Whenever I’m going somewhere I tend to get to the airport/station very early. As long as I can find somewhere to sit comfortably, read a book and maybe have a beer, I’m happy. When I left New York, the spanking new Monynihan Train Hall (See:In New York City – The Moynihan Train Hall) was a great experience: I had purchased a first-class round trip so I was escorted to the first-class lounge, where I had breakfast (I could have had drinks too, but it was far too early). Contented, I sat there reading my book until it was time to leave when I was escorted down to the train. I guess I expected something similar in Boston and so went early again.
I was wrong! Back Bay Station is a bit of a dump. Something like an old-style bus station: cramped; a bit seedy; nowhere comfortable to sit; virtually no refreshments. I couldn’t see sitting there for a couple of hours, so I checked my maps app to see where I was and realized that I was a short walk from Copley Square. We’d passed it on our bus tour, but we went through so quickly that I wasn’t able to take it in. It was time to go and take a closer look.
Incidentally the statue (about the only thing of interest in Back Bay Station) is of A. Philip Randolph. The New England Historical Society describes him as follows:
Randolph was both a great labor leader and a great civil rights leader, not coincidental when you consider racial justice means nothing without economic justice. At least that’s what Randolph – and his protégé Martin Luther King, Jr., thought. The 1963 March on Washington was, after all, the March for Jobs and Freedom.
Leaders of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. A. Philip Randolph is seated in the center; John Lewis is second from right. Photo courtesy National Archives.
King called Randolph the “truly the dean of the Negro leaders.”Randolph is credited with pushing President Franklin Roosevelt to ban discrimination in the defense industry and President Harry Truman to integrate the military. Considered the most important black leader in the 1930s and 1940s, he helped bring thousands of railroad sleeping car porters into the middle class.
Though Randolph grew up in Jacksonville, lived in New York City and made his mark on Washington, he also had an impact in Boston’s African-American community. Even today, his nine-foot sculpture in the train station may inspire commuters who take the time to read his words at the base: “Freedom is never granted; It is won. Justice is never given; it is exacted.” New England Historical Society Article: A. Philip Randolph heads the 1963 March on Washington, which contains much more information, including a video.
To be fair to Back Bay Station, I was told that there was a lounge, but that it was in the Terminal at South Station. I checked out South Station and discovered that it’s much more interesting, with more facilities than Back Bay. More like the Moynihan Station in New York, in fact. In my ignorance I had chosen the wrong station to leave from. I’ll know better next time. My apologies to Back Bay.
Taken with a Sony A6000 and 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 OSS