Roxbury Tenants of Harvard (Jeane Neville) records

Jeane (Jeanie) Cleary Neville (1945-2020) was an activist and a co-founder of Roxbury Tenants of Harvard (RTH). RTH formed in 1969 in response to events that began in the late 1950s. At that time, Harvard University, under the leadership of President Nathan Pusey, became interested in expanding its medical area into Roxbury’s Mission Hill neighborhood, and started planning to build the government-supported, Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Mental Health Center there. Harvard began buying empty lots and eventually buildings as well. Residents organized and in December 1964, the Mission United Neighborhood Improvement Team (MUNIT) led over 3,000 residents to protest at the State House. The protest led politicians to withdraw their support and the project was dropped.

Robert Ebert became dean of the Harvard Medical School in the mid 1960s, and became interested in reviving the hospital project. A new development proposal, the Affiliated Hospitals Project, consolidating three Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals, emerged in 1967. By then, Harvard had acquired more property in Mission Hill. In 1968, in preparation to clear land for the project, Harvard sent eviction notices to 182 families and tenants. In the following year, 1969, students and faculty protested Harvard’s planned community displacement, leading to an official strike on campus. Jeane Neville, a Radcliffe college student (class of '69) and Harvard students Doug Levinson and Hayden Duggan helped inform Mission Hill tenants by canvassing the neighborhood, where they met and teamed up with well-known tenant and community activist Theresa Parks (1936-2021), and formed RTH. Born into an Irish immigrant family, Parks had lived in the Mission Hill neighborhood most of her life, and her relationships within the community proved pivotal in organizing residents. Her husband Bob was also heavily involved in RTH.

RTH tried to collaborate with the student-faculty Community Relations Committee known as the Fein Committee (its chairman was Dr. Rashi Fein), established by Dean Ebert to investigate the problems raised by the striking students. After determining that the committee was ineffectual, RTH began requesting meetings with Dean Ebert himself. A new committee was then formed, which included the tenant representation that had been absent from the Fein Committee. Eventually, the second committee was also disbanded and RTH negotiated directly with Harvard administration. In 1972, Harvard and RTH came to an agreement to create a relocation housing development, and in 1976, RTH was able to plan and develop the mixed-income affordable housing community Mission Park.

As of 2024, RTH continues to “develop, preserve and maintain safe and affordable housing for low and moderate-income people of diverse backgrounds in the RTH/Mission Hill neighborhood and improve the quality of life for its residents” as one of the oldest grassroots tenant organizations.

Chronology

Late 1950s

Harvard University begins buying property in Mission Hill, with plans to build a mental health center there.

1964

Mission United Neighborhood Improvement Team (MUNIT), the precursor to RTH, protests the expansion into the neighborhood and proposed displacement of hundreds of residents at a State House rally. The mental health center project is dropped.

Mid 1960s

The idea to expand into Mission Hill is revived by Harvard Medical School Dean Ebert, who proposes the development of a teaching hospital complex. Harvard continues buying property in the area.

1968

Harvard sends eviction notices to nearly 200 Mission Hill families. Harvard and Radcliffe students Doug Levinson, Jeane Neville, and Hayden Duggan canvas Mission Hill and meet resident and community activist Theresa Parks.

1969

Harvard students striking in protest of the Vietnam War include demands that Harvard Medical School and affiliated hospitals not expand into Mission Hill. The strike was successful and led to collaboration between students and community organizers.

1969

Roxbury Tenants of Harvard (RTH) is officially formed. Original board members included Beatriz Powers, Mary Stanton, Theresa Parks, Robert Parks, Claude C. Miller, Robert Setlik, and William Franklin.

1970

RTH calls on Harvard to prioritize displaced residents in the new housing they plan to build. RTH draws up their own relocation housing development proposal, which is approved by Harvard.

1970-1976

RTH continues to meet and negotiate with Harvard to finalize agreement on plans and on the choice of a developer.

1976

RTH wins approval to plan and develop affordable housing on 13 acres of Harvard-owned land on Huntington Avenue and the Riverway. Mission Park, a mixed-income housing community, is the result. Many Mission Hill families are relocated there.