Great Women of Boston
On March 18, 1990, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was robbed by two men dressed in police uniforms. The stolen works of art included several paintings by Rembrandt and Degas valued over $300M. If you have information as to the whereabouts of these paintings, please contact the FBI.
From the 17th century to present day, women's contributions to Boston did not always garner the attention they might deserve. On this walking tour, you will learn who they were and what they achieved against the backdrop of the Boston's downtown historic sites from the arrival of Anne Pollard in 1630 through the 20th century.
“I long to hear that you have declared an
independency. And, by the way, in the new code of
laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you
to make, I desire you would remember the ladies
and be more generous and favorable to them than
your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power
into the hands of the husbands.”
Abigail Adams to John Adams
March 31, 1776
Abolitionist, poet, and Beacon Hill resident Julia Ward Howe, most famous for writing The Battle Hymn of the Republic, was considered the “Queen of Boston” because she was born three days before Queen Victoria. She also introduced the idea of a Mother's Day following the Civil War.
Lucy Stone, the first Massachusetts woman to receive a college degree, became a leader of the suffrage movement and lent her name to women who kept their maiden names after marriage.
The first issue of Woman's Journal was first published on January 8, 1870 by Lucy Stone & Henry Blackwell. Later editors included Julia Ward Howe and Alice Stone Blackwell.
Sarah Josepha Hale was the real force behind the completion of the Bunker Hill Monument and the first to publish Mary Had a Little Lamb.
This is just the beginning -- learn about these and the dozens of other women such as Susan Dimrock, Marie Zakrzewska, Fannie Farmer, Elizabeth Cary Agassiz, Isabella Stewart Gardner, Esther Forbes, Mary Porter Hemenway, and Abigail Adams. Their contributions in medicine, nutrition, education, art, literature, philanthropy, and women's rights helped make Boston and America what it is today.
