AP+P2+2014-15++Old+Colony+Housing+Project

Old Colony Housing Project Aim - Emmalee Mauldin Located in South Boston, Massachusetts, the Old Colony Housing Project was built for those living with a low-income. In the 1940’s, these citizens consisted of the poor Catholic Irish-American immigrants, among other European immigrants, who have just travelled to America. It is stated that, “Old Colony was known as the poorest concentration of whites in the nation” (Brooks 1). However, there was also a large community of African-Americans living right across from the Colony, who were trying to make a living for themselves right in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement. Because of this clash of races and ideology, “those tensions between blacks and whites were only accented by the actual physical structures of Old Colony” (Brooks 1). The housing development was built to house low-income residents. It provided the residents with a place to live that was warmth, which is especially important in the wintertime when it was cold and snowing. The community also brought together families who had similar backgrounds and needed support from people who are going through the same obstacles. For many families, the Old Colony Housing Project was a safe haven and protected them from going deeper into poverty.

Audience - Sophia Phillips


The Old Colony Housing Project created a unique experience for the typical poor Catholic Irish-American whites living in South Boston. Just 16.7 acres housing over 800 housing units, the land is described to be “always clean [and] barren, with patches of grass scatter here and there, but mostly just plain dirt, inexplicably blocked off by chain-link fences and dumpsters all over the place. If you wanted to see living proof of the failure of our country’s public housing policy, here it was” (Keith). Indeed, housing in Old Colony was fit only for the poorest of the poor, reflecting the treatment and care that was expended on those groups. The country (or at least Massachusetts) created an atmosphere in which Old Colony and its residents were oppressed and effectively cast off from the rest of society, as nobody else lived in the conditions that they did but they were also economically underprivileged to the point of being unable to leave. It is then surprising that even though “Old Colony was known as the poorest concentration of whites in the nation, MacDonald said his family didn’t see themselves that way… ‘The way housing projects were — these labyrinthian mazes — made them inward-looking’” (Brooks). To the people living in Old Colony, life was a double-edged sword; one one hand, the compact, almost removed nature of the area created a tight-knit culture - often revolving around religion - between its residents. However, this also made it nearly impossible to escape the poverty, drugs, suicide, and lack of quality education that defines South Boston. Thus, living in Old Colony perpetuated the danger and substandard financial lives that its inhabitants experienced. To the rest of the country, the daily events in Old Colony would be shocking, repulsive, and unjust, but to those living there, it was unquestionably the ups and downs associated with life.

Cultural - Sabrina Schmidt


The cultural factors of the area in South Boston Massachusetts included many lower class men and women. According to the author of “All Souls: A Family Story From Southie,” “culture of criminal silence, gangs, drugs and addiction” were all experiences of the inhabitants (MacDonald). Many black and white families were in poverty, the tension between them was high since blacks were made fun of due to their low class status, so when white families were poor this caused a divide between not just races but class rank. For instance, there was an obvious split due to poverty, this caused the high school in the area to have the lowest percentage of of students graduating and also going to college because overall the majority were at the poverty level. The Old Housing Project was created to provide the communities with a more external look. Also stated by MacDonald was, ““It’s admirable that that’s the direction of building here, but there are a lot of deep problems here still to this day that have to do with poverty, that have to do with addiction and so forth, that can’t be fixed by architecture”. Thus describing that despite the changes this project commenced, the cultural aspect of this area hasn’t substantially been altered because of the poverty level. Since many new races live in the area this creates a very diverse culture, which is a positive outlook on its situation, however it also caused many negative incidents with its racial variation.

Historical - Lauren Letarte
== The Old Colony Housing Project began in South Boston was created in the mid twentieth century. It was created in order to provide housing for very low income residence. It housed hundreds of family throughout the 20th century, many who were living off of welfare at the time. Interestingly, Michael Patrick MacDonald explains, “ We didn’t think of ourselves as poor. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I started to realize that” (MacDonald). Together, as a whole, the community within the Old Colony Housing Project made up of families who were on similar financial levels. However, the community was made up with drugs and gang members, making it hard for many to escape poverty and this influence. During this time period, furthermore, racism was an extreme issue throughout the nation. Communities from the Old Colony Housing Project, being a white community, were all living off of food stamps, but continued to make fun of black communities in a similar financial position. Overall, the Old Colony Housing Project housed hundreds of white families living in poverty, creating a large portion of diverse groups throughout the 1900 culture. ==