History

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill which took place 30 miles south of here on June 17, 1775. We are fast approaching the semiquincentennial (or 250th anniversary) of this event so there will be more attention paid to it in the coming years. Before considering the…

On June 6, 1944, American, British, and Canadian troops landed on the shore of Normandy while airborne troops arrived inland. The great battle to seize back northwest Europe from the Germans commenced. As with every other battle in World War II, men from Lowell were involved in D-Day. First Lieutenant…

John J. Shaughnessy was born in Lowell on October 16, 1917, the son of Edward and Anna O’Donnell of 1091 Gorham Street. He graduated from the Sacred Heart School and Lowell High School. On October 16, 1940 – his 23rd birthday – Shaughnessy registered for the draft at the Elks…

In the middle of St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Lowell, just to the left of the chapel, sits a large rectangular piece of granite inscribed in memory of the graduates of Keith Academy who died while serving in the military during World War II. Located in the former Middlesex County jail…

William Thomas Callery was born on August 16, 1945, in Lowell. His parents, Francis A. Callery and Mary T. Callery, eventually moved the family to 134 Parker Street which was just a few blocks from Tyler Park. William had four siblings: brothers Francis T. and John J. and sisters Sheila…

I delivered the following remarks in May 2019 at the Greater Lowell Veterans Council Memorial Day service at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. For the past several years on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, we’ve made frequent mention of World War I in recognition of the centennial observance of that conflict.…

“Operation Duke” – 1966 in Vietnam By Dean Contover It was 3:00 a.m. in Qui Nhon, Vietnam when we were awakened by the staff sergeant to go to the mess hall for breakfast and to be briefed. One hundred and eighty-seven engineers were hand-picked for this operation which was to…

French President-elect Emmanuel Macron pledges: “to act”, “to serve” By Louise Peloquin To follow up on my April 25th post, “The French Election: Sound bites from the front row”, here are some excerpts from Emmanuel Macron’s second investiture speech. [note 1]. The ten-minute oration, broadcast live, was delivered on Saturday…

Sound bites from the front row Election night – Paris – 24 April 2022 By Louise Peloquin Editor’s Note: Our regular contributor Louise Peloquin (Boarding School Blues) was in Paris this weekend as the French went to the polls for their Presidential election. Louise shared her observations with us. Forgoing…

While our neighbors may commemorate Patriot’s Day by recalling the opening battles of the Revolutionary War at Lexington and Concord – not to mention the Marathon and an early Red Sox start – some in Lowell devote a few moments each April 19th to remembering the members of the Sixth…