In recognition of Black History Month, this week Trasna features an excerpt from a new publication by Joann Malone, Awake to Racism. Malone, an Irish-American, shares her experiences as a Catholic nun in Alabama in the 1960s. There, while teaching, she begins a lifelong involvement in the Civil Rights movement.…
Below is a narrative account of the 1987 City Election and related events that occurred during that two-year term. To see the order of finish and vote totals of the candidates, visit our 1987 City Election page. On November 3, 1987, voters reelected incumbents Richard Howe, Brian Martin, Robert Kennedy…
1989 Lowell English-Only Referendum By Charles Gargiulo In 1989, the “English-Only” Referendum was an initiative put on the ballot and championed by George Kouloheras to stoke the same white nativist populism we see fueling Trumpism today. It was in large response to the political gains made by the city’s Latino…
The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. The most bipartisan impeachment in our nation’s history ended up ten brave enough Republicans short of conviction. So we finished in a place that seemed certain from the outset. Still, a majority of the U.S. Senate voted to…
George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, at his parents’ estate on the south bank of the Potomac River in northeast Virginia. Congress made the day a Federal holiday in 1879 and nearly one hundred years later in the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1971, Congress changed the name…
Friday’s Lowell Sun had a story by Emma Murphy (“Does pocketwatch put Lowellian at Lincoln’s death bed?”) about Jonathan Ladd, a Civil War soldier from Lowell who may have been present in the room where Abraham Lincoln died on April 15, 1865. I’m quoted in the story saying I was…
“Alice laughed. ‘There’s no use trying,’ she said. ‘One can’t believe impossible things.’ I daresay you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen. ‘When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. There goes…
This week Trasna is pleased to feature Irish poet, Frank Farrelly, who is based in Waterford city. Frank’s poems here are from his first full collection, The Boiler Room, and reflect on childhood, place and a growing towards an understanding of the complexities of life and living. The poem, Against the…
Here’s a report on the 1989 Lowell City Election which included an “English only” referendum which prevailed by a wide margin. To see the individual candidate vote totals, please see our new 1989 City Election page. On November 7, 1989, voters reelected council incumbents Bud Caulfield, Robert Kennedy, Kathleen Kelley,…
Poet Brian Simoneau, who grew up in Lowell, has a new book of poems due in June, No Small Comfort (Black Lawrence Press). Pre-order your copy now at this link. His poem “Thorndike Street” appeared in North American Review (Spring 2020). With his permission we reprint it here. Please click…
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