Jewish Roxbury with Laurie Rotman

Take a walk through the early 20th century Jewish community of Roxbury, exploring the synagogues, schools, homes and the bustling shopping district. This tour has recently been developed by Laurie Rotman, along with 4 of her fellow Boston by Foot guides. Before we add this to BBF’s regular roster of tours, we would like to invite you to join us and provide feedback on the route and the content.

 We’ll explore how this vibrant community of nearly 30,000 Jewish residents in 1930 dwindled to a few hundred by the early 1960’s. To answer this question, we’ll look at when and why Jews moved into this area and why they left. We’ll explore the role of major institutions, economic factors, and the impact of broader city-wide and national changes that contributed to the changing demographics of this area.

The tour starts at the corner of Seaver St. and Elm Hill Ave. in Roxbury. There is no cost, but we do ask that you sign up through the HBT office, as there is a limit of 15 people.