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N1:
North End Union
20 Parmenter Street
 Helping
to meet the needs of Irish, Jewish, and Italian immigrant families was the goal
of the North End Union which was founded in 1892. It is still an important community
center. In 1976, North End women made the Bicentennial quilt now on display
in Hubbard Hall to celebrate the history of their neighborhood. Boston's first
public playground, a sand garden, was started by a committee of philanthropic
women in the yard of the Chapel that occupied the site in 1886 (see plaque).
"Playing in the dirt is the royalty of childhood," said committee
member Kate Gannett Wells (1838-1911). Mothers supervised children at first;
later, employed kindergarten teachers read to the children and taught them crafts
and led them in marching and singing. Across the street is the North End Branch
of the Boston Public Library, built on the site of the Charlotte Cushman School
(named for the renowned 19th-century actress who was born in a house on that
site in 1816 (see N7)). Inside is a diorama of the Ducal Palace in Venice made
by artist Louise Stimson (1890-1981) in 1949 (see BB9).
| "Playing
in the dirt is the royalty of children." --
Kate Gannett Wells |
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N2:
Poto Family Grocery Store
33 North Square |
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 The
former home and grocery store of the family of Clementine Poto Langone (1898-1964)
is now a coffee shop. As a child, she helped pack Italian food products to send
west to Italian immigrants working on the transcontinental railroads. The grocery
store was on the first floor with living quarters upstairs. When Clementine
married Joseph Langone, Jr. in 1920, she moved next door to 190 North Street.
In the 1930s, after her husband was elected to public office, she helped many
Italian immigrants become citizens so they could be eligible for social security
benefits and provided food and clothing to Italian people out of work. She was
an active member of the North End Union. |
N3: Home of Rachael and Paul Revere
19 North Square
 When
she became Rachel Walker Revere (1745-1813) by marrying the recently-widowed
Paul Revere in 1773, Rachel took on the care of the six surviving children born
to Paul's first wife, Sarah Orne Revere (1736-1773), who died four months after
her eighth child was born. Rachel had eight more children, three of whom did
not reach maturity. Large families and a high infant mortality rate were common
during colonial times. In 1775, Rachel held the family and business together
when the British did not allow Revere to return to Boston after his famous ride.
She eventually joined him in Watertown until they returned to their home after
the British evacuated Boston on March 17, 1776. Across the street is Rachel
Revere Park, first dedicated in 1946 and restored at the time of the Bicentennial
in July 1976. |
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