Mayor James Michael Curley, dressed in his raccoon coat, receives flowers from Mrs. Betty Cherry during South Boston’s traditional Evacuation Day parade on March 17, 1947. Mayor Curley’s wife, Gertrude, is sitting to his left in a smart green hat with a pink ribbon, and Edward J. “Knocko” McCormack is in front in his Yankee Division uniform. The parade originally commemorated the day the British left Boston on March 17, 1776; now it also honors St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.
LEANNE BURDEN SEIDEL and LISA TUITE