Collins (John) is born in Boston.

John Collins grows up at 10 Elmore Street, graduates from Roxbury Memorial High School and Suffolk University, and serves as a captain in the U.S. Army in World War II. He marries Mary Cunniff in 1946, and moves to 72 Dunster Road, then 20 Myrtle Street. Collins serves in the Massachusetts House of Representative (1946-1950) and Senate (1951-1954), on the Boston City Council (1956-1957) and as mayor (1960-1968). Thomas O’Connor later writes, “It was John Hynes who outlined a vision for the New Boston, [but it was John Collins] who made things happen.” Collins dies in Boston on November 21, 1995, and is buried in St. Joseph Cemetery.