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Church of the Covenant and the Women's Lunch Place 67 Newbury Street The Church of the Covenant has supported women since they were given the right to vote in all church matters in 1885. Member Abbie Child was the head of the Women's Board of Missions of the Congregational Church in the late 19th century. Member Dr. Elsa Meder was one of the first women ordained to the office of elder in the Presbyterian Church in New England. Elizabeth Rice and Alice Hageman, who were ordained in 1974 and 1975, were the first women to serve as pastors at a Back Bay church. When they were joined by Donna Day Lower, the church became the only one in the United States with three women clergy. The church sanctuary is noted for its Tiffany stained glass windows, including "Four Women of the Bible," portraying Miriam, Deborah, Mary of Bethany, and Dorcas. Since 1982, when Jane Alexander and Eileen Riley opened the Women's Lunch Place, the church has served as a haven for poor women and their children. |
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BB20: Home of Margaret Deland 35 Newbury Street Margaret Deland (1857-1945), a turn-of-the-century novelist and social reformer, lived in this house where she welcomed spring with flower boxes of daffodils. Her 25 works of fiction were set both in historical and modern times and dealt with making ethical decisions in different settings. Although she considered herself a "new woman," determined to preserve her own freedom of action, she did not support woman suffrage. Her charity was personal; she took young unwed mothers into her home until they could become self-supporting, believing that their love for their babies would provide an incentive. |
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BB21: American Academy of Arts and Sciences 28 Newbury Street  Although
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences has not occupied this building since
1955 and now is located in Cambridge, its roots are in Boston. Founded during
the American Revolution to promote the arts and sciences, it was open only to
men until 1943. The exception was astronomer Maria Mitchell (1818-1889), who
was elected to the academy in 1848 and for a century held that exclusive position
in history. Soon after women were granted suffrage, the academy reconsidered
its policy of electing only men to its membership. Even though a survey showed
147 members in favor and only 72 opposed, the academy did not elect women until
1943 when it admitted four women including another astronomer, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
of Harvard. In 1976 Elma Lewis, the founder of the National Center of Afro-American
Artists in Roxbury, was elected to membership (see BB28). Currently about twenty
percent of the academy's new members each year are women. Maria Mitchell was
a favorite of 19th-century Boston women, and her annual visit to speak at the
New England Women's Club was much celebrated. She grew up on Nantucket, where
she learned celestial navigation from her father. In 1847 her discovery of a
comet brought her fame and induction into the academy. Mitchell was a strong
proponent of women's rights and helped found the Association for the Advancement
of Women. She said, "The eye that directs a needle in the delicate meshes of
embroidery will equally well bisect a star with the spider web of the micrometer."
She also observed that, "Until women throw off reverence for authority, they
will not develop. When they do this...the truth which they get will be theirs
and their minds will go on and on, unfettered." Mitchell became Vassar College's
first woman science professor and director of their observatory. Her observatory
and birthplace are maintained by the Maria Mitchell Science Center on Nantucket.
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