West End House Boys and Girls Club

In 1903, thirty-five Jewish boys, children of immigrants and neighborhood friends in Boston's West End, on their own volition, formed a club called the Excelsior Club. Soon afterwards, the Excelsior Club requested and received assistance from the Jewish Federation in the form of a part-time advisor: Mitchell Freiman. The Excelsior Club's activities included performances of scenes from Shakespearian plays. James Storrow, prominent Boston Brahmin banker and politician, attended one performance of scenes from their Hamlet. Afterwards, he invited the entire membership of the Club to spend a winter Sunday in the country at his Lincoln estate. In the Spring, upon learning of the boys' lack of facilities and financial resources; he agreed to not only pay for building rent and maintenance but also to hire Mitchell Freiman fulltime as director for the now re-constituted Excelsior Club to be known as the West End House. While technically non-sectarian, the West End House membership would remain predominantly Jewish up to World War II. From athletics to declamation, from minstrel shows to a West End House symphony orchestra, from the House Bulletin to a speakers series; West End House was a powerful force in many Jewish boys lives. The West End House was relocated to Allston in 1971 when the West End community was displaced by urban renewal. It was renamed the West End House Boys & Girls Club of Allston-Brighton.