Before the el came down

Entering Boston reflects on the transition from the old to the new Boston, as signaled by the demolition of the Orange Line el through Jamaica Plain and Roxbury, as highlighted through the lens of the photos in Dirty Old Boston:

What photos in Dirty Old Boston also bring back to mind is how many people would gather outside, for one occasion or another. Even the marches for Occupy Boston in 2011 were a far cry from larger turn-outs downtown protesting the Vietnam War, racial inequality in the public schools, or the attempt to remedy inequality through mandatory busing. Before the seventies, Boston also had larger crowds at other events, from Park League baseball and football games to neighborhood parades.