimmer and May School * Julia Oliver O'Neil, famous for marching in parades with her ten daughters in matching outfits * Lucina W. Prince, founder of the Prince School of Salesmanship * Belle P. Rand, founder of the French Library and Cultural Center *

Sarah Choate Sears Sarah Choate Sears (1858–1935) was an American art collector, art patron, cultural entrepreneur, artist and photographer. Early life Sears, née Sarah Carlisle Choate, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on 5 May 1858, the daughter of Char ...

, art patron and artist *

Anne Sexton Anne Sexton (born Anne Gray Harvey; November 9, 1928 – October 4, 1974) was an American poet known for her highly personal, confessional poetry, confessional verse. She won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1967 for her book ''Live or Die (book ...

, Pulitzer-winning poet * Mary Pickard Winsor, founder of the Winsor School * Sculptors Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson, Anna Coleman Ladd, Mary Moore, Bashka Paeff, Lilian Swann Saarinen, Nancy Schön, Katharine Lane Weems, and Anne Whitney Also mentioned are

Fisher College Fisher College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, with satellite campuses in Brockton and New Bedford. It is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE). History Fisher College first opened its doors in 19 ...

Simmons College Institutions of learning called Simmons College or Simmons University include: * Simmons University Simmons University (previously Simmons College) is a private university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1899 by ...

, and the Winsor School.

Back Bay West

This walk starts at the

Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also Massachusetts' Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse''), meaning all adult re ...

in Copley Square and ends at the Boston Women's Memorial on the Commonwealth Avenue mall. Women mentioned include: *

, first lady and presidential advisor * Sister Ann Alexis, administrator of Carney Hospital and the

Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul The Company of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul (; abbreviated DC), commonly called the Daughters of Charity or Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, is a society of apostolic life for women within the Catholic Church. ...

* Mary Antin, author and immigration rights activist * Alice Stone Blackwell, women's suffragist, journalist, and human rights advocate * Melnea Cass, civil rights activist * Lucretia Crocker, science educator * Charlotte Cushman, actress and art patron * Carolyn L. Dewing, founder of the School of Fashion Design *

Mary Baker Eddy Mary Baker Eddy (née Baker; July 16, 1821 – December 3, 1910) was an American religious leader and author, who in 1879 founded The Church of Christ, Scientist, the ''Mother Church'' of the Christian Science movement. She also founded ''The C ...

, founder of the

Church of Christ, Scientist The Church of Christ, Scientist was founded in 1879 in Boston, Massachusetts, by Mary Baker Eddy, author of '' Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,'' and founder of Christian Science. The church was founded "to commemorate the word and ...

* Katharine Gibbs, founder of Gibbs College *

Louise Imogen Guiney Louise Imogen Guiney (January 7, 1861 – November 2, 1920) was an American poet, essayist and editor, born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Biography The daughter of Gen. Patrick R. Guiney, an Irish-born American Civil War officer and lawyer,''The ...

, poet, essayist, and editor *

Anne Hutchinson Anne Hutchinson (; July 1591 – August 1643) was an English-born religious figure who was an important participant in the Antinomian Controversy which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. Her strong religious formal d ...

, religious dissenter * Alice M. Jordan, founder of the New England Round Table of Children's Librarians * Mary Morton Kehew, social reform leader * Ellen Lanyon, artist *

, arts educator and founder of the National Center of Afro-American Artists * Lucy Miller Mitchell, pioneering educator *

Maria Mitchell Maria Mitchell ( ; August 1, 1818 – June 28, 1889) was an American astronomer, librarian, naturalist, and educator. In 1847, she discovered a comet named 1847 VI (modern designation C/1847 T1) that was later known as " Miss Mitchell's Comet ...

, astronomer *

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (born Cecilia Helena Payne; – ) was a British-born American astronomer and astrophysicist. Her work on the cosmic makeup of the universe and the nature of variable stars was foundational to modern astrophysics. She ...

, astronomer *

Frances Rich Frances Rich (born Irene Frances Lither Deffenbaugh; January 8, 1910 – October 14, 2007) was an American actress, artist, and sculptor. She was the daughter of actress Irene Rich. Early life Frances Rich was born January 8, 1910, in ...

, sculptor *

Ellen Swallow Richards Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards ( Swallow; December 3, 1842 – March 30, 1911) was an American industrial and safety engineer, environmental chemist, and university faculty member in the United States during the 19th century. Her pioneeri ...

, pioneering environmental chemist * Beryl Robinson, educator and storyteller *

, art patron and artist * Isobel Sinesi of the School of Fashion Design * Muriel S. Snowden, community activist *

, suffragist and founder of the ''

Woman's Journal ''Woman's Journal'' was an American women's rights periodical published from 1870 to 1931. It was founded in 1870 in Boston, Massachusetts, by Lucy Stone and her husband Henry Browne Blackwell as a weekly newspaper. In 1917 it was purchased by ...

'' * Anne Sullivan, teacher of

Helen Keller Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, she lost her sight and her hearing after a bout of illness when ...

, poet * Marathon runners Joan Benoit, Bobbi Gibb, Nina Kuscsik,

Rosa Mota Rosa Maria Correia dos Santos Mota, GCIH, GCM (; born 29 June 1958) is a Portuguese former marathon runner, one of her country's foremost athletes, being the first sportswoman from Portugal to win Olympic gold. Mota was the first woman to win ...

, and Fatuma Roba * Sculptors Meredith Bergmann, Yvette Compagnion, Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, Penelope Jencks, Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson,

Amelia Peabody Amelia Peabody Emerson is the protagonist of the Amelia Peabody series, a series of historical mystery novels written by author Elizabeth Peters (a pseudonym of Egyptologist Barbara Mertz, 1927–2013). Peabody is married to Egyptologist Radcli ...

, Anne Whitney,

, and Nancy Schön * Artists

Cecilia Beaux Eliza Cecilia Beaux (May 1, 1855 – September 17, 1942) was an American artist and the first woman to teach art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Known for her elegant and sensitive portraits of friends, relatives, and Gilded Age p ...

, Susan Hinckley Bradley,

Margaret Fitzhugh Browne Margaret Fitzhugh Browne (June 7, 1884 – January 11, 1972) was an American painter of portraits, indoor genre scenes, and still lifes. Family Browne was the second child of Cordelia Brooks Browne and James Maynadier Browne. She had three si ...

Mary Cassatt Mary Stevenson Cassatt (; May 22, 1844June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh's North Side (Pittsburgh), North Side), but lived much of her adult life in France, whe ...

, Adelaide Cole Chase, Gertrude Fiske,

Lilian Westcott Hale Lilian Westcott Hale (December 7, 1880 – November 3, 1963) was an American Impressionism, American Impressionist painter Biography According to the 1880 original Bridgeport archival records at the Connecticut State Library, the 1900 Fede ...

, Marie Danforth Page, Lilla Cabot Perry, Louise Stimson, and

Sarah Wyman Whitman Sarah de St. Prix Wyman Whitman (1842–1904) was an American stained glass artist, painter, and book cover designer. Successful at a time when few women had professional art careers, she founded her own firm, Lily Glass Works. Her stained glass ...

, * Philanthropists Ednah Dow Cheney, Pauline Durant, Fanny Mason, Abby W. May, Pauline Agassiz Shaw, Jane Alexander, and Eileen Reilly * Religious leaders Abbie Child, Dr. Elsa Meder, Elizabeth Rice, Alice Hageman, and Donna Day Lower * Award-winning crafters Lydia Bush-Brown Head, Louise Chrimes, Winifred Crawford, Sister Magdalen, Margaret Rogers, Mary Crease Sears, and Josephine H. Shaw * Exeter Street Theater owners Viola and Florence Berlin

Beacon Hill

The Beacon Hill walk begins at the State House and winds through Beacon Hill, often in parallel with the

Black Heritage Trail Black Heritage Trail or African American Heritage Trail may refer to one of the following, all in the United States: * African American Heritage Trail of St. Petersburg, Florida * African American Heritage Trail of Westchester County, New York * ...

. Women mentioned include: *

Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Good Wives'' (1869), ''Little Men'' (1871), and ''Jo's Boys'' ...

, author * Ruth Batson, civil rights activist * Blanche Woodson Braxton, the first African-American woman to be admitted to the Massachusetts Bar Association * Maria Weston Chapman, founder of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society * Ellen Craft, escaped slave, author, and educator * Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first African-American woman physician * Margaret Deland, author * Mary Dyer, one of the four executed Quakers known as the

Boston martyrs The Boston martyrs is the name given in Quaker tradition to the three England, English members of the Society of Friends, Marmaduke Stephenson, William Robinson and Mary Dyer, and to the Barbados, Barbadian Friend William Leddra, who were condemned ...

* Annie Adams Fields, author *

, author * Harriet Hayden, African-American abolitionist * Anna E. Hirsch, the first woman president of the Board of Trustees of New England School of Law *

, abolitionist, activist, and author of "

" *

, religious dissenter *

Sarah Orne Jewett Theodora Sarah Orne Jewett (September 3, 1849 – June 24, 1909) was an American novelist, short story writer and poet, best known for her local color works set along or near the southern coast of Maine. Jewett is recognized as an important ...

, author * Mary Eliza Mahoney, the first professionally trained African-American nurse * Sophia Palmer and Mary E. P. Davis, founders of the

American Nurses Association The American Nurses Association (ANA) is a 501(c)(6) professional organization to advance and protect the profession of nursing. It started in 1896 as the Nurses Associated Alumnae and was renamed the American Nurses Association in 1911. It is b ...

* Susan Paul, African-American abolitionist *

Elizabeth Peabody Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (May 16, 1804January 3, 1894) was an American educator who opened the first English-language kindergarten in the United States. Long before most educators, Peabody embraced the premise that children's play has intrinsic d ...

, founder of the first English-language kindergarten in the U.S. * Rose Standish Nichols, landscape architect *

Linda Richards Linda Richards (July 27, 1841 – April 16, 1930) was the first professionally trained American nurse. She established nursing training programs in the United States and Japan, and created the first system for keeping individual medical recor ...

, the first professionally trained American nurse * Florida Ruffin Ridley, civil rights activist * Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, African-American publisher, civil rights leader, and women's suffragist * Maria W. Stewart, African-American abolitionist * Hepzibah Swan, socialite and art patron *

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, – March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. After escaping slavery, Tubman made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including her family and friends, us ...

, African-American abolitionist, women's suffragist, and Union spy who spent time in Boston * Anne Whitney, sculptor, including ''

Samuel Adams Samuel Adams (, 1722 – October 2, 1803) was an American statesman, Political philosophy, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colonial Massachusetts, a le ...

'' statue at

Faneuil Hall Faneuil Hall ( or ; previously ) is a marketplace and meeting hall near the waterfront and Government Center, Boston, Massachusetts, Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Opened in 1742, it was the site of several speeches ...

* Marie Elizabeth Zakrzewska, physician and founder of the New England Hospital for Women and Children * Sisters of the

Society of Saint Margaret The Society of Saint Margaret (SSM) is an order of women in the Anglican Church. The Anglican religious order, religious order is active in England, Haiti, Sri Lanka, and the United States of America, United States and formerly Scotland. History ...

, founders of St. Monica's Home * Students of the Portia School of Law * Female founders of the Vilna Shul

Charlestown

Women mentioned on the Charlestown walk include: * Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first African-American woman physician * Charlotte Cushman, actress * Julia Harrington Duff, the first Irish-American woman to serve on the Boston School Committee *

Sarah Josepha Hale Sarah Josepha Buell Hale (October 24, 1788April 30, 1879) was an American writer, activist, and editor of the most widely circulated magazine in the period before the American Civil War, Civil War, ''Godey's Lady's Book''. She was the author of t ...

, author, instrumental in the creation of

Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

in the U.S. and the

Bunker Hill Monument The Bunker Hill Monument is a monument erected at the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston, Massachusetts, which was among the first major battles between the United Colonies and the British Empire in the American Revolutionary War. The 2 ...

Harriot Kezia Hunt Harriot Kezia Hunt (November 9, 1805January 2, 1875) was an American physician and women's rights activist. She spoke at the first National Women's Rights Conventions, held in 1850 in Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachusetts. Early ...

, an early female physician *

Rosie the Riveter Rosie the Riveter is an allegorical cultural icon in the United States who represents the women who worked in factories and shipyards during World War II, many of whom produced munitions and war supplies. These women sometimes took entirely n ...

, in connection with the 8,000 women who worked at the

Charlestown Navy Yard The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. It was established in 1801 as part of the recent establishment of t ...

* Squaw Sachem, Pawtucket leader * Elizabeth McLean Smith, sculptor and president of the New England Sculptors Association * Elizabeth Foster Vergoose, also known as

Mother Goose Mother Goose is a character that originated in children's fiction, as the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. She also appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as ...

Chinatown/South Cove

The Chinatown/South Cove walk begins at the

Boston Common The Boston Common is a public park in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest city park in the United States. Boston Common consists of of land bounded by five major Boston streets: Tremont Street, Park Street, Beacon Street, Charl ...

Visitor Center, passes through Chinatown, and ends at Park Square. Women mentioned include: *

Sarah Caldwell Sarah Caldwell (March 6, 1924March 23, 2006) was an American opera conductor, impresario, and stage director. Early life Caldwell was born in Maryville, Missouri, and grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville ( ) is the List of cit ...

, opera conductor and impresario * Ednah Dow Littlehale Cheney, writer, reformer, and philanthropist * Chew Shee Chin, founder of the New England Chinese Women's Association * Harriet Clisby, physician and founder of the

Women's Educational and Industrial Union The Women's Educational and Industrial Union (1877–2006) in Boston, Massachusetts, was founded by physician Harriet Clisby for the advancement of women and to help women and children in the industrial city. By 1893, chapters of the WEIU were esta ...

* Jennie Collins, humanitarian, and one of the first working-class American women to publish a book * Helena Dudley, director of Denison House *

, aviator and social worker at Denison House * Ruby Foo, restaurateur *

Margaret Fuller Sarah Margaret Fuller (May 23, 1810 – July 19, 1850), sometimes referred to as Margaret Fuller Ossoli, was an American journalist, editor, critic, translator, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movemen ...

, journalist, critic, and women's rights advocate associated with American

transcendentalism Transcendentalism is a philosophical, spiritual, and literary movement that developed in the late 1820s and 1830s in the New England region of the United States. "Transcendentalism is an American literary, political, and philosophical movement of ...

* Pauline Hopkins, author, editor of ''The Colored American'' * Mary Morton Kehew, social reform leader * Rose Lok, aviator, the first Chinese-American woman pilot to solo at

Logan Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport — also known as Boston Logan International Airport — is an international airport located mostly in East Boston and partially in Winthrop, Massachusetts, United States. Covering , it has ...

* Mary A. Mahan, first woman to be admitted to the Massachusetts Bar Association * The

Maryknoll Sisters The Maryknoll Sisters, (formerly the Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic/Teresians) are an institute of Catholic religious sisters founded in the village of Ossining, Westchester County, New York, in 1912, six months after the 1911 creation of the ...

* Annie McKay, Boston's first school nurse * Rose Finkelstein Norwood, labor organizer * Julia O'Connor, labor organizer * Mary Kenney O'Sullivan, labor organizer *

, founder of the first English-language kindergarten in the U.S. * Vida Dutton Scudder, co-founder of Denison House * Hannah Sabbagh Shakir, founder of the Lebanese-Syrian Ladies' Aid Society * Frances Stern, one of the first nutritionists in the United States *

, poet * Members of the

International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) was a labor union for employees in the women's clothing industry in the United States. It was one of the largest unions in the country, one of the first to have a primarily female membersh ...

* Members of the Boston

Women's Trade Union League The Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) (1903–1950) was a United States, U.S. organization of both working class and more well-off women to support the efforts of women to organize labor unions and to eliminate sweatshop conditions. The WTUL pla ...

* Residents of the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

"Working Girls Home"

Dorchester

The Uphams Corner walk in Dorchester, developed by students at Codman Academy, is the first in a planned series of Dorchester walks. Women mentioned include: * Alice Stone Blackwell, women's suffragist, journalist, and human rights advocate * Elida Rumsey Fowle, Civil War volunteer and adoptive mother of two emancipated slave children * Sarah Wentworth Apthorp Morton, poet * Anna Clapp Harris Smith, founder of the Animal Rescue League * Hepzibah Swan, socialite and art patron * Geraldine Trotter, editor and activist * "Ann & Betty", two slaves buried in Dorchester's oldest graveyard * Local women's abolitionist groups

Downtown

Starting at the State House and ending at the corner of Franklin and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Streets, the Downtown walk passes some of Boston's oldest historic sites. Women mentioned include: *

, wife of

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

Hannah Adams Hannah Adams (October 2, 1755December 15, 1831) was an American author of books on comparative religion and early History of the United States, United States history. She was born in Medfield, Massachusetts and died in Brookline, Massachusetts, Br ...

, the first woman in the U.S. who worked professionally as a writer * Jennie Loitman Barron, the first woman appointed to the

Massachusetts Superior Court The Massachusetts Superior Court (also known as the Superior Court Department of the Trial Court) is a trial court department in Massachusetts. The Superior Court has original jurisdiction in civil actions over $50,000, and in matters where equ ...

Clara Barton Clarissa Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912) was an American nurse who founded the American Red Cross. She was a hospital nurse in the American Civil War, a teacher, and a patent clerk. Since nursing education was not then very ...

, founder of the

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

* Alice Stone Blackwell, women's suffragist, journalist, and human rights advocate * Maria Weston Chapman, founder of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society *

Lydia Maria Child Lydia Maria Child ( Francis; February 11, 1802October 20, 1880) was an American Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, women's rights activist, Native Americans in the United States, Native American rights activist, novelist, journalis ...

, abolitionist and women's rights activist * Lucretia Crocker, science educator * Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, artist *

Dorothea Dix Dorothea Lynde Dix (April 4, 1802July 17, 1887) was an American advocate on behalf of the poor insane, mentally ill. By her vigorous and sustained program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress, she helped create the fir ...

, activist on behalf of the indigent insane who created the first generation of American mental asylums * Julia Harrington Duff, the first Irish-American woman to serve on the Boston School Committee * Mary Dyer, one of the four executed Quakers known as the

, founder of the

* Annie Adams Fields, author * Eliza Lee Cabot Follen, author and abolitionist * Abiah Franklin, mother of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious woma ...

and Angelina Grimké, abolitionists and women's suffragists * Mary Tileston Hemenway, philanthropist * Harriet Hosmer, sculptor *

, religious dissenter *

Helen Hunt Jackson Helen Hunt Jackson (pen name, H.H.; born Helen Maria Fiske; October 15, 1830 – August 12, 1885) was an American poet and writer who became an activist on behalf of improved treatment of Native Americans by the United States government. She de ...

, author * Edmonia Lewis, sculptor * Mary Livermore, journalist and women's rights advocate * Grace Lorch, teacher and civil rights activist *

Amy Lowell Amy Lawrence Lowell (February 9, 1874 – May 12, 1925) was an American poet of the imagist school. She posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926. Life Amy Lowell was born on February 9, 1874, in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughte ...

, poet *

, architect and women's suffragist * Abby May, school founder, activist, and one of the first social workers in Massachusetts *

Jane Mecom Jane Franklin Mecom (March 27, 1712 – May 7, 1794) was the youngest sister of Benjamin Franklin and was considered one of his closest confidants. Mecom and Franklin corresponded for sixty-three years, throughout the course of Ben Franklin's ...

, sister and confidant of

* Elizabeth Murray, businesswoman and proto-feminist during the American Revolution *

Judith Sargent Murray Judith Sargent Stevens Murray (May 1, 1751 – June 9, 1820) was an early American advocate for women's rights, an essay writer, playwright, poet, and letter writer. She was one of the first American proponents of the idea of the equality of the ...

, women's rights advocate, essayist, playwright, and poet * Mary Kenney O'Sullivan, labor organizer *

Sarah Parker Remond Sarah Parker Remond (June 6, 1826 – December 13, 1894) was an American lecturer, activist and abolitionist campaigner. Born a free woman in the state of Massachusetts, she became an international activist for human rights and women's su ...

, African-American abolitionist * Susanna Rowson, playwright and actress * Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, African-American publisher, civil rights leader, and women's suffragist * Frances Slanger, the first American nurse in Europe to be killed in combat during World War II *

, suffragist and founder of the ''

'' * Anne Sullivan, teacher of

* Elizabeth Foster Vergoose, also known as

Mercy Otis Warren Mercy Otis Warren (September 25, 1728 – October 19, 1814) was an American activist poet, playwright, and pamphleteer during the American Revolution. During the years before the Revolution, she had published poems and plays that attacked royal ...

, political writer of the American Revolution *

, poet * Female dressmakers, milliners, and operators of Dress Reform Parlors * Female lecturers at the

Tremont Temple The Tremont Temple on 88 Tremont Street is a Baptist church in Boston, Massachusetts, affiliated with the American Baptist Churches, USA. The existing multi-storey, Renaissance Revival structure was designed by Boston architect Clarence Blackall ...

* Female organizers of the New England Holocaust Memorial * Female speakers at

, including Susette La Flesche and

Jamaica Plain

Women mentioned on the Jamaica Plain walk include: * Emily Greene Balch, economist, sociologist and pacifist; winner of the

* Ednah Dow Littlehale Cheney, writer, reformer, and philanthropist * Mary Emilda Curley, wife of

James Michael Curley James Michael Curley (November 20, 1874 – November 12, 1958) was an American Democratic politician from Boston, Massachusetts. He served four terms as mayor of Boston between 1914 and 1955. Curley ran for mayor in every election for which he ...

* Susan Walker Fitzgerald, the first female Democrat elected to the Massachusetts State Legislature *

, journalist, critic, and women's rights advocate associated with American

* Maud Cuney Hare, musician, musicologist, and civil rights activist *

, founder of the first English-language kindergarten in the U.S. *

Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet and author. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for '' The Colossus and Other Poems'' (1960), '' Ariel'' (1965), a ...

, poet *

, pioneering environmental chemist * Mary Joseph Rogers, founder of the Maryknoll Sisters * Pauline Agassiz Shaw, philanthropist and social reformer * Judith Winsor Smith, abolitionist and women's suffragist *

, suffragist and founder of the ''

'' * Marie Elizabeth Zakrzewska, physician and founder of the New England Hospital for Women and Children

Ladies Walk

The Ladies Walk celebrates the lives of First Lady

, suffragist

, and poet

. It starts at the Boston Women's Memorial on Commonwealth Avenue and ends at

Lower Roxbury

Women mentioned on the Lower Roxbury walk include: * Melnea Cass, civil rights activist * Mildred Daniels, community activist * Sisters residing at the local

Carmelite Monastery Carmelite Monastery (Sisters of Mercy Convent) is a historic monastery at 400 E. Carpenter Street in Stanton, Texas. It was built in 1882 and added to the National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) ...

* Students of Girls' High School

North End Walk

The North End walk begins at Faneuil Hall, passes through the North End, and ends at St. Leonard's Church, one of the first Italian churches in the U.S. It overlaps at several points with the

Freedom Trail The Freedom Trail is a path through Boston that passes by 16 locations significant to the history of the United States. It winds from Boston Common in downtown Boston, to the Old North Church in the North End and the Bunker Hill Monument i ...

. Women mentioned on this walk include: * Charlotte Cushman, actress * Goody Glover, the last person to be hanged in Boston as a witch * Fanny Goldstein, librarian and the founder of Jewish Book Week * Edith Guerrier, founder of the Saturday Evening Girls *

, founder of the Boston Seaman's Aid Society * Lina Frank Hecht, founder of the Hebrew Industrial School *

, an early female physician *

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy (July 22, 1890 – January 22, 1995) was an American philanthropist, socialite, and matriarch of the Kennedy family. She was deeply embedded in the "Lace curtain and shanty Irish, lace curtain" Irish-American c ...

, mother of John F. Kennedy * Clementina Poto Langone, Italian-American civic leader *

, women's rights advocate, essayist, playwright, and poet * Rachel Walker Revere, wife of

Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, military officer and industrialist who played a major role during the opening months of the American Revolutionary War in Massachusetts, ...

* Pauline Agassiz Shaw, founder of the North Bennet Street Industrial School * Helen Osborne Storrow, philanthropist *

Sophie Tucker Sophie Tucker (born Sofia Kalish; January 13, 1886 – February 9, 1966) was a Russian-born American singer, comedian, actress, and radio personality. Known for her powerful delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popula ...

, entertainer * Female fundraisers for St. Leonard's Church

Roxbury

Women mentioned on the Roxbury walk include: * Melnea Cass, civil rights activist * Jessie Gideon Garnett, the first African-American woman dentist in Boston * Ellen Swepson Jackson, educator and activist *

, arts educator and founder of the National Center of Afro-American Artists * Mary Eliza Mahoney, the first professionally trained African-American nurse * Lucy Miller Mitchell, daycare pioneer, co-founder of Head Start and

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

* Sarah-Ann Shaw, television reporter * Muriel S. Snowden, co-founder of

, recipient of

MacArthur Genius Grant The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...

* Maude Trotter Steward, newspaper editor * Geraldine Pindell Trotter, editor and activist

South End

The South End walk starts at Back Bay Station and ends at the

Boston Center for the Arts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...

. Women mentioned on the Sound End walk include: *

, author * Tina Allen, sculptor * Maria Louise Baldwin, African-American educator and civic leader *

Mary McLeod Bethune Mary McLeod Bethune (; July 10, 1875 – May 18, 1955) was an American educator, Philanthropy, philanthropist, Humanitarianism, humanitarian, Womanism, womanist, and civil rights activist. Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women in ...

, educator and school founder * Melnea Cass, civil rights activist * Hattie B. Cooper, leader of the Women's Home Missionary Society * Lucretia Crocker, science educator * Estella Crosby, co-founder of the Boston branch of the National Housewives League * Wilhelmina Marguerita Crosson, educator and early advocate of black history education * Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first African-American woman physician * Fern Cunningham, sculptor; created the first sculpture honoring a woman (

) in a Boston public space * Mildred Davenport, renowned African-American dancer and dance instructor *

, founder of the

* Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, artist, sculptor * Frieda Garcia, community activist * Anna Bobbit Gardner, the first African-American woman to be awarded a bachelor's degree from the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

, poet, essayist, and editor * Harriet Boyd Hawes, pioneering archaeologist *

Coretta Scott King Coretta Scott King ( Scott; April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006) was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader who was the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his assassination in 1968. As an advocate for African-Ameri ...

, civil rights activist and wife of

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

* Annie McKay, Boston's first school nurse * Cora Reid McKerrow, local businesswoman * Louise Chandler Moulton, author and critic * Mary Safford-Blake, the first woman gynecologist * Susie King Taylor, escaped slave, author, and the first African-American Army nurse *

, African-American abolitionist, women's suffragist, and Union spy who spent time in Boston ** Julia O. Henson, activist, donated the building for Harriet Tubman House in 1904 * Myrna Vázquez, renowned actress in Puerto Rico; South End community activist * Anna Quincy Waterston, author * E. Virginia Williams, founder of the

Boston Ballet The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. ...

* Mary Evans Wilson, founder of the Women's Service Club * Community activists Jeanette Hajjar, Helen Morton, and Paula Oyola * Members of the Boston Ladies' Auxiliary of the

Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Founded in 1925, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids (commonly referred to as the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, BSCP) was the first labor organization led by African Americans to receive a charter in the American Federation o ...

* Members of the Lebanese-Syrian Ladies' Aid Society * Students of the Boston Normal School and the New England Female Medical College * Residents of the Bethany Home for Young Women, St. Helena's House, and the Franklin Square House

West Roxbury

Women mentioned on the West Roxbury walk include: * Kathleen Coffey, first woman Chief Justice of West Roxbury District Court * Mary Draper, Revolutionary war activist *

, journalist, critic, and women's rights advocate associated with American

* Sophia Ripley, feminist associated with American

* Evelyn Shakir, Lebanese-American scholar and author * Marian Walsh, Massachusetts state senator * Local activists Alice Hennessey, Ellen McGill, and Pamela Seigle

References

External links

Official website of the Boston Women's Heritage Trail
{{Boston landmarks History of Boston Historic trails and roads in Massachusetts Urban heritage trails Tourist attractions in Boston History of women in Massachusetts 1989 establishments in Massachusetts Women in Boston

Walking tours

Artists

Back Bay East

Back Bay West

Beacon Hill

Charlestown

Chinatown/South Cove

Dorchester

Downtown

Jamaica Plain

Ladies Walk

Lower Roxbury

North End Walk

Roxbury

South End

West Roxbury

See also

References

External links