Decades ago, SEHS’s founding president Richard O. Card, was told of the existence of a bunch of old letters stored in a shoe box in an attic of a South End house. He purchased the letters, and later donated them to the South End Historical Society. Card found that the letters were written between 1851 and 1859 and contain correspondence between Otis and Elizabeth Blake Everett in Boston and their son Otis Blake Everett who was working in India. Otis and Elizabeth Everett lived in a house near where the Cathedral of the Holy Cross stands today.
After over 150 years, the letters are in remarkably good condition. They contain an immense amount of detail about family connections, weather events, weddings, births, deaths, recreational activities, business concerns, trade items, and so much more.
Recently, Corinne Bermon has created a web exhibit for the South End Historical Society, titled The Everett Family: Middle Class Life in Boston’s South End, 1851-1859. The digital exhibit examines the Everett family and middle-class life in Boston in the 1850s as they observe societal changes and discuss business, socializing, marriages, and deaths with their son. This exhibit follows the Everett family’s experience living in the South End, a unique neighborhood of Boston, during the 1850s.
Enter the exhibit below.