Oral history interview with Tristam and Katie Blake
Description:
Interview of Tristam and Kathleen (“Katie”) Blake. The couple moved to their residence on West Brookline Street after being relocated due to the development of the Massachusetts Turnpike. Katie served as the personnel director of the South End Neighborhood Action Program (SNAP) beginning in 1966, in which she helped immigrant and Latino populations access social services including housing, employment, and English as a Second Language (ESL) education. After working for many years as a printer at the Thomas Todd Company, Tristam began working at the South End Community Health Center and became director in 1969. The couple discusses their activism in advocating for community housing, education, and healthcare equity as well as advocating against urban renewal and gentrification. Other topics mentioned include the Boston Redevelopment Authority, Tent City, the Boston School Committee, Boston City Hospital, the Boston Human Rights Commission, Reggie Eaves, Jonathan Kozol, Louise Day Hicks, Harry Dow, Mel Scobel, Joe Hass, Father Walter Waldron of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Father William Dwyer of Saint Stephen’s Church (Episcopal), the New School for Children, Beacon Hill Nursery School, Boston Latin School, Cambridge Friends School, the John Hancock and Prudential Towers, Roxbury Street, 48 Rutland Street, Dudley Street, Glenway Street, Castle Square, the New York Streets area, Dover Street, and Berkeley Street. Portions of the interview transcript are incomplete.
