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The story of Solon Perkins and the Perkins family – ancestry and progeny – is further revealed by history researcher Eileen Loucraft. She forwarded this recent find: Re: Solon Perkins ~ His father, Apollos Perkins (1799-1877) was the editor of the first northern NH Whig newspaper “White Mountain Aegis” –…
Read More »The politics and history of Lowell often dominate our discussions here, but sometimes it’s the little things around us that make this city such a fascinating place to live. From time to time, we’ve urged people to write about or photograph the things in Lowell that make this a unique…
Read More »Readers of this blog know that I’ve been writing a book about the origin and impact of Lowell National Historical Park. Titled Mill Power, the book is expected to be available this coming summer. Following are a few paragraphs about the roots of the park, discussed in much greater detail…
Read More »Below is the WCVB Channel 5 News coverage of the Beach Boys appearance at Cawley Stadium in Lowell on September 7, 1987. This video was originally posted on YouTube by a member who posts under the name “Ultimate Beach Boys Video Collection”.
Read More »Eileen Loucraft offers more insight into the Solon Perkins – Civil War soldier saga. But questions remain: Why did Mrs. Perkins give the flag to the Middlesex Bank? Were there Perkins-Knapp connections? More research coming… From E. Loucraft: His mother, Mrs. Wealthy Perkins received the gideon from the estate of…
Read More »A framed and tattered flag from the Civil War was recently unearthed at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. The elaborate frame notes this citation: “Under this flag at Clinton, L. A. (?) June 3rd, 1863 Solon A. Perkins was killed” History sleuths are at work getting all the information on the…
Read More »An excerpt from Cotton Was King in a chapter written by historian Mary H. Blewett, longtime professor at now-UMass Lowell: ” . . . The movement for the adoption of Plan E [city manager-council government] was headed by Harvard-educated Yankee lawyer Woodbury F. Howard. City government under Plan E would…
Read More »Photos by Tony Sampas.
Read More »In my 2013 re-cap, I should have included the major feature film “Big Sur,” directed by Michael Polish and produced by Lowell native Jim Sampas, whose aunt Stella married Jack Kerouac in the 1960s. “Big Sur,” based on the 1962 novel by Kerouac, was screened at the prestigious Sundance film…
Read More »I did not want to let the Academy Award nomination moment go by without acknowledging the vigorous film culture emerging in Lowell and environs. For 2013, the two remarkable motion-picture projects that I want to single out are (1) the documentary Lost Child: Sayon’s Journey, directed by Janet Gardner and…
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