• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • 5 DOUBLE-U’S
    • MASTHEAD
    • DISTRIBUTION
    • ADVERTISE
    • SUBMISSIONS
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Boston's Only Newspaper

READ CURRENT STREET ISSUE

DIG Year End 2020

PLOT HUB TIME MACHINE: FOUR OLD BOOKS SHOW US NOTHING EVER CHANGES IN BOSTON

Written by DIG STAFF Posted June 9, 2015 Filed Under: COLUMNS, Media Farm

2015-06-07 08.23.09

 

We often encourage DigBoston interns and writers to spelunk through the stacks at the Boston Public Library. Not just because they may stumble upon valuable unattended works of art, but also because not everything is readable online. Though the internet is loaded with old documents, location information isn’t always parsed very well; as a result, when looking to the past for answers, the most revealing narratives are often those that are bound or on microfilm. For this same reason, some of us dig for relics about Hub life in every cultural nook and corner imaginable, and last week secured some obscure paperback gems at a used book oasis in Maine. As usual, we perused our picks for signs of progress on the Boston front …

 

‘A Handbook to the Art and Architecture of the Boston Public Library’

Our day trip came before a city archivist—after people were already emotional and taking action about potentially stolen pieces—discovered two valuable prints that had previously turned up missing from the BPL collection. Because the works seemed likely to be gone for good, we couldn’t resist copping this map to the library’s riches for some kind of joke. Now, however, we’re starting to regret the purchase. There’s a punchline in there somewhere about how the BPL used to be more organized, but we can’t exactly pinpoint it; meanwhile, since it’s signed by the author, Peter Arms Wick, we paid $12.50 for this 1977 bore fest, and there’s a no-return policy.

 

‘Car-Free in Boston and all Massachusetts’

We’re pretty sure this book of maps and facts from 1984 was intended as a handy pocket tool for tourists without wheels, as opposed to a Utopian how-to guide for weaning the Bean off of gasoline. In any case, the rainbow-riffic throwback pocket-stuffer is essentially still up to date, give or take a couple of Green Line stops and the old elevated Orange Line stations. The same goes for other modes of transportation …

 

While driving in any part of Boston can be difficult, traveling downtown by car is guaranteed to be frustrating. Most streets are one-way and narrow, and many even change names. Even the most experienced Bostonians have trouble driving downtown, and agree that the best way to travel is by ‘T.’

 

We wouldn’t change a word, so long as we can assume “best way to travel” was a relative phrase then as it is now.

 

‘Jeremiah Murphy’s Boston’

Here’s a cliche so applicable in this case that we don’t mind using one: They no longer make Boston Globe columnists like Jeremiah Murphy. Case in point: this line about bitter Old Southie natives from Jeremiah Murphy’s Boston, a prophetic 1974 compilation of his columns:

 

They stayed, many because they could not afford to move, and now they deeply resent newspaper editors and editorial writers and reporters who write about the city’s awful problems and then drive home to Lincoln and Lexington and Rockport, because they must remain and live these same problems.

 

All the current Globe hacks together on acid couldn’t muster such self-awareness in a mansion of mirrors, let alone begin to fathom what those on the bottom tier are actually thinking. Despite the writers of today being cut from more designer cloth though, going by Murphy’s descriptions, politicians are the same as always …

 

Mayor Kevin White came up with a memorable line when I asked him during last fall’s campaign about $2500 in campaign contributions from a Toronto businessman … ‘But I’ll call you back on that one,’ he said, and I waited a week but no call came … Finally, after making two calls myself to White’s chief of communication or something, I learned that the Toronto man was a building contractor and his company was sharing a substantial school building addition contract in—guess where?—the City of Boston.

 

‘The Alienated Voter: Politics In Boston’

Finally, we thoroughly enjoyed this 1960 study by then-Boston University political science professor Murray B. Levin, who you really have to give a lot of props to for the morbidly abstract illustration on his cover of what’s mostly a dry academic review. As you may suspect from the title, The Alienated Voter is about Bostonians who “feel angry, resentful, hopeless, and politically powerless.” You know, like a lot of Dig readers in 2015. Based on post-election surveys, Levin’s work found …

 

A large proportion of the electorate feels politically powerless because it believes that the community is controlled by a small group of powerful and selfish individuals who use public office for personal gain … To these voters the election tends to be meaningless and the democratic process a farce because neither candidate is seen as honest, and for them meaningful alternatives do not exist.

 

The more things change …

 

DIG STAFF

Dig Staff means this article was a collaborative effort. Teamwork, as we like to call it.

More from author
  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    VIDEO: MEET DOT-BASED ARTIST LUDGY JEAN-BAPTISTE OF COMIXSCAPE
  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    VIDEO: JACK'S ABBY X BOSTON CELTICS PRIDE AND PARQUET HOPPY LAGER UNBOXING & TASTING
  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    WALSH TO WASH; JANEY TO BECOME 1ST BLACK BOSTON MAYOR & 1ST WOMAN TO LEAD CITY
  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    What have Massachusetts conservatives said about mob violence in Washington DC?
    MASS CONSERVATIVES MOSTLY MUM ON DC MOB, THOUGH CARR PUSHES CRACKPOT CONSPIRACY

Filed Under: COLUMNS, Media Farm Tagged With: Boston, Boston Globe, green line, Jeremiah Murphy, lexington, MBTA, Murray Levin, Rockport, The Alienated Voter

WHAT’S NEW

2021 Biden inauguration Boston

PHOTOS & RECAP: “NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN” RALLY IN BOSTON

2020 Indian farmers' protest - On a truck. Photo CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain by Randeep Maddoke, randeepphotoartist@gmail.com.

OPINION: IS DISSENT ANTI-NATIONALISM OR PATRIOTISM?

WU ASSERTS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ARTS IN HER CAMPAIGN

WU ASSERTS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ARTS IN HER CAMPAIGN

STREET MEDICS BOLSTER PROTESTS IN MORE WAYS THAN YOU MAY REALIZE

STREET MEDICS BOLSTER PROTESTS IN MORE WAYS THAN YOU MAY REALIZE

HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO APPEASE A CONTROVERSIAL COP

HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO APPEASE A CONTROVERSIAL COP

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. HONORED, SPEAKERS ADDRESS RACISM

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. HONORED, SPEAKERS ADDRESS RACISM

Primary Sidebar

HEMPIRE FREEDOM PACK 25% OFF

FEATURED EVENT

Most Popular

  • APPOINTED SOMERVILLE OFFICIAL SPURS OUTRAGE WITH TWEETS FROM DC MOB SCENE by MARC LEVY
  • Aerial View Parkman Bandstand at Boston Common. CC BY-SA 4.0 2017 by AbhiSuryawanshi. NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN: 1/20 PROTEST ON BOSTON COMMON, 4 PM by MATTHEW ANDREWS
  • VIDEO: COP WHO BRAGGED THAT HE HIT PROTESTERS SHOWS HOW BAD APPLES THRIVE IN BOSTON by CHRIS FARAONE
  • PRISON HORRORS BY THE NUMBERS by SARAH BETANCOURT
  • IT’S HARDER THAN EVER TO FIND A BATHROOM IN BOSTON. WHAT’S THE CITY DOING ABOUT IT? by ZACK HUFFMAN

READ CURRENT MEMBER EDITION

DIG Member 1.9 – 11/26/20

READ CURRENT STREET ISSUE

DIG Year End 2020

Footer

digbos

“Trump was voted out. However, this is not a man “Trump was voted out. However, this is not a mandate for #Biden and #Harris.” https://digboston.com/photos-recap-no-honeymoon-for-biden-rally-in-boston/ #photo #rally #march #left #protest #inauguration #Boston #Massachusetts
OPINION: IS DISSENT ANTI-NATIONALISM OR PATRIOTISM OPINION: IS DISSENT ANTI-NATIONALISM OR PATRIOTISM? #Boston #protest for Indian farmers, Saturday 1/23/21, 12-1 pm at the #Massachusetts State House https://digboston.com/opinion-is-dissent-anti-nationalism-or-patriotism/ #India #politics #food #farmer #protest #justice #solidarity @monica_gill1
HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO A HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO APPEASE A CONTROVERSIAL COP https://digboston.com/no-justice-how-officials-in-one-mass-town-took-extraordinary-measures-to-appease-a-controversial-cop/ #ArlingtonMA #police #reform #cop #racism #controversy #BlackLivesMatter #Massachusetts
Ghost kitchens simply don’t have a need for host Ghost kitchens simply don’t have a need for hosts, servers, bartenders, bussers … What happens to those #jobs if virtual kitchens continue to flourish? https://digboston.com/ghost-story-virtual-kitchens-appear-to-be-the-next-big-thing-but-at-what-cost/ #restaurant #labor #work #Boston #Massachusetts #coronavirus #COVID19
“I don’t think we’re going to wake up on Jan “I don’t think we’re going to wake up on Jan. 7 in the same country we went to bed in on the 6th.” https://digboston.com/former-mass-gubernatorial-candidate-predicted-violence-before-assault-on-capitol/ #politics #Massachusetts #national #Capitol #WashingtonDC #MAGA
RADICAL AND RELEVANT: THE LIFE OF HARRY BRILL http RADICAL AND RELEVANT: THE LIFE OF HARRY BRILL https://digboston.com/radical-and-relevant-the-life-of-harry-brill/ #obituary #organizer #radical #sociologist #democracy #politics @UMassBoston @BklynCollege411 @UCBerkeley #Boston #Massachusetts #NewYorkCity #Berkeley #California
NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN: 1/20 #PROTEST ON BOSTON CO NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN: 1/20 #PROTEST ON BOSTON COMMON, 4 PM https://digboston.com/no-honeymoon-for-biden-1-20-protest-on-boston-common-4-pm/ #opinion #progressive #left #action #inauguration #Boston #Massachusetts
Light and sweet and hoppy, we’re loving this lat Light and sweet and hoppy, we’re loving this latest incarnation of a #beer that’s been in the making for months. https://digboston.com/video-jacks-abby-x-boston-celtics-pride-and-parquet-hoppy-lager-unboxing-tasting/ #fun #video #review #Boston #Massachusetts
Jostling for position and influence are the disadv Jostling for position and influence are the disadvantaged candidates, existing industry participants, and municipalities … https://digboston.com/the-road-to-home-delivery-pt-5-dogs-in-the-fight-identifying-the-players/ #cannabis #politics #analysis #Massachusetts
The candidates will be interviewed about the upcom The candidates will be interviewed about the upcoming race. https://digboston.com/wu-and-campbell-to-speak-at-mayoral-candidate-webinar/ #politics #mayor #campaign #Boston #Massachusetts
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Submissions

Advertise

Privacy Policy

Customer Service

Distribution

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an e-mail blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: [email protected] To reach Editorial: [email protected] For internship opportunities: [email protected]