02.18.07

Boston Culture

Posted in Boston Culture at 9:49 am by admin

Boston Culture

Boston shares many cultural roots with greater New England, including a dialect of the Eastern New England accent known as Boston English, and a regional cuisine with a large emphasis on seafood and dairy products. Irish Americans are a major influence on Boston’s politics and religious institutions. Boston has its own collection of neologisms known as Boston slang.

Many consider Boston a highly cultured city, perhaps as a result of its intellectual reputation; much of Boston’s culture originates at its universities. The city also has a number of ornate theatres, including the Cutler Majestic Theatre, Boston Opera House, The Wang Center for the Performing Arts, Schubert Theater, and the Orpheum Theater. Renowned performing arts groups include the Boston Ballet, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Boston Lyric Opera Company, and the Handel and Haydn Society (the oldest choral company in the United States). There are a number of major annual events such as First Night, which occurs during New Year’s Eve, and several events during the Fourth of July. These events include the weeklong Harborfest festivities and a Boston Pops concert accompanied by fireworks on the banks of the Charles River.

In contrast to what might be considered the more “refined” aspects of Boston’s culture, the city is also one of the birthplaces of the hardcore punk genre of music. Boston musicians have contributed greatly to the hardcore scene over the years (see also Boston hardcore). Boston had one of the leading local third wave ska and ska punk scenes in the mid-1990s, with bands such as The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Mr. Cranky, The Allstonians, and Skavoovie and the Epitones. The 1980s hardcore compilation This Is Boston, Not L.A. highlights some of the bands that built the scene. Several clubs in the city, such as The Channel, Bunnrattys in Allston, and The Rathskeller, were renowned for showcasing local and out-of-city punk bands.

Boston Sites of interest

Main article: Sites of interest in Boston, Massachusetts

Because of the city’s prominent role in the American Revolution, several historic sites relating to that period are preserved as part of the Boston National Historical Park. Many are found along the Freedom Trail, which is marked by a red line or bricks embedded in the ground. Along the Freedom Trail is Boston Common, which is the oldest public park in the United States. Along with the adjacent Boston Public Garden, it is part of the Emerald Necklace, a string of parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to encircle the city. In the winter, the Frog Pond at Boston Common doubles as an ice-skating rink. Another major park is the Esplanade located along the banks of the Charles River. A major recreation site for many Bostonians, it is also the site of the Hatch Shell. Other parks are scattered throughout the city, with the major parks and beaches located near Castle Island, in Charlestown and along the Dorchester, South Boston, and East Boston shorelines. The largest parks in the city are Franklin Park and the nearby Arnold Arboretum (both part of the Emerald Necklace), and Stony Brook State Reservation.

The Back Bay district includes many prominent landmarks such as the Christian Science Center, Boston Public Library, Copley Square, and Newbury Street. Back Bay is also the home of New England’s tallest two buildings: the John Hancock Tower and the Prudential Center. Near the John Hancock Tower is the old John Hancock Building with its prominent weather forecast beacon. Other notable districts/neighborhoods include Beacon Hill, Charlestown, Chinatown, Downtown Crossing, North End, and South Boston.

Boston is home to several museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Museum of Science. The University of Massachusetts campus at Columbia Point houses the John F. Kennedy Library. The New England Aquarium, Franklin Park Zoo, Boston Athenaeum (one of the oldest independent libraries in the United States), and the Boston Children’s Museum are located within the city.

Along with the Freedom Trail, there are two other self-guided walking tours: Harbor Walk, which is designed to follow the entire shore of Boston Harbor, and the Black Heritage Trail. A popular guided tour is the Boston Duck Tour, which uses World War II-era duck boats. The outer suburbs of Boston, which tend to be forested, have vibrantly colored foliage every autumn that attracts many tourists.

Boston is home to the Bull & Finch Pub, whose building is known from the television show Cheers. Exterior shots of the building were used in the show.

Boston Sports

Club	League	Sport	Venue	Established	Championships
Boston Red Sox	MLB	Baseball	Fenway Park	1901	6 World Series
New England Patriots	NFL	Football	Gillette Stadium	1960	3 Super Bowls
Boston Celtics	NBA	Basketball	TD Banknorth Garden	1946	16 NBA Titles
Boston Bruins	NHL	Hockey	TD Banknorth Garden	1924	5 Stanley Cups
New England Revolution	MLS	Soccer	Gillette Stadium	1995	0 MLS Cups
Boston Cannons	MLL	Lacrosse	Nickerson Field	2001	0 MLL Championships

The Boston Red Sox (the “Sox” as they are colloquially called) are a founding member of the American League of Major League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Fenway Park, located near Kenmore Square in the Fenway section. Built in 1912, it is the oldest sports arena or stadium in active use in the United States among the four major professional sports. Boston was also the site of the first game of the first baseball World Series, in 1903. The series was played between the Red Sox (then known as the “Pilgrims”) and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The TD Banknorth Garden (formerly called the Fleet Center) is above North Station and is the home of two major league teams: the Boston Bruins ice hockey team of the National Hockey League and the Boston Celtics basketball team of the National Basketball Association. The Bruins was the first American member of the National Hockey League and an Original Six franchise. The Boston Celtics was a founding member of the Basketball Association of America, one of the two leagues that merged to form the NBA. The Celtics have the distinction of having more World Championships than any other NBA team with 16 championships from 1957 to 1986.

Although the team has played in suburban Foxboro since 1971, the New England Patriots are Boston’s football team. The team was founded in 1960 as the Boston Patriots, a charter member of the American Football League, and in 1970 the team joined the National Football League. While in Boston, the team played at Nickerson Field (at the time still known and configured as Braves Field), Fenway Park, Harvard Stadium, and BC’s Alumni Stadium. The team has won three Super Bowl titles (2001, 2003, 2004) since the 2001 season, and is now second in popularity to the Red Sox. They share Gillette Stadium with the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer.

Boston’s many colleges and universities are active in college athletics. There are four NCAA Division I members in the city: Boston College (member of the Atlantic Coast Conference), Boston University (America East Conference), Northeastern University (Colonial Athletic Association), and Harvard University (Ivy League). All except Harvard, which belongs to the ECAC Hockey League, belong to the Hockey East conference in hockey. The hockey teams of these four universities meet every year in a four-team tournament known as the “Beanpot Tournament,” played at the TD Banknorth Garden over two Monday nights in February.

One of the most famous sporting events in the city is the Boston Marathon, the 26 mile (42 km) run from Hopkinton to Copley Square in the Back Bay. The Marathon, the world’s oldest, is popular and heavily attended. It is run on Patriot’s Day in April and always coincides with a Red Sox home baseball game that starts at 11:00 AM (the only MLB game to start before noon local time all year). Another major event held in the city is the Head of the Charles Regatta rowing competition on the Charles River.

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All Boston Culture text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

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