Lowell Lecture
THE SEGREGATION OF THE BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND THE COMMUNITY ORGANIZING AND LEGAL EFFORTS TO TRY TO ELIMINATE SEGREGATION AND TO SECURE EDUCATIONAL JUSTICE FOR BLACK STUDENTS, 1960
Date & Time
Sept. 26, 2023 at 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Location
Virtual
, MA
Driving Directions
Speaker(s)
The evening’s panelists are Hubie Jones, former Director of Roxbury Multi-Service Center; Jean McGuire, Director of METCO, 1973-2016, Zebulon V. Miletsky, PhD, Stony Brook University and author of Before Busing: A History of Boston’s Long Black Freedom Struggle: Lyda Peters, a key aide to the legendary organizer for equity and desegregation Ruth Batson: Vernita Carter-Weller, daughter of Rev. Vernon Carter, who picketed the Boston School Committee for 114 consecutive days in 1965 to help win passage for the 1965 State Racial Imbalance Law: Charles Glen, who served as coordinator at his church for School Day Out Freedom School held on June 11, 1964; Gloria Lee, who as a 12-year-old, participated in the School Stay Out and attended a Freedom School, and Jim Vrabel, Boston historian and author of A People’s History of the New Boston. The evening’s moderator is former Boston Mayor Kim Janey who was bused as a Boston Public School Student.
Presenting Organization
Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University
Topics
Contact
Susan H. Spurlock (sspurlock@suffolk.edu, 617 504 7297)
The panel will discuss the education issues brought by community groups to the Boston School Committee and the committee’s negative reactions. Topics of discussion will include the Stay-Outs and Freedom Schools involving 8,000 students on two occasions, the passage of the first Racial Imbalance Law in the country in 1965, starting Operation Exodus to transport Black students to vacant seats in better-resourced white schools, and starting METCO. The discussion will culminate with reflections on Judge Garrity’s 1974 desegregation decision.