Series: The Ten O'Clock News
Date: 1975-09-08
Duration: 00:13:52

Subject: Patrol; South Boston High School; Busing for school integration - Students; Busing for school integration - School buildings and classrooms; Busing for school integration - Police; Busing for school integration - First day of school
People: Barry, Charles; Meade, Peter; Reid, Dr. William;

Clip Description
Footage of the first day of school at South Boston High School during Phase II desegregation of Boston schools. Helmeted members of the Tactical Patrol Force and US Marshals are present in the schoolyard and on the street. Headmaster William Reid (Headmaster, South Boston High School), Charles Barry (Deputy Superintendent, Boston Police Department), Peter Meade (Mayor's Office) and others confer on the street outside of the school. White students approach on foot. Buses carrying African American students arrive with a police motorcycle escort. Two groups of press photographers are cordoned off behind ropes in front of the school. African American students exit buses. A police helicopter circles the area.

Series Description
A local program aimed at the Boston audience, The Ten O'Clock News debuted on January 15, 1976. Its two immediate predecessors were The Reporters and Evening Compass. A news and public affairs show focusing on neighborhood, local and state issues, The Reporters was produced and broadcast on WGBH from 1970 to 1973. The Reporters was then replaced by Evening Compass, which expanded into a twice-nightly news broadcast during the tense moments of Boston's busing crisis. On the air from 1973 to 1975, Evening Compass found an audience through its in-depth coverage of school desegregation in Boston, which began in 1974. The Ten O'Clock News stood out as an in-depth news program. It strove for a balance between local and national stories, between politics and the Arts. The last The Ten O'Clock News program was broadcast on May 30, 1991.

See also: http://main.wgbh.org/ton/programs/71_02