What's Going On???: 1970's Boston

Michael Patrick MacDonald’s “All Souls” is a memoir about a young boy’s life in South Boston ‘Southie’ during the 1970’s. Although MacDonald’s story is the main focus of this blog, we feel that it is necessary to provide some background on Southie at this time.

First, it is around the 70’s that Whitey Bulger is considered to be at his height. Starting in 1965, Whitey holds a prominent position in the Winter Hill gang and is to have thought to have been involved in several murders during this time. About ten years later, in 1975, it is believed that Bulger struck a deal which provides him with protection from the FBI in exchange for information. By 1978, the head of the Winter Hill gang is arrested, leaving Bulger as the head of the Winter Hill gang. After about 15 years as head of the Winter Hill gang, Bulger disappears for early 16 years.

After reading up a bit about Michael MacDonald it is clear that when he was about 8 or 9 he participated in the 1974 bus riots. These riots were centered around the desegregation of buses and schools. Articles written about this say that children would throw rocks at buses carrying black children to school. The segregation in Boston was different from other places in the country in the way that it wasn’t so much that blacks weren’t allowed in white school systems, it was that blacks and whites lived in different areas of Boston and therefore went to schools closer to their homes. Some maintain that both races got the same level of education.

1970’s also proved to be economically fruitful for Boston due to the many hospitals throughout Boston providing state of the art technology.

This is around the time where Michael MacDonald starts off his book, if any other event pop up throughout his book, I will be sure to blog about them!