FUP| First-Year Urban Program

home| about us FUPpies| FUP 2004 reading packet meet the leaders work sites photos faq links contact info leaders| leader info work that city how to apply application

work that city: boston common previous|next home | back bay | beacon hill | boston common | chinatown | downtown boston | fenway | north end | roxbury | south end | south boston | cambridge | other places History: The first Bostonian, Blaxton, sold his home to Boston; his land was preserved as land set aside by the early colonists for cattle grazing and military exercises. The Common has evolved from a site of public hangings to a haven for running-amok children and their pop-music-hungry parents (at summer concerts). Even the Pope John Paul II and 100,000 of his devotees visited the Commons in 1979. Other yearly events include Boston's Gay Pride Festival as well as the Hemp Festival. Common as athletic venue: The proud site of the first (ever) football game (find the Football Tablet, between Beacon St. Mall and Telegraph Hill), the Common also has a more sordid history. In colonial days before 1774, the Common hosted the annual Pope's Day rivalry between the North and South Ends. Teams from both neighborhoods competed to steal a figure of the Pope from the other team (basically, a rousing game of "Capture the Pope"). If the South End won, the figure was burned on the Common, along with the Devil, in effigy; the North End used Copp's Hill. Only recently (in the last hundred years) did Boston acquire its Irish and Catholic reputation. Sites that you (maybe) cannot identify: Rising above Flagstaff Hill in the center of the Common is the Soldier's Monument to Civil War veterans. Brewer's Fountain, the thing near the Park Street Subway entrance, is a replica of the Parisian Fountain of the Paris Expo of 1855. Of course, do not forget to visit the bas-relief monument to the fightin' 54th (featured in Glory) and Robert Gould Shaw; the monument is located just across from the State House. Note that, initially, only the white leaders were recognized explicitly; only much later were the black soldiers mentioned. During final scene of the movie, the 54th assaults Fort Wagner, South Carolina. Sgt. William Carney earned the first Congressional Medal of Honor awarded to a Black American. Try touching the sword, it might move. The State House itself is notable for the "Sacred Cod" (the legislature saying, "yay, fishing industry!") and the gilded acorn on the top of the dome. Places FUPpies might actually go someday -Frog Pond, in the middle of Boston Common, operates as a wading pool in the summer and an ice-skating rink during the winter. The new Loews theaters between the Common and Chinatown show awful movies for $10 a pop, and they don't have the do-it-yourself candy bar. They do have stadium seating, though, and flowers in the women's bathrooms. -Public Gardens: The Public Gardens are famous for tulips in the spring and flowering Japanese pagoda trees in the summer. The most notable (and fun) feature of the Gardens are the Swan boats. The same family that invented the swan boats (swimming since 1877) still operates them. The idea for this strange ride came from the opera Lohengrin, in which the hero rescues his love in a boat pulled by swans. The feature that every Fodor's-toting tourist remembers are the 8 bronze ducklings near the corner of Beacon and Charles. The metallic mallards are characters in Make Way For Ducklings, a children's classic by McCloskey about Mr. And Mrs. Mallard's journey though Boston in search of a new home for Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack. The 8 ducklings have entered the hearts of all true Bostonians (according to the guides) and have definitely entered the hearts of all true Boston tourists. Except Eleanor Benko, of course, who referred to the story on the FUP 2001 tour as "Don't Stop For Ducklings." Statues, or "Who is that stone guy?" -E.E. Hale: Author of Man Without a Country, which recounts the tale of a man who renounced his U.S. citizenship and was rejected from U.S. soil and restrained from returning, so he was forced to retire to a reclusive life aboard U.S. sailing vessels. He was never allowed to touch land, but was passed from boat to boat for decades. -Charles Sumner: Sumner, a Massachusetts congressman, was beaten up by a Southern senator in Congress during an argument over the expansion of slavery into the territories. Even while incapacitated, he was reelected. His seat in Congress was left empty for 3 years as a symbol. It is interesting how many monuments Boston has celebrating race relations despite its (many) notorious racial incidents. -G. Washington on his horse: the sword was broken so many times that it is fiberglass now. -Irishman Col. Cass: Cass led an all-Irish regiment in the Civil War; a sequel to Glory? -Ether Monument: A celebration of painless surgery (pioneered at Harvard Med School). Sights on the border: Hide the FUPpies' eyes from the nearby and unclean sites of the Ritz-Carlton and the Four Seasons. Former FUP leader (and soon-to-be Harvard Medical School student) Greg Feldman convinced his FUPpies that the Ritz-Carlton operates a homeless shelter out of its basement. It does not. The Bull and Finch Pub (Cheers) is on 84 Beacon and does not resemble Cheers on the inside. It is doubtful that Norm could afford a beer and burger at this Cheers. Likewise, many businesses on nearby Charles St stand well out of price range for many (though they may make excellent meals with your rich uncle!) Boston Common Links -Great Public Spaces -City of Boston previous|next

contact us: fup@hcs back to top