JAMES MICHAEL CURLEY

In 1952 Adlai E. Stevenson, the Governor of Illinois ran for President against General Dwight D. Eisenhower. He brought his campaign to Boston …more specifically to South Boston. A platform was set up right across the street from the “L” street Bath House on a lot which was then vacant. Since it was right in my neighborhood I went to observe Mr. Stevenson close up. A crowd that I estimate at a couple of hundred gathered around the platform. It was obvious that Mr. Stevenson was running quite late and the crowd was growing restless.

At that point I saw a figure climbing to the platform that was not Mr. Stevenson. A booming voice spoke and the crowd immediately recognized James Michael Curley, the same man who secured funding for the Building right across the street. A legendary person I heard so much about. The man who went to prison for impersonating a friend at a civil service examination, then used that as his campaign slogan…. a Governor, a Federal House Representative and more importantly Mayor of Boston. Now he was past his political career at this point but like nature abhors a vacuum…Curley could not resist an empty platform.

Now Mr. Stevenson eventually arrived but the real star that night was James Michael Curley. He spoke extemporaneously for 45 minutes and held his audience mesmerized with every word he spoke.  I felt privileged to hear him. When he died I waited in line at the State House for an hour to pay my respects.