The Boston Globe is a vital institution that has served the Boston region through a century and a half of dramatic change. During that time, our newsroom has produced impactful journalism that has chronicled, and in many cases, helped to shape the thriving hub of innovation that we proudly call home. The Boston Globe continues to grow and innovate and we are committed to bringing stories to life in creative and exciting ways. Our legacy demands it; our city requires it.
As we celebrate our 150th Anniversary, we have tremendous gratitude for our history and excitement for the future. To capture this, we turned to Boston’s Poet Laureate, Porsha Olayiwola, to help reflect on our past, convey our mission, and rededicate ourselves to our long future of service.
Her original, commissioned poem, “Portrait of The Boston Globe As Atlas,” explores a range of emotions and issues connected to some of the major stories covered by the Globe over the last 15 decades.
Throughout this momentous year, The Boston Globe found special and unique ways to capture our history through impactful moments, connecting with our audience and sparking important conversations.
“Portrait of The Boston Globe As Atlas,” by Boston’s Poet Laureate, Porsha Olayiwola
some men like to keep the world in the pit
of their palm, a boy beside the psalms
of the pulpit, alms within the reach of the tips
of their fingers. some like to think a body exists
as a check mark, the people as a checkmate,
the city as a check. the politics of living endows
an illness some cannot afford to survive, plasters
a hissing eye and a woman’s fist to the window
of a school bus, means a family can reside
in a home owned by a lord. like land and money,
truth, is also a god. the world is celestial depending
on whose shoulders we sit. truth: the circulation of
newspapers increase during times of war. periled
people need knowing to unfold like a map, need
clarity clear as a marked path toward. truth:
plato’s allegory urges light to be cast onto
our shadows. the truth, then, is a catalyst.
cartography for morphing movement forward.
truth: a writer can rewrite a blushing wound
into a blooming bouquet, convert a disaster
into a display of generosity. truth: a photographer
can humble hunger, capture humility in
homelessness. a child’s dinged birthday banner
can become decorum designed for the opening page.
some experience the world through a filter
of compassion, a lens of latitude. between us is only
the long length of wind. distance can be closed
with an unexpected laugh, a funny review, a new
understanding. the world, like us, is a heavenly body
depending on who shoulders our weight. some
like to keep the cosmos in the pit of their palms, while
others like to keep the earth held in light. beacon
bound to carry. celtic city. cradle of liberty. globe
of giving. this sphere of life. this beautiful resistance,
this service onto community. this evolution of
revolution. duty to excavate, to reshape, to hold,
like Atlas, to say, like a compass: onward.
March 4, 2022: The Official 150th Anniversary
Reminding readers, “You read it right here,” The Boston Globe featured a special 4-page wrap which included the first edition of the Globe, a special letter from owners Linda and John Henry about the importance of local journalism, plus the commissioned poem, “Portrait Of The Boston Globe As Atlas.”
Television: A Visual Journey Through Our History
Experience: Exploring History
In September 2022, we welcomed the Boston community to explore how words and art matter through an immersive experience at Boston’s Seaport. Guests walked through our rich history to reflect on some of the most impactful moments through Porsha’s poem and the Globe’s photojournalism.
Outdoor: A Big Impact
Through compelling outdoor billboards featuring significant imagery from the past 150 years, the Globe connected with our community around Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
For 150 years and more than 50,000 daily editions, the Globe has brought the news home to Boston, tracking great events and small, the heartbreaking and the heartwarming, life and death, war and peace, crimes and consequences, championships won and curses broken, elections and an insurrection, history in depth, history at a sprint. And as long as there is news to chase, and a city to love, we’ll be here.