Topic: Politics & Law
Politics, politicians, political clubs, laws, lawyers, courts, jurisprudence, criminals, crime, law enforcement, jails

Immigrant NeighborhoodPolitics & Law A foreign language campaign poster for Joe Russo

JFK and the Two Joe Russos

In 1946, two of John F. Kennedy’s Democratic primary opponents for Massachusetts’ Eleventh Congressional District were from the West End, and both were named Joe Russo. One was a popular city councillor and undertaker, the other a janitor who entered the race under suspect circumstances.

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Immigrant NeighborhoodMedicinePolitics & Law Harvard Medical School in 1878

The Rocking Chair Fight of 1893

Dr. Thomas Jenks, one of Boston’s leading figures in medicine, business, and politics during the late-eighteenth century, lived in the West End for most of his life. In 1893, when Jenks chaired the Board of Public Institutions, his refusal to accept a donation of rocking chairs to the Rainsford Island hospital put him at odds with Alice Lincoln, an advocate for the poor in Boston, and Martin Lomasney, the political boss of the West End.

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BusinessNew BostonPolitics & LawTransportation & IndustryUrban Renewal The Staniford Street Lot

Augustus Mantia’s Parking Lot

Augustus Mantia and his family owned the West End parking lot Staniford Street during the 1960s. Cars parked on an unpaved field where vibrant tenements once stood before their demolition by the Boston Redevelopment Authority in the late 1950s. Public backlash against the Mantias’ monopoly over the lot – with high profits, abnormally low rent, and no competitive bidding process – led the City to close the parking lot in January 1971.

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