WALK FOR JUSTICE
A Self-guided Walking Tour (2.6 miles; 90 minutes)
Created by Rosie’s Place (www.rosiesplace.org), in honor of its 40th anniversary,
and by the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission (www.massa2j.org).
1. Back Bay Station Statue of A. Philip Randolph
Tina Allen’s statue of A. Philip Randolph honors the
labor and civil rights activist who founded the first
predominantly black labor union, the Brotherhood of
Sleeping Car Porters, in 1925. In 1941, Randolph was
instrumental in persuading President Franklin Roosevelt
to sign an Executive Order banning race discrimination in
the defense industry.
2. 45-47 Mt. Vernon Street Early home of Portia Law School
Dubbed the Portia Law School in honor of Shakespeare’s
lawyer heroine, the first all-women’s law school in the
nation was founded in 1908. In 1921, Portia, then enrolling
several hundred women each year, moved to this location.
Many Portia students were the children and grandchildren
of immigrants. Portia began admitting men in 1938 and
was later renamed New England Law/ Boston.
3. Corner of Mt. Vernon & Hancock Streets
Scene from The Verdict
This corner served as one of the locations for Sidney
Lumet’s powerful courtroom drama, The Verdict. Starring
Paul Newman and James Mason, the 1982 film, scripted by
David Mamet, was nominated for five Academy Awards.
4. 46 Joy Street Abiel Smith School
In 1848, the Boston school committee required Sarah
Roberts, a black child, to attend the all-black Abiel Smith
School. Robert Morris, a black attorney, and Charles
Sumner, a white abolitionist, jointly challenged Sarah’s
school assignment. Although the Massachusetts Supreme
Judicial Court upheld the school committee’s decision, the
state legislature overturned this ruling in 1855. Decades
later, in Plessy v. Ferguson, the United States Supreme
Court cited the Roberts case to support the odious doctrine
of “separate but equal.”
5. 150 Staniford Street Birthplace of Jennie Loitman Barron
Jennie Loitman Barron, the first full-time female judge
in Massachusetts, was born in Boston’s West End in 1891.
She campaigned for women’s suffrage and for women to
serve on juries. After serving on the District Court and
the Boston Municipal Court, Barron became, in 1959,
the first woman to serve as an Associate Justice of the
Massachusetts Superior Court.
6. One Pemberton Square MA Supreme Judicial Court
In 2003, the Supreme Judicial Court issued its historic
opinion in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health
holding that the Massachusetts state constitution granted
same-sex couples the right to marry. The Massachusetts
Constitution of 1780 is the oldest written constitution
in continuous effect. Its primary drafter was John
Adams, a great lawyer and patriot who later served as
the nation’s first vice president and second president. In
1783, the Supreme Judicial Court concluded that slavery
was incompatible with the rights granted by its new
constitution.
7. 39 Court Street Founding of Boston Legal Aid Society
At this address in 1900, a group of Boston attorneys in
private practice founded the Boston Legal Aid Society,
dedicated to meeting the civil legal needs of the poor. Its
first counsel, Reginald Heber Smith, is credited with the
invention of the timesheet and billable hour, using thenfashionable scientific business management techniques
developed by Smith and associates at Harvard Business
School.
8. Boston Massacre Site Next to the Old State House
On March 5, 1770, a mob of Bostonians, angered by the
presence of British troops, threw ice and other objects
at British soldiers, who ultimately fired into the crowd,
killing five colonists. The British captain and eight soldiers
were charged with murder. Patriot John Adams agreed
to defend the accused to ensure their right to a fair trial.
Jurors found two soldiers guilty of manslaughter and
acquitted the others. Adams later described his unpopular
act as “one of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my
country.”
9. 60 State Street Offices of Hale and Dorr
The most dramatic moment of the 1954 Army-McCarthy
hearings occurred when Hale and Dorr attorney Joseph
Welch responded to Senator Joseph McCarthy’s televised
accusation that Welch’s junior colleague had been a
member of the National Lawyers Guild, a group McCarthy
claimed was a “communist front.” Welch asked McCarthy,
“Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you
left no sense of decency?”
10. Corner of Water & Congress Streets
Site of The Liberator newspaper
William Lloyd Garrison founded his anti-slavery
newspaper The Liberator here in 1831. The Liberator’s
relentless attacks on slavery eventually persuaded many
northerners to join the anti-slavery movement. Garrison
also supported equal civil and political rights for blacks and
women. Garrison published The Liberator weekly until
December 1865 when the Thirteenth Amendment to the
United States Constitution was ratified.
Other Sites of Interest:
• Statue of William Lloyd Garrison, Commonwealth Mall
• African Meeting House, 46 Joy Street
• Old South Meeting House, 310 Washington Street (where
the Boston Tea Party was organized)
• Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts 54th Regiment
Memorial, across from the State House
• Rosie’s Place, first shelter for homeless women in the
United States, 889 Harrison Avenue, South End
Map on Reverse
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8. Boston Massacre Site
3. Corner of Mt. Vernon &
Hancock Streets
5. 150 Staniford Street
10. Corner of Water & Congress
Streets
9. 60 State Street
7. 39 Court Street
2. 45-47 Mt. Vernon Street
4. 46 Joy Street
6. One Pemberton Square
A Self-guided Walking Tour (2.6 miles; 90 minutes)
WALK FOR JUSTICE
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1. Back Bay Station
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