A People's History of the New Boston

by Jim Vrabel

Although Boston today is a vibrant and thriving city, it was anything but that in the years following World War II. By 1950 it had lost a quarter of its tax base over the previous twenty-five years, and during the 1950s it would lose residents faster than any other major city in the country.

Credit for the city's turnaround since that time is often given to a select group of people, all of them men, all of them white, and most of them well off. In fact, a large group of community activists, many of them women, people of color, and not very well off, were also responsible for creating the Boston so many enjoy today. This book provides a grassroots perspective on the tumultuous 1960s and 1970s, when residents of the city's neighborhoods engaged in an era of activism and protest unprecedented in Boston since the American Revolution.

Using interviews with many of those activists, contemporary news accounts, and historical sources, Jim Vrabel describes the demonstrations, sit-ins, picket lines, boycotts, and contentious negotiations through which residents exerted their influence on the city that was being rebuilt around them. He includes case histories of the fights against urban renewal, highway construction, and airport expansion; for civil rights, school desegregation, and welfare reform; and over Vietnam and busing. He also profiles a diverse group of activists from all over the city, including Ruth Batson, Anna DeFronzo, Moe Gillen, Mel King, Henry Lee, and Paula Oyola. Vrabel tallies the wins and losses of these neighborhood Davids as they took on the Goliaths of the time, including Boston's mayors. He shows how much of the legacy of that activism remains in Boston today.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Urban Planning, Cities, Race, American History, Social Justice

288 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 2014

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reservation Vrabel’s book is a history of neighborhood activism within Boston in the era of “New Boston”, in which the old style patronage politics of “Old Boston” were replaced by technocrats imposing what they thought would be best for the city without generally asking people who lived in the neighborhoods. It goes neighborhood by neighborhood, reviewing the situation in 1960, and generally frames each struggle by what happened to the West End, which was totally destroyed as a place in the name of progress. Boston’s experience was just one piece of the nationwide experience of Urban Renewal, which often served to both displace working class populations and harden segregation even as the urban policy makers sought to make cities more liveable. Vrabel’s work collects these experiences of neighborhoods fighting back, in different ways and against different forces depending on the racial makeup and class of the neighborhood, as Boston became a negotiation between resistance and what could be imposed from the top down. He concludes that they were almost too successful, as now Boston has become more middle class than its previous blue collar character.

[Queen · Rating 5 out of 5]

great overview of activism from about 1949-2009 in Boston - reinforces the need for education about the city's history and hyperlocal politics in order to understand the progress that's been made and how much is left to do, particularly on issues of class and race as the city becomes more expensive to live in

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read on the history of Boston from about 1950-1980. Lots on urban planning, the activist movement, and the terrible history of bussing. Would like to see a 1980-present as the epilogue left me wanting more!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was inspirational and very informative! I loved all of the books the author references to take a deep dive on the topics covered.

[Irwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

4

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a great read for people who are from/live in Boston. In an eminently readable way, Vrabel takes the reader through important history that provides a helpful context in which to understand today's Boston. There were so many names I had heard of but didn't know the full story behind. And my community organizing professor from grad school even makes an appearance! Anyone interested in social change work in Boston should read this.

[Jennifer Campaniolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book enlightened me about the development of Boston from a city that I wasn't around to witness and knew little about to the city that I enjoy today. In large part we have grassroots activists to thank for our livable city. It does make me sad that we aren't a community of activists anymore, despite the fact that inequality still exists (and in some ways is worse, considering the squeezing of the middle class and the evaporation of blue collar jobs, resulting in our current and ever-widening gap between the very-rich and the very-poor.)

[Kevin Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the detailed retelling of the stories of many community struggles in Boston. Having arrived in the city in 1971 to attend school, I lived much of that history. The book really gives a sense of communities not willing to be swept away by the "New." Vrabel leaves out the role of the organized left in these struggles, however, and the omission distorts his view and weakens his explanation of the decline of community activism in the city. No matter, the story that he tells is one that needs to be told...and not forgotten.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my new go-to resource on postwar Boston. It goes far beyond the "Busing was bad, but now we're ok" narrative that has previously dominated the literature. This is a must read for those interested in Boston's history!

[Jeff Dyke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great review of activism through the years in Boston and also the reason behind much of that activism. Plus insight into some city politics and decisions that I wanted to know more about, being a resident myself.

[Andrew Parthum]

A wonderful recent history of Boston.

[Patti Shaughnessy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great resource for modern Boston history. This is the time period that I lived through and it was interesting to go back and look at the time period from a historical lens.