Dorchester Historical Society on the evolving identity of Massachusetts’ most diverse neighborhood

By Danielle Buote

Most of us remember taking Ancient History, World History, and American History courses in secondary school. But, can you recall your teacher devoting a single unit, nevermind an entire year, to studying your own neighborhood? The answer is likely “no”.

Though the education system may lack the necessary exposure to local history, the Dorchester Historical Society serves as an excellent resource for anyone curious about the community’s past.

Located at 195 Boston Street, the Historical Society headquarters occupies the 19th-century William Clapp House. Neighbors may pass the beige, two-story Federal-style structure without a second glance. Yet, once through the doorway, the house offers a peek back in time: a red velvet staircase stretches up to an unlit second floor, oil paintings line intricately patterned wallpaper, and hardwood floors creek from the wear and tear of untold footsteps. Much like Dorchester itself, the building is dense with historical value.

Sitting in what once was the Clapp family’s parlor, Earl Taylor, president of the Dorchester Historical Society, discusses with the Dorchester Post the neighborhood’s past and the importance of familiarizing yourself with your own community´s history.

Though settled in 1630, Taylor explains that Dorchester was essentially an English-only community until the mid-19th century, “In 1840 there were almost no other ethnicities, very few people born in Ireland, for instance. But in 1850, all of a sudden over 10% of the population was Irish-born.” Taylor goes on to list influxes of different ethnic groups during the 1900’s including “Jewish people populating Blue Hill Avenue, mostly in Roxbury, Dorchester and all the way down to Mattapan… We had the big Vietnamese arrival during and after the Vietnam war, and then the main U.S. born African Americans came probably starting in the 50’s and then burgeoned after the urban renewal group encouraged financing in certain areas. So it’s been a huge cauldron, if you will.”

Taylor, a Dorchester resident since 1979 with a Master’s Degree in Library Science, says that when he first became president in 2001, one year after joining the Society’s board, he “decided that it would be important to get some greater recognition of the Society. We really didn’t have social media back then, but we did have email.” At that time, Taylor began what was for five years the “email of the day”, now a weekly publication. “That gained a lot of interest and then, of course, the stories started pouring in,” Taylor says. “The really good thing about the email was that we would get a lot of reactions and stories that would not have been heard otherwise.” While the Society maintains some engagement with the Dorchester community, a look into the neighborhood’s own history stands analogous to some challenges within the Society.

“I think we attract an older audience”

Today, Dorchester stands as perhaps the most diverse neighborhood in New England… Still, Taylor exhibits a frustration with the Society’s efforts to bridge the community’s history to its current residents.

The Society holds house tours, offers various events each month that often feature guest speakers, and welcomes elementary school groups from around Dorchester. Taylor explains that in an attempt to garner interest from various audiences, the Society also hosts occasional trivia nights at the Dorchester Brewing Company on Massachusetts Avenue. Despite these endeavors, the Historical Society faces a disconnect with Dorchester’s present primary population: young people ages 18 to 34, with diverse ethnicities, cultures, sexual orientations, and economic statuses.

“I think we attract an older audience,” Taylor says.

“In my own life and a lot of people’s lives it seems they have time later as opposed to earlier in life and they see more value in family or place connections.”

Taylor references challenges the Historical Society has encourtered while incorporating ethnic diversity, “We continually try to broaden our board but the people we know are the people we know… So for instance, we have two African American members of the board but I think they are more in my circles than they are in some of the other circles that we want to reach. Similarly, this year we are adding a Vietnamese member of the board and it remains to be seen whether that will establish a kind of connection. We really want to attempt diversity and inclusion but we aren’t quite sure how to get there.”

Many have tried to define the reason we study history, both in the classroom and at a professional level. Nevertheless, there is little denying that American society expects education to provide an immediate purpose, a quick and tangible return, and therefore shapes a marketplace that glosses over humanities studies with a passive if not arrogant attitude. But in a neighborhood like Dorchester, understanding the history of one’s community is crucial.

The historical analysis builds an identity. It constructs self-awareness contextualized by the stories of other people, places, and time periods. Without such records, we would be left to handle life with only our immediate environment and lived experience. Learning about Dorchester’s evolution from the first half of its history as an almost solely English settlement to its current status as a melting pot of family histories could create a necessary unity.

After describing a recent anecdote about a Dorchester neighbor who spontaneously joined in on a walking tour, Taylor explains, “there is an interest and I think everybody would like to know what was there before, it brings us closer together.”

While an email chain may no longer suffice in streamlining residents’ curiosity to the Society’s resources, the organization has a lot of potential to get more people involved. Taylor encourages Dorchester residents to even begin with visiting the Society in person as a family outing or photography excursion. “Often you’ll never get a full picture of what it was like,” Taylor says, “but you can get a better picture by seeing the actual artifacts as opposed to seeing photos online that are sort of disjointed…. Here it feels a little different.”