Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/292443
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LESLIE JONES W hen Robert Paget created the swan boats in Boston's Public Garden in 1877, he was inspired by the opera Lohengrin, in which a knight journeys to save his heroine in a boat drawn by a swan—which is ironic, because Paget's beloved wife, Julia, was a woman who definitely did not need to be rescued. When Robert passed away just a year after launching the first swan boats, Julia, a 30 -year-old Irish immigrant with no financial or family support in Boston, bucked the traditions of her era and started running the company herself. It wasn't easy. Because she was a woman, she had to collect signatures from local businessmen testifying that she was mentally fit for the responsibility and file a new permit with the city annually—bureaucratic hurdles she had to jump over for years—on top of juggling the business while raising four young children. Julia's great-granddaughter Lyn Paget, who has preserved much of the family's history, is certain that Julia kept her hands firmly on the reins. "She could have chosen a less stressful life, even hired someone to run the swan boats," says Lyn. "But it's very clear she stayed in charge." Did Julia consider herself a feminist? "She was running her own business 42 years before women had the right to vote. Was she active in the movement? I doubt it," Lyn says, even though Susan B. Anthony was spearheading the women's suffrage movement around the same time. Perhaps Julia was too busy overseeing repairs, hiring crew, handling the books, and wrangling her kids to think about politics. She was a trailblazer none- theless, and in August 2011 she was added to the Boston Women's Heritage Trail, alongside such lofty ladies as Emily Dickinson and Louisa May Alcott. Thanks to her determination the swan boats prospered, and the Paget family still operates them to this day. As warm weather beckons you to take a ride on the Public Garden waters, remember that behind each elegant swan boat is the story of one of Boston's toughest women. BC Fledgling Business DESPITE BUREAUCRACY AND SKEPTICISM, JULIA PAGET SINGLEHANDEDLY RAN BOSTON'S SWAN BOATS DECADES BEFORE WOMEN HAD THE RIGHT TO VOTE. BY JENNIFER DEMERITT Members of the Women's Naval Reserve ride in a swan boat in the Public Garden in 1932. 8 BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM F ront Runners 008_BC_FOB_FR_LateSpring14.indd 8 4/4/14 9:54 AM