Hey, there! Log in / Register
The pre-yuppie South End
By adamg on Sun, 10/29/2006 - 5:19pm
Madhu goes to a celebration of the life of Eliot Lee, who chronicled, photographed and fought for the South End in the 1980s:
[W]hat struck me were the candid photographs of the South End community with its block parties, colorful wall murals, and bustling activity – noisy Northampton station on the long since demolished Washington Street elevated train - groups of men, young and old, black and white gathering at the corner store to talk for hours. In contrast to today'ss chic restaurants and shops, their working class South End seemed almost menacing with raw energy. We all laughed at the young men with afros and big shirt collars and older men in a uniform of trench coats and brimmed hats ...
Neighborhoods:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Ah, selective nostalgia ...
Hate to break it to you, Madhu, but the South End had yuppies and gentrification in the 1980s. For that matter, it had them the 1970s, as documented in Common Ground.
'Nuther thing to consider: The South End was menacing, real menacing, in some parts.
But the thing is, no one wants to take pictures of yuppies, 'cause they ain't cool, and no one wants to take pictures of the really down-and-out parts of the South End, because you're likely to get punched in the face, and your camera taken away. So these unwelcome parts of the South End are not photographed, not remembered, and not looked back upon with a warm, nostalgic glow by bloggers 20 years down the road ...