Lower Roxbury Black History Project

Oral history interview transcript with Mel King

Bailey, Ronald William (Creator)

King, Mel, 1928-2023 (Interviewee)
Turner, Diane (Interviewer)

English

March 12, 1990

Text

Oral histories

born digital

Mel King was a community leader, political activist, and educator. Born on October 20, 1928 in Boston, Massachusetts, King studied mathematics at Claflin College from 1947 to 1951 and earned his M.A. from Boston State Teachers College in 1951. King is well-known for his role in fighting for affordable housing and services in the South End, particularly the battle against commercial developers and the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) in 1968. Originally working for Community Assembly for a Unified South End (CAUSE), King and his supporters built a temporary tent city and lived on a demolished housing site until developers agreed to construct a new housing complex which was named "Tent City". In 1973, King was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives for the 9th Suffolk district. From 1970 to 1996, King was an adjunct professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and established the Community Fellows Program in MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning. In 1983, he established the Rainbow Coalition Party. King passed away March 28, 2023 at his home in Boston's South End. In this interview, King describes growing up in a diverse community in the South End. He speaks about the Church of All Nations, which he attended as a child, and the important role it played in supporting urban youth. King describes settlement houses in the South End community. He speaks about helping organize the tenet group Community for a Unified South End, which advocated for tenets effected by urban renewal programs and for the establishment of an Urban Renewal Committee. King speaks about the establishment of the Tent City encampment, including the political and social aims of the movement. King reflects on the current South End community, and the ongoing struggle to ensure low-income tenets have access to housing. Also discussed in this interview is the community impact of World War II and urban renewal in the South End, decentralizing school boards, and Nelson Mandela's 1990 visit to Boston.

In 1989 and 1990, Milton Derr, Mel King, and Byron Rushing, three prominent members of Boston's African American community, were interviewed about their lives and work in preparation for a book by Ronald W. Bailey with Diane Turner and Robert Hayden, entitled Lower Roxbury: A Community of Treasures in the City of Boston.--Collection finding aid

Collection finding aid: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20297052

Ronald W. Bailey oral history collection, 1989-1990 (M153)

King, Mel, 1928-2023
Community development, Urban -- Massachusetts -- Boston
African Americans -- Massachusetts -- Boston -- Social conditions

KingMel_19900312_Transcript

Northeastern University Library
Archives and Special Collections (M153)

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