Beacon Hill

At the dawn of the 19th century, descendants of the original Puritan settlers of Boston began to adopt a more enlightened, cosmopolitan, and progressive set of social and political mores. Taking their name from the elite upper caste of India, the "brahmins" of Boston presided over several decades of economic and social upheaval, which saw the birth of Unitarianism and the rise of fervent Abolitionism leading, eventually, to the Civil War. We'll look at how this group of Bostonians redefined their city and set the tone for rest of America during this period.

We will begin just down slope at the Old South Meeting House, one of the oldest churches in Boston and the place where the Boston Tea Party was planned. Here we'll get our bearings with a brief overview of some of the social and political developments in Boston at the turn of the century (the turn of the 19th, that is). During our walk, one theme we'll address is how the Brahmin classes began to look outward, beyond Boston, to the world at large.

Our walk will take us into the heart of Beacon Hill, where we'll discuss the architectural and urban planning context of this beguiling neighborhood, and visit such key landmarks as the Boston Common.