November 1, 2011

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Image ... Swan Boats. Boston Public Garden.

Dr. King in Boston . 1

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In early September 1951 Martin Luther King, Jr., ML as his father called him, packed his bachelor belongings into a shiny new green Chevrolet and headed north for the thousand mile drive to Boston. The Chevy, equipped with the recently introduced Powerglide automatic transmission that he'd admired in a friend's car, was a gift from Daddy King as his father, Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr., was often called by his family and flock. It was his reward for graduating at the top of his class in May from Crozer Theological Seminary outside Philadelphia.

1951 was a key year of transition for the country. The final business of World War II was winding down and, bridged by the futile Korean War, the Cold War was heating up.

It was the year of Duck and Cover. Atomic testing and war games began in the Nevada desert and Marshall Islands. The first nuclear power plant went into operation. The Rosenbergs were tried and executed for slipping A-bomb secrets to the Russians.

The first commercial computer, Univac 1, went into service and next year predicted the presidential election. The transistor was developed at Bell Labs. Coast-to-coast direct phone dialing and TV broadcasts began.

Upon his arrival from the Jim Crow South, King soon encountered the harsh reality of the segregated North.

I remember very well trying to find a place to live. I went into place after place where there were signs that rooms were for rent. They were for rent until they found out I was a Negro, and suddenly they had just been rented.

After some searching he and Phillip Lenud, a friend from Morehouse College where King did his undergraduate work, found an apartment at 397 Massachusetts Avenue in the South End across from the Savoy Cafe. The Savoy has long since ceased stomping (replaced by an apartment building at 400 Mass. Ave.), but King's digs still stand, a few doors down from the Orange Line T station and marked with a small bronze plaque.

Continued at Dr. King in Boston . 2.

Dr. King - Gardner Heist | Beans About Boston . 7

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Martin Luther King, Jr. moved to Boston in September 1951 to pursue his doctorate at the Boston University School of Theology. Where were his bachelor quarters before he married Coretta Scott in 1953?

A - B.U. campus housing.
B - Back Bay.
C - The Fenway.
D - The South End.
E - Kenmore Square.
F - Beacon Hill.


The infamous art heist at the Gardner Museum - the largest in history with an estimated current worth of a half-billion dollars and now approaching its 20th anniversary - was cleverly carried out by thieves posing as what?

A - Mimes.
B - Undertakers.
C - Policemen.
D - Plumbers.
E - Exterminators.

Malcolm X - Gardner Museum Heist | Beans About Boston . 7

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So you think you know beans about Boston? We'll see. Take our progressive trivia test. Every week a question, carefully crafted by our crack trivia team, is posed about Boston history, culture, customs, driving directions or whatever.

Email your answer (on the back of a $20 PayPal draft) to contact@roofscapemagazine.com. Contestants with the correct answer will be acknowledged and losers admonished.

Now the 'progressive' part of the test is this. When we post the answer to the previous week's question (Old Beans) it will be followed by a related background briefing. Recall that information in the future to help solve some New Beans.

Old Beans ...

Malcolm X moved to Boston in the early 1940's, a troubled teenager with a tumultuous past, to live with his aunt Ella on Dale Street in Roxbury. Soon after his arrival, his aunt offered him a piece of advice that Malcolm later recalled as being one of the most important he was ever given. What was it?

1. Go see Boston.
2. Get a job!
3. Go to church.
4. Get some sharp threads.
5. Join the Nation of Islam.

Correct answer ... 1. Go see Boston.

Aunt Ella told Malcolm to go see Boston before he became busy with a job and schooling and had no time to wander around the city. He took her advice and was amazed by all the history on view wherever he went, including the Boston Massacre monument featuring Crispus Attucks, the black martyr who helped spark the American Revolution.

Amazingly, no one got this right. 100% of respondents chose 5. Join the Nation of Islam. Malcolm joined the Nation after being introduced to it by fellow prisoners while serving time in Concord and Walpole.

New Beans ...

The infamous art heist at the Gardner Museum - the largest in history with an estimated current worth of a half-billion dollars and now approaching its 20th anniversary - was cleverly carried out by thieves posing as what?

1. Mimes.
2. Undertakers.
3. Policemen.
4. Plumbers.
5. Exterminators.

Beans About Boston . 2

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We're testing Polls from Constant Contact, host of Roofscape News. This is the current question posed by Beans About Boston.

It's big. It's ugly. At least here. What do you think? Vote with your feet.
Here's an option, it opens in a new window.