Boston

The Limits of Nonprofit Urban Development in Boston

by Claire Dunning

In Boston, nonprofit agencies became the principal vehicle for redevelopment. While they could empower residents of poor communities to compete for grants and negotiate with city authorities, they couldn't make a deep impact on inequality in the city and let city agencies off the hook for discriminatory policies. 

What Bill Russell's Troubled Relationship with Boston Tells Us about Racism

by Peniel E. Joseph

Russell always insisted on exposing the extent of prejudice and discrimination, and refused to settle for acclaim as an athlete as a substitute for respect as a person. 

Bridget the Grocer and the First American Kennedys

by Neal Thompson

The history of the Irish immigrant Kennedys has long focused on its prominent men. A new book looks to JFK's grandmother Bridget Murphy Kennedy as the foundation of the family and a neglected figure for understanding immigration, urban life, and the changing of American politics.

Two Boston Council Members Propose Reparations Study Commission

The group would examine the history of racism in Boston and its effects on the city’s Black residents.

Education Failed To Be An Equalizer In Boston — A Review Of “The Education Trap”

by Erika M. Kitzmiller

A new book looks at the long history of education reform in Boston and concludes that, as in the 19th century, expecting education to fix the problems of an unequal society is wishful thinking. 

The Night Vietnam Veterans Stormed Bunker Hill

by Elise Lemire

The Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775 was a military defeat for the Continental Army but a coup for morale. In 1971, Vietnam Veterans Against the War won a nonviolent battle at the site for the allegiance of the working class residents of Charlestown. 

A Forgotten Black Founding Father

by Danielle Allen

The figure of Black abolitionist Prince Hall has been discussed for his advocacy for abolition in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but there remains a deeper work of historical reconstruction to understand his connections to family, community and civil society in the founding era. 

Black Women have Shaped Politics in Boston for Centuries

by Kabria Baumgartner

From free speech to educational equity to fair housing, Black women in Boston have been at the front lines of challenging the city's political establishment to live up to ideals of democracy associated with the city. The presumptive mayor-elect Kim Janey will carry on that tradition. 

“A New Jerusalem”–A Review Of The City-State Of Boston

Kristian Price reveiws Mark Peterson's study of Boston from its founding through the mid-19th century, which focuses on the contradiction of the Puritan ideal of a city of moral rectitude and the economic necessity of local merchants' enthusiastic participation in the slave trade. 

The Legacy Of Tunney Lee: Preserving The History Of Boston's Chinatown

An interdisciplinary panel of scholars discusses the contributions of the late MIT urban studies professor Tunney Lee to historic preservation and the relationship of immigrant communities to urban environments.

“Nice White Parents,” “Fiasco,” and America’s Public-School Problem

Two podcasts address controversial aspects of racial integration in schooling, looking at contemporary New York and Boston in the late 1960s and 1970s. 

Faneuil Hall Name Change Needed

by Marty Blatt and David J. Harris

We might well ask whether Peter Faneuil actually paid for the building or whether it was purchased by the lives and freedom of those he transported and sold.

MIT Professor Tunney Lee, an Architect, Urban Planner, and Historian of Chinatown, Dies at 88

“He was great public servant," said former Governor Michael S. Dukakis.

Should the Freedmen’s Memorial Stay or Go?

by Kevin M. Levin

In considering what to do about the emancipation memorial, academic observers would do well to consider the gap between their understanding of a statue's public impact and the way that black residents experience it. 

A Historian Finds Women, Children, and ‘Family History’ at the Boston Massacre

“What happens when we think of this as an event that is populated by women and children as well as just guys with guns?”

Boston’s Black History is American History

by Kevin Levin

We still have a ways to go in reaching beyond the traditional narrative of history in Boston and beyond.

The Spies' Marathon before Patriots Day

by William Lambers

A tale of a spy mission gone wrong and the history behind Patriots' Day. 

Boston Mayor Mary Walsh Proposes Public History Project to Recognize Boston's Long Ties to Slavery

Boston is taking a step toward recognizing the role slavery played at one of its most visited landmarks.

The Direct Line Between Slavery And Racism In Boston

by Janna Malamud Smith

When you live with a false story about your nation’s past ... developing an informed consensus for action becomes extremely difficult.  

This writer decided to write about the year 1721 after he got one of those Fact-a-Day calendars

He was intrigued by the entry noting that in 1721 Boston was hit by a devastating small pox epidemic. (Interview)