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Frederick Ayer, brother to Dr. J. C. Ayer of patent medicine fame, is in the news today. He too was in the patent medicine business, also the coal business but even more so in the textile business in the Merrimack Valley in both Lowell and Lawrence. His fashionable home on Pawtucket…
Read More »Nearly 200 people last night gathered for the opening dinner of the Innovative Cities Conference at the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center. In a video message, Congresswoman Niki Tsongas emphasized that older, mid-sized industrial (or post-industrial) cities have a particular set of challenges and assets that must be addressed…
Read More »The Battle of Bunker Hill (that took place on nearby Breed’s Hill) Notwithstanding the recent decision of the Great and General Court, Bunker Hill Day commemorates a day of great historical significance to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to the country, to the conduct of the American Revolutionary War. Notes from…
Read More »Lowell and Middlesex Community College had a big night tonight at the Auditorium, where “documentarian” Ken Burns wowed the crowd with his visual and verbal eloquence. I particularly enjoyed the question-and-answer portion of the program in which Burns demonstrated how quick he is on his “intellectual feet,” fielding questions on…
Read More »What is Bloomsday? Fom Today in Dublin: Bloomsday is a commemoration observed annually on 16 June in Dublin to celebrate the life of Irish writer James Joyce and relive the events in his novel Ulysses, all of which took place on the same day in Dublin in 1904. The name…
Read More »Earlier this evening I attended the Annual Meeting of the Greater Lowell Community Foundation. As an early advocate and a founding member of the Community Foundation along with Dick Donahue, Peter Stamas, Mary Bacigalupo, George Duncan and others – I have a special interest in the Foundation. I’m happy to report that the…
Read More »Read the Globe’s report about the views of the editorial board of Mass. Benchmarks, which tracks the state’s economy. Prof. Bob Forrant of UMass Lowell is a member of the board. Click here for Rob Gavin’s article in the Globe, and consider subscribing if you appreciate the writing. And here’s…
Read More »There’s a tweet out there notifying people that the “Smokestack Lightning” and “Coffin Dust” book launch party at the Old Court is this Friday, but that’s a week early. I understand the excitement and wild expectation. We’ll have to wait one more week, however, for the prose and Guinness. Come…
Read More »UMass Lowell hockey broadcasts have been over for many weeks, the WUML-FM SUNRISE radio program is long-gone, WLLH’s MORNING MAGAZINE is a memory, and I’m missing the voice of radioman Bob Ellis on the Merrimack Valley airwaves. Bob’s voice is a piece of our modern cultural history in this region,…
Read More »The Merrimack Valley has seen changes or changes are in the works at the top level of many school districts lately – Tewksbury, Dracut, Andover, Lawrence, Haverhill, Greater Lowell Voke, Greater Lawrence Voke and probably more. There are so many that even the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents can’t keep its website…
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