Heritage walk traces women through history

BOSTON -- The brownstone facade at 28 Commonwealth Avenue is indistinguishable from its neighbors. It shares the same smooth brick, the same ochre window frames, the same ritzy proximity to the Boston Common.

But a small plaque to the right of the doorway marks its modest place in history.

Behind those bricks once lived Amy Beach, the first American woman to compose a symphony and perform with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Around the corner, on Newbury Street, is the Leslie Lindsay Chapel, dedicated to a Boston woman who died while honeymooning aboard the doomed liner Lusitania, which was torpedoed by Germans in 1915.

City rich in history

Across the park, in a quiet corner of Beacon Hill, is another home, where author Louisa May Alcott lived when she was the same age as the sisters in her famous novel, "Little Women."

The 102 sites that make up the Boston Women's Heritage Trail are not all prominently marked. Some -- like the studio of 19th-century sculptor Edmonia Lewis on the site of the Suffolk University Law School -- do not exist anymore. Others, like the Boston Athenaeum or Quincy Market or the Granary Burying Ground, have long been in the tour books for contributions unrelated to their role in women's history.

By looking at the city's landmarks from a female perspective, however, the heritage tour illuminates the threads that women wove into the fabric of Boston's history, from the abolitionist movement to the arts to medicine to government protest.

"Boston has such a rich history of political involvement by women," says Dawn Reger of Brookline as she browses through the Boylston Street store run by the 125-year-old Women's Educational and Industrial Union. "This place has just a wonderful history."

The union, which is included on the Back Bay segment of the trail, was founded in 1877 to provide economic opportunities to women, helping them find jobs and a market for their craft work. Amelia Earhart was among those who came to the union for career advice.

Building on themes

The Boston Women's Heritage Trail was created in 1989, the brainstorm of a group of Boston Public School teachers, librarians, and students, according to the official guidebook.

They were inspired by Abigail Adams, who in a 1776 letter to her husband, John, cautioned him to "Remember the ladies."

The trail includes five different segments, which take walkers through Beacon Hill, Back Bay, the North End, Chinatown, and the downtown financial district.

The paths sometimes overlap with the more prominent Freedom Trail and the Black Heritage Trail.

Each of the five trails has a theme: "A Diversity of Cultures" in the North End, "Writers, Artists, and Activists" on Beacon Hill, "The Search for Equal Rights" in downtown, "Women's Action for Economic and Social Justice" in Chinatown, and "Educators, Artists, and Social Reformers" in the Back Bay. Each takes about 90 minutes to complete.