Author Archive

This coming Thursday, September 11, 2025, at 6pm at the Dracut Historical Society in Harmony Hall, 1660 Lakeview Ave, Dracut, the Greater Lowell Franco-American Digital Archives in partnership with the Dracut Historical Society, will present “Le P’Tit Canada”, a 29-minute long film from the 1979 series Le Sons des Francais D’Amerique…

Today’s tour of Tyler Park Historic District (Sun, Sep 7) is postponed due to rain. The tour will take place next Sunday, September 14, 2025, at 10am at the park.

NOTE RE TYLER PARK TOUR: At the time I’m writing this late Saturday afternoon, the Friends of Tyler Park had not yet cancelled Sunday’s 10am walking tour or the 11am Autumn Market. For any additional news about these events, check the Friends Facebook page or richardhowe.com. **** After a three-week…

BUILDING YEAR By Terry Downes Five of six they lost last week Just two in ten they won in streak The wins come hard, the cost is dear: Baseball’s tough in a building year. The outfield we last season knew All have bid the game adieu; The rookies who now…

Longtime Lowell writer, scholar and teacher moved to Cambodia in January 2022 and has resided and worked there since. This is the first in a series of occasional essays called Letters from Cambodia in which George will provide a glimpse of everyday life in Cambodia and will also take on…

Please welcome Melissa Franks, our newest contributor to richardhowe.com. In this post, Melissa shares stories from her dad, Bill Franks, but Melissa and I also hope that this is the first of many “Lowell Stories” in which we capture in writing the spoken word stories that breathe life into the…

Long Ago Lowell Labor Day – (PIP #78) By Louise Peloquin 1924 Labor Day speeches ring true today. Lowell celebrated Labor Day Beautiful program of music, speeches and athletic games executed at South Common yesterday. – Mayor Donovan, Rev. P. Corrigan and Rev. Bakeman spoke.      Labor Day was celebrated…

There was no Lowell City Council meeting this week so in anticipation of our city’s coming bicentennial, I’ll take a break from current city affairs and look back 200 years to the founding of Lowell. Earlier this month I gave a talk on this topic at the Pollard Memorial Library,…

The Parker Lectures By Leo Racicot The Parker Lectures have been around for more than 100 years, Established as a trust fund in 1917 by their founder, Moses Greeley Parker, a Dracut physician and much-decorated Civil War surgeon, the Lectures offer the Greater Lowell area programs of a wide-ranging and…

 Paperbacks By Susan April Paperback books I stole from the Beaver Brook Mill when it was a department store: The Grapes of Wrath Up the Down Staircase Gone With the Wind. Collinsville. I was twelve. Our house had telephone books and Liberty Mutual pamphlets like First Aid for Slightest Injury…