The Girl in Pantaloons (episode 105)

Emma Snodgrass defied the gender roles of the 1850s, getting arrested multiple times in Boston for appearing in public unchaperoned and dressed as a man. Was she a troublemaker looking for thrills? Was she trying to pass as a man in order to find work and independence in a society with few opportunities for women? Or was she a trans person in an era that didn’t yet have words to describe that concept? Unfortunately, the historic record leaves us with just as many questions as answers.

The Girl in Pantaloons

• Appropriate[ing] Dress: Women’s Rhetorical Style in 19th Century America by Carol Mattingly
• A vagrant or some other naughty thing.
• She is an ultra bloomer.
• Emma beats the rap.
• The difference between breeches with money, and breeches without.
• Emma in Albany.
• George Green was a clerk.
• Emma and Harriet arrested, Harriet sentenced to 6 months.
• A collection of newspaper stories.

Featured Historic Site

Our featured historic site this week is the headquarters building of the Charles River Speedway, one of the last surviving artifacts of the once thriving harness racing industry in the Boston area.  Located at the corner of Western Ave and Soldiers Field Road, it’s easy to access by car or from the 70 bus, but it’s not actually possible to see inside right now.  This historic building, once home to stables for racehorses, lounges for jockeys, race officials, and an MDC police station, has been boarded up and mostly abandoned since the early 2000s.  It was badly damaged by a fire in 2015.

However, there is a plan to restore some measure of its former glory.  A private developer is working with the DCR to stabilize and restore the speedway headquarters complex.  The plan calls for construction to begin next spring and be complete by the spring of 2020.  It envisions a revitalized space full of restaurants and retail shops, maker spaces and nonprofit offices.  Time may be running out to see the remains of this 19th century sporting palace in its original, unrestored state.  Knowing its history, it’s interesting to walk the perimeter of the complex. Even with boarded windows, the building stands as a testament to the importance and popularity of the sport of harness racing in its time.

Upcoming Event

Whenever we release a show about organized crime – whether we talk about the assassination of Jewish mobster Charles “King” Solomon, the tong wars of Chinatown, or the great Brinks robbery – we get a bump in our download numbers.  So we know you like crime stories.  On November 14, Emily Sweeney will be speaking about her book Gangland Boston: A Tour Through the Deadly Streets of Organized Crime.  Here’s how the event page describes it:

While lurking in local restaurants or just around the corner inside that inconspicuous building, countless criminals have quietly and not so quietly made their mark on Boston. Drawing upon years of research and an extensive collection of rare photographs, Emily Sweeney sheds light on how gang violence unfolded during Prohibition, how the Italian mafia rose to power, and how the Gustin Gang came to be. She also uncovers little-known facts about well-known crime figures.

The event starts at 6pm on Wednesday, November 14 in the Commonwealth Salon at the Copley Square library.  It’s open to the public with at no charge.