Film: Mission Hill and the Miracle of Boston

The story of what happened to Mission Hill is the story of many of

America's older ethnic neighborhoods. Seventy years ago, Mission Hill

was an Irish neighborhood of homes and small stores in which people

lived near their schools, their church, and their shopping area. But

between 1940 and 1980 it changed: thousands of units of public housing

were built and decayed there. Nearby hospitals expanded, displacing

people from their homes. Developers and speculators bought and sold

property and built twenty-story apartment houses. A new, poor

population and an affluent professional population arrived to compete

for parts of the old neighborhood.

Mission Hill and the Miracle of Boston is the story of urban

renewal, racial conflict, and the struggle of a neighborhood to survive

these changing times. Spokespeople include real estate developers,

community activists, workers, and residents.

Today this film, completed in 1978, remains unique in presenting one

neighborhood's social history set against the larger forces that

reshaped a major American city.

All are welcome to attend this free screening. Thanks to Documentary Educational Resources for providing this film.

For more information, please contact Nellie Kluz at 518-669-3080 or nelliekluz[at]gmail.com.