Boston, Massachusetts

The Boston you know is worth writing down

Boston is full of famous places, but your Boston is the one you actually lived in. The streets you walked and the people you met there make a story no guidebook holds.

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Try it free for 7 days. Only you can see your record. Never public or searchable.

Along the Freedom Trail, what happened to you that no guidebook would ever mention?

Boston turns ordinary people into part of a bigger story, and your part may be a triple-decker, a bus route or a neighbor who looked out for you. Plain words are perfect for telling it. Should you choose Archive Membership, the people you name can ask a guide what you said about any of it, and it will answer only with your own quoted words.

Only you can see your answers while you live.

Built with care

Your words, unchanged
What you write is stored as you wrote it, with the date, and never rewritten.
A gentle pause
Your record waits at least 6 months before anyone you named receives it.
Nothing to perform
No camera, no microphone. Type, or speak with your own device's dictation.
Yours to change
Edit an answer, remove one, or change who receives your record at any time.

From first answer to the people you love

It takes a few minutes a day, at any age.

Begin with one answer
You do not need a plan. Start with today's question and see where it leads.
Watch it become a record
Over months and years, your answers become a picture of how you think.
Leave it in good hands
With Archive Membership, the people you name can also ask a guide about your words.

Boston, Massachusetts

Your Boston, in your own words

Old streets, your own footsteps

The Freedom Trail begins on Boston Common, land the townspeople voted to buy as a shared common back in 1634. In the North End, the Paul Revere House has stood since about 1680. You may have passed these places a thousand times on the way to somewhere else. Think about what you were doing there. A first date on the Common, a pastry after work, a parade you watched from a friend's shoulders. Those moments belong to you, and they make the city's history feel close and human.

A harbor city at heart

On December 16, 1773, a crowd packed the Old South Meeting House, and that night the tea on the ships at Griffin's Wharf was destroyed. Boston has a way of turning ordinary people into part of a bigger story. Your part might be quieter: the triple-decker you grew up in, the bus route you knew by heart, the neighbor who looked out for you. Tell it anyway. The people who come after you will want to know what this city felt like through your eyes.

Your city, in your words

Neighborhoods change. Shops close, new buildings rise, and the way people talk shifts a little every year. Your memories hold a version of Boston that only you can describe. Maybe it is the sound of a ballgame on the radio on a summer night, or a long winter when the snow piled up past the windows. Write it the way you would say it to a good friend. Plain words are perfect, and every answer you give is saved with its date.

Something to come back to

Not a recording. Your own words, ready to read

Your record is text you wrote yourself. The people you choose can read all of it, and with Archive Membership ask a guide to find the parts they are looking for.

Find a moment
Ask about a place, a year or a person, and see what you said.
See how you changed
Dated answers show how your views grew over time.
Always honest
The guide labels every answer and never guesses.

Massachusetts

If you live in Massachusetts

How we look after your information

Your record is private while you live: nothing in it is public or searchable.
You choose the people who will one day receive it, and you can change them at any time.
If you wish, a copy can one day go to a library or archive through the Historical Deposit.

Your first question is waiting

Each day ToldForward offers one friendly question about your life and your views, and you answer however feels natural. It stays private while you live, and you name the people who will one day receive it.

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