With City Councilor Felix Arroyo joining the mayoral race, there is a chance for Jamaica Plain to be home to a mayor for the first time in nearly 50 years.
At least five Boston mayors have hailed from JP, including the legendary James Michael Curley. Here is a list:
- John Collins (1960-66). Oversaw creation of Government Center, Prudential Center and current City Hall.
- James Michael Curley (1914-18, 1922-26, 1930-34, 1946-50; also governor, 1935-37). Famously powerful and infamously corrupt mayor whose small Jamaicaway mansion is now a city-owned facility.
- Maurice Tobin (1938-45; also governor, 1944-46). Later served as US secretary of labor and was namesake of the Tobin Bridge downtown.
- Malcolm Nichols (1926-30). JP’s only Republican mayor, he planned the Sumner Tunnel downtown.
- Andrew Peters (1918-21). Scandal-plagued mayor during the Boston Police strike of 1919, infamous for his reported seduction of an 11-year-old girl named Starr Faithfull.
- Albert Palmer (1883). This little-known mayor ran an ice company at Jamaica Pond and may have lived here.
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Dear Mr. Ruch: Might I gently suggest you find a term other than “seduction” to describe former Boston Mayor Andrew Peters’ relationship with his 11-year-old cousin Starr Faithfull? No doubt you but reproduced a previous generation’s description thought diplomatic at the time, but as a modern newspaper, plain labelling would be less confusing and far more accurate: the act was “rape”. It would not even at its best be considered “statutory”rape, as eleven would not have been considered an age to consent even under mediaeval English law. In future, please weigh such wording with a tad more deliberation, as I’m sure the Gazette does not mean to offer an umbrella of excuse for any sort of rape, but especially not in a case where such a crime was committed against a child.
However, plaudits for featuring a brief history of Boston mayors. Thank you for lending an ear.