Archives and Special Collections
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Boston, MA 02115
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Archives and Special Collections Finding Aids

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Collection Overview
Title:James W. Fraser (collector) photograph collection
Dates:1905-1976 (bulk 1974-1976)
Location:65/4
Call Number:M66
Volume:0.6 cubic ft. (2 boxes)
Scope and Content Abstract:The collection comprises 86 black and white photographs dating from 1905 to 1976, bulk dates 1974-1976. The collection documents the people involved in and affected by Judge Garrity's 1974 decision to desegregate Boston public schools by means of forced busing. It also documents events and reactions to those events surrounding public school integration in Hyde Park, Charlestown, and South Boston in the mid-1970s. Most of the photographs depict anti-busing protests and marches, parents demonstrating around Boston, and police. There are images of students in class and outside Hyde Park, Charlestown, and South Boston High Schools. There are also four photographs of Boston school buildings, 1905-1954. Most of the photographs are copyrighted by the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, or the Associated Press (AP) Wire, and many of the photographs were published. A number of photographers took the photographs, including Mike Andersen, Kevin Cole, Ted Dully, Stanley Forman, Frank Hill, Ray Lussier, Roland Oxton, Leo Renahan, and M. Leo Tierney.
Historical Abstract:In June 1974, Judge W. Arthur Garrity, Jr. found the Boston School Committee guilty of willful segregation and called for forced busing of students from Roxbury and other predominantly African-American neighborhoods, to predominantly white schools, including Hyde Park, South Boston, and Charlestown High Schools. Before the ruling, students were assigned to schools based on where they lived. As a result, schools were segregated based on the population of the students in the area. While in many schools the integration process went relatively smoothly, in Hyde Park, Charlestown, and South Boston, Garrity's integration plan resulted in anti-busing rallies and marches, as well as incidences of violence. In October 1974, after African-American students reacted violently to the stabbing of Andre Yvon Jean-Louis, Massachusetts Governor Francis W. Sargent called in the National Guard. School boycotts, anti-busing marches, and violence continued. James W. Fraser is Professor and Dean of the School of Education and Director of the Center for Innovation in Urban Education at Northeastern University. He was a bus monitor and rode the buses the first day of the desegregation of Boston public schools in 1974.
Arrangement:Arranged in one chronological sequence.
Subjects and Contributors:
  • Andersen, Mike
  • Cole, Kevin
  • Dully, Ted
  • Forman, Stanley
  • Hill, Frank
  • Lussier, Ray
  • Oxton, Roland
  • Renahan, Leo
  • Tierney, M. Leo

  • Charlestown High School (Boston, Mass.)
  • Hyde Park High School (Boston, Mass.)
  • South Boston High School (Boston, Mass.)

  • Activists--American--Massachusetts--Boston.
  • African Americans--Education.
  • Boston (Mass.)--Race relations.
  • Busing (School integration)--Massachusetts--Boston.
  • Busing for school integration--Law and legislation--United States.
  • Busing for school integration--Massachusetts--Boston.
  • Demonstrations--Massachusetts--Boston.
  • Photojournalism--Massachusetts--Boston.
  • Riots--Massachusetts--Boston.
  • School children--Transportation--Massachusetts--Boston.
  • School integration--Massachusetts--Boston.
  • Segregation in education--Massachusetts--Boston.
Restrictions:To publish material from this collection, please see the University Archivist; permission must be obtained from the Boston Globe, the Herald, or the Wide World Photo Library.
Related Materials:

Processor:Finding aid prepared by Michael Blech, November 2001

Scope and Content Note

The collection comprises 86 black and white photographs from 1905 to 1976. The bulk of the photographs are from 1974 to 1976. The collection documents the people involved and affected by Judge Garrity's 1974 decision to desegregate Boston public schools by means of forced busing. It also documents events and reactions surrounding public school integration in Hyde Park, South Boston, and Charlestown in the mid-1970s. Most of the photographs depict anti-busing protests and marches, parents demonstrating around Boston and in Washington, D.C., and police. There are images of students in class and outside Hyde Park, Charlestown, and South Boston High Schools. There are also four photographs of Boston school buildings from 1905 to 1954.

The collection is arranged chronologically. Most of these photographs are copyrighted by the Boston Globe, the Herald, or the Associated Press (AP) Wire, and many of them were published. The titles used in the description below are taken or paraphrased from the original photograph captions. The photographers represented include Mike Andersen, Kevin Cole, Ted Dully, Stanley Forman, Frank Hill, Ray Lussier, Roland Oxton, Leo Renahan, and M. Leo Tierney.

Historical Note

James W. Fraser is Professor and Dean of the School of Education and Director of the Center for Innovation in Urban Education at Northeastern University. He has been involved with Boston public schools since 1974 and has written about policy and the history of education, Boston schools, and religion and public education. He holds a bachelor's degree in American history, an MDiv, and a Ph.D. in the history of American education. Before joining Northeastern University, Fraser was a faculty member and the Dean of Educational Studies and Public Policy at Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He also was a bus monitor and rode the buses the first day of the desegregation of Boston public schools in 1974.

In June 1974, Judge W. Arthur Garrity, Jr. found the Boston School Committee guilty of willful segregation and called for forced busing of African-American students from Roxbury and other predominantly African-American neighborhoods, to predominantly white schools, including Hyde Park, South Boston, and Charlestown High Schools. Before the ruling, students were assigned to schools based on where they lived. As a result, schools were segregated based on the population of the students in the area. While in many schools the integration process went relatively smoothly, in Hyde Park, Charlestown, and South Boston, Garrity's integration plan resulted in anti-busing rallies and marches, as well as incidences of violence. In October 1974, after African-American students reacted violently to the stabbing of Andre Yvon Jean-Louis, Massachusetts Governor Francis W. Sargent called in the National Guard. School boycotts, anti-busing marches, and violence continued.
Chronology
1965Massachusetts passes a law against de facto segregation, the Racial Imbalance Act. It is not enforced.
1974
June 21Judge Garrity finds Boston School Committee guilty of willful segregation.
Sept. 9Restore Our Alienated Rights (ROAR) anti-busing rally.
Sept. 12First day of Phase I busing. Attacks on African-American students and communities begin.
Oct. 7Mob attacks Andre Yvon Jean-Louis.
Oct. 15White student stabbed at Hyde Park High School; Governor Francis W. Sargent alerts National Guard.
Dec. 11White student stabbed at South Boston High; African-American students trapped inside.
Dec. 15Demonstration on Boston Common to end the use of busing as a means of desegregation.
1975
March Anti-busing leaders from fourteen states, including Massachusetts, announce formation of a national coalition to seek an anti-busing amendment to the Constitution; Louise Day Hicks appointed chairman.
May 10Judge Garrity issues desegregation plan for Phase II, expanding busing in fall.
Sept.Phase II begins. Mothers' prayer march in Charlestown.
Oct.White students walk out of South Boston and Charlestown High Schools; African-American students refuse to enter these schools because of daily attacks.
Dec. 9Boston National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) office is firebombed.
1976
Feb 15Fathers' march in South Boston ends in clash with police.
April 5Theodore Landsmark, an African-American lawyer, is attacked on the steps of City Hall.
AprilWhite-African-American violence escalates.
April 23Mayor Kevin White leads "procession against violence" or "Prayer Procession for Peace."
June 14Supreme Court refuses to hear appeals of Judge Garrity's Phase II orders.
Bibliography

Northeastern University (Boston, Mass.). Arts and Sciences Chronicle, Fall 1993, v. 6 n. 2, p. 11. NU Archives (88/2).

Cozzens, Lisa. "School Integration (1955-1975)." African American History. July 12, 1998. http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/school-integration/index.html. (October 9, 2001)

Hillson, Jon. The Battle of Boston. New York: Pathfinder Press, 1997. Snell Stacks LC 214.53.B67H54. Monteiro, Marilyn D.S. "The Freedom House Institute on Schools and Education: Its Participation in Boston's Court-Ordered School Desegregation: The First Year, 1974-75." Doctoral dissertation, Harvard Graduate School of Education, 1982. NU Archives.

Perry, Theresa, and James W. Fraser, eds. Freedom's Plow: Teaching in the Multicultural Classroom. New York: Routledge, 1993. Snell Stacks LC1099.3.F74 1993.

"Q & A." The Northeastern Voice, 17 February 1994, p. 4. NU Archives (R/Rm).

Sheehan, J. Brian. The Boston School Integration Dispute: Social Change and Legal Maneuvers. New York: Columbia University Press, 1984. Snell Stacks LC 214.23.B67S54 1984.
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BoxTitleDate
1Daly Industrial School19??
1Boston- School for the Crippled and Reformed Children1/11/1905
1English High School Building4/4/1925
1Boston Clerical School1954
1Pickets Parade with Signs at School Committee8/7/1963
1Demonstration2/26/1964
2Black Students Outside School Buildingca. 1974
1Hyde Park High Schoolca. 1974
1Collage Including Newspaper Headlines from 1974ca. 1974
1History Class in West Charlotte High School, North Carolina1974
1Joseph Carey, Dir. of Educational Planning Center, Arthur Gilbert6/18/1974
1Protesters Outside South Boston High School9/12/1974
1Spanish Speaking Child at the Lincoln School, Bay Village Boston9/13/1974
1Chinese Bilingual Teacher at Michaelangelo School, North End9/13/1974
1English High School Health Class9/13/1974
1EAST JOINS SOUTH East Boston Residents March to Oppose School Busing9/20/1974
1MAP PLANS Members of the National Socialist White People's Party of Arlington, Virginia, Dressed as Nazi Storm Troopers9/24/1974
1SCHOOL DAYS School Desegregation Continues at South Boston High School9/24/1974
1Man Holding Sign Supporting South Boston School Boycott9/26/1974
1Townies March up Bunker Hill Street, Charlestown, to Protest Busing9/30/1974
1ANTI-BUSING CROWD BROKEN UP Helmeted Police Move In 10/8/1974
1New Bus Monitors Get Training Booklets at Dorchester High School10/7/1974
2Demonstration "Eastie Says No Bus for Us!"10/15/1974
1CLEANUP Workman Cleans up Derogatory Inscriptions Outside Hyde Park High School10/21/1974
1Students at Hyde Park High School10/24/1974
1Geometry Class, Cohasset High12/4/1974
1Woman During Trouble at South Boston High12/11/1974
2Louise Day Hicks Appeals to Crowd; Committee Man Gerry O'Leary and Sen. William Bulger Listen12/12/1974
1Lawyer J. J. Sullivan, John J. Kerrigan, John J. McDonugh, Paul J. Ellison. Three School Board Members Fined by Judge Garrity12/30/1974
1Mother and Daughter Outside Hyde Park High School1/1975
2Riot Outside Hyde Park High School2/15/1975
1National Anti-Busing Rally, Washington, D.C.3/19/1975
1Anti-busing Marchers, ROAR (Restore Our Alienated Rights) in Washington, D.C.3/19/1975
1Marvin Scott and Robert Dentler, Integration Masters; and David Tart, an Assistant3/21/1975
1Biracial Workshop9/5/1975
2U.S. Deputy Marshals Drill at Quincy Ballfield9/5/1975
1ROUGH'N TOUGH PRACTICE Boston Police Cadets Practice Crowd Control on Each Other9/6/1975
2Busing Rally at Government Center9/7/1975
1ANTI-BUSING PROTEST About 3000 People Fill Boston City Hall Plaza9/7/1975
1HELD BACK Police Push Back Crowd near Charlestown High School9/8/1975
1HIGH PERCH A Police Marksman on the Roof of Charlestown High School9/8/1975
2U.S. Marshals, Police and School Officials Watch South Boston H.S. Kids Enter Building9/8/1975
1WEAPON SEARCH Police Use Metal Detector to Search Charlestown High School Students9/9/1975
1"Judge Garrity the Red-Jew Traitor" Sign Held by Demonstrator9/9/1975
2M.P.'s From 26th Div. Watch ROAR Group Gather at Fargo Bldg.9/9/1975
2Patrick T. Cambell Resource Center, Dorchester9/9/1975
2Sign Installed During Phase I in South Boston High School9/9/1975
2ON THE SCENE Boston Mayor Kevin White and Police Commissioner Robert DiGrazia Speak Outside South Boston High School9/9/1975
2Charlestown Anti-Busing Demonstrators March over High Bridge9/9/1975
2Clenched Fist on Door, Black Teacher Walks by Image on Door9/9/1975
2"A Sign of the Times" Sign Hangs at Entrance to Charlestown High9/9/1975
2ROAR People Display Boycott Fliers9/9/1975
2Charlestown Mothers Block Street9/10/1975
2Boston Police Commissioner DiGrazia Checks Arrest9/10/1975
2Prayer March for Charlestown Mothers in Conjunction with Restore Our Alienated Rights (ROAR)9/10/1975
1State Trooper Is Entertained by Boston Kid with Yo-Yo9/11/1975
1U.S. Marshals Keep an Eye on Things at Hyde Park High School9/11/1975
2IN ATTENDANCE South Boston Student9/11/1975
2Third Day of School State Police Patrol the Streets of Southie9/11/1975
1MARCH AGAINST BUSING Marchers near Charlestown High School9/11/1975
1MARCH AGAINST BUSING Anti-Busing March Through South Boston9/12/1975
2DIFFERENT TYPE OF DEMONSTRATION Trooper Watches Youngster Do Yo-Yo Tricks9/12/1975
2At the Hyde Park Municipal Building Mothers and Children Recite Rosary9/12/1975
2Charlestown Mothers Pray at Shrine9/12/1975
1Kids Keep America Illiterate, Stay Home!, Charlestown9/14/1975
2Pro-Busing Rally in Front of City Hall Plaza9/14/1975
1Jose Santiago Plays Bongos for "Los Sieto" Latin American Day Festival, Hatchshell9/14/1975
2SELLING CANDY Charlestown Kids, Staying out of School, Sell Candy to Policemen9/15/1975
2Hyde Park Mother's March. People Praying for an End to Forced Busing9/15/1975
2Mothers Carrying Flashlights Parade Along Bunker Hill Street in Charlestown9/15/1975
2Mothers Carrying Flashlights Parade Along Bunker Hill Street in Charlestown9/15/1975
1Parents March in Evening with Charlestown Against Forced Busing Banner9/16/1975
1Parents March in Evening Against Forced Busing9/16/1975
2Attendance at Charlestown High School Goes Up, Students Wait to Enter Building9/16/1975
2Charlestown Marching to North End9/29/1975
1South Boston H.S. Assistant Headmaster Talks with Students and Parents10/24/1975
1South Boston Anti-Busing Rally10/27/1975
1Flyer Asking Residents to Support South Boston, High School by Boycotting All Schools, Dec.10, 197512/10/1975
1South Boston High School, Parents and Kids12/12/1975
2Charlestown High Kids Talk With Mrs. Hicks1/26/1976
1MARCH AGAINST FORCED BUSING "Men's March Against Forced Busing" in Charlestown5/2/1976
1Parents March with Charlestown Against Forced Busing Banner5/3/1976
1SHOW OPPOSITION Two Photo Collages of Opposition to Forced School Busing5/3/1976
1Man With Flag Protests Busing5/3/1976
1A Black Boy and a White Boy Discuss Tennis in Dorchester7/1976
1School Bus Monitor Helps Child After the First Day of School9/8/1976
1Black and White Students Enter Gym Together9/13/1976