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Lower Roxbury

Geography

The area that is now Lower Roxbury used to be marsh land and salt flats of the Back Bay and South Bay. It was created as a part of the massive filling project in the 19th century that created the neighborhood of Back Bay.

Lower Roxbury is typically defined as the area within the four major streets: Tremont St, Massachusetts Ave., Harrison Ave., and Melnea Cass Blvd. It is located where two of the City of Boston's recognized neighborhoods meet: the South End and Roxbury and encompasses the zip codes 02119 and 02120. The center of the area contains the large green space called Ramsey Park. It remains predominantly residential with some commercial space as well.

History

Founded in 1639, Lower Roxbury was the home of the ethnic working class. It was not until 1868, nearly 200 years later, that it was annexed to Boston. While it was politically and geographically isolated from Boston, at the time of the annexation Roxbury was the primary industrial area of the city. The upperclass society of Boston resided in the Highlands while the working class ethnic society consisting of Irish, German, Europeans, Jews and African Americans inhabiting Lower Roxbury.

Lower Roxbury was once the name of the thriving area from Dudley Street to Tremont Street with bustling businesses up and down Ruggles Street. Around 1965, one side of Ruggles Street was small shops and the other side was decorated with tenement style and single family housing. At the corner of Douglas Square and Tremont Street was one notable shop called People's Market; the first supermarket in Boston located in a black area.

In 1986, Lower Roxbury was included in the ten districts that attempted to secede from the city of Boston and become a separate city. The Greater Roxbury Incorporation Project sought to create a 12.5 square-mile city that included the entirety of Roxbury and Mattapan as well as portions of Dorchester, Jamaica Plan, Fenway, Columbia Point and the South End that was to be called "Mandela" after Nelson Mandela. In 1988, a referendum was defeated that would have examined the feasibility of reincorporation because the organizers of the movement believed that the area would flourish if they could create their own government that would not discriminate against minorities.

Economy

Demographics

From 1870-1900, Lower Roxbury was home to many lower-middle class residents, including employees of the local mills. As people began moving to the area houses were built to accommodate them on only 3 square miles of land that was on Boston's periphery. The limited space became problematic when the population nearly tripled from 22,000 in 1870 to around 65,000 in the last decade of the century. To save space, residents built up instead of out, utilizing three-deckers and two-families homes that were either owned by a family living in them or a landlord in the neighborhood.

Due to the urban renewal policies of the mid-20th century, Lower Roxbury experienced a sharp increase in subsidized public housing, causing a high concentration of poverty and economic disparity. As of 2012, Lower Roxbury had one of the highest concentrations of Extremely Low Income Families in the country. The community has greater than five times the incidence of assault than the city of Boston and an overall disproportionate amount of violence.

Government

Because Lower Roxbury is considered a part of the Roxbury neighborhood, it does not have its own local government. Lower Roxbury is governed by Boston city government and Massachusetts state government. Lower Roxbury is in the 7th district for the United States House of Representatives and is represented by Michael E. Capuano . Lower Roxbury is represented by Councillor Tito Jackson in the Boston City Council and by Gloria Fox in the Massachusetts state legistlature for the 7th Suffolk district.

Culture

The prominent churches for black residents during the ‘30s in Lower Roxbury were Zion, Ebenezer and the Charles Baptist Church, which once resided on Shawmut Avenue. During 1938 some African American’s who stood out in the Lower Roxbury community were Dr. Benjamin Mays, Charlotte Hawkins Brown, Mary Church Terrell and Mary McLeod Bethune who spoke at different churches. During 1939, the Great Depression, blacks in the Lower Roxbury community had a strong tie to one another. The community was close together and there was a decrease in break ins. Eventually people began to leave their houses open due to the sense of community in Roxbury.

In 1975 Lower Roxbury had hit one of its lowest points. Arson fires were frequent and the city of Boston was not providing adequate services to garbage removal, road control and street repairs. Popular businesses on Tremont Street and in Lower Roxbury were Estelle’s, Shag Taylor’s pharmacy and Butler’s Hall. Butler’s Hall was a gathering place for blacks to attend social affairs.

Community initiatives and programs have always been prevalent in Lower Roxbury—one of which being community gardens. In 2012, the South End and Lower Roxbury Open Space Land Trust (SELROST) became a part of the Boston Natural Areas Network (BNAN). Currently, SELROST consist of 16 community gardens and pocket parks in the South End and Lower Roxbury neighborhoods, serving over 32,000 residents and spanning nearly 4 acres of land. Notable community gardens in Lower Roxbury include Elgeston Common, Frederick Douglass Peace Garden, Lenox/Kendall Sts. CG, Madison Park Village CG, Tobin Community Center Garden, and United Neighbors CG.

On the corner of Hammond St. and Tremont St. you will find the “Frederick Douglass” mural presented by the Mayor’s Mural Crew. Fredrick Douglas, an African-American leader of the abolitionist movement, was one of the most important social reformers of the 19th century, he is quoted on this mural saying, “Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist…”

In June of 2013, the United Neighbors of Lower Roxbury group was awarded a $200,000 to build a new community center on the Brownfields site.

Notable People

Reverend Chauncy Moore, an African American immigrant from Saint Ann's Jamaica, came to Lower Roxbury during World War II. Moore resided in Boston during a time when blacks were living in the North End prior to becoming the hometown for several Italians. As a child Moore lived on Green Ridge Park and attended The Dwight School on Hammond Street and later attended Old English High School in the early '40s. Due to the underground railroad, most blacks ended up staying in the North End where their journey generally finished. Moore's great aunt, Adelaide Brown, was a temperance in the GAR of Boston and resided in the South End.

Paula D. Firmin Coar-Gueye, born February 9th, 1951, is a resident of Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Her mother, Elaine Firman, is a first generation American whose parents immigrated from Antigua through Ellis Island and later moved to Boston in the late 1800s. Paula's father was born on July 17th, 1911. His family resided in New Orleans for a number of generations, and possibly originated from Haiti. Her parents met through Elaine's brother, who came to Boston in the early 1940's.

As a child, Paula spent time in the projects of Boston, the Mission and Cathedral Projects. She recalls that there was a community feel to Roxbury at the time. Another longtime resident of Roxbury, Lillian Corbin, also felt the sense of community through the years. She spoke of how nobody would lock their front doors during the day, and people could leave their windows wide open for air circulation without worrying about people breaking in. According to Corbin, everybody knew each other and visitors would walk into your house without question. Corbin also comments on the loss of this community feel over the years.

Paula was interviewed by Northeastern University's Lower Roxbury Black History Project in 2008.

Previous Roxbury resident, [Adelaide Cromwell], studied the sociological issues surrounding the area, which included poverty and education.

Dr. Arthur Mayo who currently resides in Richmond, California lived most of his life in the Lenox Projects, Roxbury. Born in 1936 on Holyoke Street near Southend, both his parents' parents moved to the Boston area in the 1890's. According to Dr. Mayo, the projects were very homogenous and it was a privilege to live there when it was first established. In an interview with Northeastern University he delves into the importance of the 12th Baptist Church and its influence under the leadership of Reverend Michael Haynes on the young leaders of tomorrow. As it was difficult for the black community to obtain a job in fields other than manual labor, Dr. Mayo eventually moved out of the region.

Margaret Lowell (née Reed Jones) is a longtime resident of Roxbury, Massachusett.

Cecil Guscott is a lifelong resident and small business owner of Roxbury, Massachusetts.