Lowell200: Founders Pt II

Kirk Boott Born in Boston but sent to England to attend Rugby School, Kirk Boott (1791-1837) saw action in the Peninsular Wars against Napoleon as a British Army officer. He returned to Boston in 1817, befriended Patrick Tracy Jackson and was appointed agent to the Boston Manufacturing Company. He moved…

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Lowell200: Founders Pt I

The following is one of an occasional series of posts I’m doing in recognition of Lowell’s upcoming bicentennial in 2026. These and future profiles were first featured in my 2012 book, Legendary Locals of Lowell. Francis Cabot Lowell Francis Cabot Lowell (1775-1817) graduated from Harvard College then set up as a…

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The Lowell Review 2023

When Paul Marion and I launched The Lowell Review three years ago, we wanted to create a print product that contained original prose and poetry from writers from or connected to the Merrimack Valley. We were partly inspired by a two-part article called “In the Valley of the Poets” that…

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Franco-American Week talk this Tuesday

Québec, St. Jean Baptiste, and Poutine! A Free Slide Presentation and Talk by Marie-Josée Duquette of the Québec Government Office in Boston Tuesday, June 20, 2023 from 6:30-8:30 pm Dracut Public Library Community Room 28 Arlington St., Dracut, MA How did the people of Québec come to celebrate the Nativity of…

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Happy Juneteenth

Juneteenth traces its roots to June 19, 1865, when United States Army General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, a full two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln. With General Order No. 3, Granger…

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Living Madly: Moby Chip

Living Madly: Moby Chip By Emilie-Noelle Provost My husband, Rob, is obsessed with the chipmunks in our yard. Each year, beginning in late winter or early spring, when the first pocket-sized rodent pokes its head of out of one of the portholes in our lawn, he starts tracking their daily…

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Boarding School Blues: Ch. 59

Boarding School Blues: Ch. 59 By Louise Peloquin Ch. 59: Wilted Balloons Madeleine’s report on the headmistress’s telephone exchanges with Docteur and Madame Rejean discomfited Andy, Titi and Blanche. “So you’ll be able to go home every single weekend from now on PF” Madeleine announced. “Your father woulda pulled out…

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