Timeline Group Project

What can we learn from Boston’s past about what it takes to make progress toward educational justice today?

Busing in Boston: An illustrated history of the crisisMassachusetts was the first state to abolish segregating public schools on the basis of skin color or race. But de facto segregation remained the norm 100 years later, when Black families sued for better education, and got busing instead.

June 2024 was the 50th anniversary of the decision by Judge Garrity to order the Boston Public Schools to create a plan to desegregate the schools but that came after years of different efforts to integrate the schools. The first years of busing were filled with protest and challenge but what has happened since? Together we will look at an illustrated timeline created this year by the Boston Globe (Pan et al., 2024)

For this project the class will be divided into three groups:

Before Judge Garrity’s decision
During school years 1974/1975 and 1975/1976
After the desegregation plan was implemented.

Check out more timelines with your group:

Boston Before Busing - A Multimedia Exhibition Exploring Education Civil Rights in Boston from 1960-1974

A more detailed timeline compiled by Facing History and Ourselves

💡 Before you start, read over the Timeline Rubric and Group Work Self-Assessment. Consider ways to be a model group member.

BBC Post-It Note .docx

What events are you curious about? Choose 5 or 6 events to research in the archives.

💡Use the notetaker to the left by opening it and saving it in your folder before you start.

Each group will research their time period using the timelines linked above and the two archives below. 💡Gather at least 10 images including photographs, posters, and other evidence to illustrate our class timeline of events to help us better understand the Boston Busing Crisis and its impact.

Digital Commonwealth

Click above for a curated search at Digital Commonwealth that includes 76 photographs of school integration in Boston.

Stark and Subtle Divisions

Click above for a "Collaborative History of Segregation in Boston" created by graduate students in the History and American Studies departments at UMass Boston.

Copy of Photoanalysis Worksheet

Photo Analysis

💡Each member of the group must choose one of the photos chosen to analyze using the worksheet above.

💡Save your images on Google Slides with a caption that includes the date, the creator (photographer or writer) if possible and a description of the event. You can use a timeline template from this set of slides or create your own.

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