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Sarah George Bagley (1806 – 1884) Sarah Bagley – Lowell mill girl, writer, labor activist – was born in New Hampshire on April 19, 1806. Historian Tom Dublin writes of Sarah Bagley – “she was one of the most important labor leaders in New England during the 1840s. An outspoken advocate of shorter…
Read More »The next regular breakfast meeting of Greater Lowell Area Democrats will be held tomorrow – Saturday February 19, 20011 at 8am at the Independence Grill at the Radisson Hotel in Chelmsford. The regular agenda will include: discussion of the upcoming Democratic Convention caucus results ; the 5th District and the legislative redistricting plans; and host committee…
Read More »MassMoments reminds us today of the terrible famine faced by the people of Ireland in the mid-1840s. Brought low by the potato blight, harsh winter weather and burdensome taxes, the Irish people were starving and perishing in horrible numbers. Those who could – left their land. The plight of the…
Read More »The MetroDesk of the Boston Globe has a Michael Paulson story about the next step planned by the Achdiocese of Boston in dealing with seven closed parishes. These parishes have lost a final appeal with the Vatican to have them reopened. Included in the seven – is the Lowell Parish…
Read More »This Civil War ballad – ‘The Slain at Baltimore” – was sent to us By Martha Mayo – Director of the UML/Center for Lowell History and longtime member of the Lowell Historical Society. The ballad was made available to the public as a Civil War penny-song sheet or as a broadside.…
Read More »MassMoments tells us this morning that in 1849 – the first American-made Valentine cards were created and sold in Worcester, Massachusetts by Mt. Holyoke graduate Esther Howland. Modeled on the English-style Valentine, her fancy designs, embossed, cut and colored paper along with romantic sentiments and hidden messages soon grew into a…
Read More »These ten districts will be downsized in to nine districts as a result of the 2010 Census. (Note: Include Middlesex above with Essex.) A headline in yesterday’s MetroWest Daily News asks: ” Is there political gamesmanship in Mass. redistricting?” Redistricting in Massachusetts – and elsewhere – is always political – it’s the nature…
Read More »Some might wonder about how elected officials take up certain topics. Lately here’s been some buzz about Senator Susan Fargo’s push to name the iconic Rex Trailer as the Commonwealth’s official cowboy. Now it’s a regional school sports league on a legislator’s radar sceen. There’s a story in today’s Eagle Tribune…
Read More »MassMoments tells us that on this day – February 11, 1812 – the political weapon known the “gerrymander” was born with the stroke of Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry’s pen. The practice of gerrymandering in America predates the invention of the term, but it was this Massachusetts law that gave rise to the…
Read More »A depiction of the failed 1861 Peace Conference in the Willard Hall of the Willard Hotel. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post) From the Washington Post: “As part of the Civil War Sesquicentennial, historians are gathering at the Willard InterContinental hotel to remember the failed, and largely forgotten, peace conference…
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