“25 Years of the West Ender Newsletter”
New show celebrates villains, legends and heroes of the old neighborhood
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 2, 2012
Boston, MA-The West End Museum is proud to announce a special show: 25 Years of the West Ender Newsletter is a graphic representation of the newspaper James Campano founded in 1985 to help reconnect residents of the West End after their homes were lost to urban renewal. The masthead of the West Ender reads, “Printed in the Spirit of the Mid-Town Journal and Dedicated to Being the Collective Conscience of Urban Renewal and Eminent Domain in the City of Boston.” For a quarter century, the newspaper has been the voice of the old neighborhood.
“It’s been a historical record. For a while, we were the only ones talking about our story and we wanted to be sure it was something everybody knew,” said Campano, who produces the quarterly newspaper from an office at the West End Museum. “I think it helped change the whole dialogue about what happened.”
25 Years of the West Ender Newsletter opens on February 14 and runs through April 1 in the Museum’s Members Gallery. A reception will be held on March 23 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. West End Museum Graphic Designer Donald Souliere designed the exhibit’s graphic representation panels, which focus on three major themes: “Blowing Off Steam,” “Sense of Place” and “Sharing Stories.” West End Museum Executive Director Duane Lucia serves as curator.
Sociologist Herbert Gans, who wrote the definitive book on the West End, Urban Villagers, recently wrote to Campano with these comments on the West Ender, “I trust you realize how distinctive what you have done is: I don’t think a newspaper and related activities ever came out of a slum clearance project, nor that these would evoke interest and participation from those who displaced the cleared.”
