At UMass Boston we are lucky to have a waterfront campus. Thanks to the work of the Friends of the Boston Harborwalk (FBHW) visitors and community members can walk along the shoreline from East Boston to South Boston, and enjoy interpretive signage orienting them to the past and present along this coast. They have undertaken a multi-year effort to add engaging, inclusive, and stylistically consistent interpretive signs along Boston’s 43-mile Harborwalk.
While the Harborwalk physically connects people to resources such as parks, museums, beaches and commercial establishments along the shoreline, it also connects visitors to the histories represented by sites along the walk. The Friends of the Boston Harborwalk signage team works with property owners and all stakeholders to develop content for engaging and inclusive interpretive signs along the Harborwalk.
In spring 2024, public history students in HIST 625 “Interpreting History in Public: Approaches to Public History Practice” collaborated with FBHW to create a Masterplan for the Dorchester sections of the Harborwalk, proposing site-specific interpretive signs that interpret the social, environmental, cultural and economic histories (and present) visible or once visible along the shoreline. Based on research in primary and secondary sources, conversations with stakeholders from our partnering organizations, and most importantly, members of the Dorchester communities who live, work, and play along the shoreline students identified rich stories, visual resources and sites for interpretation along the waterfront from the South Boston-Dorchester line just south of Moakley Park to, and including, Dorchester Bay Basin Bay.
Our historical research and interpretation spanned the years from pre-contact through the 21st century. Our site-based historical research raised questions about the connections between local, regional, and national histories. We considered questions about whose histories matter and to whom. How were specific places meaningful or significant to local communities and the city of Boston in the past, and today? What meanings have different people ascribed to this place? Our exploration of the historical geography and uses of this landscape (and seascape) required us to consider the social, environmental, economic and cultural histories of a wide range of people. The consequences of this history shape the priorities and policies of today, especially as we face the perils of climate change and the impact of development on land, water, public health, and communities.
This project culminated in a public presentation of the Master Plan to FBHW and community members, on May 7, 2024. Since then, the FBHW has used the Master Plan to assist in creating the sign content and work with property owners for design, manufacture, and installation. Boston Harborwalk signage so far can be viewed here, but come back later to explore the Dorchester harbor walk signs!
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