People Before Highways Event
YEAR: 2019
TYPE: Graduate
LOCATION: MA State House, Boston, MA
COLLABORATORS: Historic Boston, Inc., MIT CoLab, Mel King Institute/Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations, Massachusetts Historical Society, Northeastern University Archives & Special Collections, Haymarket People’s Fund, Massachusetts Communities Action Network
_Description
On January 25th 2019, MIT’s Dr. Karilyn Crockett, in collaboration with city planning graduate students Meesh Zucker and Marissa Prasse, organized a rally on the steps of the Massachusetts State House. Activists old and young gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the monumental 1969 People Before Highways Rally where approximately 2,000 residents from the Greater Boston area assembled to stop the construction of the Innerbelt Expressway. It was on these very steps that Governor Sargent officially called off the highway in response to the vocal community organizers. The 2019 People Before Highways Day was organized to celebrate the monumental efforts of the Boston community. The program included: live music, wishes for the future, a speaker series inside the State House and called upon future activists to continue the fight for visibility in city planning efforts.