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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm GwenOuten.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. We take you to Boston where the DemocraticNational Convention opens today.

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VOICE ONE:

More than four thousand delegatesare in Boston for the Democratic convention. Thousands of othervisitors are there to report on the events or just to watch.

The convention will end Thursday night after Senator John Kerryof Massachusetts accepts the nomination for president. On Wednesdaynight, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina is to accept thenomination for vice president. Other speakers this week will includeformer presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and former vicepresident Al Gore.

VOICE TWO:

Boston is under heavy securityagainst terrorist attacks during the Democratic convention.

Republicans will meet in New York next month. They willofficially nominate President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheneyfor the general election in November.

The national conventions are held in a different city every fouryears. They are a chance for the parties to show support for theircandidates. But political experts say these events are lessimportant than they once were. Candidates are now chosen throughstate nominating elections.

In fact, the major televisionbroadcasters do not show much of the conventions live anymore. Theyleave that to the news networks on cable television.

For Boston, this is the city's first national convention ofeither major party.

VOICE ONE:

Boston seems a natural choice for a political convention. Thecity played an important part in the birth of the United States. Andpolitics are an important part of Boston life.

Boston is the state capital of Massachusetts and the largestcity. More than three million people live in the greater Bostonarea. About five-hundred-ninety-thousand of them live in the cityitself.

Boston is a center of finance, education and music. And it is amajor seaport. The city and nearby communities form the largestindustrial center in the New England area of the Northeastern UnitedStates. Boston occupies about one-hundred-thirty-five squarekilometers along the Atlantic coast.

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VOICE TWO:

Boston is one of the oldest cities in the United States. Thereare still narrow streets laid with red brick. But Boston is alsomodern. Major building and improvement projects in thenineteen-sixties and seventies gave the city some of its morecurrent look.

Boston has a number of neighborhoods that seem like cities inthemselves. Some are Back Bay, North End, South Boston and Roxbury.

American schoolchildren learn that Boston is the birthplace ofthe nation's freedom. This is where the war that separated theAmerican colonies from Britain began in seventeen-seventy-five.

VOICE ONE:

Today, lots of people put on their best walking shoes and followthe Freedom Trail in Boston. This trail is almost five kilometerslong. It takes people to sixteen historical places. One of these isthe Old North Church. A sign tells how lights placed at the top ofthe church warned American colonists that the British would soonattack.

Also along the walk is the area where the Boston Massacre tookplace. In seventeen-seventy, British soldiers shot into a crowd andkilled five colonists. The anger that followed helped fire thespirit that produced the American Revolution.

From the Boston Freedom Trail you can also see the first publicschool in the United States. Students first attended Boston LatinSchool in sixteen-thirty-five.

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The Boston area is full ofcolleges and universities. Harvard, in nearby Cambridge, became thenation's first college in sixteen-thirty-six. The MassachusettsInstitute of Technology also is in Cambridge.

The city of Boston is home to many top medical centers along withHarvard Medical School. The city is also known for its museums andlibraries. The Boston Public Library opened in eighteen-fifty-fouras the first major free library in the country.

Music lovers have the Boston Symphony. There is also the BostonPops Orchestra. It performs popular and semi-classical music in thespring and summer.

VOICE ONE:

Downtown Boston contains a mix of tall modern office buildings,old factories and historic landmarks. Eighteen hectares of downtownis the park called Boston Common. Many people like to ride the boatsthat look like swans on the lake in the Public Gardens there.

In the sixteen-hundreds, women accused of being witches werehanged on Boston Common. The same was true for members of the Quakerreligion.

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VOICE TWO:

The first people of Massachusetts were the Native Americans. Insixteen-thirty, Christians known as Puritans arrived from England toescape religious oppression. Many Puritans came from the Englishcity of Boston. So that is what they named their new home. Boston isalso known as "Bean Town." Beans were an important trade crop forthe city in colonial days.

In recent years, the population of Boston has changed. ManyHispanics and Asians have moved to the city. Boston also has a largeAfrican American population.

Black people began to move there in large numbers from theSouthern states after World War One ended in nineteen-eighteen. ManyAfrican Americans and Hispanics live in Roxbury, in the center ofthe city.

Non-Hispanic whites are no longer a majority in Boston. Butleaders of other groups say white Bostonians still control the city.

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Many people of Italian ancestry live in North End. This area isalong the waterfront. Ships brought large numbers of immigrants toBoston from southern and eastern Europe between eighteen-eighty andnineteen-fourteen. Many Italians arrived to start a new life inAmerica.

The Irish population in Boston began to grow sharply in abouteighteen-forty-five. Large numbers of people left Ireland whenpotato crop failures led to starvation. The traditional center ofthe Irish-American community in Boston is South Boston. People callit "Southie."

The children and grandchildren of the first Irish families inBoston became political leaders of the city. These includedpoliticians like John Francis Fitzgerald. He was known as "HoneyFitz." He served two terms as mayor.

One of his grandsons became a senator from Massachusetts. Then,in nineteen-sixty, that grandson was elected the thirty-fifthpresident of the United States. His name was John FitzgeraldKennedy.

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Another early Irish-American mayor in Boston served four terms inoffice. His name was James Michael Curley. He and Honey FitzFitzgerald strengthened the political power of the Irish.

Today that tradition continues with politicians like SenatorEdward Kennedy of Massachusetts. He, too, is a grandson of HoneyFitz Fitzgerald, and a brother of President Kennedy.

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VOICE ONE:

The racial and ethnic mixture of people in Boston helps give lifeto the city. But it has also caused deep divisions over the years.

In nineteen-seventy-four, a federal judge ruled that Bostonschool officials had illegally separated students by race. The judgeordered the city to transport students to different schools tocreate a balance between blacks and whites.

Many white parents protested. Some threw rocks at buses thatcarried black students to white schools.

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Busing continues as a way to balance school populations aroundBoston. But efforts at racial balance failed. Many white familiesmoved their children to private schools. Or they moved out of thecity. Today only about fifteen percent of the students in the Bostonpublic schools are white.

A committee has been considering proposals about the future ofbusing. These include proposals for the first major changes inthirty years, to permit more students to attend schools close tohome.

VOICE ONE:

As the capital city in Massachusetts, Boston is at the center ofanother civil rights issue these days. In May, Massachusetts becamethe first American state to permit same-sex marriage. Some peoplecompare this to an act of rebellion that is one of the best knownevents in Boston history.

In seventeen-seventy-three, colonists dressed as Indians threwshiploads of British tea into Boston Harbor. They did it to protestBritish taxes. American schoolchildren still learn about the eventthat will be known forever as the Boston Tea Party.

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VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by CatyWeaver. This is Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Gwen Outen. Join us again next week for THIS ISAMERICA in VOA Special English.