History

When Dorchester had two tanks

adamg — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 13:41:02 +0000

When the Auto Mile ran along Comm. Ave.

adamg — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:34:23 +0000

Just in time for Presidents' Day, Boston University's posted this photo of one of the many former car dealerships along Comm. Ave.

Via Jenny Mackintosh.

Kevin White's funeral

adamg — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:29:25 +0000

WGBH provides the audio from today's funeral - you can listen to the whole thing or to specific speakers.

You've just won $24 million for being offended by the state seal - so what do you replace it with?

adamg — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:38:48 +0000

The original Massachusetts seal, embedded in the Old State House.

We already have one proposal - a giant hole - but could we do better? What would best represent our fair commonwealth on the state flag, official state letterheads and tie clasps?

Two sides of Kevin White

adamg — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:32:21 +0000

The City of Boston Archives has posted some photos of Kevin White, including one of him talking with John Kenneth Galbraith at a birthday party for Arthur Fiedler in 1977 (as John Silber stares into the distance) and another of him shooting some pool sometime in the early 1970s.

Posted under this Creative Commons license.

Boston does it old school

adamg — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:36:43 +0000

The City of Boston Archives has put up an exhibit of books and photos from the school department archives dating back to 1815.

Also see its photos of Boston schools.

Boston's string of five great mayors

adamg — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:01:16 +0000

Jay Fitzgerald credits our past five mayors - and above all Kevin White - for making Boston what it is today and keeping us from becoming another Detroit or Philadelphia:

Simply put, Kevin White was mayor of Boston at a pivotal point in the city's history, when the city could have easily lurched in either direction, back toward the "old Boston" or forward toward a "new Boston." He chose the latter.

Kevin H. White, dead at 82

adamg — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:05:42 +0000

Photo by Peter E. Lee. Used under this Creative Commons license.

Former Mayor Kevin White died at home tonight, surrounded by his family, Associated Press reports.

In his 16 years in office, "the loner in love with his city" presided over a Boston undergoing dramatic, often painful change, from the rebirth of large parts of downtown to the 1974 busing crisis.

White also famously helped forestall rioting after the death of Martin Luther King by convincing (and paying) James Brown to not cancel a scheduled concert at the Garden the night after King's assassination in 1968 - and by having it shown live on TV. Four years later, he again forestalled rioting by helping to bail out Mick Jagger and Keith Richards after they'd been arrested for a fight at TF Green Airport before a concert at the Garden.

Too many Benedict Arnolds

adamg — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:35:11 +0000

J.L. Bell reports that while the widow of Benedict Arnold died in Uxbridge, she was not the widow of that Benedict Arnold. Seems Benedict was a popular name back then.

Creative re-use of Boston's oldest firehouse

adamg — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 18:21:32 +0000

Anulfo Baez introduces us to Roxbury's Eustis Street firehouse, which, after 40 years of just sitting thee, now serves as the headquarters for Historic Boston, Inc.

Turning to traffic, Kenmore Square is at a complete standstill outbound

adamg — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:17:45 +0000

Kenmore Square, 1928.

Complaints about traffic in Boston are nothing new. Even in the 1920s, news photographer Leslie Jones was capturing local traffic jams - and the accidents that often caused them. Here are some from the Boston Public Library's Leslie Jones collection (click on photos to see larger versions).

In 1924, the SS Leviathan moored at a South Boston pier. People flocked to see it; Jones reported "an angry crowd" of jammed motorists:

When Atlantic Avenue had an el

adamg — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:40:35 +0000

Some photos from the good ol' days, back when there was a direct rail link between South and North stations.

Fans of absurd disasters, of course, recall that the Great Molasses Flood of 1919 took out part of the el on Commercial Street.

Remembering Pearl Harbor

adamg — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 12:26:39 +0000

Boston Maggie reports on the annual commemoration at Faneuil Hall, held yesterday.

This only looks like one of those controversial sweater ads

adamg — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:47:40 +0000

But it's a real photo from Boston political history: Tip O'Neill kissing Louise Day Hicks.

The caption says the kiss came after Hicks lost the race for mayor in 1973, but there was no election for mayor that year (she lost to Kevin White in 1967 and 1971). She did lose a bid to stay in Congress the year before to Joe Moakley, which seems a more likely reason for O'Neill to be kissing her.

Downtown Crossing probably won't be this busy today

adamg — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 15:45:22 +0000

Back in 1921, Leslie Jones captured the scene at Washington and Winter streets - before Easter, not Christmas. If you look at the larger version, you can see where E.B. Horn was and still is.

From the Boston Public Library's street views collection. Posted under this Creative Commons license.