FBHI - 43 years!
If you see someone on the islands in a blue shirt,
chances are it's a Friend - say hello!

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The Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands are supported by our Members and in-part by the special project grants from Boston Marine Society.  Consider joining or renewing your membership.  FBHI Volunteers that are Mass State Employees may be able to donate a day a month via the SERV Program.

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Donate to the Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands - Thank you!

New Year's Day Trip to Thompson Island

Enjoy a 45 minute boat ride through the Boston Harbor Islands and a panoramic view of the Boston skyline. Explore Thompson Island's
  • meadows
  • forests
  • beaches
  • 40 acre salt marsh
  • intriguing history
​The boat departs Mass Bay Lines, 60 Rowes Wharf, Boston (behind the Boston Harbor Hotel) at 12:00pm and returns to the dock at 4:00pm. Boarding begins at 11:30am. The nearest T stations are South Station (Red Line) and Aquarium (Blue Line). Park policy is no pets and no alcohol. No food is sold on the boat or the island. Pack a picnic and go on your own adventure. There will be indoor warm up space.

Help Us Solve a 131 Year Old Mystery.   ​Do you recognize these women?

The FBHI have embarked on a project to research and publish a journal kept by four women during July of 1891. The journal, which is owned by the Schlesinger Library of Radcliffe, has numerous entries, photographs, sketches and other material but never identifies the women by name, only by nicknames: The Scribe, the Acrobat, the Autocrat and the Aristocrat.

We think we have identified the women but we are asking for help. All the women are from Lowell, Mass., and one, the Scribe who we believe is Helen A. Whittier, played a prominent role as a women’s club president, an art teacher and a photographer. We are looking to confirm the identity of the Autocrat, Helen Frances Ray (m: Josiah French); the Acrobat, Isabella (Bella) Coburn; and the Aristocrat, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Sarah Dean (m: Adams) who is a niece of Benjamin Dean, prominent in Boston politics. Helen Frances Ray is the wife of Josiah Bowers French, brother of Mary Ann French, wife of Benjamin Dean.


We have posted photos. If you recognize any of these women from your family tree, please post below and/or send an email to sschorow@gmail.com, who is coordinating this project. Thanks for your help.

Keep in-touch with the project on our Facebook Group CLICK HERE
Visit the Harbor Virtually!
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 Video recording of the FBHI
​Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands
ANNUAL MEETING
For those that couldn't join us virtually on October 23rd, 2021 for the FBHI Annual Meeting here is a LINK to a video of the meeting. 

The meeting included a conversation with authors Pavala Simkova and Stephanie Schorow followed a short business meeting with short presentations by Chairman Walter Hope, Founder Suzanne Gall Marsh and Volunteer Coordinator Carol Fithian, and election of FBHI Board of Directors.

You can receive a 30% discount on "Urban Archipelago - An Environmental History of the Boston Harbor Islands" a new publication from the University of Massachusetts Press.by using the Discount Code: MAS038

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Park ferry to Spectacle and Georges Islands: 
https://www.bostonharborislands.org/ferryschedule2022/ 

Boston Harbor City Cruises offers a 20% discount on all trips including Harbor Islands, Whale Watching, Salem Ferry, Provincetown and more.
Pick an amount that your budget can afford
YOU Can help the Friends of the Boston Islands every day with an easily budget-able donation.  Donations will be withdrawn from your credit card for a 12 month period.  Consider this wonderful and easy option!  The Friends are truly a 'grass roots' organization, a donation from you goes a-long-way.  Donors that donate using the 'subscription' method become members with all of our membership benefits.  For the cost of just a pot or two of coffee, you can make a difference!  Thank you.
Your 2022 discount codes are on the back of your 2022 membership card.  

​These  discount codes are needed for all on line ticket sales.  If you are purchasing tickets at the counter or ticket office you must show your 2022 membership card.  Renew your Friends membership today to receive the new 2022 discount codes for the various tours.  Tickets available both online or at the ticket booth when you show your 2022 FBHI membership card.
 

Park Lighthouse Tours 10% discount on the Park Lighthouse Tours. Please note:  The tours do NOT include getting onto any of the islands nor entering/climbing the lighthouses.  The discount is only on Saturdays from July 2nd to September 10th, 2022.
 https://www.bostonharborislands.org/lighthouse-tours/  
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​Mass Bay Lines (Rowes Wharf) offers a 10% discount on all their tours including: Visit https://www.massbaylines.com/tours-and-cruises/ to see the daily tours, weekly cruises and holiday events.

 FBHI Online Presentations

"Zoom Ahoy"

Stephanie Schorow is the author of East of Boston: Notes from the Harbor Islands and a long-time fan of FBHI and the islands. This summer, she will present two illustrated talks on aspects of the islands.

The first presentations can be found here: 

"Girls Night Out on Great Brewster: What a diary can tell us about the Harbor Islands and the lives of 19th century women" 

​CLICK LINK for VIDEO

"The Real Shutter Island" Dennis Lehane’s spooky novel of a mental health hospital on an island in Boston Harbor has intrigued readers and inspired a movie. It is a work of fiction, but the islands have indeed housed a number of hospitals from the Burrage Hospital for Crippled Children on Bumpkin to the facilities on Long Island to the “Greek Temple” on Rainsford. This talk separates fact from fiction. 

​CLICK LINK for VIDEO
The talks will draw on Stephanie’s extensive research on the islands, personal experiences, photos, postcards, and other artifacts to create lively multi-media presentations, with time for comments and sharing stories.

Lost Treasures and Mysteries of the Harbor Islands

Bug Light, murals on Georges Island, graffiti on Rainsford that Edward Rowe Snow recorded, the buried treasure on Lovells, the sumptuous home of Julia Arthur on Calf – all these are treasures of the Islands that have vanished yet live on in collective memories. And of course there are islands that have disappeared: Noodle, Apple, and Governor’s. Stephanie will present images and other information on the lost treasures and mysteries of the islands and challenge her viewers to help solve some of the mysteries. To register for this event, 
 
The Real Shutter Island
Dennis Lehane’s spooky novel of a mental health hospital on an island in Boston Harbor has intrigued readers and inspired a movie. It is a work of fiction, but the islands have indeed housed a number of hospitals from the Burrage Hospital for Crippled Children on Bumpkin to the facilities on Long Island to the “Greek Temple” on Rainsford. This talk separates fact from fiction. 
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Stephanie Schorow is the author of East of Boston: Notes from the Harbor Islands and a long-time fan of FBHI and the islands. This summer, she will present two illustrated talks on aspects of the islands. 

40th Anniversary Booklet now available online

New Year's Day 2020 Trip to Thompson Island

Mass Forest & Parks Friends Network "Volunteer of the Year Award" to FBHI

Our History - digitized!

We've been able to have some of our history preserved - our Tidings Newsletters from 1985-1987 have been digitized, and we've just uploaded our eTidings from 2014-2019 as well!  Click here to see them!

40th Anniversary & Reunion Cruise - May 5th,  2019

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Thank you to Montilio's & a secret donor for your generous assistance and design work providing our Anniversary Cake!
Link to the Patriot Ledger article about our 40th, by Sue Scheible 

Through the years:

Friends and Park Highlights Through The Years

1979: Suzanne Gall Marsh forms the Boston Harbor Islands Volunteer Corps (BHIVC) with others from the Sierra Club and Appalachian Mountain Club to supplement programs of the Boston Harbor Islands State Park staff.   The first year is a pilot program with overnight volunteers on Gallops and Bumpkin.
1980:  “Year of the Coast” the first annual New Year’s Day trip to Thompson Island begins.  The trip has taken place nearly every year since.  
1980:  The first “Edward Rowe Snow” day is held on Georges Island. 
1980-1981:  Day volunteer opportunities  expand to Georges and Thompson Islands.  Overnight volunteers continue.
1980s – through 2000s:  Day trips travel to Gallops, Peddocks, Great Brewster, Long, Rainsford Thompson, Little Brewster, Bumpkin and Grape Islands.
1982: The BHI Volunteer Corps incorporates as the Volunteers and Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands Inc.  The mission is to provide direct service to the park, public education programs, boat trips and advocacy. 
1983: “Harbor Islands Artists” an exhibit by FBHI at UMass Boston’s Arlington Street and Harbor Galleries, as well as, the Boston Children’s Museum during Harborfest. 
 1983:  The Island Sunset Series of evening cruises to the islands commences and continues for 35 years.
1980s  and 1990s: Friends create Living History programs for Great Brewster, Bumpkin, Gallops, Lovells, Peddocks, Grape, Little Brewster, Georges and Thompson Islands.
1985:  Governor Michael S. Dukakis visits Georges Island with agencies’ staff and volunteers.
 1986:   FBHI  tours to Boston Light on Little Brewster Island established.  They ran 6-10 times a year through 1999.  The trips are the origins of today’s National Park Service lighthouse tours.
 1986:  “Boston Harbor Islands State Park Master Plan” by MA Department of Environmental Management is released.  Governor Michael S. Dukakis visits the Islands to announce the publication.
 1988:  FBHI South Shore branch opens in Hewitts Cove, Hingham.  Today it is the Friends primary office.
 1988:  A centennial edition of the“ 1888 Kings Handbook of Boston Harbor” is reprinted by FBHI.
 1988-1989:  “Save Boston Light” campaign begins after U.S. Coast Guard announces plans to automate the light.  Senator Edward Kennedy visits  Little Brewster.  In December 1989 Federal legislation was signed into law that the Light would be manned in perpetuity.
1990: The Lighthouse Families Reunion on Little Brewster gathers elders whose fathers were keepers at Boston Light.
1991: “Preserving the Boston Harbor Islands” exhibit created and installed by FBHI in the Shawmut Bank HQ windows on the corner of Federal and Milk Streets.
 1991: Annual Fall Foliage and Lighthouse Extravaganza Cruise established and operates through 2009.
1992: The Friends co-sponsor “Your Islands in Transition” exhibit and public forum with workshops at Boston Public Library. The focus is on Spectacle, Long, Peddocks and Little Brewster Islands.
1992:  “Treasured Islands” summer program developed for the MA Department of Social Services. The program operated  through 1995.
 1992: Boston Harbor Islands Revegetation Project is created.    The “Reveg” program established a native species nursery on Long Island and did a wide-variety of projects on numerous islands through 2007.
 1993: Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt visits Georges Island to announce the beginning of a Special Resource Study of the Islands by the National Park Service.   FBHI were active participants in the public outreach and legislative process to create the national park.
 1993:  Centennial of the Metropolitan Park System.  Governor William F.Weld appoints the Green Ribbon Commission to “recommend a plan for its future…”.    FBHI representatives participate in many  Park advocates meetings.  In 1996 the  Final Report and Recommendations of the Green Ribbon Commission – “Enhancing the Future of the Metropolitan Park System”  was released.
 1994: “Boston Harbor Islands: Report of a Special Resource Study” released by the National Park Service North Atlantic Region.
1996: The 34 harbor islands are designated  by Congress as a National Park Area under the National Park Service.
1996: Chevron-Times Mirror Magazine “Conservation Award” to FBHI.
 1997-1999:  “March for Parks” co-sponsored with the National Parks and Conservation Association on Georges and Peddocks Islands.
 1997: The Boston Harbor Islands Partnership has its first meeting.
 1998:  Long Wharf Information Kiosk opens staffed by Park agencies and FBHI volunteers. 
 1998: The Boston Harbor Islands Advisory Council has its first official meeting after two years of community outreach to select the 28-member Council.
 1999: Massachusetts Water Resources Authority begins public tours of the (new) Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Facility.    The 2.6 mile perimeter park is dedicated in 2002.
 1999-2000:  Edward Rowe Snow Memorial Pavilion dedicated on Georges Island. 
 1999:  Tenth annual Halloween on the Harbor at Fort Warren, Georges Island.
 2000:  Tall Ships viewing on Gallops Island….then Gallops is closed and remains closed today due to trace asbestos in the soil.
 2001: Great Brewster re-opens after ten years of being closed due to the dock being wiped out in the “no name” storm.  A major cleanup effort is done by the Department of Environmental Management.  Public boat service provided during the summer.
 2001-2004: “Save Nixes Mate” Preservation Project begins after the U.S. Coast Guard announces plans to replace the deteriorating structure.  It is officially designated on the “National Register of Historic Places in March 2004.  A major restoration of the structure is commissioned by the Coast Guard, Group Boston.
 2002:  “Boston Harbor Islands A National Park Area” General Management Plan released after years of public input .  Prepared by the Boston Support Office of the Northeast Region, National Park Service for the Boston Harbor Islands Partnership.
 2003: The National Park Service presents the first George B. Hartzog, Jr. Award for “Outstanding Volunteers in Parks Program (2002) to FBHI; and the National Association of State Park Directors also recognize FBHI with their  “President’s Award”.   
 2004: Reorganization and merger of Department of Environmental Management and Metropolitan District Commission to form the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
 2004:  Northern and Southern Lighthouse Cruises begin and run through 2011.
 2005:  “Save the Brewsters” coalition is formed after an LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) storage facility is proposed for Outer Brewster Island.
 2006: Roger G. Kennedy, former director of the National Park Service gives a talk at the Boston Public Library, “ Landscapes and Seascapes: The Wildland/Urban/Wildwater Interface” hosted by the Friends.
 2006-2010:  A variety of gardening and farming projects are done on Long Island with volunteers and students.  FBHI and members of  the Native American community plant a  “Three Sisters Garden”.
 2007:  DCR Park Stewards Conference for Friends and Partners of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
 2008:  Reunion of Great Brewster Islanders recorded for “Island Voices” project.
 2009:  FBHI 30th anniversary – the Library Legacy program is created.  From this year to the present harbor-related books are distributed free of charge around Greater Boston, as well as, exhibits displayed and presentations given by volunteers.  An exhibit is created and installed on Georges Island showcasing 30 years of FBHI history.  An April celebratory free cruise was held.
2010: A tribute exhibit to the late Edward Rowe Snow of Marshfield, legendary author and storyteller, opens at Fort Warren on Georges Island.
2011:  Boston Harbor Islands Pavillion opens on the Rose Kennedy Greenway.  Staffed by Park agencies and volunteers.  Today it is known as the Park Welcome Center.
2011: Friends co-sponsor the Boston Harbor Islands Mass Memories Road Show with UMass Boston Archives. The public records stories,  photographs  and videos for a permanent online archive.
 2015-2016:  “A Lighthouse Family” by Harold Jennings is reprinted.  “Kings Handbook of Boston Harbor” is reprinted with an  updated Park information section.  Both books continue to be distributed free of charge through the FBHI Library Legacy program.
 2016:  300th anniversary of the lighting of Boston Light, 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, 30th anniversary MWRA,  20th anniversary of the Boston Harbor Islands becoming part of the National Park system and 10th anniversary of Spectacle Island opening to the public.  FBHI co-sponsors with Old South Meetinghouse a fall series: “Beacons of Beantown: 300 Years of Boston Lights”.
 2017:  Tall Ships return to Boston.  FBHI viewing tours onboard  MV Columbia Point.
 2018: Lovells Island oilhouse project with the Department of Conservation and Recreation is accepted for the  DCR Partnership Matching Funds Program.  This is an ongoing 40th anniversary legacy project.
2019: Friends celebrate 40th anniversary with a free public cruise on May 5th.    A 40th anniversary commemorative booklet is published.  A fall series co-sponsored with Old South Meetinghouse and Boston Harbor Now, “Boston Harbor Islands: Resilience and Change is planned for September and October.
 

DCR Partnerships Award Ceremony 1/14/19

photos by Jeff Doretti

Boston Globe Article - NY Day Trip

globe_article_new_years_trip_1-2-19.pdf
File Size: 283 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

1969 Video of Boston Harbor restored

Through the efforts of Suzanne Gall Marsh & the UMass Archives a rare 1969 film showing Boston & many of the Harbor Islands has been restored and is available for viewing - click on any of the images below and prepare to be take back in time!  The video is just over 18 minutes long.  Enjoy!
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Boston Navy Yard/Charlestown
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Spectacle Island
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Deer Island Light

You can virtually visit the Islands Online Year - Round with many photos of Thompson, Calf, Rainsford, Graves Light Station and Outer Brewster Islands

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Can't make it out - or interested in seeing what you might see on one of our trips?  Visit the islands online via photos by some of our Friends - Click on the island names below to start your journey!

VOLUNTEER!

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Volunteer Job Descriptions have now been posted on our Volunteer Page.  Interested?  Check out the page, read the description and then complete the online form.  And if you're a State Employee, you may be eligible to make use of SERV Time.

Old Cell Phone? 

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Support the Friends by donating your old cell phone via Cellphones For My Cause.  Cell phones contain heavy metals as well as precious metals and should not be land-filled or just thrown away.  Help the environment, while helping the friends.  Click on Cellphones For My Cause to learn how!