page_title: Royal L. Bolling
section_title: Political career
hierarchical_section_title: Royal L. Bolling / Political career
caption_attribution_description: English: Royal L. Bolling circa 1965, around the time he sponsored the Racial Imbalance Act
context_page_description: Royal Lee Bolling was a Massachusetts politician and head of a prominent African-American political family. While serving in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1965, he sponsored the state's Racial Imbalance Act, which led to the desegregation of Boston's public schools.
  Bolling was a decorated World War II veteran, earning a Silver Star as a member of the segregated "Buffalo Soldiers" 92nd infantry division. He was also the founder of a successful real estate business, which he ran for 50 years.
context_section_description: In 1961 he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he served six two-year terms. He represented the 11th Suffolk District (Ward 12) from 1961 to 1964 and the 7th Suffolk District from 1965 to 1968 and 1971 to 1974 (Wards 9 and 12 from 1961 to 1968 and Wards 8, 9, and 12 from 1971 to 1974). In 1982 he was elected to the Massachusetts Senate, where he represented the Second Suffolk District from 1983 to 1988.
  Bolling authored over 200 legislative initiatives in the course of his career. In 1963, he proposed the original Racial Imbalance Act, a version of which was signed into law by Governor John Volpe in 1965 and which led to the desegregation of Boston's public schools. He was instrumental in establishing Boston's METCO program, and secured the initial funding for Roxbury Community College. He advocated for the creation of the Second Suffolk Senate District, which led to the election of Boston's first black state senator, Bill Owens, in 1974. 
  In 1985 he sponsored the bill to redevelop the grounds of Boston State Hospital; dozens of mixed-income townhouses have since been built on the site, with many more planned. Bolling was an early advocate for gay rights, and chaired the Hispanic Commission, the state's first commission on issues affecting Latinos. He also chaired the senate's Public Service Committee. Widely recognized for his diplomatic skills, Bolling was chairman of the Special Legislative Committee on Foreign Trade and was hosted by heads of state around the world.
  He was a member of the NAACP, the Urban League, the Black United Front, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Disabled American Veterans.
caption: Bolling circa 1965
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