There was a lot of speculation in certain media circles this week about possible bullying and arm-twisting of delegates at last week’s Massachusetts Democratic convention. Amid my recent researching pursuits, I came across a reminder of another Mass Dems convention that shows what old-fashioned politicking is all about. Media reports from June…
President Woodrow Wilson, the 28th U.S. president, is shown playing golf in 1916. He played more golf than any other president, before or since. With the comments from some quarters about the time President Obama spends playing golf, I thought a comparison was in order. After a bit of research I found…
Usually I save my poetry postings for Facebook. But the beauty of this day brings me to this verse. An excerpt from the Prelude to “A Vision of Sir Launfal” by James Russell Lowell: And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days;…
Matt Malone, SJ A Massachusetts and Greater Lowell connection! I know Matt and couldn’t be more pleased at this appointment. America is powerful voice for Jesuits and for Catholics – it is in a good place in the hands of Matt Malone. (New York, N.Y., June 5, 2012) — For…
A reprise from June 1, 2011: This sculpture by Mico Kaufman captures the moment Anne Sullivan successfully teaches Helen Keller her first word – water. The work was dedicated on June 28, 1992. Helen Keller world-renowned writer and lecturer – blind and deaf since her very early childhood – died…
At the iconic Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Monday May 28, President Obama began a national commemoration of the 50-year anniversary of the Vietnam War. “In an opinion column published today [May 28, 2012] in the military’s Stars and Stripes, the President reminds that it was in January 50 years ago…
The New York Times just yesterday featured a story about a group of Lawrence, Massachusetts residents who have come together to strategize about how to tell the “other side of the story” – to work out a plan to change the prevailing image of the city. Boston Magazine recently labeled Lawrence…
On this day – May 29, 1917 – John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts to Joseph and Rose (Fitzgerald) Kennedy. John Fitzgerald “Jack” Kennedy – often referred to by his initials JFK – was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.…
Dateline Tewksbury, Massachusetts. Conservative columnist George Will jumped feet-first into a local dispute now gone viral – a lawsuit entitled United States of America v. 434 Main Street, Tewksbury, Massachusetts. We Tewksbury folk – and now lots of others – know that address belongs to the Motel Caswell. With a history of…
The attack on Charles Sumner by Preston Brooks (1856) MassMoments reminds us that on this day May 22, 1856, Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was viciously attacked on the floor of the United States Senate – beaten with a cane by Preston Brooks, a Congressman from South Carolina. The issue…