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Excerpt from the Boston Globe, "Silent Salem St", September 30, 1895.
silent salem street
The Initial Law
The North End commercial district was home to more than 12,000 Hebrew tenants and shopkeepers, who from closed sundown Friday to sundown Saturday to observe the Jewish Sabbath. A law passed in September of 1895 effectively declared "If you are seen in your stores with the evident intent to do business, you will be arrested". According to Mr. Koppleman, an ocean steamship ticket seller who set up shop in the neighborhood, argued that the trade on Salem Street reached about $15,000,000 annually, and was a large contributor to the prosperity of Boston as a whole. On the first Sunday of the law, most every shop in the neighborhood was closed, shopkeepers stationed at their doors to turn away potential customers.
Response in the Jewish Community
According to "Asking Justice", published in the October 1, 1895 edition of the Boston Globe, hundreds of Jewish shopkeepers met at the Baldwin Place Synagogue to discuss a course of action against this new law- as these shopkeepers had to remain closed for the entire weekend each week, and Sundays were typically their most lucrative days of business, this new law could be incredibly detrimental. A committee of 20 members of the Jewish community was elected to represent the neighborhood as a whole, and protest the constitutionality of this new law. “It was not a meeting of nationalists, socialists or anarchists of this country, but a gathering of honest, liberty-loving, conscientious toilers, who felt that an injustice was being done them and that it was their right to protest against it.” The official plan established by the committee was to obey the law on Sundays while preparing a legal case against the passage of the law.
Salem Street was then quiet on Sunday mornings, but would slowly fill with residents of the neighborhood, congregating to discuss the new law and formulate a plan of action. Police would patrol the area, in uniforms and undercover, to enforce the law. As time passed, more and more shopkeepers began risking keeping their shops open, or attempting to conduct business discreetly, resulting in fines to be paid to the city. The Jewish community continued to rally and combat the new legislation. This fight was taken up by Representative Samuel H. Borofsky, who maintained the original plan that the community should obey the law while a legislative battle was fought.
Borofsky Bill
The letter of the law dictated that people of the Jewish faith, or any other faiths who did not observe Sunday as their Sabbath, would be permitted to conduct business so long that it did not disturb those who do observe Sunday as their Sabbath. It was this technicality that contributed to the debates regarding the law. The Borofsky Bill was posed in April 1901, which after much debate, was passed in the House on April 16, 1901, resulting in a joyous outcry from the Jewish community gathered to hear the ruling.
This controversy attracted dissenters, who claimed that "A religion that asks for unfair government support is unworthy." Politicians and Bostonians alike complained about the Jewish community asking for special treatment in light of the new law. Concerned Christians referenced the sinful nature of requesting to do business on a Sunday. In May of 1901, the Borofsky Bill was brought to the Senate, and was promptly rejected in a vote of 21-6.
After the Borofsky Bill
By 1905, the law had not been lifted. However, the people of Salem Street were not quieted. People could not gather in shops, so they congregated in streets and on sidewalks. Well dressed men would come from across the city and from within the neighborhood to socialize. There was suspicion that these men would have conversations regarding future business transactions, which technically disobeyed the law, yet police acknowledged that they were unable to prevent these conversations from taking place, so they would allow these people to chat. Due to this interesting, secretive and social dynamic, people from out of town would come to see what took place on Salem Street on Sundays.
While this law hit many small shopkeepers in the neighborhood hard economically, it pulled the community together to fight this legislation. By this image, taken from the August 7, 1905 edition of the Boston Globe, one can see Salem Street remained as vibrant as ever.
References
"A Religion That Needs or Asks Unfair Government Support is Unworthy." Boston Daily Globe, Apr 27, 1901. https://access-newspaperarchive- com.ezproxy.bpl.org/us/massachusetts/boston/boston-daily-globe/1901/04-27/page-6/borofsky-bill? pc=3091&psi=50&pci=7&ndt=bd&pd=1&pm=1&py=1831&pe=31&pem=12&pey=1945
"ASKING JUSTICE.: HEBREWS PROTEST AGAINST SUNDAY CLOSING. SEVERAL HUNDRED MEET TO PLAN FOR FUTURE ACTION. COMMITTEE IS NAMED TO TAKE NECESSARY STEPS. POLICE COMMISSIONERS ARE TO RECEIVE A CALL. POWER OF THE BALLOT ONE OF THE FORCES INVOKED. UPHOLD THE POLICE SALEM ST HEBREWS WHO BELIEVE IN CLOSING STORES ON SUNDAY." Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Oct 01, 1895. https://holycross.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=cas&url=https://www-proquest-com.holycross.idm.oclc.org/historical-newspapers/asking- justice/docview/498277507/se-2?accountid=11456.
"BOROFSKY BILL OPPOSED." Boston Post, April 24, 1901. https://access-newspaperarchive-com.ezproxy.bpl.org/us/massachusetts/boston/boston- post/1901/04-24/page-2/borofsky-bill?pc=3091&psi=50&pci=7&ndt=bd&pd=1&pm=1&py=1831&pe=31&pem=12&pey=1945
"BOSTON'S GHETTO ON A PLEASANT SUNDAY.: CLOSING OF THE SALEM ST SHOPS HAS WROUGHT A BIG CHANGE- THRONGS ON SIDEWALK AND STREET." Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Aug 07, 1905. https://holycross.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=cas&url=https://www-proquest- com.holycross.idm.oclc.org/historical-newspapers/bostons-ghetto-on-pleasant-sunday/docview/500441771/se-2?accountid=11456.
"BUSINESS ON SALEM ST.: IT WAS CONDUCTED YESTERDAY, BUT ON A LIMITED SCALE." Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Sep 17, 1900. https://holycross.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=cas&url=https://www-proquest-com.holycross.idm.oclc.org/historical-newspapers/business-on-salem- st/docview/499382063/se-2?accountid=11456.
"CAME TO CONDOLE.: HEBREWS TALK ABOUT THE BOROFSKY BILL. GROUPS GATHER IN THE STREETS AND ARE MOURNFUL. SMALLER STOREKEEPERS THE HARDEST HIT. MR BOROFSKY PUTS MATTER IN RIGHT LIGHT. REVIEWS LEGISLATION REGARDING SEVENTH DAY WORK. IN ITS PROPER LIGHT." ENJOYED 75 YEARS. SPY SYSTEM. ABOUT COMPETITION." Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Apr 15, 1901. https://holycross.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=cas&url=https://www-proquest-com.holycross.idm.oclc.org/historical-newspapers/came- condole/docview/499468770/se-2?accountid=11456.
"CLOSING SHOPS ON SUNDAY.: JEWISH RESIDENTS OF THE NORTH END DIS- PLEASED WITH CONDITIONS-SIX BARBERS WILL BE BROUGHT INTO COURT." Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Jun 25, 1900. https://holycross.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=cas&url=https://www-proquest- com.holycross.idm.oclc.org/historical-newspapers/closing-shops-on-sunday/docview/499348239/se-2?accountid=11456.
"DEADLY SENATE. KILLED THE BOROFSKY BILL AFTER SHARP DEBATE. SULLIVAN ONLY SENATOR WHO SPOKE IN FAVOR OF THE MEASURE." Boston Daily Globe, May 30, 1901. https://access-newspaperarchive-com.ezproxy.bpl.org/us/massachusetts/boston/boston-daily-globe/1901/05- 30/page-6/borofsky-bill?page=4&pc=3091&psi=50&pci=7&ndt=by&py=1900&pey=1945
"Hebrews Disappointed." Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Apr 14, 1901. https://holycross.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=cas&url=https://www-proquest- com.holycross.idm.oclc.org/historical-newspapers/hebrews-disappointed/docview/499469189/se-2?accountid=11456.
"JEWISH DAY." Boston Daily Globe, Apr 16, 1901. https://access-newspaperarchive-com.ezproxy.bpl.org/us/massachusetts/boston/boston-daily- globe/1901/04-27/page-6/borofsky-bill?pc=3091&psi=50&pci=7&ndt=bd&pd=1&pm=1&py=1831&pe=31&pem=12&pey=1945
"ORTHODOX HEBREWS TO FIGHT.: STOREKEEPERS OF THE NORTH END DECIDE TO CONTEST THE POLICE ORDER TO CLOSE THEIR PLACES ON SUNDAY." Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Aug 04, 1900. https://holycross.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=cas&url=https://www-proquest- com.holycross.idm.oclc.org/historical-newspapers/orthodox-hebrews-fight/docview/499370791/se-2?accountid=11456.
"SALEM ST STORES CLOSED.: SOME OF THE HEBREW MERCHANTS, HOWEVER, DID BUSINESS DURING THE DAY UNDER PRECAUTIONS OF AN ELABORATE NATURE." Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Sep 10, 1900. https://holycross.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=cas&url=https://www- proquest-com.holycross.idm.oclc.org/historical-newspapers/salem-st-stores-closed/docview/499379960/se-2?accountid=11456.
"SHOPS WERE OPEN.: EXPECTED RAID ON SALEM ST DID NOT TAKE PLACE. IN THE AFTERNOON THE HEBREWS DID BUSINESS AS USUAL. MEETING TO BRING ABOUT A CHANGE IN THE LAW. CHINESE LAUNDRIES CLOSED BY THE POLICE. ORDERS FROM HEADQUARTERS WERE STRICTLY ENFORCED. CHINESE LAUNDRIES CLOSED. NEW LAW WAS STRICTLY ENFORCED YESTERDAY--SOME PERSONS COULD NOT OBTAIN THEIR COLLARS." Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Aug 06, 1900. https://holycross.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=cas&url=https://www-proquest- com.holycross.idm.oclc.org/historical-newspapers/shops-were-open/docview/499365696/se-2?accountid=11456.
"SILENT SALEM ST.: JEWS OBEY POLICE EDICT OF CLOSING. DOLLARS WALKED RIGHT PAST THE DOORS, UNCORRALLED. NO ONE "DISTURBED" BY A HEBREW SALESMAN. ONE STORE REMAINED OPEN, OUT WAS NOT THRONGED. "WAIT UNTIL NEXT SUNDAY" LAST WORD OF A KOPPLEMAN." Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Sep 30, 1895. https://holycross.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=cas&url=https://www-proquest- com.holycross.idm.oclc.org/historical-newspapers/silent-salem-st/docview/498247130/se-2?accountid=11456.
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