John Bernard Hynes (September 22, 1897 – January 6, 1970), was an American politician serving as the
Mayor of Boston
The mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston has a mayor–council government. Boston's mayoral elections are nonpartisan (as are all municipal elections in Boston), and elect a mayor to a four- ...
from 1950 to 1960.
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]
Career
Hynes began his career at city hall in 1920 as a clerk in the health department. He later transferred to the auditing department and was chief clerk in the Mayor's office during James Michael Curley
James Michael Curley (November 20, 1874 – November 12, 1958) was an American Democratic politician from Boston, Massachusetts. He served four terms as mayor of Boston. He also served a single term as governor of Massachusetts, characterized ...
's 1922 to 1926 term. On January 4, 1926, Hynes became the city's assistant budget commissioner. He earned his high school and college diplomas through evening classes, graduating from Suffolk University Law School
Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, across the street from the Boston Common and the Freedom Trail, two block ...
in 1927. On June 18, 1929 he was appointed assistant city clerk. In August 1943, Hynes was commissioned a Major in the United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
. He was discharged that December due to a reoccurrence of a chronic ear issue and returned to the city clerk's office. On September 1, 1945 he became Boston's city clerk.
On June 26, 1947, Mayor James Michael Curley was sentenced to six to eighteen months in prison for mail fraud. The city charter allowed the president of the city council to serve as acting mayor in the mayor's absence, but his powers were limited unless the mayor was deceased. The Massachusetts General Court
The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...
passed emergency legislation to bypass council president John B. Kelly, who had recently been acquitted on bribery charges and was in ill health, and to grant full mayoral powers to Hynes (who as city clerk was second in the line of succession) until Curley's release from prison.
Curley, upon his return from prison, commented to the press, "I have accomplished more in one day than has been done in the five months of my absence." Stung by this off-hand but disparaging comment about his performance as acting mayor, Hynes decided to challenge Curley in the November 1949 election, and defeated him.
Because of a change to the mayoral election system, the next election was held in November 1951, when Hynes again defeated Curley. Hynes faced Curley a third time in the 1955 mayoral race; Curley was eliminated in the preliminary election, and Hynes defeated John E. Powers
John E. Powers (November 10, 1910 – July 31, 1998) was an American politician who served as President of the Massachusetts Senate from 1959 to 1964.
Powers, a former clam digger, messenger, and machine operator, served as a State Senator ...
in the general election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
. Overall, Hynes served as mayor from January 2, 1950, until January 4, 1960.
Hynes served as president of the United States Conference of Mayors
The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) is the official non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. The cities are each represented by their mayors or other chief elected officials. The organization was founded i ...
from 1955 through 1957.
Hynes died on January 6, 1970, at Carney Hospital
Carney Hospital is a 159-bedhttp://www.caritaschristi.org/oth/Page.asp?PageID=OTH000334 community teaching hospital in Dorchester, Massachusetts, affiliated with Tufts University School of Medicine and Tufts Medical Center. The hospital had its be ...
in Dorchester, Boston
Dorchester (colloquially referred to as Dot) is a Boston neighborhood comprising more than in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester, ...
.
Legacy
During his tenure as mayor, he oversaw the opening of the Central Artery
The Central Artery (officially the John F. Fitzgerald Expressway) is a section of freeway in downtown Boston, Massachusetts; it is designated as Interstate 93, US 1 and Route 3.
The original Artery, constructed in the 1950s, was named after ...
elevated highway through the city's waterfront district, as well as the opening of the Freedom Trail
The Freedom Trail is a path through Boston, Massachusetts, that passes by 16 locations significant to the history of the United States. Marked largely with brick, it winds from Boston Common in downtown Boston through the North End to the Bu ...
, which traces many of Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
's Revolutionary War era landmarks. He was responsible for founding the Boston Redevelopment Authority
The Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA), formerly the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), is a Massachusetts public agency that serves as the municipal planning and development agency for Boston, working on both housing and commercial de ...
(BRA), which laid the foundation for developments in Boston in the 1950s and beyond including the controversial razing of the West End. Hynes and his successors, John Collins and Kevin White, are most responsible for the modernization of the city of Boston. The Hynes Convention Center
The John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center is a convention center located in Boston, Massachusetts. It was built in 1988 from a design by architects Kallmann, McKinnell & Wood. It replaced the John B. Hynes Memorial Auditorium, also ...
, located in the Back Bay section of Boston, is named for him. One son, Jack Hynes, was a longtime Boston news anchor. His second child, Marie "Darby" Hynes Gallagher, was a special education teacher in the Boston city school system. Another son, Richard Hynes, taught at Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
. A third son, Barry T. Hynes
Barry T. Hynes is an American politician who served as a Boston City Councilor and as Boston's City Clerk.
Hynes grew up in Boston's Dorchester, Boston, Dorchester neighborhood. His father, John Hynes (politician), John Hynes, was Mayor of Bosto ...
, served on the Boston City Council and was Boston's city clerk. Nancy, his youngest child, passed in her forties due to illness.
See also
* Timeline of Boston
This article is a timeline of the history of the city of Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
17th century
* 1625 – William Blaxton arrives.
* 1630 - When Boston was founded
** English Puritans arrive.
** First Church in Boston established.
** Septe ...
, 1950s
References
Further reading
*
* Beatty, Jack, ''The Rascal King: The Life and Times of James Michael Curley, 1874–1958'', 1992.
* Krieger, Alex, David Cobb & Amy Turner, editors, ''Mapping Boston''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1999.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hynes, John
1897 births
1970 deaths
People from Boston
American people of Irish descent
Boston city clerks
Mayors of Boston
Suffolk University Law School alumni
20th-century American politicians
Presidents of the United States Conference of Mayors