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…
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This blog’s frequent contributor Steve O’Connor has his first novel on the shelves: “The Spy in the City of Books.” Today’s Sun includes a fine preview article about the book and the story behind the story. Steve’s book-launch party is this Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Athenian Corner on Market…
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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…
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With the centennial of the famous 1912 Bread and Roses Strike in Lawrence approaching, will scenes like this one below of union workers protesting cuts in pay and benefits multiply in the months ahead as state legislatures grapple with budget shortfalls? Read the NY Times article that goes with the…
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Thanks to Guy Lefebvre of the Lowell Gallery who sent along this print of the July 8, 1865 Harper’s Weekly which shows a story about the dedication of the Ladd & Whitney Monument in Lowell. Luther Ladd and Addison Whitney were two young mill workers from Lowell who were killed…
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With warm weather forecast for the next few days and spring training underway in Florida, Steve O’Connor shares a baseball story: I have a cousin several years my junior named Michael Stirk who moved to Chicago after college. I rarely see him, since Chicago is way past Worcester, and since…
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This note is from Steve Edington, president of Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! Inc., from the group’s website at www.lowellcelebrateskerouac.org “Plans are already shaping up for the 2011 October LCK Festival which, this year, will run from October 6-9. We’re building this year’s theme around the anticipated release in August, 2011, of…
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Last night I traveled to the Needham Public Library to hear Chaim “Mike” Rosenberg talk about his new book, “The Life and Times of Francis Cabot Lowell, 1775-1817.” Lowell is the man for whom our city is named, although he died (at age 42) before the city was even founded.…
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Here’s the link for all the happenings for the annual Kerouac birthday celebration in March. For more details see www.lowellcelebrateskerouac.org
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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.…
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