Boston Literary History 101

Course Content

Lesson 1: Colonial Literary Beginnings

In 1630, the first non-indigenous people settled in Boston, and Boston’s literary roots began right around the same time. In this lesson, you’ll learn about the first printing press, the first bookstore and bookseller in Boston, the The King’s Chapel Library, and Anne Bradstreet.

Lesson 2: Revolutionary Words

As tensions grew between the colonists and England, Bostonians had to face a decision that would impact their future — and they furthered the cause of independence through words. In this lesson, you’ll learn about revolutionary printing, Phillis Wheatley, and literary happenings at the close of the century.

Lesson 3: 19th Century Literary Expansion

The mid-19th-century literary scene seemed to swirl around these individuals both in Boston and out in Concord. But they weren’t the only ones making literary waves in the 1800s as the new nation grew into its own. In this lesson, you’ll learn about Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, Margaret Fuller, the Omni Park House history, The Saturday Club and The Atlantic Monthly, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Fanny Appleton, and the East Boston Bridge, and a word on Edgar Allan Poe.

Lesson 4: Boston’s Women of Letters

Not only were women leading literary salons and contributing to the literary conversations in the city, they were writing everything from popular dime novels, to treatises that sought social reform, to poetry and verse that we still recite today. In this lesson, you’ll learn about Hannah Adams, Lydia Maria Child, Julia Ward Howe, Annie Adams Fields, Katharine Lee Bates, and Amy Lowell.

Lesson 5: Black Voices of Literary Past

We’ve already talked about Phillis Wheatley’s contribution to poetry in early America. Now let’s look at the impacts of other Black writers of Boston’s literary history, from the works they published, to the magazines they started, to the movements they influenced. In this lesson, you’ll learn about William Wells Brown, Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, Pauline E. Hopkins, George Washington Forbes, William Monroe Trotter, Angelina Weld Grimké, Helene Johnson, Dorothy West, and Boston’s Black newspapers and publications.

Lesson 6: The Publishing Hub of America

As Boston’s writing community grew, a thriving literary ecosystem grew around them, which included a busy publishing scene. If Boston was “The Hub of the Universe,” as many called it, then Ticknor & Fields and the Old Corner Bookstore were the “Hub of the Hub.” In this lesson, you’ll learn about Ticknor & Fields, Houghton Mifflin, Little, Brown, other publishers, and the decline of publishing in Boston.

Lesson 7: Boston’s Libraries and Bookstores

In addition to university and college libraries, Boston’s two library systems — the Boston Public Library and the Boston Athenaeum — played a role in shaping the literary community. So did the bookstores that were started in the late-19th century and early 20th century, that are still selling books today. In this lesson, you’ll learn about the Boston Public Library, the Boston Athenaeum, and early Boston bookstores.

Lesson 8: Immigrant Voices and Gatherings

Boston’s immigrant population began to grow in the late 19th century, bringing with them new stories and new viewpoints to add to the local literary culture. Above all, the literary community centered around libraries became a place for immigrants to connect and find their way. In this lesson, you’ll learn about The Saturday Evening Girls Club, Fanny Goldstein, the Tyler Street Reading Room, Mary Antin, and Khalil Gibran.

Lesson 9: Boston’s Queer Literary Past

We’ve already met a few writers in Boston’s literary past who were likely part of the LGBTQ+ community. Let’s look at a few more people, places, and initiatives that contributed to Boston’s queer literary scene. In this lesson, you’ll learn about Louise Imogen Guiney, Alice Brown, F.O. Matthiessen, John Wieners, Charley Shively, John Mitzel, Boston’s LGBTQ+ bookstores, and publications and organizations.

Lesson 10: Confessionalists, Counterculture, and Connection

The mid-20th century found the Boston literary scene growing out in various directions, from university meetings to grassroots initiatives. From the Confessionalists to the counter culturalists, Boston writers and literary organizers were finding their voices in post-World War II America. In this lesson, you’ll learn about Mid-century poets and Room 222, Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, underground and alt publications, 1970s lit mag boom, and the rise of the reading series.

Lesson 11: Literary History Continues Today

Boston has a thriving and engaged literary scene today, but we’re really just continuing on what those in the past were doing every day: Writing stories, poetry, and essays. Lending or selling books. Printing and distributing literary work. And fostering literary community in our own unique ways. In this lesson, you’ll learn about GrubStreet, Massachusetts Poetry Festival, Boston Book Festival, MFA programs, reading and poetry series, and Boston bookstores.