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| News from the Moakley Archive and Institute | December 2011 |
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Suffolk Students Prepare for El Salvador Delegation
 Following in the footsteps of Congressman Moakley, students will experience two weeks of study, travel and service as part of Suffolk's 6th annual Alternative Winter Break trip to El Salvador in January 2012.
Throughout the semester, students have learned about the civil war and the political, social, and economic issues facing the Central American nation in a history course taught by Professor Christopher Rodriguez. Students also volunteered at the Local Boston Food Festival and learned about El Salvador's civil war and rebuilding efforts at several campus events that included the following guest speakers: Sister Peggy O'Neill, Dr. Charlie Clements, and filmmaker Frank Christopher.
 Sister Peggy O'Neill, peace activist and founder of the Center for Peace through Art (Centro Arte para la Paz) in El Salvador, discussed her experiences as an aid worker during the country's civil war and her Center's focus on arts education, youth violence prevention and domestic violence prevention. The Suffolk delegation will stay and work at the Center during their visit. Read More
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Launch of National Issues Forum  Suffolk University received a grant to carry out a series of three public forums to engage citizens in deliberative dialogues on issues of national importance such as the national debt, money in politics, and the environment. The first forum, "A Nation in Debt: How Can We Pay the Bills?" took place on Oct. 3, 2011, and, like the forums to follow, provided a vehicle for students, other members of the community and the general public to participate in "democratic dialogue" about important issues facing our nation. Moderated by Avi Green of MassVotes, students from two Government Department courses weighed the pros and cons of three options for reducing the U.S. national debt to reach a consensus. The National Issue Forums is a nonpartisan, nationwide network of locally sponsored public forums for the consideration of public policy issues. Read More |
Meet the Moakley Biographer
Writer and historian Mark R. Schneider has spent the last year researching all aspects of Joe Moakley's life and career for an upcoming biography to be published by the University Press of New England in 2013.
Tentatively titled El Congresista: Joe Moakley of South Boston, the book has required Schneider to spend hundreds of hours poring over archival documents at the Moakley Archive. He has also interviewed many of Moakley's family, former staff, colleagues and friends to piece together the story of the late congressman. He's grateful for the generosity of everyone interviewed to date and invites others to contact him via email at markschneiderweymouth@msn.com. Research for the book will take also Schneider to El Salvador this January. Read More |
Moakley Oral History Project Update
The Archive continues to collect the stories of Congressman Moakley's family, friends and colleagues for the Moakley Oral History Project. Recent interviews include: Sheila Burgess, a member of Congressman Moakley's staff; Robert Albee, a high-level official on Boston's Central Artery Tunnel ("Big Dig") project; and Leanne Tobias, another former Moakley staff member.
Additionally, the Moakley Oral History Project blog now includes interview transcripts from Congressman Moakley's radio show. Moakley hosted a program in the early 1970s that featured interviews with members of Congress and others about various current issues such as Social Security reform, the energy crisis, ethics and civil rights, and the impeachment of Richard Nixon. The series contains interviews with several members of the Black Congressional Caucus including Shirley Chisholm, John Conyers, Charles Rangel, and Louis Stokes.
The Suffolk University Oral History Project has expanded as well, with the addition of an interview of Francis X. Flannery, a long-time Suffolk University administrator. The Archive staff is working to prepare interviews from the Suffolk and Moakley collections to be opened to the public for research.
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