In the film “Lincoln,” during the scene in which the roll is being called for votes for and against the adoption of a Constitutional amendment to ban slavery, I couldn’t help wondering who was representing Lowell in the US Congress at that moment. According to the ever-useful “Cotton Was King”…
Peter Stamas accepting his 1997 Distinguished Democrat Award (also pictured Congressman Marty Meehan, Sam Poulten and Greater Lowell Area Democrats Chair Marie Sweeney) It was a pleasure to participate in the event at the Whistler House joining many others to honor and remember Peter Stamas. What follows are my prepared remarks. Remembering Peter…
Each Monday after the 9 a.m. news, I call in to radio station WCAP (980 AM) to talk about local history, politics and anything else that comes up. In the midst of my segment this morning, co-hosts Todd Robbins and Mara Dolan (Ted Panos is “on assignment” this week) put…
Frank Rich, illustration by Gary Bedard (web image courtesy of garybedard.blogspot.com) Read this New York magazine analysis of the election and national political culture by Frank Rich, former columnist at the NYTimes. His acute observations are refreshing compared to the misleading neutrality of so many mainstream media types. To give my Facebook friends…
While looking for something else on my computer, I came across this article I wrote back in January 2010 in the aftermath of Scott Brown’s election to the United States Senate. In the aftermath of Brown’s defeat this past Tuesday, I thought it might be worth a trip down memory…
It was on this day, November 8, 1960, that John Fitzgerald Kennedy of Massachusetts was elected as the 35th President of the United States. He won against Republican candidate and then- Vice President Richard Nixon. Elected at the age of 43, Kennedy was the youngest man elected President; he was…
John Francis “Honey-Fitz” Fitzgerald ( 1863 – 1950) Born in the North End in the shadow of the historic Old North Church, John Francis Fitzgerald – known as “Honey-Fitz” – was the founder of what became the historic Kennedy dynasty. He was bright, hardworking, determined and Irish-Catholic. He was the first of…
On this Day November 5, 1818 – Benjamin F. Butler – a lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts and served as a major general in the Union Army during the Civil War – was…
UMASS LOWELL STUDENT POSTERS ARE GREAT!!! On Thursday, October 25 at 6:00PM – Room 222 O’Leary Library, UMass Lowell celebrates the Centennial of the Bread & Roses Strike. Check out the incredible poster work of UMass Lowell students, hear music, eat some soup, and listen to a talk by historian Ardis Cameron…