Posts in 20th Century
How African American Leaders Helped Put People Before Highways in Boston

The Southwest Corridor Park is one of JP’s many green spaces. It exists because of a grassroots effort to stop Interstate 95 (I-95). Residents came together, showing how neighbors could help determine use of the land in their communities. If not for that success, there would now be an enormous roadway scarring the center of our neighborhood, permanently dividing one side from the other.

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'Jamaica Plain Spoken' Video Interview Project

Jamaica Plain Spoken was a video/interview project that JP musician Rick Berlin started with his friend Todd Drogy in 2004. It consists of nearly sixty interviews with people of all genders, beliefs, ages and ethnicities. Just a bunch of local characters describing their lives and offering their opinions about Jamaica Plain. The project was stopped due to a lack of funding, so the YouTube clips are all that remain. Those links are gathered here.

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Jimmy Durante Visits Jamaica Plain

Jimmy Durante and his entourage paid a visit to Hanlon’s Shoe Store in Jamaica Plain in 1958.  During a visit to Boston to perform in a downtown club Durante asked where the best place was to buy shoes in Boston and was directed to Hanlon’s Shoes on Centre St.  Mr. Durante purchased five pairs of shoes on that first visit to Hanlon’s and returned on a number of occasions to make additional purchases.

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