Boston Parks Celebrates Women's History Month 2026

The Women Behind our Parks

Alice Hennessey

Millennium Park I, West Roxbury

Alice Hennessey was a dedicated champion of Millennium Park. She worked for its betterment and directed its transformation from the Gardner Street Landfill into a public space. Because of this, Hennessey was honored with a Playground named after her in West Roxbury: Alice Hennessey Playground at Millennium Park.

 

Hennessey was a resident of West Roxbury for over 45 years. She was Director of the Menino Project, a project that turned the Gardner Street Landfill into Millennium Park. Hennessey was also involved with the schools, the Friends of the West Roxbury Library, the playgrounds, the Girl Scouts, her local church, the West Roxbury Historical Society, the Democratic Ward Committee and many other ventures. She founded the West Roxbury Friends of Rosie’s Place. 

 

Hennessey has been quoted saying: “Women initiate ideas and carry out projects that involve the entire community and give them a pride of ownership.” 

Visit her playground and celebrate the amazing woman that she was!

Photos from Boston Women’s Heritage Trail

 

 

Sister Mary Veronica

Sister Mary Veronica Park, South Boston

In South Boston this past summer, the Boston Parks and Recreation department purchased land that was incredibly important to the people of its neighborhood. The City of Boston gave the Archdiocese of Boston a small “pocket park” in 1955 that was used as a green space by people in the South Boston area. As the people grew fond of it, so did their passion for maintaining it as a green community space. When the Archdiocese decided they no longer needed the plot of land, they put it up for sale in 2023. The people of the neighborhood were quick to stand up for its presence as a park, and eventually, the BPRD stepped in to purchase the land in summer of 2025. It has now been officially named by the City of Boston in honor of Sister Mary Veronica. The acquisition of this park also helped the Parks and Recreation Department fulfill its mission of ensuring all Boston residents live within a 10-minute walk (roughly a quarter-mile to half-mile) of a park or green space.

You may be wondering, who is Sister Mary Veronica? From South Boston originally, Mary Greene lived next to the small park. She became a nun in the Sisters of the Notre Dame Order in 1939 and passed away at only 40 years old in 1960. She was well known in her area as someone who was kind to all, dedicated to founding and protecting green spaces in South Boston, and had an immense amount of community spirit. After her passing, the neighborhood informally began calling the park Sister Mary Veronica Park in her honor, and when the land was repurchased by the City of Boston, they made this name permanent.

Visit her park and honor Sister Mary Veronica’s memory!

Photos from the Boston Globe

 

Margaret Pokorny

Commonwealth Avenue Mall, Back Bay

If you’ve ever strolled through Back Bay’s Commonwealth Avenue Mall, you, and all of us, owe a great deal of gratitude to Margaret Pokorny.

Having been awarded the inaugural Parks Champion Award in 2024 for over 30 years of work restoring the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, Margaret Pokorny has contributed to Boston’s beauty and its urban forest in invaluable ways. Pokorny is a true advocate for the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, having fought to protect it from government and civilian harm over the years. She recognizes that while it is a wonderful thing to have a park be so beloved by its community, it is important to care for it as a living thing first. She advocates for people to understand it was not designed for the level of use that it now has, and hopes that the community surrounding it is beginning to understand how fragile natural spaces are. 

Pokorny first got into taking care of the Commonwealth Avenue Mall in the 70s. She remembers her neighbor, Stella Trafford, who was the Chair of the Mall at the time, seeing her watering street trees, and pulling her into the community-led park maintenance world. The Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee was instituted in 1971 by the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay (NABB) and the Friends of the Public Garden when nearly half the trees were dead or dying from Dutch elm disease. Pokorny and Trafford worked together to replant the Mall. 

Other accomplishments of her include her participation on the 13-year-long committee that eventually put the Women’s Memorial on the Mall, as well as currently serving as Chair of the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee and serving on the Governance, Horticulture and Parks Committees. 

Celebrate this amazing woman as you admire the beauty of the Commonwealth Avenue Mall!

Photos From Friends of the Public Garden

 

Women Artists in the Parks:

Public Garden, Boston Common, Commonwealth Avenue Mall

While many of our parks feature art created by women, specifically in the Public Garden, Boston Common, and Commonwealth Avenue Mall, over a quarter of the art, and some of the most notable pieces, are woman-made. From the renowned ‘Make Way for Ducklings’ sculpture by Nancy Schön in the Public Garden to Commonwealth Avenue Mall’s ‘Boston Women’s Memorial’ by Meredith Bergmann, our parks uplift some incredible pieces of woman-made artwork. 

In the Public Garden and the Boston Common, we have six pieces by women artists. The pieces are:

• Ducklings Sculpture – Nancy Schön 

• Triton Babies – Anna Coleman Ladd 

• Bagheera Fountain – Lillian Swan Saarinen 

• Tadeusz Kosciuszko Memorial – Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson 

• Boy and Bird Fountain – Bashka Paeff 

• Small Child Fountain – Mary E. Moore 


The Commonwealth Avenue Mall features five artworks by women artists, being:

• Mayor Patrick Andrew Collins – Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson 

• Samuel Elliot Morison – Penelope Jencks 

• Boston Women’s Memorial – Meredith Bergmann 

• Domingo Faustino Sarmiento – Ivette Compagnion 

• Leif Erikson – Ann Whitney 


The ‘Boston Women’s Memorial’ by Meredith Bergmann is especially notable with its relevance to this month, and its celebration of women authors and activists. Our parks highlight women’s history and contribution to making Boston into the city that it is. 

Although only March is dedicated to celebrating women and their history, commemorating the women who have left a mark on Boston’s greenspaces happens year-round! Make sure to visit these pieces of art and celebrate the women who made them!

 

 

 

 

Photo from GBH

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo from Boston Women’s Heritage Trail

 

All girls sports and wellness festival:

Multiple city-wide locations

The Boston Parks and Recreation Department’s Recreation Division is dedicated to creating welcoming and safe spaces for all people of all identities to engage in physical activity. We offer many programs to be age and gender inclusive. One event that is specifically dedicated to the uplifting of women is The All Girls Sports and Wellness Festival, a three day series of events for girls to participate in annually during April break.

The All Girls Sports and Wellness Festival offers a diverse range of activities to inspire and empower young girls. From sports and games to health and wellness speakers, self-defense tactics, and aquatic activities, the programming aims to engage the mind, body, and spirit. Expert instructors, with additional support from local non-profits and City of Boston agencies, will guide girls through sports such as basketball, fitness conditioning, swimming, ultimate frisbee, and more. 

We take our commitment to creating safe spaces for women to participate in sports and physical activity, and we are proud to have events that make this commitment come to life. We hope you join our All Girls Sports and Wellness Festival this coming April!