Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and the area was fully built by around 1900. It is most famous for its rows of Victorian brownstone homes—considered one of the best preserved examples of 19th-century urban design in the United States—as well as numerous architecturally significant individual buildings, and cultural institutions such as the Boston Public Library, and Boston Architectural College. Initially conceived as a residential-only area, commercial buildings were permitted from around 1890, and Back Bay now features many office buildings, including the John Hancock Tower, Boston's tallest skyscraper. It is also considered a fashionable shopping destination and home to several major hotels.
Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin was a publisher, journalist, civil rights leader, suffragist, abolitionist, and editor of the Woman's Era, the first national newspaper published by and for African American women.
Phi Sigma Sigma (ΦΣΣ), colloquially known as Phi Sig, was the first collegiate nonsectarian sorority to allow membership of women of all faiths and backgrounds.
Emily Helen Butterfield was a pioneer in the Michigan women's movement.
The African-American upper class is a social class that consists of African-American individuals who have high disposable incomes and high net worth. The group includes highly paid white-collar professionals such as academics, engineers, lawyers, accountants, doctors, politicians, business executives, venture capitalists, CEOs, celebrities, entertainers, entrepreneurs and heirs. This social class, sometimes referred to as the black upper class, the black upper middle class or black elite, represents 12% of the total black population in the United States.
The North American fraternity and sorority system began with students who wanted to meet secretly, usually for discussions and debates not thought appropriate by the faculty of their schools. Today they are used as social, professional, and honorary groups that promote varied combinations of community service, leadership, and academic achievement.
The Harvard Club of Boston is a private social club located in Boston, Massachusetts. Its membership is open to alumni and associates of Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University, and Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. The Back Bay Clubhouse is located in Boston's historic Back Bay neighborhood, at 374 Commonwealth Avenue.
Eleanor Manning O'Connor was an American architect and educator passionate about the creation of decent public housing for all.
The Chilton Club is a private social club established in 1910, in the Back Bay area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded by Pauline Revere Thayer, the club was intended in part as a counterpoint to the Mayflower Club. The club was named after Mary Chilton because she had been the first woman to step out of the Mayflower.
J. Pickering Putnam, also known as J. P. Putnam or John Pickering Putnam, was an American architect and designer who "pioneered the concept of the modern apartment building." He designed several buildings in the Back Bay area of Boston, Massachusetts. He earned a number of design patents related to plumbing, ventilation, and the like, such as US Patent No.563,064 (1896), a design for a washbasin.
Mary Almy (1883–1967) was an American architect, and a partner at Howe, Manning & Almy, Inc., one of the first architecture firms founded by women in the United States and specializing in domestic architecture. She studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1917 to 1919.
The Association for Women in Communications (AWC) is an American professional organization for women in the communications industry.
Phi Epsilon Pi (ΦΕΠ) fraternity, active between 1904 and 1970 and now dormant, with a predominantly Jewish membership, was founded in New York City and eventually opened at least 48 chapters on college campuses across the United States and one in Canada. After several mergers, it consolidated into Zeta Beta Tau in 1970.
Lois Lilley Howe was an American architect and founder of the first all female architecture firm in Boston, Massachusetts.
Howe, Manning & Almy, Inc. was an American architectural firm in Boston, Massachusetts that was formed in 1926 by three women, all graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was one of the first architectural firms founded by women in the United States. Lois Lilley Howe began her own firm in 1900. She partnered with another MIT alum, Eleanor Manning O'Connor, in 1913, creating the firm of Lois Lilley, Howe & Manning. Mary Almy joined the firm in 1926 and the name became Howe, Manning & Almy, Inc. In 1937, the firm dissolved after Howe retired, and Manning and Almy began their own practices.
The Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA) was an American organization devoted to women's suffrage in Massachusetts. It was active from 1870 to 1919.
Mary Evans Wilson was one of Boston's leading civil rights activists. She was a founding member of the Boston branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the founder of the Women's Service Club.
The New England Woman's Press Association (NEWPA) was founded by six Boston newspaper women in 1885 and incorporated in 1890. By the turn of the century it had over 150 members. NEWPA sought not only to bring female colleagues together and further their careers in a male-dominated field, but to use the power of the press for the good of society. The group raised funds for charity and supported women's suffrage and other political causes.
Louis Weissbein (1831–1913) was a German-born American architect practicing in Boston, Massachusetts.
