March 17, 1958: Senator John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, were crowd favorites at this parade. Whenever their car halted, the Kennedys were surrounded by well-wishers seeking to shake his hand and shouting "Good luck, Jack," or "Hi, Senator."

March 17, 1964: For the first time in history, the Boston branch of the NAACP had a float in a South Boston St. Patrick's Day parade. Although there were several incidents of opposition in the forms of cans, bottles, and eggs being tossed at the float, they appeared mainly unplanned and spontaneous.

March 17, 1965: Parade marchers 10,000-strong filled Dorchester Street in South Boston as they moved toward Broadway (top of photo) under sunny skies. The parade in South Boston originated as a parade to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the evacuation of British troops from Boston in 1776 and first took place on March 18, 1901.

March 17, 1974: Junior Naval Cadets hurried to finish the parade while still managing to hold on to their hats. Wind gusts of more than 40 miles per hour on the parade route made that a difficult task.

March 17, 1974: Emotions showed in the faces of the crowd watching the St. Patrick's Day parade with temperatures in the 30s, but a wind-chill factor near zero.

March 17, 1974: Boston's Mounted Police Unit led the parade up East Broadway. A highlight of the 1974 parade was a team of eight Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale horses pulling an open red wagon. They are just coming into view at the top of the picture.

March 16, 1975: One man's point of view was expressed at the 1975 St. Patrick's Day parade. Laced with the politics of Boston's school desegregation struggles, the parade itself was longer than in previous years because of the number of floats or marching units associated with the school desegregation issue.

March 20, 1988: "Deco" Kelly waved an Irish flag from a rooftop overlooking the St. Patrick's Day parade route on Broadway.

March 17, 1991: Marine Lance Corporal John Linehan, who was spending his first full day home in South Boston after returning from the Persian Gulf, was honored at the St. Patrick's Day parade. More than 500,000 viewers lined the 5-mile route, many with signs of welcome for veterans of all wars.

March 28, 1993: Snow had postponed the St. Patrick's Day Parade for two weeks. In their second court-backed appearance in the South Boston parade, gay marchers were met with some obscenities but also drew cheers. Supporter Brandon Krapes held a placard along the route.