Boston officially renames Bussey Street in the Arboretum as Flora Way in honor of enslaved woman who lived nearby

The Boston Public Improvement Commission today approved renaming the road that bisects the Arnold Arboretum as Flora Way, to honor a Black woman enslaved by a nearby landowner in the 1700s, the Rename Bussey Street group of Roslindale and Jamaica Plain residents reports.

Roslindale and Jamaica Plain residents began fighting to change the name a couple years ago because while Benjamin Bussey himself may not have owned slaves, he grew rich in the trade of items harvested by enslaved people: Coffee, cotton and sugar.

The new name of the street will go into effect Oct. 25. The next day at 2 p.m., residents and Arboretum and city officials will gather at the Walter Street gate to dedicate the newly named street. The commission's action formally came on a request by the Arboretum and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department - which is leasing the Arboretum's land to Harvard for the next 850 or so years.

In the meantime, the city will notify public-safety departments, local ambulance companies and the companies that run online and GPS mapping systems about the change, Steve Gag and Jerry Mogul of the residents group said..

Flora was among four people enslaved by William Dudley, grandson of one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay colony and a resident of Roxbury, which at the time included what is now Roslindale and Jamaica Plain. After his death in 1743, Flora was listed in probate records as asset of his estate - an "old woman" valued at £40.

The committee and the Arboretum said they were being careful not to demonize Bussey, one of the area's largest philanthropists, whose will bequeathed much of the land that became the Arnold Arboretum. Bussey's memory will remain in the names of Bussey Brook, Bussey Brook Meadow and Bussey Hill. Also keeping his name: The Bussey Bridge - site of one of the worst railroad disasters in American history.

To tell Flora's story, and that of other enslaved people in what was once the town of Roxbury - and to ensure people don't think the new name was because the road cuts through an arboretum, the residents group plans ongoing educational efforts.