Two new tours in Atlascope created by our Spring 2025 interns show how histories of education and music left traces in the built environment.
In Azalea Thompson's tour, you'll learn about the histories of inclusion and exclusion in the Boston Public School system. This tour passes through some of Boston's educational landmarks, including the African Meeting House, schools for deaf and blind students, and institutions for "truant" boys. The six decades of urban atlases included in this tour, as Azalea notes, "reflect how social and political currents manifested themselves within the city’s schools."
In Brenda Zhang's tour of Boston's entertainment landscape in the early twentieth century, you'll follow the footsteps of Duke Ellington as he played shows at clubs, cafes, and Boston ballrooms. The tour traces a geography of music through performers and institutions, including many venues which have been replaced or torn down. Together, these people and places cemented Boston as an important hub in the jazz scene.
Finally, Kate Lautenbach's tour of queer literary figures in the greater Boston area provides an intimate glimpse into the lives of queer authors and writers between 1850 and 1950. From Oscar Wilde's love triangles to the dramatic (and homophobic) closure of Harvard's geography department, take this tour to learn more about queer spaces in historic Boston and neighboring towns.
Expanding Inclusion in Boston Schools
Created by Azalea Thompson
Through the eyes of Duke Ellington: Boston’s Entertainment Landscape from the 1920s to the 1940s
Created by Brenda Zhang
Queering Historical Literary Boston
Created by Kate Lautenbach
Our articles are always free
You’ll never hit a paywall or be asked to subscribe to read our free articles. No matter who you are, our articles are free to read—in class, at home, on the train, or wherever you like. In fact, you can even reuse them under a Creative Commons CC BY-ND 2.0 license.