E-Mail This Article to a Friend BRAWLS OF YORE Back in the ring with Boston’s political past BY ADAM REILLY

If you’re new to Boston, you’ve probably noticed that the city’s penchant for self-congratulation extends to the political realm. In Boston, we’re repeatedly told, politics is "rough-and-tumble," "bare-knuckled," a "blood sport."

Frankly, that’s a bunch of crap. Boston mayors rarely get a serious challenge, and they’re almost always re-elected. City councilors with any ambition (and that’s most of them) usually tread delicately so they don’t piss off the mayor. Once someone wins a US Senate, congressional, or state legislative seat in Massachusetts, it’s theirs for life. Oh, yeah — every now and then, a new Republican gets elected governor, then leaves a few years later when he or she gets a better offer or just gets bored.

It was not always thus. And on Tuesday, April 26, Clint Richmond will happily transport all interested parties back to the good old days of Boston politics — for free! At 5:30 p.m., Richmond, the author of Political Places of Boston (Muddy River Press, 2004), will assemble a historical posse outside the Old State House, on State Street, for a walking tour of Boston’s political landmarks.

If Political Places of Boston is any indication, participants will learn some interesting stuff. Like this: in 1948, during a pre–Democratic National Convention meeting at the Bellevue Hotel, at 21 Beacon Street, a brawl erupted between two factions — one led by then–state representative Tip O’Neill, the other by Mayor James Michael Curley. Things became so chaotic that the police were called to restore order. (The Bellevue has since gone condo.) Or this: in 1903, the black editor William Monroe Trotter, a vehement opponent of Booker T. Washington’s acquiescent approach to race relations, spent 30 days at the Charles Street Jail after allegedly provoking a riot at a speech Washington gave in a South End church. (The Charles Street Jail is now being redeveloped as a hotel.) Or this: in 1713, a crowd of 200 people protesting the high cost of bread rioted on Boston Common, attacked the warehouses of a wealthy bread exporter, and then shot the lieutenant governor when he tried to intercede. (As of this writing, the Boston Common has not been converted into condos or a hotel.)

In short, Richmond will remind his audience that, however sterile things seem today, there was a time when Boston politics actually lived up to the hype. His lessons will probably make you pine for the past. But they’re well worth learning.

Clint Richmond’s political tour of Boston is free, but advance registration is recommended. To sign up or obtain more information, contact the Bostonian Society at (617) 720-1713 x 25, or e-mail education@bostonhistory.org. The tour begins at 5:30 p.m. outside the Old State House on State Street, and will conclude with a reception and book signing inside the building.