Boston

During Swami Vivekananda’s first visit to the West, he logged over twenty thousand miles traveling by train in America and Canada. About a dozen of his ninety trips were to Boston or required him to pass through Boston. He arrived in Boston for the first time in August 1893 at the railway station.

Boston & Albany Depot (135 Kneeland St)

Mid-August 1893

In the nineteenth century there was a bewildering array of railroad companies, all with their own terminals. A long train journey involved multiple transfers, forcing passengers to use local transport between arrival and departure points. To make matters worse, the economic upheaval known as the Panic of 1893 led to failures and mergers in the railroad industry, but the new joint companies continued using separate terminals. Boston responded by inaugurating the South Station on January 1, 1899, consolidating terminal services for the Boston & Albany, the New York & New England, the Boston & Providence, and the Old Colony Railroads.

After spending about a couple of weeks at the World’s Fair in Chicago, Swami Vivekananda traveled to Boston in the middle of August 1893. In all probability he used a combination of three railroad companies: Michigan Central, New York Central, and Boston & Albany. In a letter to his brother disciples, he mentioned having seen Niagara Falls many times, and the Michigan Central route passed through Niagara Falls, NY. The New York Central tracks ran from Niagara Falls to New York City, via Albany. Swamiji completed the journey by the Boston & Albany.

In 1893, the Boston & Albany Depot was located at the intersection of Kneeland St. and Lincoln St. The site is now occupied by the Reggie Wong Memorial Park at 135 Kneeland St, east of Boston’s Chinatown.

Quincy House Hotel (1 City Hall Square)

Mid-August 1893

After arriving in Boston, Swamiji checked in at the Quincy House Hotel. This was a large hotel less than a mile from the Boston & Albany Terminal. It was operational until 1929. The Boston City Hall Plaza (1 City Hall Sq) now occupies the site where Quincy House once stood.

Within a day or two, Swamiji left Boston for Holliston, MA, at the invitation of author Kate Sanborn. Holliston was on the Boston & Albany line, so he probably departed from the same railway terminal. Had he been looking out the window at the right time, he would have seen the present site of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society (58 Deerfield St).

Hotel Bellevue (17 Beacon St)

(May 7–23, 1894) & (Sept 6–Oct 2, 1894)

Prof. John Henry Wright invited Swamiji to speak at Harvard University in the Spring of 1894. Swamiji arrived on May 6 and stayed with the Professor overnight in Cambridge. The next day he shifted to Hotel Bellevue and remained there until May 23. 

The 1905 ad for the hotel shows the large hotel building built in 1899. Swamiji stayed at the slim 6-story building next to it, which was at 17 Beacon St. This building has not survived unfortunately.

On September 6, Swamiji returned to Boston and stayed once again at Hotel Bellevue. Little is known about this visit, except that he made three side-trips to Melrose to visit D. Evans Caswell, a minister whom he met at Green Acre. Swamiji left Boston on October 2 to stay with Mrs. Bull in Cambridge.

Procopeia Club (45 St. Botolph St)

March 1896

Incessant work was taking a toll on Swamiji’s health, yet he again graced Boston with his presence (March 18–30, 1896) as he was wrapping up his work in America. From New York, in January, he responded to two invitations from the Boston area. The first was from the Graduate Philosophical Club of Harvard University and the second was from the Procopeia Club, the “winter quarters” of the Greenacre Conferences of Eliot, Maine.

There is no certainty about where Swamiji stayed during this period. He addressed two letters c/o the Procopeia Club, Boston, indicating that he stayed there at least a part of the time, but may have also stayed as Mrs. Bull’s guest in Cambridge. His first public engagement after a reception at the Procopeia Club was in Medford where he gave a lecture on 20 March.

The initial arrangement at the Procopeia Club was for four classes and one public talk. However, such large crowds were expected that the Allen Gymnasium across the street at 44 Saint Botolph St. was rented for all five events.

The Allen Gym was opened at this location in 1886 by a Miss Mary E. Allen for the exclusive use of women and children. There were exercise classes for individuals, physical therapy for people recovering from injuries, and a training course for female physical education teachers. Facilities included a large hall for general exercise, as well as an indoor tennis court and bowling alleys. The main hall had a capacity of about 500 persons and presumably a large number of folding chairs. Swamiji’s talks were free and the attendance was so overwhelming that there was only standing room well in advance of the schedule times.

In addition to these events, Swamiji spoke at Harvard University and Mrs. Bull’s parlor, both in Cambridge.

Twentieth Century Club (14 Ashburton Place)

Before leaving Boston, Swamiji addressed the members of the Twentieth Century Club, just around the block from Hotel Bellevue where he stayed in 1894. This event was by invitation only and there was no newspaper report. The site is now occupied by Suffolk University.

Further reading

Marie Louise Burke, Swami Vivekananda in the West: New Discoveries (Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama, 1992), Vol. 1 (1992), 16 - 65; Vol. 2 (1994), 55-78, 180-90; Vol. 4 (1996), 51-104.

Asim Chaudhuri, Swami Vivekananda in America: New Findings (Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama, 2008), Chapter 1 “Massachusetts.”

Research by Joseph Peidle