Author Archive

Bread and Roses Festival

To commemorate Labor Day this year I decided to visit the 26th annual Bread & Roses Festival in Lawrence, an event that celebrates the gains made by workers as a result of their nationally significant strike in the city back in 1912. Even before I left Lowell, however, I was…

Read More »

“The mills weren’t made of marble”

Here is the lead editorial from the September 7, 1992 edition of the New York Times – A Labor Day piece about the recently opened Boott Cotton Mill Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts: Youngsters who are made to troop through America’s historic landmarks might reasonably conclude that in the past, rich…

Read More »

Neighborhood Schools

Earlier this week I posted something on Facebook regarding the start of school which prompted a conservative friend to comment on the benefits of “neighborhood schools,” a term I haven’t heard in a few years. It might surprise readers to learn that I am a proponent of neighborhood schools only…

Read More »

Saturday political update

An Eileen Donoghue flier arrived in today’s mail. “A proven track record of job creation” was the theme of this piece, with a testimonial from the president of a company she once assisted in a “major” way that now has 50 employees in Lowell. The local newspaper also has profiles…

Read More »

1988 State Election

Massachusetts held its Presidential Primary on March 8, 1988. On the Democratic side, Governor (and eventual nominee) Mike Dukakis won easily with 418,256 votes. He was trailed by Jesse Jackson with 133,141, Dick Gephardt with 72,944, Al Gore with 31,631, Paul Simon with 26,176, Gary Hart with 10,837 and Bruce…

Read More »

Flashback Friday: Opening Day, 1970

Opening Day ceremonies for the Callery Park Little League, spring of 1970. Mayor Dick Howe Sr at bat; City Councilor Leo Farley behind the plate. Bounded by Stevens, Parker, Wilder and B Streets, this park had been known as Highland Park for generations but it was renamed in the late…

Read More »

The Hurricane of 1938

During the week of September 18, 1938, no one in Lowell was worried about a hurricane. The public’s attention was focused on two things: Germany was about to invade Czechoslovakia and on that Tuesday (September 20) voters would go to the polls for the state primary election. Lowell voters were…

Read More »

Thursday campaign update

A relatively slow day . . . A Guy Glodis for State Auditor flier arrived in today’s mail. Glodis, the sheriff of Worcester County, pledges to “reign in wasteful political spending” and to “fight for Massachusetts Jobs.” Another Chris Doherty piece arrived in the mail, as well; this one on…

Read More »

The shadowy world of political fund raising

Yesterday’s Globe had an article that provides a glimpse into the shadowy world of big money political fund raising. The US Attorney has charged Martin Raffol, a high ranking executive in a big Massachusetts constructions company with illegally funneling $12,000 to the campaigns of Congressmen Barney Frank, Stephen Lynch, Mike…

Read More »