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Yesterday in his Inaugural Address, newly-sworn-in Governor Charlie Baker reminded us that on that rostrum in that Chamber, John F. Kennedy addressed the Legislature and the people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as he took his leave to become the 35th President of the United States. He noted ~ “Decades…
Read More »Here’s another fascinating story from Lowell’s history by Julie Mofford, a former staffer at the Lowell Historic Preservation Commission, who currently lives in midcoast Maine where she writes and works as a museum and historical society consultant. When I stayed with my grandparents in Zanesville, Ohio, my bed faced the…
Read More »The article surfaced on the web yesterday, a Boston Globe Travel section report on the vibrant cultural life in Lowell, a city whose historic sector carries the designation of The Canalway Cultural District, thanks to the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Quickly, the news story by writer Patricia Harris and photographer David Lyon…
Read More »On Wed., Jan. 7, at 7 pm, I will be at the Tewksbury Public Library, 300 Chandler Street, discussing my new book, Mill Power: The Origin and Impact of Lowell National Historical Park. The program is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Robert Hayes at 978-640-4490 or rhayes@mvlc.org Here’s…
Read More »Frequent contributor Jim Peters offers the following about St Patrick’s Church in Lowell: I believed that this would be an easy assignment. I mean, a great deal has been written on St. Patrick’s Church, right? So it cannot be that difficult to catalogue it in a chronologically correct way. Was…
Read More »For those who celebrate the spiritual event and holyday that for us is Christmas – we do so without restraint on our person, our beliefs, our rituals… the secular and civic revelries of Christmas time ~ the music, gift giving, parties, food, song, symbols and salutes thrive as well…. here…
Read More »I wrote this poem on the West Coast, when I was in graduate school at the University of California in 1983-84. I had moved across country and wanted to write something about the coincidence of living in Dana Point, which had a Massachusetts and even a Lowell connection. The composition…
Read More »The recent Globe article ~ “How a Massachusetts man invented the global ice market” reminded me that Lowell with its location on the Merrimack River had it’s own ice harvesting business with talented ice cutters and ice harvesters. The name of local ice king Daniel Gage and visits from the…
Read More »A new ping today as someone referenced this post from the archive has prompted me to re-post this commentary on “candles in the window at Christmas time” ~ an Irish tradition as well as a few memories. BTW ~ I was amused to be noted as a “Bostonian with an…
Read More »A note from Henri Marchand: Like its subject, this essay has been around, appearing first as a Sunrise radio essay on WUML-FM at UMass Lowell, re-wrapped as a “Guest Column” piece in the Sun, and showing up on this blog for the first time in 2009—and then returning here annually as…
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