Dorchester Illustration 2610 Hebrew Home for the Aged
The top image, published in the Sept. 10, 1905, edition of the Boston Sunday Post, shows a house on Queen Street in Dorchester.
On Jan. 28, 1903, a small group of Orthodox Jews – five women and one man – created the Hebrew Moshav Zekainim Association. Its goal was to “establish a Home for the taking care of the old and infirm Jewish men and women in the City of Boston.” Two years later, “owing to the demand for a Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews in our city, where the ritual of orthodoxy will be strictly adhered to,” the Association announced that it had purchased a building at 21 Queen St., Dorchester.
The Hebrew Ladies’ Home for the Aged Association raised $10,000 in charitable donations, to buy the mid-19th century home on 17,109 square feet of land. The house was described as a large wooden structure with a broad piazza, spacious rooms, surrounded by beautiful grounds in the form of a garden. The house was adapted to accommodate 45 men and women, and a room for worship on the lower floor. It opened its doors in September 1905 with 15 residents.
By 1910, a wooden addition had been built, and by 1918, a masonry extension was added (shown in the bottom image).
In 1956, ground was broken for a new facility at 1200 Centre St., Roslindale and on Sept. 22, 1963, more than 260 residents moved from 21 Queen St. to the new 475-bed residence. The name was officially changed from “Hebrew Home for Aged” to “Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged,” reflecting its new charter as a chronic care hospital and home “for aged and ill men and women of Boston who require nursing care.” (http://www.newbridgeonthecharles.com/body.cfm?id=70)
Today, the site on Queen Street is home to the Neighborhood House Charter School.