Boston Brahmin

A 1768 illustration of Boston Common in Colonial Boston, home to many Boston Brahmin.

The Boston Brahmins, or Boston elite, are members of Boston's historic upper class.[1] From the late 19th century through the mid-20th century, they were often associated with a cultivated New England accent,[2] Harvard University,[3] Anglicanism,[4] and traditional British-American customs and clothing. Descendants of the earliest English colonists are typically considered to be the most representative of the Boston Brahmins.[5][6] They are considered White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs).[7][8][9]

  1. ^ "[People & Events:] Boston Brahmins". American Experience. PBS/WGBH. Archived from the original on August 17, 2003. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  2. ^ Taylor, Trey (August 8, 2013). "The Rise and Fall of Katharine Hepburn's Fake Accent". The Atlantic. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  3. ^ Rosenbaum, Julia B. (2006). Visions of Belonging: New England Art and the Making of American Identity. Cornell University Press. p. 45. ISBN 9780801444708. By the late nineteenth century, one of the strongest bulwarks of Brahmin power was Harvard University. Statistics underscore the close relationship between Harvard and Boston's upper strata.
  4. ^ Holloran, Peter C. (1989). Boston's Wayward Children: Social Services for Homeless Children, 1830-1930. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. p. 73. ISBN 9780838632970.
  5. ^ Greenwood, Andrea; Greenwood, Andrew (2011). An Introduction to the Unitarian and Universalist Traditions. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 60. ISBN 9781139504539. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  6. ^ Bowers, Andy (March 2004). "What's a Boston Brahmin?". Slate.
  7. ^ Nobles, Gregory H. (2011). Whose American Revolution Was It?: Historians Interpret the Founding. New York University Press. p. 102. ISBN 9780814789124.
  8. ^ O'Connor, Thomas H. (2002). Smart and Sassy: The Strengths of Inner-City Black Girls. Oxford University Press. p. 87. ISBN 9780195121643.
  9. ^ Nobles, Gregory H. (1995). Building A New Boston: Politics and Urban Renewal, 1950-1970. University Press of New England. p. 295. ISBN 9781555532468.