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It was a frigidly cold but sunny Inauguration Day morning that January 20 of 1961… a fierce snow storm had hit the DC area the night before creating chaos. The parade was nearly cancelled… the U.S. Army had to clear the snow-covered streets. Former President Herbert Hoover missed the event because his…
Read More »“Boot Cotton Storehouse, Eastern Canal” by Richard Marion (c) 2013 See more artwork at www.richardmarion.net
Read More »In 1958, the League of Women Voters published a pamphlet with results of a survey about Lowell, which was intended to provide “general background on which citizens can base informed opinions and take intelligent action on local governmental issues.” The pamphlet was produced with financial assistance from the First Federal…
Read More »President Obama’s Second Inaugural public ceremony will take place on Monday January 21, 2013. Later that evening there will be two official Inaugural Balls and countless receptions, galas and parties. There is always great anticipation about the First Lady’s gown. The display of these gowns from the past is one…
Read More »In 1996, I led a creative writing workshop for the Hellenic Culture Society of Lowell. For the first session I asked the participants to do an exercise. Everyone would contribute one line on the theme of his or her mother’s kitchen. When we had all the individual lines, I took…
Read More »Photo by Tony Sampas
Read More »In today’s Column blog, the Sun’s Chris Scott writes about the ongoing construction of the Richard Howe Bridge and about the man for whom the structure is named, Richard P. Howe Sr. (who is also my dad). The first few paragraphs of Chris’s post and a link to the full…
Read More »On January 7, 1889, Mayor Charles D. Palmer delivered his inaugural address to the two branches of the City Council (the Common Council and the Board of Aldermen). The Mayor covered many topics in his remarks, from city finances (cash in the treasury as of Dec. 31, 1888: $59,265.27 [a…
Read More »In a ceremony on Thursday, October 1, 1942, at 3 p.m., Rear Admiral W. J. Carter, (S.C.) U.S. Navy, presented to F. A. Flather of the Boott Mills a red, white, and blue pennant representing the Army-Navy Production Award for high achievement in the production of military material needed for…
Read More »This is an excerpt from The Big Move: Immigrant Voices from a Mill City (Loom Press, 2011), edited by UMass Lowell history professors Bob Forrant and Christoph Strobel. The book includes nine interviews, selected from the many conducted by the historians and their team for an ethnographic study of Lowell commissioned…
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