Author Archive

With no City Council meeting last week, today we’ll take another excursion into a part of Lowell political history that intersects with several contemporary issues. In May the City Council held a vigorous debate on whether to unwind the judicial consent decree from the 1980s that still governs the assignment…

In the years before the American Civil War, Frederick Douglass was a frequent visitor to Lowell. Although the city’s entire reason for existence was the production of cloth made from cotton harvested by enslaved Africans in the American south which provided a strong incentive for those in Lowell to remain…

4th of July in Lowell – (PIP #37) By Louise Peloquin A 4th of July throwback announcing an honor roll dedication, advertising an evening of celebration and covering heat elevation. Times have changed and yet, have they? Articles below from L’Etoile, June 30, 1944. Honor roll dedication on Tuesday   …

Sometimes when you watch a Lowell City Council meeting you get a sense that there are two meetings happening simultaneously. One is out in the open, but the other is couched in cryptic language and verbal slips that make clear that the Councilors are privy to more than they are…

The Letter and The Counterculture By Ed DeJesus The red rhododendrons in front of the government building were blooming. The sunny forecast for Tuesday, June fourth, 1968, was great. Ideal weather to take a half-day off from my monotonous mail clerk job at the IRS in Andover, MA. I showed…

The War Effort – (PIP #36) By Louise Peloquin In his June 9th substack, Richard Howe listed the seven servicemen from Lowell who were killed in Normandy. The extensive media coverage of the recent 80th anniversary of D-Day etched vivid images of the solemn ceremonies into our hearts. Here is…

There was no Lowell City Council meeting this week, so I’ll use today’s newsletter to share some political history that remains relevant today. During its May 6, 2024, meeting, the Lowell Planning Board spent considerable time discussing a section of Lowell Forward, the draft master plan that asserted that housing…

I hope you enjoy this list of upcoming activities, events and news in Lowell. –Belinda Juran –author of events newsletter ****   Quick ways to help local businesses today: Vote for your favorite (Lowell-based) businesses by June 23 (you can vote each day).  Multiple categories.  Let’s put our Lowell businesses…

Willie Mays: 1931-2024 By Dave Perry A longtime fan of the San Francisco Giants, Dave Perry’s essay, “Willie”, appeared on this site in 2010 and was published in History As It Happens: Citizen Bloggers in Lowell, Mass which is available from Loom Press.   Now, Dave has shared a new…

Living Madly: The Fleeting Season By Emilie-Noelle Provost For all the wonderful things I’ve experienced in my life so far, I’ve yet to encounter anything that comes close to replicating the excitement of the last day of school before summer vacation. I still remember the satisfying feeling brought on by…