South Boston, My Home Town: The History of an Ethnic Neighborhood |
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South Boston, My Home Town: The History of an Ethnic Neighborhood
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by Thomas H. O'Connor
Sales Rank: 818785
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List Price: $22.95
$4.19
At Amazon
on 6-18-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Paperback with 272 pages
Published by: Northeastern; New edition February 24, 1994
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 1555531881
ISBN 13 Number: 978-1555531881
Book Dimensions:
9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
Weighs: 13.4 ounces
From Publishers Weekly
The history of "Southie," an area of Boston that until recently was a politically potent ethnic and religious enclave, is explored in a colorful narrative that deftly covers its 350 years. O'Connor, professor of history at Boston College, is empathetic yet balanced in describing the pillars of South Boston's Irish-Catholic lifefamily, work and religion. He describes how South Boston became a neighborhood with the gradual annexation of the southern peninsula to Boston proper and the vast tide of Irish immigration in the 1830s and 1840s. Once safe in their ethnic exclusivity, contemporary Southies now chafe under racist labels stemming from school and neighborhood desegregation issues. Blending his own recollections with the writings of others, O'Connor captures the vitality of a once ascendant community. photographs not seen by PW.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
The school desegregation controversy in Boston in the middle Seventies brought national attention and notoriety to the close-knit, predominantly Irish neighborhood of South Boston, which was often portrayed as xenophobic and bigoted. O'Connor (history, Boston College) contends Southie's resistance was the logical result of its history as an ethnic neighborhood. Certainly he is correct, but rather than developing how Southie's community structure, heightened sense of Irish identity, etc., made the confrontations inevitable, O'Connor too often indulges in descriptive nostalgia for the "old" Southie. Nevertheless, this is essential for Boston-area libraries and worth considering for academic collections of Irish-American history. Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Reader Reviews
I had to read this book...andon it. Like Thomas O'Connor, I am also a native of Southie. Using a voluminous store of references, and countless personal interviews, O'Connor has written the most comprehensive history of "The Town" I've ever read. He takes the reader from the very beginnings of life in the relatively isolated peninsula settlement, through the cultural, ethnic, occupational, and religious history of the residents, emphasizing their insular nature, seemingly always at odds with the rest of Boston and other outsiders, right through the 80's. The detailed background information provided by O'Connor over an entire chapter, regarding the forced busing for school integration and ensuing Southie riots, will give the non-Southie(and maybe some Southies also) reader a much better understanding, and different perspective, on the town. O'Connor is clear on the causes of the riots, namely a clueless judge following the path paved by a self-serving state legislature that passed a law which would preclude busing to Boston's lily-white suburbs, compounded of course by Southie's insular nature and desires to maintain their neighborhood schools. I recommend Michael MacDonald's recently published "All Souls" for a terrific read on the tragic experiences of one very poor Southie family in the projects during the those riots in the 70's, and on through the 80's, into the 90's. Overall..a terrific historic work on South Boston by O'Connor..the best Ive ever read.
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South Boston, My Home Town: The History of an Ethnic Neighborhood
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Price: $4.19
Updated on 6-18-2008.
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