Old City Hall
A mayor who went to prison, kept his pay, and then made a rival with one sentence.
Listen to this place’s story in Peplos.
How the story begins
In June of 1947 the mayor of Boston went to federal prison, and the city went on paying his salary of twenty thousand dollars a year. James Michael Curley was seventy-two, convicted of mail fraud. He told the judge he had at least nine serious ailments, and that this was a death sentence. He told the Globe he would run the city from his cell. Boston had seen this before. He had once served sixty days, for fraud against the Civil Service, and the voters had elected him mayor four times since.
The rest is in the app. Peplos plays the full story when you reach the place. You can also listen ahead of time.
Visiting
45 School Street. Boston's City Hall from 1865 to 1969, now private offices. The forecourt and front can be seen from School Street at any hour.
Photos
Sources
- TIME, Massachusetts: Hail to the Chief (8 December 1947)
- Boston Globe, on Curley's indictment and imprisonment (2024)
- City of Boston Archives, John B. Hynes biography
- Wikipedia, John Hynes (emergency legislation)
- Wikipedia, Old City Hall (Boston) (dates and current use)
- EBSCO Research Starters, Boston alderman reelected while in jail
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