Doris Bunte | |
---|---|
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from the 7th Suffolk district | |
In office 1973–1984 | |
Preceded by | Franklin W. Holgate |
Succeeded by | Gloria Fox |
Boston Housing Authority Administrator | |
In office 1984–1992 | |
Preceded by | Harry Spence |
Succeeded by | David Cortiella |
Personal details | |
Born | New York City, New York, U.S. | July 2, 1933
Died | February 15, 2021 (aged 87) Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Alma mater | Harvard University (MEd) |
Doris Bunte (July 2, 1933 – February 15, 2021) was a Massachusetts state representative and an administrator of the Boston Housing Authority. She was the first African-American woman to hold either position.
She was born on July 2, 1933, in New York City and educated in the New York City public schools.[1]
She was a tenant activist at the Orchard Park housing project (now Orchard Gardens) in Roxbury.[2] She was a member of the National Rent Board, the Critical Minority Affairs Committee, the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, the National Tenants Organization, and the Citizens Housing and Planning Association.[1]
In 1972, Bunte was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives (7th Suffolk District, Wards 8, 9 and 12), where she served for 12 years.[2] She was the first African-American woman elected to the Massachusetts state legislature.[3] In 1984, Mayor Raymond Flynn appointed her Administrator of the Boston Housing Authority, where she served until 1992. She was also the first BHA official who had lived in public housing.[2][4] She was the first African-American woman to hold that position in Boston, and the first former public housing tenant to lead a public housing agency in a major city.[3] During her career in Massachusetts politics she was known as a strong advocate for public housing.[2] Bunte was among the three founding members of the Massachusetts Legislative Black Caucus. [5]
Afterwards she worked at the Boston University School of Public Health and the Center for Sport in Society at Northeastern University before retiring in 2010.[2]
She died on February 15, 2021, from cancer in her home in Brookline, Massachusetts.[6]
In 2018, the Walnut Park Apartments were renamed the Doris Bunte Apartments.[7]