Karilyn Crockett, PhD, a Lecturer of Public Policy and Urban Planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, discusses themes from her new book People before Highways: Boston Activists, Urban Planners, and a New Movement for City Making, a fascinating historical analysis of the social, political, and environmental significance of a local anti-highway protest and its lasting national implications.
About the Speaker
Dr. Karilyn Crockett’s research focuses on large-scale land use changes in twentieth century American cities and examines the social and geographic implications of structural poverty. Karilyn’s new book People before Highways: Boston Activists, Urban Planners, and a New Movement for City Making (UMASS Press 2018) investigates a 1960s era grassroots movement to halt urban extension of the U.S. interstate highway system and the geographic and political changes in Boston that resulted. Karilyn was the co-founder of Multicultural Youth Tour of What’s Now (MYTOWN), an award winning, Boston-based, educational nonprofit organization. She is also the former Director of Economic Policy & Research and the Director of Small Business Development for the City of Boston.