Community Corner
The Historic Women of Beacon Hill
A walking tour notes women who've contributed to the rich cultural history of Beacon Hill.
Many prominent women in American history have lived on Beacon Hill, but, until recently, you may not have known it. These women didn't receive their due recognition until a little over 20 years ago, thanks to Boston Women's Heritage Trail.
The Boston Women's Heritage Trail (BWHT) is a nonprofit organization that has made it its mission to bring out of obscurity some of the critical players of Boston's history, as well as of the abolitionist movement, who are often overlooked because of their gender.
The BWHT organizers, along with the Boston Women's Commission, worked to ensure that women were represented on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall by installing three statues of noteable women among the many prominent men sculptors have immortalized.
Over the years, the BWHT developed seven walking tours in six Boston neighborhoods that showcase landmarks and sites where women lived, worked and made history. The Beacon Hill trail is composed of 18 stops and takes about an hour and half to walk.
The Beacon Hill tour brings visitors to the doorsteps of such iconic American figures as Louisa Mae Alcott, author of Little Women; Julia Ward Howe, prominent abolitionist and author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"; Lucy Stone, civil rights advocate and the first woman in Massachusetts to earn a college degree; and Anne Hutchinson, a Puritan dissident who organized controversial Bible studies.
