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An excerpt from the chapter about the Lowell Folk Festival in my forthcoming book, Mill Power: The Origin and Impact of Lowell National Historical Park, which will be available from Rowman & Littlefield Publishers in September. The book was produced in collaboration with the National Park Service. Here is…
Read More »This is a re-post from July 2013, pulled from the richardhowe.com archives—PM The media coverage of family friction involving the owners of the Market Basket supermarket empire sent me back in the Time Tunnel to the mid-1960s, maybe 1965, when the Ford Mustang was the sports car of the moment…
Read More »The news about Gov. Deval Patrick seeking ways to aid children caught in a crisis situation along the southern border of the U.S. reminded me of an example of a member of Congress from Lowell trying to help children in distress during WWII. This is an excerpt from my essay…
Read More »The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus (1849-87) Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From…
Read More »To wrap up my account of a recent visit to the cultural attractions in Salem, Mass., I will think out loud about what made it a good day and what that has to do with marketing Lowell. First, everyone we encountered was pleasant and helpful, from the parking garage attendant…
Read More »This post is a follow up to my earlier one about a recent visit to Salem, Mass., a place my family has been to many times. Rosemary and I try to get around the region in the summer especially, and a day trip to Salem is always a good choice.…
Read More »On Facebook, some people on the Lowell Live Feed and Innovative Cities group pages have been writing about the prospects for renewal of the historic Smith Baker Center, a former Congregational Church dating from the 19th century, across from the public library, Pollard Memorial Library, on Merrimack Street. The City…
Read More »In another life, my father may have been a high-school history teacher, in line with his passion for the stories of the past and current events. But in his own life he was a wool sorter and wool grader (a step up), a tradesman in the front end of the…
Read More »Our thoughts and prayers are with those suffering in Lowell tonight. To help survivors of the Branch Street fire and the families of our seven neighbors who died in the fire, donations can be made by sending a check or money order to “Branch Street Fire Victims Relief Fund,”Jeanne D’Arc…
Read More »Henry and John Thoreau took themselves on a two-week boat trip up the Concord and Merrimack Rivers at the end of the summer in 1839. Henry wrote a book about their adventure, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, published in 1849; he paid for it to be published…
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