Day 276: Fields Corner, Dorchester, Massachusetts
📌APIA Every Day (276) - Situated in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, Fields Corner is a vibrant and bustling historic commercial district located at the intersection of Adams Street and Dorchester Avenue. Throughout the 1980s, Fields Corner became an integral site for the Vietnamese refugee community in Boston. The district was named after two brothers, Enos, and Issac Field, who opened a general store on that corner in the early 19th century.
Dorchester has historically been a site for rich immigrant settlement. First home to Italian, Irish, Polish, and Jewish immigrants, the demographics of Fields Corner drastically changed after World War II due to the city’s urban renewal policies that made way for white flight. By the 1960s and 1970s, Dorchester had become a predominantly Black neighborhood with an influx of Haitian, Dominicans, and Cape Verdean immigrants. Fields Corner and Dorchester at large became a new geography for Black-owned businesses and emerging community organizations that served the new populations living there.
By the late 20th century, rising rents and increasing luxury development in Boston’s Chinatown pushed many Vietnamese refugees to Fields Corner, where they found more affordable housing and business opportunities. Over time, the neighborhood became an economic and cultural hub for the Vietnamese community, supporting businesses, restaurants, and community organizations. Institutions like the Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW) and the Vietnamese American Initiative for Development (VietAID) actively work on anti-displacement efforts to maintain the area's community resources as the neighborhood struggles against threats of gentrification.
On December 11, 2019, the Boston City Council approved a community-led proposal to designate Fields Corner as the Boston Little Saigon Cultural District. The recognition from the city allows the Vietnamese community to create opportunities for the neighborhood’s residents to creatively self-preserve their cultural heritage and rich immigrant histories through local arts and humanities public programs. Fields Corner is home to 75% of all Vietnamese Americans living in the City of Boston. The district houses the country’s first Vietnamese American Community Center located at 42 Charles Street, Dorchester MA. While local efforts have preserved the significance of Fields Corner to the Vietnamese community, broader discussions remain about whether historic preservation practitioners are prepared to recognize these micro-histories as an essential part of American history.
Written by Billy Zeng
LEARN MORE:
VietAID: Vietnamese Americans in Fields Corner
The Lion in Fields Corner: Building a Vietnamese Community in the New Boston
Western New England Law Review: The Rebirth of Fields Corner
UMass Boston: Vietnamese Americans in Massachusetts
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