For another look at the rise and probable fall of John B. Barranco read the article by staff writer Michael Rezendes in today’s Boston Globe. Barranco ran both the Merrimack Education Collaborative and the Merrimack Education Center – an agency and a purported non-profit – in a manner that Gregory…
The Boston Globe’s Katheleen Conti writes today about the efforts of Lowell High School senior Susan Le and her cohorts to lower the voting age in the city’s local elections to 17. Le, a local youth organization UTEC (United Teen Equality Center) and a cadre of supporters persuaded councilors to…
The Great Strike — Lawrence 1912 – Ralph Fasanella Courtesy of Fasanella Estate On Monday September 19 at Noon, Professor Bob Forrant will give a talk at UMass Lowell, O”Leary Room 500M on South Campus. The focus of his talk is “One Hundred Years Later: Why the Bread & Roses…
We do seem to like lists – “the best places to live,” the “front runners” in the presidential campaign, our bucket list as so on. Even “geekiness” is fodder for list makers. According to Forbes Magazine – Lowell, Massachusetts is #6 on the list of the 20 “geekiest” cities in…
Lowell High School has chosen its 2011 Class of Distinguished Alumni. This celebration of distinguished alums began back in 2004 when literary great Jack Kerouac (1939), businessman and philanthopist George Behrakis (1951), U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas (1958) and businessman Elkin McCallum and his wife community activist Donna Lavigne (both 1961)…
The Moses Greeley Parker Lectures’ new season has already begun. Click here for the 2011-12 schedule. The programs are free and open to the public thanks to the generosity of Mr Parker many decades ago. The series began in 1917. The Lunchtime Lectures require reservations because of food service planning.…
Burning of Washington 1814 On this day August 24, 1814 British forces invaded Washington, D.C. and set fire to the Capitol and the White House. Most members of Congress and other officials fled from DC when they got word that British forces under General Robert Ross overwhelmed American militiamen at…
Room installation Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room James McNeill Whistler, 1834–1903 Oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, leather, and wood Gift of Charles Lang Freer A note in today’s Lowell Sun tells us that the famed and now restored “Peacock Room” in the Freer Gallery of…
On this day August 9, 1852, Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden; or, Life in the Woods” was published. “Walden” details Thoreau’s experiences over the course of two years living in a woodland cabin he built near Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts. Notes about the author from The Thoreau Society – which…
A Currier & Ives drawing of the Battle of Cedar Mountain on Aug. 9, 1862. Fourteen Lowell soldiers died (taken from Lowell Sun website) In today’s Lowell Sun, longtime staff writer and citizen historian Dave Peaver continues his coverage of Lowell and the Civil War. His focus today is on…