Biographical Note

Louise Bonar was a community activist who participated in many parent groups, both at her daughters’ schools and in the larger Boston context. She held graduate degrees from local institutions Simmons College and Boston University. In addition to serving on the League of Women Voters (LWV), Bonar was one of forty-two original members of the Citywide Coordinating Council (CCC) from 1975-1976 and was a member of CCC subcommittees from 1976-1977. She was the chair of the Parents Advisory Council (PAC) of the Model Demonstration Subsystem (MDS), the experimental arm of the Boston Public Schools that encompassed the Trotter, Copley Square, Horace Mann, and Lewis schools. Bonar also served on various home and school associations and Copley Square High School's Racial Ethnic Parent Council.

Dr. Laurence (Larry) Bonar, Louise Bonar's husband and a scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital, was likewise a parent activist and involved in many of the same parent organizations. Dr. Bonar also served as chair of the MDS PAC after Louise. His notes appear frequently alongside hers, particularly in the MDS materials. For a time he was involved with Massachusetts Project Equality, an organization gathering funds from local religious groups to benefit equal employment opportunities.

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