"The purpose of this publication is to chronicle the people and events that led to the creation of HART in 1975, and the resulting actions that have redefined power and politics in Hartford neighborhoods over the past twenty years."
People's History is the story of HART, the Saul Alinsky-inspired community group that has organized neighborhoods south of Capitol Avenue for over two decades. It begins with a severely critical analysis of two major influences on Hartford's people. The first target is the Chamber of Commerce and the Hartford "Bishops," the permanent power base of the city's top corporate leaders. The book records the big business solution to the social unrest of the sixties caused by racism and economic disparity-- through the creation of social service groups such as the Community Renewal Team (CRT) and South Arsenal Neighborhood Development (SAND)-- as well as the urban social engineering effort known as Hartford Process (the think tank that planned to move poor people to a newly-created town near Coventry while simultaneously stopping Puerto Rican people from migrating to Hartford).
The other player People's History identifies is Nick Carbone, the south-end native who gained a national reputation as Deputy Mayor of the city during the 70's. HART's book pulls no punches when it comes to describing and criticizing Carbone's "one man show" approach to urban politics.
But this book is more than just a record of opportunism and corporate control. It is the story of the defeat of the "Skywalk," which would have used federal money to allow suburbanites to never walk Hartford's streets. It is the battle of Stone Street, where one group of neighbors used civil disobedience to stop huge construction trucks from ruining their neighborhood. It documents the unfairness of property taxation and the fights to protect homeowners from being sucked dry by a system that favors big business. It is the record of groups that have spun off from HART, as well as the fights to save grocery stores and local bank branches, garbage roll-out services, community policing, quality education, and jobs.
It is not the entire story of Hartford community organizing, but it doesn't set itself up to be. It is not an "objective" work, and so it is far better than any official history. If it sometimes relies on interviews with strange political bedfellows such as Donald Romanik (the almost- HART president), the book provides accurate insight about politicians like State Representative Art Feltman.
People's History is full of photos and bite-sized recollections of people who played a role in HART's success. It is available at all branches of the Hartford Public Library and at the HART office on 660 Park Street.
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