By Celeste Venolia
Why did the Massachusetts chapter spend a couple summers encouraging folks to walk in East Boston? The goal was to provide anyone with an opportunity to experience East Boston’s nature, history and culture through a guided tour that aims to uplift voices of the local community and bring momentum to local environmental justice fights. Kannan Thiruvengadam, Sierra Club MA Chapter Executive Committee Vice Chair and director of Eastie Farm, deserves a huge shout out for shaping the route and helping tell the stories. On August 18th, 2023, Kannan led us in person which was lots of fun!
We started the 18th by walking North to Eastie Farm to walk inside the impressive geothermal greenhouse there! The space is warmed and cooled with renewable geothermal energy, and is an excellent community space year round. Those of us who had never been to Eastie Farm were amused by walking along a normal city street, seeing a little carrot sign in an alley and then suddenly walking into a beautiful growing and learning space.
Continuing along the route on the 18th, we came to the plaque commemorating the Maverick Mothers. The impact of Logan airport on East Boston communities was one of the clear throughlines of the whole route. When we would ask participants if they had been to East Boston before, there were folks who would say no and then realize they had been to Logan airport. In the 1960s, during an expansion of Logan airport, Massport was putting local residents in danger by taking large vehicles through residential Maverick street. On Sept 28th, 1968, East Boston mothers organized a protest of women and children to block the route. The Maverick mothers were ultimately successful in convincing Massport to use a different route consistently, so they are remembered as icons of community power and resistance!
I won’t spoil all the interesting stories of the walk. While the guided hikes have all ended, you can still explore the route! The self-guided materials are available here.