Books
Fifty years after Boston’s desegregation busing order took effect in September 1974, we asked Boston Public Library librarians for their recommended reads.
Boston’s busing crisis of the 1970s remains a significant chapter in the city’s history, reflecting the city’s often tense relationship with race, education, and social justice history.
September 2024 marks fifty years since the Boston desegregation busing order – a pivotal moment in the city’s history that reshaped the landscape of education and civil rights in America.
In 1974, the U.S. District Court ruling mandated busing as a means to desegregate Boston’s public schools, a response to long standing racial inequities. This decision aimed to address the disparities in educational opportunities for Black and white students, but it ignited fierce resistance and led to widespread unrest. The ensuing years were characterized by protests, violence, and deep divisions within the community, as many parents and residents opposed the forced integration.
We asked librarians at the Boston Public Library’s Central branch in Copley Square what books to read to delve into this complex topic. Here are some of their recommended reads that offer insight and context.
“This was the first book to explore what happened during the Boston busing crisis. Lupo answers the question many had, “Why did such a progressive city react in a very reactionary way to desegregation of the schools?” by looking at the history of interethnic relations in Boston going back to the arrival of the Irish in large numbers.” – John Devine, Government Information Research Specialist
“This won the Pulitzer for its examination of the Boston busing crisis through the lens of three families that were affected, the Drivers, a white professional family who recently moved to the South End, the Twymon family, a black working class family living in the South End whose children were bused to Charlestown, and the McGoff family, a white working class family living in Charlestown.” – John Devine, Government Information Research Specialist
“Boston’s grassroots fight for school desegregation did not take place in a vacuum; in the latter half of the 20th century, community activists organized in the long fights for housing, environmental, economic, and educational justice. In A People’s History of the New Boston, Jim Vrabel shares perspectives so often erased from history books. Here, through case histories and interviews, you will find the voices of women, people of color, and low-income folks discussing this history as they experienced it. Vrabel’s thorough research and interviews are a valuable work of Boston’s community history.” – Alea Stokes, Community History Programs and Outreach Librarian
“This book uses a famous photograph to delve into the issues of the busing crisis and the political climate of Boston at the time, highlighting how a single image can make an impact on a national conversation. The book also goes into how the photograph was misinterpreted and the effect it had on the lives of the people in the image. A new edition was published this year that includes a new forward from Ted Landsmark, the African American man in the photo.” – Jessy Wheeler, Genealogy Research Specialist
“If you’re looking for a novel about the Boston busing crisis, it has to be Small Mercies. Boston native Lehane draws on his own childhood experiences living through the anti-busing riots in this tense mystery about a single mother from Southie looking for her missing daughter during the summer of 1974”. – Veronica Koven-Matasy, Reader Services Supervisor
“All of history unfolds in the context of what happened before, and Dr. Miletsky provides over 300 years of context for the struggle to desegregate Boston’s schools in his history of the lead-up to the busing crisis. This is a more academic read than some others on the list, and rigorously footnoted, but still fascinating and eminently readable! – Veronica Koven-Matasy, Reader Services Supervisor
“Racial equity in education was the key issue for Black families in Boston fighting school segregation. Kozol’s first person account teaching fourth grade in a Roxbury neighborhood school demonstrates the racial disparities in Boston Public Schools, which ignited the struggle for busing.” – Akunna Eneh, Programs & Community Outreach Librarian
“Michael Liu covers more than 100 years of Boston’s Chinese community’s activism around a variety of issues, including the struggle for equitable education. Liu highlights a crucial piece of activism from another affected community of color.” – Akunna Eneh, Programs & Community Outreach Librarian
“Published by the Massachusetts Department of Education in 1979, this document analyzes the progress of mandated busing in Boston and surrounding communities. This is available online and onsite at the BPL.” – Akunna Eneh, Programs & Community Outreach Librarian
“METCO is the voluntary busing program that follows the Racial Imbalance Act mandate, which officially ends in the 1980s. Eaton interviews adults who went through the program in their youth and assesses the progress and hardships of school integration in Boston.” – Akunna Eneh, Programs & Community Outreach Librarian
“Through interviews and press accounts, Formisano identifies the range of motivations behind the actions of Whites who opposed busing. – Akunna Eneh, Programs & Community Outreach Librarian
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