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: Seals, Andre and Spot, swim in the seal enclosure at the New England Aquarium while a crowd watches. Additional description from the Original WCVB Rundown for this story reads: "Andre and Spot - Andre the seal has a new companion. [She's] Spot and she swims in the tank with Andre."
Collection: WCVB Collection
Date Created: 04/05/1979
Description: Andre the seal jumps halfway through a ring and performs in the seal enclosure at the New England Aquarium. The Aquarium truck backs up through a large crowd toward the water. Shots of Andre in the water and children in the crowd watching. Background sound. Additional description from the Original WCVB Rundown for this story reads: "Andre goes North - Yes, friends, it's time for the famous andre to seal to go to Maine/first he gives his final performance, and then on to Marblehead to be dumped into the ocean to head north."
Collection: WCVB Collection
Date Created: 05/02/1979
Description: Footage includes shots of different artwork and people looking at the art posted in the lobby of a building. Silent.
Collection: WCVB Collection
Date Created: 02/08/1979
Description: Bernadette Devlin McAliskey (Irish Republican activist) holds a press conference in Boston as part of a 13-city tour of the United States. Devlin speaks about her recent candidacy for the European parliament and says that her speaking tour is intended to help defray debts incurred during her campaign. Devlin's campaign was organized around a human rights platform. Devlin notes that international organizations have condemned the human rights abuses in Northern Ireland but that the United Nations and western countries will not speak out against Great Britain. Devlin expresses cynicism towards politicians and doubts about an American political response to the situation in Northern Ireland. She equates the oppression in Northern Ireland to the inequalities that exist in the United States and notes that Irish Americans engage in oppression of African Americans in Boston. Devlin compares the dearth of Protestant support for her cause in Northern Ireland to the lack of white working class support for busing in Boston; recounts the history of the Irish conflict from the Irish elections in 1918; and discusses changes that must be made by Great Britain in Northern Ireland. Devlin discusses her activities in the years since she left parliament; the use of violence by Catholics in Northern Ireland; the death of Lord Louis Mountbatten (British official). She accuses the international press of hypocrisy; answers questions about her speaking schedule and her life in Ireland.
0:58:09: Visual: Bernadette Devlin McAliskey (Irish Republican activist) prepares for a press conference as part of a 13-city tour of the United States. She sits at a small table in front of a microphone and takes questions from reporters. The press conference takes place in an informally furnished room; the walls are covered with handmade political posters. A reporter asks Devlin if she is doing the speaking tour to pay off debt accumulated during her recent campaign for a seat in the European parliament. Devlin says that her candidacy focused on human rights issues; that her candidacy was announced only three weeks before the election; that she ran on behalf of the H-Block political prisoners. Devlin says that her political party still has a debt of $10,000 after the elections; that she has come to the US to raise money through speaking engagements and from contributions. Devlin says that she has raised about $3,000 so far. A reporter asks Devlin's opinion on US involvement in Northern Ireland. Devlin says that Amnesty International, the International Red Cross and the European Court of Human Rights have all condemned the human rights abuses in Northern Ireland; that Jimmy Carter (US President) condemns human rights abuses all over the world, but ignores the deprivation of human rights in Northern Ireland. Devlin questions Carter's sincerity on human rights issues. Devlin says that the United Nations and western countries will not speak out against Great Britain; that she is trying to raise awareness of the situation among the white population of the US. The reporter asks Devlin if she expects a response from Irish Americans and Irish American politicians. Devlin says that she has a cynical view of politicians; that Edward Kennedy (US Senator) and Carter might speak out against the situation in Northern Ireland if they thought it would win them some votes; that she is not sure if Irish American politicians will take any action. Devlin says that the Irish American community has been made to feel guilty about giving money to Ireland; that they are made to feel like they are supporting violence. Devlin says that US politicians do not want Irish Americans to take interest in the situation in Northern Ireland. Devlin says that there are enough Irish Americans in the US to pressure the US government to take some firm action about Northern Ireland; that Irish Americans might become aware of the inequalities in US society if they started to think about the oppression in Northern Ireland. Devlin says that it saddens her to see Irish Americans involved in the oppression of African Americans in Boston. Devlin says that Irish Americans would get themselves on the "right side" of the civil rights struggle in the US if they understood the situation in Northern Ireland. Devlin says that Catholics in Northern Ireland were inspired by the civil rights movement in the US; that they identify with the struggles of African Americans. Devlin says that Irish Americans appear to be actively involved in the oppression of African Americans. Devlin says that she could probably raise money more easily if she avoided discussing the role of Irish Americans in the oppression of African Americans; that she is not willing to keep silent for money. Devlin says that she hopes Irish Americans will become more aware of their contradictory behavior; that many fled oppression in Ireland only to become oppressors in the US. 1:07:11: V: Devlin says that there is little Protestant support for her cause in Northern Ireland. She compares the amount of Protestant support for her cause in Northern Ireland to the amount of white working class support for busing in Boston. Devlin says that Great Britain needs to withdraw the undemocratic veto given to Protestants in Northern Ireland in 1921; that Great Britain needs to support change in Northern Ireland. Devlin reviews the history of the Irish conflict from the Irish elections in 1918 to the partition of the country by Great Britain. Devlin accuses Great Britain of partitioning the country in order to create a Protestant majority where there was none before. A reporter asks Devlin what she did during the years before the most recent election. The reporter comments that Devlin had not been visible on the political scene. Devlin responds that she has never stopped working for her cause; that the media ignored her activities because she was no longer a member of the British Parliament. Devlin says that the world took no notice of the violence used by Great Britain to oppress Catholics in Northern Ireland before 1969; that the oppressed Catholics are adopting the methods of violence used by Great Britain. Devlin questions why the Catholics are condemned for using violence, when they are only reacting to the violence used to oppress them. Devlin says that the international media have portrayed Lord Louis Mountbatten (British official) as a brave soldier and an aristocrat; that the oppressed peoples of the British Empire see Lord Mountbatten as a symbol of oppression. Devlin adds that public figures who represent the oppression of the British Empire will inevitably become targets of the oppressed. Devlin questions why the life of Mountbatten is worth more than the lives of all the Irish people who have died at the hands of the British; that the Irish victims fought for their country as Mountbatten did; that they were portrayed as terrorists by the international press. Devlin accuses the international press of hypocrisy. She says that the Irish people will not be "chastened" by the press coverage of Mountbatten's death. Devlin adds that if Great Britain was not occupying Northern Ireland, Mountbatten would be alive today. A reporter asks Devlin about Princess Margaret of England's comment that the Irish are "pigs." Devlin responds with a translation of an old Irish saying that "a pig thinks the whole world is pigs." Devlin answers questions about her speaking schedule and her life in Ireland. Devlin says that she has three children; that she does not have a regular job; that she works in the resistance movement. Devlin adds that she works with Catholics whose welfare benefits have been taken away by the British government. Devlin says that the money she raises will pay off her party's campaign debt. She adds that if the debt is paid, the rest of the money will go to a fund to benefit Irish prisoners.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 10/19/1979
Description: Silent footage of some pottery and other artifacts in a museum. No picture with reporter voice over about Plymouth town. Interview with a woman about the Plymouth town settlement. Reporter and woman continue the interview outside. Reporter Standup. Mix of sound and silent. This is 1 of 2 reels. Additional description from the Original WCVB Rundown for this story reads: "Black History feature - On Parting Ways in Plymouth, the first free black settlement in the U.S."
Collection: WCVB Collection
Date Created: 02/19/1979
Description: No image with reporter voice over about artifacts pictured in reel pt. 1. Interview with a woman from Parting Ways about the artifacts. Reporter Joe Day and the woman who was interviewed outdoors at a grave with background sound. This is 2 of 2 reels. Additional description from the Original WCVB Rundown for this story reads: "Black History feature - On Parting Ways in Plymouth, the first free black settlement in the U.S."
Collection: WCVB Collection
Date Created: 02/19/1979
Description: Children and parents gathered around a big cake singing "Happy Birthday." Shots of several different babies in birthday hats and with their parents. Sound. This is 1 of 2 reels. Additional description from the Original WCVB Rundown for this story reads: "Blizzard Babies - Beth Israel Hospital held a birthday party for all the babies born there during blizzard week last year, and also invited all those folk who helped out."
Collection: WCVB Collection
Date Created: 02/02/1979, 02/04/1979
Description: Children and parents around the cake singing "Happy Birthday" as a man helps a boy cut the cake. Interview with a man about getting to the hospital during the storm, followed by an interview with his wife about giving birth to twins. Shots of babies eating cake. Sound. This is 2 of 2 reels. Additional description from the Original WCVB Rundown for this story reads: "Blizzard Babies - Beth Israel Hospital held a birthday party for all the babies born there during blizzard week last year, and also invited all those folk who helped out."
Collection: WCVB Collection
Date Created: 02/04/1979
Description: Ride along Blue Hill Avenue. Decrepit, boarded up and abandoned storefronts. Many defunct businesses. Vacant lot. Zion Apostolic and Immanuel Pentecostal Churches. Warren Street intersection. Bridge Free Medical Van. Houses on Supple Road. Prince Hall Masonic Lodge. Sign for the Mayor's Office of Housing. Street sweeping vehicle. Mayor Kevin White walks with Julian Bond through neighborhood with press entourage. White answers questions about his candidacy and housing policy decisions as mayor especially involving the Boston Housing Authority, and says urban revitalization will come to reality within 3-5 years but need more federal $$. White and Bond meet local business owners and community members.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 06/20/1979