P1+Sam+C,+Ashley+D,+Justyn+S,+Deanna+C

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//All Souls: A Family Story From Southie //

//**__Michael Faith Incident__ by Sam Cooper **//  Michael Faith was a white student at South Boston High in 1974 who was stabbed during a conflict. Schools were having difficulty with desegregation and South Boston High, along with “seven other Boston public schools were closed after a new outbreak of racial violence” (“Education: Southie Boils Over”). One of these “outbreaks” of “violence” resulted in the stabbing of Michael Faith. James White, a black student, was arrested while Faith was taken to a hospital for surgery. It remains unclear whether he survived his wounds or not. This incident fueled the rioting at the schools even more as threats towards blacks increased. It came to the point where buses had to be brought to the front of the school to safely take the black students home.



 “Education: Southie Boils Over.” Time, 1974. Web. 5 January 2011.

//**__Irish Immigration To America__ by Sam Cooper **//

 In the 1800s, America saw a massive influx of Irish immigration. 1847 was the first year of the Potato Famine and resulted in thousands of immigrants arriving at the shores of America. Boston was particularly affected by this change and the resettlement of Irish immigrants was an arduous process. Many could not afford the everyday luxuries of comfortable living and resorted to “[settling] into the gardens, back yards and alleys surrounding the house, living in wooden shacks” (“Gone To America”). These flimsy “wooden shacks” and poor living conditions in “alleys” resulted in a large Irish slum in Boston. Because of the poor sanitation in these slums, many Irish children had a life expectancy of less than six years. The intense competition for jobs led to a deep resentment for Irish immigrants, who would work for much less than other citizens. It wasn’t until John F. Kennedy, whose great-grandfather had been one of the thousands of Irish immigrants in 1849, was elected into office in 1960 that the Irish community was able to be fully accepted into the American society.



 “Gone To America.” The History Place, 2000. Web. 6 January 2011.

//__**Old Colony Housing Project **__**by Sam Cooper **//

The Old Colony Housing Project came to be in the late 1930s as an inexpensive way of living for lower-income families. It was one of four housing sites chosen for this purpose. Its construction was largely looked upon with favor because it would give much-needed labor jobs. This was the time period right after the Great Depression, so labor jobs were very important. However, a majority of the housing projects were in poor condition and “92 % of the dwelling places had no central heating, 47% had no hot water and 20% had no bathrooms in the unit but shared communal toilets” (Heath). These “communal” settings lacked “central heating” and “hot water” because they were made to house a large amount of people for very cheap. Because South Boston had a harbor nearby, many of the residents of this housing project were day-laborers (low class). Life in these projects was very difficult and overcrowding was often a problem.



Heath, Richard. “Bromley-Heath Public Housing Development History.” Jamaica Plain Historical Society, 2005. Web. 6 January 2011.

__//**Ray Flynn **//__//** by **////**Sam Cooper **//

Ray Flynn first rose in the public eye of Boston in 1971. He was a Democratic House Representative until 1979, serving all throughout the busing crisis of the 70s. He was also a member of the Boston City Council from 1978 to 1984. In 1983, he successfully ran for Mayor of Boston. He was well liked by the public and as a result, “he was reelected in 1987 and again in 1991” (“Raymond Flynn”). Flynn was a beloved public figure, which is why he was “reelected” so many times. He was especially popular with the Irish immigrants because of his strong Catholic roots. In 2007, he was the Grand Marshall of New York’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade.



<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">“Raymond Flynn.” Wikipedia, 2 January 2011. Web. 6 January 2011.

//**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Busing of 1974__ by Ashley Dryden **// <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Throughout the mid-1900s, Boston had problems with segregation in housing patterns and schools. Students were assigned to certain school because of the place they lived in, or possibly because of their skin color. In summer of 1974, parents followed along by a judge said that all students should be bused together to rid of segregation, both black and white. However, some parents didn’t agree with this; they believed that this would harm their children. "Much of the resistance to busing was rooted in a fear of [black] crime, a conviction that young blacks were bent on mayhem and pillage against any whites who crossed their paths” (Cozzens). When the blacks would arrive to schools they would be greeted with yelling and fights and white protesting against them. They believed that they were there to hurt their children and not really solve the problem with segregation. This problem went on for a while longer after that happened.



<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Cozzens, Lisa. "School Integration (1955-1975)" African American History. http://fledge.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/citing.html (25 May 1998).

//**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Dorchester__ by Ashley Dryden **// <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Dorchester is a part of Boston, Massachusettes. It was named from the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, which the Puritans emigrated. Currently it is nicknamed “Dot” because of its residents. The Dorchester community mainly consisted of Latinos and African Americans, not so many whites. “Dorchester was also a center of civil rights activism” (Wikipedia). It was such a hit place for civil rights activism that people such as Martin Luther King Jr. would visit there and try to cure the country of being racist to one another based on their skin color. Because of this town the White Rabbit Inn incident occurred. Not really anybody seemed to not like the idea of becoming equal with somebody of a different race or culture while living in this town. As of today though, Dorchester is now known as Southie, for south Boston.



<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wikipedia. Dorchester, Boston. 6 Jan. 2011. Web.

//**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Southie__ by Ashley Dryden **// <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Southie is also known as South Boston and is located in Massachusetts. Before the name Southie, it was formally known as Dorchester Neck. Southie was a part of the Dorchester Neck, and used to be called that by its residents. Landfill however, enlarged the isthmus. As of today though, it is now known as Southie. South Boston looks and seems like a very run down place. However, it is very dense and populated with neighborhoods and Irish class people. “South Boston is well-known for being a working class Irish-American neighborhood” (Wikipedia). Because of the high Irish being in Southie, it has caused many mobs to take place which led to high crime. Television shows, books, video games and films have been places around Southie, which depict the typical Irish mob.



<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wikipedia. South Boston. 6 Jan. 2011. Web

__//**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Michael Patrick MacDonald by: **//__//**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> DeAnna Clark **//

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Michael Patrick MacDonald is an irish-American activist against crime and violence. He founded the South Boston Vigil Group. It works with survivor families and young people in Boston's gun-buyback program. He is the author of All Souls. "MacDonald won the American Book Award in 2000." (http://www.michaelpatrickmacdonald.com/ ). Because of his background, he was inspired to write All Souls after losing his siblings. He saw his generation dwindle because of the poverty addiction and crime. He continues to work for social change nationally. Dieboll, Erin. "Michael Patrick MacDonald." //Michael Patrick MacDonald : Author of All Souls and Easter Rising//. 2009. Web. 06 Jan. 2011



__//**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Mattapan by **//__//**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">DeAnna Clark **//

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> First started as the Native American Mattahunt Tribe once lived mattapan in the early 1600's. Since then a diverse population of Irish, Jewish, and Haitian immigrants has settled there in large numbers. In recent times, Mattapan's population is made up of African Americans and immigrants from the Caribbean. During the 1960's-1970s Mattapan went through a major change on who consisted of the population. The real estate would swindle the people making sure they could not afford a house. "According to Levine and Harmon, the reason behind this orchestrated attack on the community was to lower market values to buy property, sell the housing with federally guaranteed loans at inflated prices to black families who could not afford it" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattapan). By jacking the prices up so the families could not afford a loan, the white population could go in and buy the property. Today, the main population are people who have immigrated from Caribbean countries. wikipedia.Mattahunt.06.1.2010.Web.

__//**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Rabbit Inn by Deanna Clark **//__

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> On October 4th, someone threw a brick wall through the window of a TPF cruiser. The police chased the suspects in the car into a bar called The Rabbit Inn. When the police were trying to catch the people, the owners of the bar were trying to protect the suspects. "TPF members entered the Rabbit Inn and began beating patrons and vandalizing the inside of the bar." (Desegregation in Boston and Buffalo 139). TPF went into the bar to beat and destroy it just because the owners were trying to protect the suspects. Boston Police Department would not answer any comments about the incident and proceeded to say no such thing happened. Taylor, Steven J.L. //Desegregation in Boston and Buffalo: the Influence of Local Leaders//. Albany, NY: State University of New York, 1998. Print.

Irish Mob The Irish Mob is the oldest crime group. It existed ever since the 19th century, the Irish Mob originated in Irish American street gangs. The mob was spotted in most American cities such as, Boston, New York, and New Orleans. There was a book that was based on the Irish Mob called, The Gangs of New York, by Herbert Asbury. Jha states, “Some of the. mob gangs like 'The Westies' were quite notorious for causing mayhem on the streets of New York's Hell's Kitchen district” (Associated content). The Irish Mob did nothing but make problems around the major cities in America. Whitney Bulger was the most dangerous mobster that walked the Boston streets. Roxbury It was originally a village then it was a city and it is now a suburb of Boston. “Social issues and the urban renewal programs of the 1960s and 1970s contributed to a decline in the neighborhood” Roxbury started out as a village for the English settlers. As time went on, Roxbury started to grow into a city and became one in 1846. Irish, English, and German immigrants made up most of Roxbury until the 1900’s when African-Americans moved to Roxbury.

Whitey Bulger Whitey Bulger: James Joseph Bulger Jr. was born on September 3rd, 1929, in Dorchester, Massachusetts to James Joseph Bulger Sr. and Jean McCarthy. James Joseph Bulger Jr. also known as Whitey Bulger is a fugitive and the alleged leader of the Winter Hill Gang located in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1999, Whitey became the 458th person added to FBI and the top ten-wanted fugitive list. Whitey is wanted for racketeering, murder, extortion, distribution of narcotics, and money laundering. Whitey is wanted across the United States for counts of 19 murders, but for 12 years the FBI has not been able to catch Whitey. Police departments across the United States have received calls about Whitey, "I’d never been asked that before. I was taking a call from San Diego about Whitey Bulger. I’m pretty sure it’s him” (The Boston Phoenix).

National Boycott Day The residents of southie declared the fourth of October to be National boycott day. Flynn and Hicks also started efforts to start an all white private academy called Segregation Academy. Hundreds of white men volunteered to do street duty sing their role as marshals to challenge the police. The day ended in boycott of department stores and soon after vandals threw torches into the store window to provoke the opposition. Along with the vandalism, the citizens trashed the local Constitution Gift Shop.