Description: Hearing on a subway crash that occurred on 2/6/1973. Silent b-roll of the meeting, statements by different people at the hearing about how employees handled the crash. Silent b-roll of firemen rescuing a woman on a stretcher. Mix of sound and silent.
Collection: WCVB Collection
Date Created: 02/13/1973
Description: Evening Compass special features updates and information on the court-ordered busing for integration of Boston schools. Opens with footage of Racial Harmony Now Committee in WGBH studio. Ed Baumeister introduces news topics and gives a brief history of civil rights in Boston and segregation facts. Racial Harmony Now Committee holds an in-studio meeting to discuss community involvement in busing, school integration and education. Roy Covell (Boston Police Department) reports on police efforts to ensure the safety of students. John Kerrigan discusses his opposition to busing in Boston. John Kerrigan (Chairman, Boston School Committee) and Kathleen Sullivan (Boston School Committee) discuss the court order by Judge Garrity and the implementation of the state plan to integrate Boston schools in September. Greg Pilkington reports on the on-going hearings to determine a long-term remedy for integrating Boston schools. Eric Van Loon (lawyer for the plaintiffs, Morgan v. Hennigan) comments on the court ruling and the on-going hearings. Judy Stoia reports on MBTA proposals to cover busing needs. Members of the Citywide Education Coalition are in the studio to answer calls from parents and give information on neighborhood groups working with schools on the transition to the state racial balance plan.
0:45:53: Visual: Introduction to Compass Weekly: September in July, a special broadcast on the court-ordered plan to achieve racial balance in Boston schools. Parents and concerned citizens are in the studio to talk about how parents can get involved in the schools. Ed Baumeister explains that the show will give an update on the court order, report on reaction to the order and provide information on neighborhood groups working with schools on the transition to the court-ordered plan. Volunteers from the Citywide Education Coalition are in the studio to answer phone calls from parents, and to give them information on groups in their neighborhoods. 0:48:33: Baumeister gives a brief history of civil rights in Boston. Baumeister says that Boston was a center in the movements for racial justice and public education in the nineteenth century; that Boston had a reputation as a "liberal" city with a good civil rights record in the twentieth century. V: Shots of Post Office Square; of the old Public Latin School; of a local park; of mixed race schoolchildren. Baumeister says that African Americans have played a significant role in the history of Boston and the nation; that Boston was found to have been segregating its schools in the 1960s. Baumeister reports that African Americans live in the city of Boston while the suburbs of Boston are primarily white. Baumeister notes that a federal court declared in 1974 that the city's schools were deliberately segregated. Baumeister notes that the Boston School Committee has been fighting the state's Racial Imbalance Act since 1965; that the decision by Judge Garrity was delivered 15 months after the start of the Morgan v. Hennigan trial. V: Shots of gravestones in historic cemetery; of a plaque commemorating Boston Massacre; of the Robert Gould Shaw memorial). Panoramic shots of the Boston skyline. 0:53:41: V: Judy Stoia sits in the studio with the Education Committee from Racial Harmony Now, a Dorchester group working to ease the transition into the racial balance plan. She is quiet while they hold a meeting: one member mentions the efforts of Chuck Williams (teacher at South Boston High School) to further communication between students at South Boston High School and Girls' High School; another member talks about expanding efforts to go door-to-door in Dorchester to talk about the advantages of school integration; another member talks about the need to focus on education instead of race; the group's Youth Committee has made efforts to bring African American and white students together; the second member suggests that the group sponsor a gathering of parents at the YMCA; another member makes additional suggestions to ease the transition for students who will be bused to new schools. 0:59:54: V: Stoia talks to Roy Covell (Boston Police Department) about the police department's efforts to work with community groups and to create a community task force. He says that the police department's top priority is the safe transport of students to and from the schools. A member of the Racial Harmony Now group asks Covell about traffic patterns around the schools and crosswalks for schoolchildren. 1:04:09: V: Ed Baumeister interviews Kathleen Sullivan (Boston School Committee) and John Kerrigan (Chairman, Boston School Committee). Baumeister asks Kerrigan about the Committee's efforts to appeal the federal court decision. Kerrigan talks about his visit to Senators Kennedy and Brooke in Washington D.C.; he says that the decision places an "unfair burden" on the city of Boston. Sullivan advocates a metropolitan plan to integrate schools in the city and the suburbs. Bullard asks about an alternative busing plan presented by the School Committee to the court. Sullivan and Kerrigan defend the School Committee's record on school integration. Bullard asks them about the Lee School District and feeder patterns to Boston High Schools. Kerrigan talks about the problems of "white flight" and crime at English High School. Baumeister asks if School Committee will assume a leadership role in the coming school year; Kerrigan responds that the School Committee will assume leadership on safety issues but that he will not encourage parents to allow their children to be bused under the state plan. 1:22:30: V: Members of Racial Harmony Now discuss negative media coverage of the school integration issue. One member suggests organizing gatherings of white and black families whose children will be attending school together. Another member suggests that the gatherings focus on how to improve the schools. Several members mention interracial gatherings between Roxbury and South Boston parents at Freedom House. 1:27:34: V: Baumeister encourages parents to call the studio to find out about neighborhood groups working with schools on the transition to the racial balance plan. Shots of phone operators and the members of Racial Harmony Now in the studio. 1:28:50: V: Greg Pilkington reports on latest hearings held by Judge Garrity in Federal Court to determine a long-term integration remedy for the Boston schools: Garrity admitted the Boston Teachers' Union and the Administrators' Union as parties to the suit with limited participation; the Home and School Association was refused as a party to the suit, but might appear later as a friend of the court; Judge Garrity refused the Boston School Committee's attempts to have the City of Boston named as co-defendant in the case. 1:31:38: V: Baumeister encourages parents to call the studio. Baumeister talks to Eric Van Loon (attorney for plaintiffs, Morgan v. Hennigan). Van Loon says that a metropolitan busing plan is impossible until the Supreme Court decides the Detroit school desegregation case (Milliken v. Bradley). Baumeister asks if the plaintiffs would support a metropolitan integration plan in Boston. Pilkington asks Van Loon about the court hearings for a long-term integration remedy: Van Loon advocates the recruiting of African American teachers and administrators; Van Loon says the plaintiffs would support modification of the state plan, or a new plan, if the result were a greater number of integrated schools in Boston. 1:40:26: V: Stoia reports on new bus routes for Boston schoolchildren under the state Racial Balance plan: school opening times will be staggered so that the MBTA can use buses on more than one route; MBTA general manager Joseph Kelly says that there is little time to arrange for busing by private contractors; the state pays transportation costs for students bused over 1.5 miles; the city pays for students bused under 1.5 miles; exact bus routes are not yet available. 1:42:09: V: Baumeister sits in the studio with Racial Harmony Now. He encourages parents to contact the Citywide Education Coalition. Baumeister signs off and the credits roll.
Collection: Evening Compass, The
Date Created: 07/09/1974
Description: No parking signs, meters, cars in a parking lot, and a subway train going by. Silent footage of EPA Hearing on the Boston Transit Control Plan. Interview with a man who wants to encourage the use of public transportation. Reporter standup. Governor Dukakis speaking about reducing the use of the automobile. Interview with a man who thinks that people will resist mandatory regulations. Mix of sound and silent.
Collection: WCVB Collection
Date Created: 03/20/1975
Description: Footage shot from car driving westbound on Commonwealth Avenue beyond Boston University, parallel to green line trolley with cigarette ads on side. Driver swears at other cars in traffic. Driver, reporter, and camera operator discuss best ways to shoot. Pass Tech HiFi, Tweeter, Firestone Tire. Trolley curves away toward left at Packard's Corner. Inbound trolley stops to admit passengers. Two trolleys pass each other in opposite directions. Yellow MBTA bus at Charles Circle. Red line train crosses Longfellow Bridge over Charles River toward Cambridge. Sound of metal wheels on tracks. People get on bus to Porter Square.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 04/14/1976
Description: Footage of a train on the tracks. Pull out of the Lechmere sign at the station to a train arriving. Wild sound.
Collection: WCVB Collection
Date Created: 07/03/1976
Description: Three interviews on southwest corridor mass transit and development project. Areas affected include the South End, Roxbury Crossing, and Jamaica Plain. Construction will create numerous jobs and have an affirmative action goal with a 30% minority set-aside. $391 million (80% federal funds) will be for orange line and railroad relocation; plus an arterial street, community college, housing, and industrial park will make for at least a half billion dollar project. Residents are concerned about impact of noise and disruption in the adjacent neighborhoods, equitable employment opportunities, and environmental issues. Community groups want to be sure the new road and transit routes do not split the surrounding areas along socioeconomic lines.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 07/15/1976
Description: High, wide, long shots of Boston environs from observation deck of Hancock Tower. Nearly aerial views of South End, Charles River, Boston Harbor, State House, and orange line T moving along elevated tracks.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 09/10/1976
Description: Footage of the artist and others by the mural and close up shots of the mural. Wild sound. Additional description from the Original WCVB Rundown for this story reads: ""T" unveils a 24' x 4' mural done by a teacher and it will hang at the Beaconsfield station..."
Collection: WCVB Collection
Date Created: 11/26/1976
Description: Tape dropout in beginning. Combat Zone environs. Thriving pornography district. XXX rated movies, peep shows, Naked i, Pussy Cat Cinema, adult book store, State and Pilgrim Theaters, Intermission Lounge. Garish marquees with flashing lights. MBTA and Boston police cars.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 12/15/1976
Description: Harvard Square environs. Rapid Transit sign over Harvard Square kiosk. Out of Town Tickets. People step off narrow escalator ascending from subway station. T sign, subway system map with “You Are Here,” bus routes map sign. People go downstairs to red line station. Harvard Trust Company sign, Harvard Coop, Nini's Corner. Electric bus with overhead cables. Abandoned red line trolleys parked in MBTA lot behind Harvard Square.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 02/22/1977
Description: Back Bay Amtrak station entrance. Train, viewed from above, starts up and moves slowly along tracks. Train histle and bells. Railroad bed. Commuter train pulls up, passengers board. Two trains pass in opposite directions. Looking down tracks to old and new Hancock buildings. Orange line elevated structure along Washington Street. T train passes overhead with typical clunking sound; congested vehicular traffic below. Camera moves on complex steel skeleton of tracks above.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 10/04/1977
Description: This is a reporter voiceover about public art sponsored by the MBTA over unrelated image of the street. Sound. This is 1 of 2 reels.
Collection: WCVB Collection
Date Created: 07/11/1978
Description: Silent footage of a mosaic in the Park Street Subway station that reads, "First subway in America," people looking at the art, a woman speaking to the crowd, and close up on sections of the artwork. Silent.
Collection: WCVB Collection
Date Created: 12/04/1978
Description: Allston Brighton environs. Busy intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Harvard Street. Storefronts of Macy's Liquors, Ken's Pub, Great Scott, Gladstone's. People get off green line trolley, close up on the T logo. Cars drive by, pedestrians cross the street and walk down the sidewalk. Cleveland Circle storefronts (small markets, CVS, bank, hardware). Beacon Street traffic approaches head on. Massachusetts Turnpike traffic in Allston; freight containers in adjacent rail yard.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 03/26/1979
Description: Green line T pulling into and out of Kenmore station underground during rush hour. Old style PCC trolley and newer LRV cars. Driver's point of view, looking down tracks into dark subway tunnel. Passengers get on and off.Passenger reading Benjamin Disraeli. Passenger complains about MBTA service.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 05/15/1979
Description: Video starts with people speaking over color bars. B-roll of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority advisory board meeting. Interview with Robert Foster, chair of MBTA. He is requesting a larger operating budget. He discusses the work done by the MBTA and their attempts develop a better relationship with the advisory board. He speaks of plans for transportation demands during Pope John Paul II's visit. They shoot cutaways. Interview with Ed Novakoff, advisory board representative from Brookline, who complains about green line LRVs, and does not support giving the MBTA a larger operating budget. Several takes of reporter standup in the MBTA lot, with buses in the background.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 09/21/1979
Description: Audio goes in and out. Some video deterioration. MBTA southwest corridor construction site for orange line relocation. Urban Mass Transportation Project sign. Gov. Edward King gets out of car, shakes hands with bystanders. Secretary of Transportation James Carlin introduces King who talks about economic vitality created by largest construction project in Boston history. Signs bill transferring land from MDC. Governor King responds to question on extending Logan runways, and the actions of the board of the Massachusetts Port Authority and the executive director of Logan International Airport.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 07/13/1982
Description: Fields Corner environs. Storefronts and pedestrians along Dorchester Avenue. Cars and buses drive along. Exteriors of the MBTA station. Dorchester Avenue street sign.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 07/19/1982
Description: Red line T construction. Harvard Square stop, tunnel, tracks. Western Avenue, Cambridge. Interview with a man from the Department of Public Works (DPW) about the roads and bridges in Massachusetts - spending approximately $500 million per year - $100 million in paving, $150 million in bridges, $250 million in safety and new roads. He states that there are about 14,000 miles of road in Massachusetts and about 1/3 of those roads need serious work. He approximates that out of the 5,000 bridges in Massachusetts, 2,200 are in substandard shape, 900 in critical condition. DPW infrastructure includes roads, bridges, transit, airports, sewer and water. He explains the need for the federal government's assistance. He states that these projects will create jobs - approximately 90 jobs per million dollars spent.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 11/08/1982
Description: Christopher Lydon reports on the demise of the elevated tracks along the MBTA orange line. The elevated train stations were designed by Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow (nephew of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) and were once considered the architectural pride of the city's mass transit system. Interview with Margaret Floyd of Tufts University and State Rep. Byron Rushing about the elevated line. Floyd discusses the architecture of the stations. Rushing talks about the architectural and historical significance of the elevated line, and its importance to the community. Interviews with people on the street who give their opinions on the elevated line. Following the edited story is additional b-roll of the elevated line and orange line trains.
1:00:00: Visual: Shot of Dover Station on the elevated tracks of the orange line of the MBTA. Shots of Dover, Northampton, Dudley, and Eggleston Stations on the elevated orange line. Shots of the elevated tracks. Christopher Lydon reports that the elevated tracks of the orange line run through Roxbury and the South End; that trains will not longer pass through the stations after this evening. V: Shots of a tunnel leading to one of the orange line stations. Graffiti covers the walls. Shots of the decrepit exteriors of stations along the elevated tracks of the orange line. Lydon says that the elevated stations were once the "architectural pride" of the city's mass transportation; that the stations were designed by Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow (architect and nephew of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) for a turn-of-the-century competition. V: Shots of architectural drawings and plans of the elevated stations. Footage of Margaret Floyd (Tufts University) talking about the modular design of the elevated stations of the orange line. Floyd talks about the ornate ironwork and other details which do not appear in contemporary architecture. Shots of the elevated stations; of the iron railings of a walkway leading to a station. Footage of Byron Rushing (State Representative from Roxbury) saying that he is surprised that historic preservationists have not protested the demolition of the elevated stations. Rushing says that the orange line was the first elevated line in the country to be designed for electric trains. Shot of a person looking from one of the windows of an elevated station. Shots of an orange line train traveling along the elevated tracks. Lydon reports that Dudley Square is dominated by the elevated train station. V: Shots of the elevated tracks in Dudley Square from below. Footage of Rushing saying that the physical structure of the elevated tracks has been an important characteristic of the neighborhood for a long time. Rushing adds that people talk about Dudley Station in unflattering terms. Footage of a white man saying that Dudley station is "unsightly"; that the station is falling apart and is beyond repair. Footage of Rushing saying that there is a place for "funkiness"; that the tracks cannot be put back up once they are torn down. Rushing adds that one can never predict what will happen to the neighborhood when the tracks are taken down. Footage of an African American man saying that Dudley station only needs some renovation and a paint job; of a young African American man saying that he would like the area around Dudley station renovated to resemble Lafayette Place when the tracks are taken down. Footage of a young African American boy saying that the area should be turned into "everything." Shots of Dudley Station. Footage of Rushing saying that the city should pave the road where the tracks once were; that a bike path should be constructed along the route of the tracks. Byron talks about being able to ride from Franklin Park to downtown Boston. Rushing calls the elevated tracks a "fantastic piece of sculpture." Rushing says that the tracks are "the Eiffel Tower on its side." Shots of the train tracks from a moving train; of the tracks from beneath. Rushing talks about how the elevated tracks connect several neighborhoods; that the elevated tracks do not belong to any one community. Rushing speculates that an artist in the future will be commissioned to come up with a way to connect the neighborhoods, while making an artistic statement at the same time. Rushing says that the artist will come up with a design similar to the elevated tracks. Rushing says that he does not know why the city is so eager to dismantle the tracks. Shot of an orange line train moving down the tracks.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 04/30/1987