Boston’s Top 10 : Figures in Boston History

1. John Winthrop (1587–1649)

   Acting
   on a daring plan put together by English Puritans in 1629, Winthrop led
   approximately 800 settlers to the New World to build a godly
   civilization in the wilderness. He settled his Puritan charges at Boston
   in 1630  and served as the governor of the new Massachusetts Bay Colony until his death.

2. Increase Mather (1639–1723)

   Educated
   at Harvard, preacher Increase Mather solidified the hold of Puritan
   theologians on the Massachusetts government. When William took the
   English crown, Mather persuaded the king to grant a charter that gave
   the colony the right to elect the council of the governor in 1691. His
   influence was later undermined by his support of the 1692 Salem witch
   trials.

3. Samuel Adams (1722–1803)

   Failed businessman Samuel Adams
   became Boston’s master politician in the tumultuous years leading up to
   the revolution. Adams signed the Declaration of Independence and served
   in both Continental Congresses. As governor of Massachusetts, he joined
   Paul Revere in laying the cornerstone of the State House in 1795.

4. Paul Revere (1735–1818)

   Best
   known for his “midnight ride” to forewarn the rebels of the British
   march on Concord, Revere served the American Revolution as organizer,
   messenger, and propagandist. A gifted silversmith with many pieces in
   the Museum of Fine Arts, he founded the metalworking firm that gilded the State House dome and sheathed the hull of the USS Constitution.

5. Harrison Gray Otis (1765–1848)

   In
   the 1790s, Harrison Gray Otis and James Mason transformed Beacon Hill
   from a hilly pasture into a chic neighborhood that embodies the Federal
   building style. Otis championed the architecture of Charles Bulfinch,
   and three of his Bulfinch-designed houses still grace Beacon Hill,
   including the one now known as Harrison Gray Otis House.

6. Donald McKay (1810–1880)

   McKay
   built the largest and swiftest of the clipper ships in his East Boston
   shipyard in 1850. The speedy vessels revolutionized long-distance
   shipping at the time of the California gold rush and gave Boston its
   last glory days as a mercantile port before the rise of rail transport.

7. Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910)

   After recovering from a major accident, Eddy wrote Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,
   the basis of Christian Science. She founded a church in Boston in 1879,
   and in 1892 reorganized it as the First Church of Christ, Scientist . Eddy also established the Pulitzer prize-winning Christian Science Monitor newspaper in 1908.

   
   

   
   
   

   Mary Baker Eddy

8. James Michael Curley (1874–1958)

   Self-proclaimed
   champion of “the little people,” Curley used patronage and Irish pride
   to retain a stranglehold on Boston politics from his election as mayor
   in 1914 until his defeat at the polls in 1949. Known as “the rascal
   king” he embodied political corruption but created many enduring public
   works.

   
   

   
   
   

   James Michael Curley

9. John F. Kennedy (1917–1963)

   Grandson
   of Irish-American mayor John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald and son of
   ambassador Joseph Kennedy, John F. Kennedy represented Boston in both
   houses of the US Congress before he became the first Roman Catholic
   elected president of the United States. The presidential library at Columbia Point exhibits his brief, but intense, period in office.

   
   

   
   
   

   John F. Kennedy

10. W. Arthur Garrity, Jr. (1920–1999)

    In
    1974, US District Court judge Garrity ruled that African-American
    students had been denied their constitutional rights to the best
    available education. He ordered a desegregation plan for Boston’s 200
    schools, setting off protests, some violent, in predominantly white
    neighborhoods.

Literary Bostonians