Title: Neighbors: conservation in a changing community /
Authors: Rogers, Richard P.,; Richard P. Rogers Film Collection (Harvard Film Archive)
Year: 1979
Subjects: King, Mel,; African Americans; African American civic leaders Massachusetts Boston.; Minorities; Architecture United States History; African American families; Poverty Government policy Boston History; Public housing; African American women Massachusetts.; Social change United States; Dwellings United States.; African Americans Massachusetts Boston Social conditions.; Poor families.; South End (Boston, Mass.)
Abstract: This documentary produced with support from the Conservation Fund for the National Endowment for the Arts, takes a look at Bostonians living in Boston's South End neighborhood, at the end of the 1970's. The interviewees include, Chris & Claire Hayes, Lynne & Alice Kalil, Mel King, Nicky & Clara Mamiates, Helen Morton, David & Julie Ransom, Marlene Stephens, and Hollis & Joshua Young. The film looks at families of different backgrounds to create a multifaceted view of American households in a community experiencing rapid change due to new investment by young professionals moving into the area. Filmed during the summer of 1977, this documentary looks at individuals who have lived in the community all their lives, as well as newcomers planning to invest in the neighborhood's classic brownstone buildings. Like much of Boston, the South End had experienced a population decline after World War II when many families moved to the growing suburban neighborhoods surrounding the city. In the late 1970's the South End was transitioning from a long standing immigrant community with a number of low rent hotels for single men to the upscale community that it is today.