Join Jamaica Plain History Society on Zoom for a reading of the play Sophia Hayden Deserves Better by Stephanie Alison Walker. In 1891 a brilliant 23-year-old woman from Jamaica Plain won an architecture contest to design the Woman’s Building for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. What should have been the start to a flourishing career in architecture became career-ending. Throughout the two-year process of building The Woman’s Building, the architect quietly endured bullying, micromanaging…

The August Vigil in Support of Black Lives Matter will be held on Thursday evening, August 4 from 5:30 - 6:30 pm on the lawn of the First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain, 633 Centre St, JP. The Vigil in Support of Black Lives Matter in Jamaica Plain has taken place monthly on the first Thursday of the month since December 2015 because we recognize that systemic racism and injustice are woven into the fabric…

This neighborhood developed from 19th-century summer estates into a model suburban enclave. It contains examples representative of New England architecture with designs by local architects and builders. It also contains an unusual garden city model housing development by the Boston Dwelling House Company which was founded in 1912. Leaves from Bethel AME church steps, corner of Walk Hill and Wachusett Sts. Click here to see photographs for the Woodbourne tour. Please join Jamaica Plain Historical…

Date: August 7 Time: 4:00-5:30pm Venue: Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts, 24 Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain Like a rose with many petals, singer-songwriter Naomi Westwater’s music is layered, striking, and tender, as they weave in and out of Americana music, flirting with jazz, soul, folk, and electro-pop. A 2021 Boston Music Award nominee and leader of the Boston chapter of Beats By Girlz, Naomi brings their queer, Black, multi-racial roots to their music. This is…

Over the last two decades, JPNDC, Urban Edge and The Community Builders have developed hundreds of affordable homes in the Jackson Sq. neighborhood of Jamaica Plain. Part of this work includes the creation of a new Greenway and a new plaza that will improve the quality of life of thousands of residents across the city. Please join us on Thursday, August 11, at 6pm, for a follow-up community meeting for the Jackson Sq. Greenway. This is…

Once a district that only included the houses of Boston’s elite, the Pond later was put to industrial use as tons of ice were harvested there each winter. Learn about the movers and shakers such as Francis Parkman and James Michael Curley who made their homes on the Pond’s shores. Discover how the Pond was transformed from private estates and warehouses into the parkland we know today. Leaves from the Bandstand, Pond St. and Jamaicaway.…

Date: August 14 Time: 4:00-5:30pm Venue: Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts, 24 Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain Jazz pianist Miguel Landestoy is part of a generation of Boston musicians whose aim is to strengthen the interconnectivity of music to the community. He is a music educator, arts administrator, and band leader. This is part of the Eliot Schoolyard Concert Series, 15 live events, Sundays at 4pm, June through September at the Eliot Schoolyard.

Tour a residential area that includes a National Historic District. View architecture that spans three centuries; the oldest community theater company in the United States; and an elegant 18th-century mansion that once served as the country’s first military hospital. Learn about the monument that commemorates fallen Civil War soldiers from West Roxbury and about Pauline Agassiz Shaw who established the class that became the model for free, public kindergarten education. We will visit a house…

Date: August 21 Time: 4:00-5:30pm Venue: Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts, 24 Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain Guitarist Phil Sargent joins pianist Brian Friedland for jazz improvisation with a “boundary-pushing,” “modernist” bent. Jazz Review says, "Sargent’s musicality is asymmetrical parts beauty and power. He also incorporates melodic hooks into the mix, where superior technique, cunning interactions, memorable song-forms and seething solo jaunts attain a near-flawless symmetrical presence.” Friedland's music has been described as "inspirationally crafted,…

Close out the summer with a beautiful night of music and dancing! Guitarist and vocalist Willie J. Laws and pianist Bruce Mattson bring a unique blend of funk, blues, and jazz to Minton Stable Garden in JP on Thursday, August 25 from 5-7PM. Local beer and wine will also be available for purchase. This is a family event, and kids are free! Tickets & more info at https://thetrustees.org/event/78782/. Walk-ins also welcome. BYO chairs, blankets, picnics,…