To conclude our tour of institutions that are connected to the MHS through our collections, we cross the street to the Fenway Victory Gardens, the oldest continuously operated victory gardens in its original location in the United States. Not only does the MHS hold the papers of this remarkable site of urban farming, but our staff also tend to a small plot amongst its 7.5 acres of land. We speak with Laura Wulf, Photographic Specialist & Digital Imaging Coordinator at the MHS, and Dennis Fiori, former President of the MHS, to learn more about their experience with the gardens. We also sit down with Chief Historian Peter Drummey to hear more about the history of victory gardens, as well as Sai Boddupalli, President of Fenway Garden Society, to learn about the Garden Society today.

Learn more about episode objects here: https://www.masshist.org/podcast/season-4-episode-8-Fenway-Victory-Gardens

Email us at [email protected].

Episode Special Guests:

Laura Wulf is the Photographic Specialist & Digital Imaging Coordinator at the MHS.

After a career managing history institutions, the last gig being the President of the MHS, Dennis Fiori has retired to the joy of full-time gardener. Tending a plot in the Fenway for a few years was a wonderful experience he still misses.

Sai Boddupalli has been a resident of the Fenway neighborhood for 15 years, a gardener at the Fenway Victory Gardens for four years, and is in his fourth year as a board member of the Fenway Garden Society, with this year being his first in the role of President.

This episode uses materials from:

Bagd by Podington Bear (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported) Psychic by Dominic Giam of Ketsa Music (licensed under a commercial non-exclusive license by the Massachusetts Historical Society through Ketsa.uk) Curious Nature by Dominic Giam of Ketsa Music (licensed under a commercial non-exclusive license by the Massachusetts Historical Society through Ketsa.uk)