Living History

Untold stories

“Boston has had formidable leaders like [arts, education, and community advocate] Elma Lewis, who brought black causes to the forefront,” says Bob Credle, director of community programs at Urban Edge. “Residents in this neighborhood lived through and contributed toward important movements and changes in the city, such as protesting against highway expansion that would have fundamentally altered Roxbury.”

With introductions from Credle and a tape recorder in hand, Helina set out to collect the life histories of residents who’ve been in the developments for three times as long as she’s been alive. Some agreed to let her take photographs. All shared personal, even painful, details of their experiences.

One woman told the story of her son, swept up in the gang violence that roiled Boston in the 1980s, shot in front of their unit at Academy Homes.

Another shared the successes of her two children who attended school in better-funded districts through the METCO program and went on to college and professional careers. A third son whose asthma prevented him from participating in the program didn’t fare as well – he didn’t continue his education and faced harsher odds in life.

“That story showed me the power of one opportunity to make a lasting impact on someone’s life,” says Helina.

She provided the recordings and written interview summaries to Historic New England for posterity. So far three blog posts based on Helina’s interviews have been published – telling the stories of Beryl Harris, Frances Sims, and Wallace Tilford. The success of the pilot means the program will continue next summer, preserving an important part of Boston’s 20th century history.

A passion for problem solving

Born in Ethiopia, Helina moved to New York with her family when she was 10. After finishing high school she spent a gap year in Addis Ababa volunteering for World Wide Orphans, a non-governmental organization that provides quality education, health, psychosocial, and nutritional support for children living in extreme poverty.

“I worked with kids, teaching them basic English and providing support to the staff,” says Helina. “I saw firsthand how difficult it is to access quality education in Ethiopia. There’s a general lack of opportunity for students.”

The experience stirred her passion for advocacy and reform – and inspired her to prepare for a career in policymaking. As a Politics, Philosophy & Economics (PPE) major at Suffolk she learned to analyze complex topics in the context of ethics and justice, global market factors, and policy. Understanding how those elements interact helps students find nuanced answers to the world’s toughest questions.

Next steps

As she looks toward graduation in May, Helina is reflective.

“The stories I heard during the Roxbury oral history project cemented my desire to be in the field directly,” she says. Now she wants to work with the people who are impacted by policies instead of operating in the abstract.

For Helina, that likely means returning to Ethiopia, to her first home and the place that crystallized her desire to serve others.