They marched, they protested, and they gathered detailed proof that the Boston Public Schools were racially separate and unequal. When a stubborn school committee failed to acknowledge the problem and provide remedies, parents and activists organized one-day boycotts, carpooled, and raised money for student transportation to more adequate schools. They even opened their own
Leaders and stakeholders in the early movement to desegregate Boston school reflected on buried experiences and lessons of the period at the first forum Tuesday marking the upcoming 50th anniversary of the momentous busing order and pushed for continued action.
We hear from Michael Curry, president and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers and a member of the national board of directors for the NAACP, and and Lyda Peters, long-time Boston educator and civil rights activist, about the creation and legacy of the METCO program.
Decades of activism, community organizing, and legal campaigns led by Black women set the stage for the landmark Garrity decision in 1974 that led to the forced busing and desegregation of Boston Public Schools.
In 2023, American Experience partnered with StoryCorps Studios to record, uplift and archive stories about racial desegregation and educational equity efforts in American schools. These personal accounts reflect experiences from an array of regional, racial, ethnic, and gender perspectives, providing a link to a formative chapter in the story of modern America.
These stories you are about to listen to are unedited accounts of those experiences.