Capturing the stories of Haymarket

For nearly 200 years, New Englanders have gathered to buy and sell fruits, vegetables, and other edible goods at Haymarket in downtown Boston. With increased interest in local food culture, the time is right to capture and celebrate the history of the open-air marketplace.

Historic New England and photographer Justin Goodstein partnered with the Haymarket Pushcart Association to document the stories of the people who work and shop at Haymarket, as part of our Everyone’s History series.

Over the course of a year, we collected oral history interviews with and shot black-and-white photographs of vendors and customers. Alyssa “Sina” Chhim described her emigration from Cambodia to Connecticut in 1980, and how a chance meeting led to her job at Haymarket. Butcher Salim Marhamo explained how his business resembles market stalls in his native Lebanon.

The Haymarket Project debuted as a four-part video series beginning in 2013, but this year you can experience the project in a number of different ways:

• Haymarket, the Soul of the City, an exhibition of Goodstein’s photographs, is on view at the Adams Galley at Suffolk University in Boston through August 30. Read the Boston Globe review.
• Haymarket, a documentary film, premieres along with a panel discussion at Suffolk’s Modern Theatre on July 8. 
• Ken Turino, manager of community engagement and exhibitions for Historic New England, leads special Taste of Haymarket tours on June 26, July 10, and September 11. 
• Arcadia Publishing will publish a new book, the first devoted to the history of Haymarket, featuring Haymarket Project photographs and interviews this fall.

Experience Haymarket all summer long.

Watch the latest Haymarket Project video: