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New England Free Press

I am going to jump back at some point soon to do a deeper dive on this other press based in the South End, but I did want to put it down here first. I'm seeing this blog as a kind of placeholder and space to draft things, though I don't want to be tedious. I want to hold myself accountable. I hear Substack can be useful for such writing, but I also hear they platform some deeply problematic and offensive material. I also had Ghost recommended to me. I worry about making people sign up for my writing, even at no cost. We'll see if I migrate over at some point. Happy to hear from folks about these options.

As for the placeholder...

One of the first presses that piqued my interest, after thinking about the South End Press coming out of my own neighborhood - most obviously, given that they used the neighborhood's name right in their own - was the New England Free Press. They were in a slightly earlier period, publishing pamphlets and more from 1967-1981, jumping around the neighborhood and Roxbury in that time. At one point, this history identifies an office at 39 East Springfield Street, which is very close to where I live, in my corner of the neighborhood. It's also across the street from what was once Plymouth Hospital and Nurses Training School, at 12 East Springfield, started by Dr. Cornelius Garland in the early 20th century. This somewhat non-descript South End street, with its rowhouses lining both sides (with a new addition on one side and one being built on the other, at the Washington Street end), still anchored by Mike's City Diner, has hosted some important institutions. And here's to the use of plaques! I know about Plymouth Hospital because of this plaque, which I had seen while walking my pup down that street almost every morning for years. 


  

The New England Free Press, decades later, would work on this street to publish important feminist voices and others. I'll have to dig in soon. Fortunately, they have archives right at UMass Boston - an author of mine sent the finding aid. I'll just have to find the time.

I am still wondering about South End Press archives and would welcome any tips!

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