Join the Vilna for a fascinating walking tour of Beacon Hill with renowned historian and Vilna Advisory Board member Ellen Smith. The tour will visit the well known and not so well known sites of Beacon Hill, from the golden dome of the State House to the elegant homes in Louisburg Square. Tour the picturesque streets, discover the stopping points on the Underground Railroad, and experience early American architecture and Greek Revival row houses. Hear the infamous stories and the oral myths that surround this historic piece of Boston.
Please bring comfortable walking shoes and water. Event is rain or shine.
$36, includes tour, light appetizers and drinks.
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT AND NOT ACCEPTING NEW REGISTRANTS.
Public Transit, Driving, and Walking Directions at very bottom of this page.
Ellen Smith is Director of the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program at Brandeis University, Associate Professor in Hornstein, and an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. She also co-directs advanced training programs at Brandeis for Jewish professionals and organizations (including the Gralla Fellows Program for Religion Journalists that ran from 1998-2009). Ellen is principal of Museumsmith, a firm specializing in museum exhibitions and historic site interpretations throughout the nation.
Trained as both an academic historian and a museum curator, Ellen has published more than three dozen books, articles, and catalogs including "The Jews of Boston," co-edited with Jonathan D. Sarna. At Brandeis, she has developed a series of new courses in visual and material culture, and museum studies. Among her recent work are publications and exhibitions including "The Jews of Rhode Island," Seattle Jewish Women (Museum of History and Industry, Seattle); Jewish New Year Postcards; American Yiddish Theater (Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York City); Colonial American Jewish Portraits (Jewish Museum, New York City); historic immigrant synagogues; and three exhibitions on the Jews of Boston. Ellen was also the Chief Historical Consultant to the Emmy Award-winning WGBH "The Jews of Boston" television production. She was one of twelve nationally-selected scholars participating in "The Visual Culture of American Religions" project (1996-2000) funded by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Lilly Endowment. Ellen is the former Curator of the American Jewish Historical Society and the National Museum of American Jewish History, and has taught courses in American Jewish Women's History, American Jewish Material Culture, Jewish Museum Studies, and American Jewish History at Brandeis, Boston, and Northeastern Universities. In 2005 she toured the country as one of the United Jewish Community's key speakers during the 350th anniversary celebration of Jews in America.
Public Transit, Driving, and Walking Directions:
The closest T subway stop is Charles/MGH. Validated parking is also available for $5 per car is available nearby and ONLY for the underground parking at the Charles River Plaza/Cambridge Street Garage at 165 Cambridge Street nearby. Please be advised that drivers must validate their green parking ticket at the Vilna Shul for validated parking.
For detailed directions to the Vilna, please click the following link to the Hours, Directions, and Parking page of our website. If you have any questions, email events@vilnashul.org or call (617) 523-2324.