Carmen A. Pola papers

Carmen A. Pola was born Carmen A. Villanueva Garcia in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, in 1939. In 1955, she immigrated to the continental United States with her family, settling briefly in the Bronx, New York, before moving to Oakland, California, where the family worked in agriculture. In 1960 she married Juan Pola during the next twelve years, the couple had four children. While in California, Carmen Pola became involved in community activism, participating in a number of grassroots organizations, particularly in the areas of education and youth activism, such as La Raza Educators and Young Catholic Workers.

In 1972, the Pola family relocated to Boston, Massachusetts, settling in the neighborhood of Mission Hill. Carmen Pola quickly became involved in community activism. She helped organize tenants in Mission Hill and coordinated a class action lawsuit, Perez v. Boston Housing Authority, in an attempt to force the city to comply with existing sanitary codes. She was also one of the plaintiffs named in a lawsuit brought by the Parent's Committee for Defense of Bilingual Education (Comité de Padres pro Defensa de la Educación Bilingüe), Morgan v. Kerrigan, in response to desegregation policies that threatened the viability of bilingual education programs in the Boston Public School system. In 1975, she served as coordinator of the annual Puerto Rican Festival (Festival Puertorriqueño), held in Boston since 1967.

From 1977 to 1980, Pola was the coordinator of the Community District I Advisory Council, part of the Citywide Parents Advisory Council, Inc, which operated from 1974-2004 as part of the court-mandated desegregation of Boston Public Schools (Morgan v. Hennigan). These councils operated at a city-wide (CPAC), district (CDAC), and school level (REPC). In addition, Pola participated in the Bilingual Masters Parents Advisory Council, involved in overseeing the implementation of the Voluntary Lau Compliance Plan, a 1979 agreement that outlined the responsibilities of the Boston Public School system in providing education to bilingual students.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, Pola also completed her undergraduate education and worked toward her master's in urban planning at Tufts University.

From December 1980 to June 1983, Pola directed the Project to Monitor the Code of Discipline at the Massachusetts Advocacy Center (now known as Massachusetts Advocates for Children), a non-profit organization focusing on the needs of children in the Commonwealth. The Project to Monitor the Code of Discipline was a federally-funded program to oversee the city-wide implementation of the 1980 Code of Discipline, a set of uniform rules and regulations enacted by the Boston School Committee to counteract the high rate of suspensions involving minority students.

In 1980 Pola became the first Latina to run for statewide office, running unsuccessfully for state representative of Suffolk County's 17th District (Jamaica Plain-Mission Hill). Following her campaign, she worked as a liaison to the Hispanic community during Raymond Flynn's successful bid in the 1983 race to be Boston's mayor. Following Flynn's inauguration in January, 1984, Pola was one of Flynn's first appointees, chosen to serve as the director of the newly-formed Office of Constituent Services and later as senior advisor on human needs until resigning in October 1986.

After leaving City government Pola returned to community-based activism. In 1994 she helped found Roxbury Unites for Families and Children, Inc., a local organization initially funded by a four-year, $2.8 million grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation as a pilot project focused on providing mental health services to children and youth. The organization worked closely with the National Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health and the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. She also provided professional consultation for, and served on the boards of non-profit organizations, including the National Association for Families with Basic Needs, The Carter Center, United Nations, National Association for Bilingual Educators, Massachusetts Association of Bilingual Educators, Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, and Project Life. Pola founded La Raza en Marcha, Boston and Hispanic Family Mental Health Program (Boston), and she was chair of the Harvard Community Health Plan, Mission Hill Representative for the Harvard Board of Directors, member of Hispanic Office of Planning and Evaluation, vice chair of the Mayor's Committee on Hispanic Affairs, founder of Spanish Cultural Program on Mental health, member (appointed by Judge Arthur Garrity) Citywide Coordinating Council on Education, member of the Manpower training Act Advisory Council (appointed by Mayor Kevin White), chair of the Ethnic Linguistic Minorities Committee, and member of the Executive Committee of the National Association of the Washington Business Group.

Pola is the recipient of many awards, including a 1976 Governor's award for service to the minority community in Boston during the Dukakis Administration, and a 1984 National Conference of Puerto Rican Women citation in recognition of outstanding volunteerism in voter registration.

1939

Carmen A. Villaneuva Garcia born on May 1 in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico.

1954-55

Attends University of Puerto Rico.

1955

Pola's family moves to the Bronx, New York, then to Oakland, California.

1956-59

Member of Young Catholic Workers, St. Mary's Church, Oakland, California.

1957-58

Attends Merritt college, Oakland, California.

1957-62

Plans and develops first community health center in the U.S., West Oakland Health Center, Oakland, California.

1957-60

Works as farm worker, Napa Valley, Napa, California.

1961

Marries Juan Pola in Oakland, California; eventually has five children.

1965-66

Vice president and national representative of La Raza Unida party, California Chapter.

1965-68

Works as Community Organizer, Inner City Project, Oakland, California.

1967

Organizes La Raza Educators, the first Latino professional organization in Oakland, California.

1967-72

Works as Community Relations Specialist, Division of Community Services, Laney Community College, Oakland, California.

1971

First bilingual school in Boston, Rafael Hernandez School, founded.

1971

Moves with family to Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.

1971-72

Serves as counselor at Cardinal Cushing Center, Boston.

1971-75

Organizes Mission Hill Main Housing Project.

1972-73

Serves as Director of the National Alliance of Businessmen for the Manpower Program, Cardinal Cushing Center in Boston.

1973-74

Serves as Assistant Director of the Mission Hill / Fenway Area Planning Action Council of Action for Boston Community Development.

1974

Establishes La Raza en Marcha, Boston, the first Latino grassroots organization in Massachusetts.

1974

Morgan v. Kerrigan lawsuit filed against Boston Public Schools for failure to successfully integrate the school system.

1974-78?

Organizes Perez v. Boston Housing Authority class action lawsuit to provide decent public housing.

1975

Comité de Padres pro Defensa de la Educación Bilingüe (The Parent's Committee for the Defense of Bilingual Education), in which Pola is involved, is recognized as interveners in Morgan v. Kerrigan as they seek to protect bilingual education programs in the city. Is President of La Raza; elected president of Boston's Puerto Rican Festival.

1975-76

Attends Tufts University Continuing Education Program.

1976

Receives citation from Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Mike Dukakis.

1977-80

Serves as Coordinator, Community District I Advisory Council (Brighton, Fenway, and Mission Hill), Boston Public Schools.

1978-80

Serves as Chairperson, Bilingual Masters Parents Advisory Council, Boston Public Schools.

1980

Is candidate for state representative in Boston's 17th Suffolk District; loses election.

1980-81

Is member of the Hispanic Task Force, City of Boston.

1980-82

Serves as Co-Chair, Citywide Parent Advisory Council, Boston.

1980-83

Serves as Director of the Project to Monitor the Code of Discipline, Massachusetts Advocacy Center.

1982

Served as Chair, the School Committee of the City of Boston.

1983

Liaison to the Hispanic community for Raymond Flynn's campaign for Boston City Mayor.

1983-84

Attends Masters Program in Urban and Environmental Policy at Tufts University.

1984

Is plaintiff in Latino Political Action Committee v. Boston.

1984-85

Serves as first director of the Office of Constituent Services, Flynn Administration.

1985

Named as senior advisor on human needs, Flynn Administration.

1986 Oct

Resigns position as senior advisor on human needs.

1988

Nelson Merced become first Puerto Rican and first Latino elected to statewide office.

1991

Is appointed to Action for Boston Community Development Parker Hill / Fenway Board of Directors; joins Project Life's Board of Directors (to reduce infant mortality rate in Boston's minority communities); founds Blacks and Latinas Together.

1993

Becomes president of the Board of Directors of Project Life; becomes treasurer for the Casey Initiative Board of Directors; becomes member of the Board of Directors of the Puerto Rican Festival and coordinator of the Park Committee.

1994

Roxbury Unites for Families and Children receives $2.8 million grant for a pilot project providing mental health services to children in Roxbury and Mission Hill.

1994

Is elected president of the Latino Caucus and African American Caucus of mental health initiatives in the United States; becomes member of the Diversity Committee of the National Federation for Children of Special Needs; becomes member of the National Family Leadership Advisory Group of the Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health.

1994-99

Serves as Board President, Roxbury Unites for Families and Children.

1995

Becomes president of the Mission Hill Healthy Boston Coalition.

2004

Receives citation from Mitt Romney, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.