Reminder: Lowell Historical Society Annual Meeting May 27th!

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Corey

Lowell Historical Society’s

Annual Meeting Featuring a Presentation on

Charles Dickens and the Lowell Mill Girls

Dr. Natalie McKnight, Boston University

Date:May 27, 2012, 1:00-2:30

Location:Boott Mills Events Center, Second Floor, Lowell National Park, Boott Gallery, Boott Cotton Mills Museum, 115 John Street, Lowell, MA

: Natalie McKnight, Professor, Associate Dean, Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning, Boston University.

Dr. McKnight will be talking about Dickens and the Lowell mill girls, and with a particular focus on how and why Dickens was so impressed with the Lowell factories and particularly the women he met there. Dr. McKnight will emphasize Dickens’ high regard for the journal the mill girls produced, The Lowell Offering. She will suggest ways in which his visit to Lowell shaped his attitude and approach toward his own role as author for the rest of his career.

Dr. McKnight has published three books on Victorian fiction, Idiots, Madmen and Other Prisoners in Dickens and Suffering Mothers in Mid-Victorian Novels (St. Martin’s/Palgrave) and Fathers in Victorian Fiction. She is Co-Editor of Dickens Studies Annual and Archivist and Subscription Manager of Dickens Quarterly.

Available both before and after Dr. McKnight’s presentation is the Exhibit:

Dickens and Massachusetts: A Tale of Power and Transformation

This major exhibit was co-curated by Diana Archibald, Associate Professor of English at UMass Lowell, and David Blackburn, Chief of Cultural Resources and Programs, Lowell National Historical Park. It is being held at the same location as Natalie McKnight’s presentation in the Boott Gallery (first floor in the Lowell National Historical Park. This interactive exhibition will open on March 30, 2012 and run through October 20, 2012. It features a rich collection of rare Dickens artifacts, on loan from the Charles Dickens Museum of London, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, the American Antiquarian Society, the New York Public Library, the Fellman Collection at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the Perkins School for the Blind and other institutions. In this exhibit, an iconic 1842 portrait of the young Dickens, painted by Boston artist Francis Alexander, will receive its first public display in over 30 years.

The Dr. McKnight’s program and the Dickens and Massachusetts exhibition are free to the public.

Spring Lowell Cemetery Tours Start Today May 4, 2012

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Marie

This a cross-post from Dick Howe’s blog.

Lowell Cemetery tours this week

by DickH

The spring tours of historic Lowell Cemetery begin this week on Friday, May 4 at 1 pm and Saturday, May 5 at 10 am.

We have completely revised the tours this year. These May tours will all begin at the Lawrence Street entrance and will cover that half of the cemetery. The tours in the fall will begin at the Knapp Avenue entrance and will cover that part of the cemetery. There will be some overlap (everyone will see the Ayer Lion) but most of the tours this year will be brand new, so even if you’ve participated in one of the tours during the past few years, you will see and hear new things this year.

The tours take 90 minutes of walking over uneven ground and are conducted rain or shine. Parking is available along the avenues of the cemetery within the back gate.

Here are the dates for all upcoming tours:

Friday – May 4 – 1 pm Saturday – May 5 – 10 am Friday – May 18 – 1 pm Saturday – May 19 – 10 am

In Forgotten New England: Lowell’s Pollard’s Department Store

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Marie

Recently our friend over at “Forgotten New England” posted a very interesting piece on Arthur G. Pollard and Pollard’s Department Store – a retail store staple for many years on Merrimack Street. The article is entitled: Pollard’s Department Store – Lowell Born . . . Lowell Owned . . . Lowell Managed. Of Arthur Pollard personally – he notes:

Arthur Pollard’s influence stretched far beyond his department store. During his working years, he was involved many of Lowell’s companies and institutions. Pollard served as president of Lowell’s Union National Bank, Stony Brook Railroad Company, the Lowell Hosiery Company, and Lowell General Hospital. He was also a trustee of the Lowell Cemetery Association, Lowell Textile School, the Ayer Home for Little Children, Rogers Hall School, and the Young Men’s Christian Association. He was also active in the Republican party. Although he never held or sought office, he served as treasurer on the Middlesex County Republican Committee for nearly 20 years. In 1900, he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention, which nominated McKinley for a second term. Pollard had also amassed quite a reputation in free masonry, and attained high honors in the York and Scottish rites, both in Lowell and nationally.

Read the full article here at www.ForgottenNewEngland.com.

Lowell Doughboys Statue and Tribute

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Marie

This is a cross-post from Lowell Historical Society Board member Eileen Loucraft’s blog LowellDoughboys.

Lowell Doughboy Statue -Tribute of a Greatful Neighborhood

The Lowell Doughboy Statue is located at the intersection of Fletcher and Willie Streets in Lowell, MA. It was dedicated June 3, 1923 in an impressive ceremony attended by thousands of people. The square is located in front of the current Lowell Firefighters club. They have an impressive mural which gives the statue a unique look. This location used to house the Marine Club, The Broadway Social Club and Butler Volunteer Firemen. It was the Broadway Social Club who was responsible for purchasing and dedicating this monument.
The monument honors 36 acre men who gave their lives during World War One. Imagine 36 men from one small neighborhood paid the ultimate price. This shows the impact this war had on the city of Lowell.

South Side –

“TO LIVE IN HEARTS WE LEAVE BEHIND IS NOT TO DIE”

April Joseph

Murray Stephen A

McDermott James C

Toner William H

Gearin George E

Mitchell William J

Michalopoulous Athenasios

Roy Charles J

Theodorou Christos

Wilber William F

Alix Armand

Chaput Philip

East Side – “LEST WE FORGET”

Connolly John L

Flannery Edward J

Cranna John

Ricard Leo A

Manning Thomas M

Quinn Edward F

Kelley Duncan

Georgulias Efstrafios

Lyons John A

Worthy Joseph

Fletcher Carl E

Muraswsky, Joseph

West side – “LEST WE FORGET”

Wallace Charles

Trainor John J

Warren John M

Ryan John H

Mansour George

Macheras Elias

McCellen James W

O’Brien John A

MacLean A Stewart

O’Donoghue Michael T

Longtin Charles J

Ayotte Arthur J

At the statue dedication Major Edward L. Logan, Mayor John J. Donovan and Congressman John Jacob Rogers spoke. I think the Congressman said it best,

“Let this statue be always a beacon star which will help you to strive onward that the lives of those it honors may not have died in vain.”

Also known as Connolly Square named for Private John Leo Connolly, Co. M 101st Regiment killed in action – 23 Oct., 1918 at Belieu Bois, France. Born 3 Aug., 1893, at Lowell, son of Michael and Bridget (Brown) Connolly (both born in Ireland); brother of Rev. Edward B. Connolly, O.M.I., of Colorado Springs, Colo., Frank, Henry J., Raymond, and Mary (wife of Fred Provencher). His occupation was a shipper at the Baker Chocolate Company, Boston.

Posted by Eileen at 12:32 PM 0 comments

March 24th – Mass Memories Road Show comes to Lowell

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Corey

The Mass Memories Road Show is coming to the Tsongas Industrial History Center (Boott Mills) on Saturday, March 24th, 2012!

This show is an opportunity to provide up to three photos representing you or your family’s history in the city for a digital online archive. They are also looking for oral histories.

For more information, please visit: http://massmemories.net/lowell.php

Lowell’s Irish Monument – 1977 Dedication Remembered

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Marie

From the inscription: “…through their efforts in every facet of city life they helped establish Lowell as one of the most important cities in the nation.”

This is a great photo taken by Dick Howe of Lowell’s Irish Monument set in the Cardinal O’Connell newly restored greenspace. To the rear is the monument - bust and fountain - in memory of Lowell-born William Cardinal O’Connell – longtime Cardinal-Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston. This is the 100th anniversary of O’Connell’s elevation to the College of Cardinals. This monument to the Irish immigrants who came to Lowell in the 1820s to dig the canals then stayed to become citizens, raise their families and contribute to the community was a project dear to the heart of former Lowell Mayor and Lowell City Councilor Leo J. Farley. With the help of a great committee that included Susan Callery, Agnes Kirwin and Lewis Karabatsos and others – and the generosity and support of locals of Irish heritage and those that appreciated the contibutions of the Irish, the monument was designed and installed by the late Adian Luz. For those who might remember we had a Shamrock Ball (or two) with a program to raise funds for the monument. We participated in the Regatta Festivals up on the Boulevard where we sold Irish Coffee, lamb stew and Irish bread and displayed art and artifact of our heritage. In a collaboration with Dr. Patrick Mogan we sponsored a presentation of traditional Irish music and performance at the Smith-Baker Center.

In October, 1977 - a jubilant group paraded to the monument site after a benediction service at St. Patrick Church in the Acre. A wreath was laid and the late Bishop Rocco gave his blessing and words of dedication.

Note: On behalf of the Lowell Irish Hertiage Committee I gave photos and memorabilia from the monument project to Dave McKean to add to the St. Patrick Church archive.

Remembering Lowell’s Bon Marche at “Forgotten New England”

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Marie

This is a cross-post from Dick Howe’s blog.

March 6th, 2012

Lowell’s Bon Marché Store Remembered by “Forgotten New England”

by Marie

So many of us have fond and quite personal memories of the Bon Marché store – longtime anchor for retail business on Merrimack Street in downtown Lowell. The store’s founder Frederic Mitchell opened his first store on Merrimack Street in 1878. The Bon Marché – as we knew it – was brought by Allied Stores in 1976 and made into a Jordan Marsh. After extensive renovations, it became home to the Lowell School Department’s main office. Today, the building and annex houses the central operations of the state’s second largest community action agency – Community Teamwork, Inc.

Today in “Forgotten New England” – using some examples of the store’s newspaper advertising – readers get a real sense of the Bon Marché – once touted as ” The Bon Marché Dry Goods Company – the largest department store in New England.” The store is truly entwined with the history of the Lowell community. Here’s an exerpt from the article:

A few years later, as the Bon Marché and the rest of the downtown community lived through WWII, the store instituted wartime hours and again offered war bonds and stamps to its customers to support the war effort. Lowell experienced a brief economic boom in the war years, mostly from the increased need for clothing produced by its remaining textile mills and its involvement in munitions manufacturing.

Read the full article here at forgottennewengland.com.

Do you have memories to share about the Bon Marché?

The Bon Marché building in downtown Lowell during a “festive” time.

St. Patrick’s Day in Lowell, Massachusetts – Then and Now

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Marie

This is a cross-post from our friend historian Dave McKean’s blog “LowellIrish”. Dave gives readers the flavor of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Lowell back in 1843 and then shows some photos as the 2012 celebration of Irish Cultural Week begins today.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

St Patrick’s Day in Lowell – Then & Now

Lowell Courier, 1843

The recent snows made the roads difficult to pass through, but the hardy souls celebrated Saint Patrick as they had for years by parading through the streets of Lowell. The year was 1843. The account of the day’s festivities was recorded in the Courier. The Irish carried with them 2 green, silk banners; one with the American eagle and the other with the Irish harp. “A fine band” played tunes as they marched through the neighborhood and into the city proper. The marchers wore green, silk scarves with green and white rosettes. Mass was celebrated at St Peter’s that year, then the little group proceeded to the Merrimack House to feast. Until late in the evening, the men offered toast after toast. They lifted their glasses to the ideals of democracy and liberty. They remembered their homeland and their new home too. They recited poems and sang “Garry Owen.” The reporter included “all was carried out in an appropriate manner.” (Note: at an earlier celebration the reporter commented that no alcohol was served, just cider, and very little of that was consumed.)

The article closed with mention that some “blackguard” had made a stuffed effigy of Saint Patrick and placed it on Lowell Street “for the purpose of insulting our Irish citizens.” To his credit the author states that whoever did so should have spent his time “in stuffing his own head” with the ideals of “good breeding and gentlemanly decorum.”

Thankfully in 2012 we don’t have effigies of the Saint, but this year’s hot item for St Patrick’s Day is a t-shirt from Urban Outfitters with a figure vomiting shamrocks. And that’s how we display our culture.

Today the Irish Cultural Committee of St Patrick Parish started off their celebration in much the same way their ancestors did. It began with liturgy, then the parade through the streets and feasting after raising the flag. Some things don’t change too quickly in the Acre. If you’re interested in joining any of the activities coming up check out their Facebook page or check elsewhere on this blog.

To see more photos check here at LowellIrish. Check the Irish Cultural Committee Facebook page for photos and information.

Automobile Races, Technology ~ the Lowell Connection

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Marie

This is a cross-post from Dick Howe’s blog. It is a subject that could generate many more posts!

Automobile Races, Technology and the Lowell Connection

by Marie

It’s all about the cars! The big NASCAR races are but the current focus of aficinados of the sport -although for the first time ever the opening of the Daytona 500 was rescheduled due to the heavy rain and dangerous conditions down in Daytona, Florida yesterday. It’s really a pageant, a festival – if you will – wrapped around the races. It harkens back to a different kind of automobile racing when Lowell, Massachusetts hosted its first “automobile carnival and road race” back in 1908. Locals won’t be surprised to learn that the twists and turns of a roadway along the Merrimack River in the Pawtucketville neighborhood created a natural and attractive raceway. Another factor in the Lowell race was that John O. Heinze, president of the Lowell Automobile Club and owner of the Heinze Electric Company that made parts for Detroit car manufacturers was a major advocate for racing. He knew that to have racing sanctioned issues of safety had to be addressed. Lowell was a proving ground for his technology – Lowell partnered again with those in the forefront of new technology.

Auto Racing in Lowell (post card views /UML Center for Lowell History)

In his essay “Race Along the River,” former Lowell Historical Society President and Pawtucketville activist Ray Hoag gives us the “front and back stories” on the 1908 race. While an entertainment for both the drivers and the spectators, as Heinze planned the races were really a testing ground for the emerging technology of the automobile. Just what could these “machines” offer both the racer and the public? What could they withstand on a long trip or for that matter even on a rigorous short trip? Motor car touring was starting to becoming popular and New England with it scenery, charm and challenging roadways was a magnet for these new “tourists.” Back in 1908 – as now – Lowell seemed ripe for marketing as a destination city for tourists – the new motoring tourist back in that day. There is another connecting thread – consider that the American Automobile Association (AAA) celebrating its 110th birthday on March 4, was organized from regional groups in response to a lack of roads and highways suitable for automobiles. AAA was an early sponsor of automobile races later the AAA focus turned more to meeting the needs of the touring and vacationing public. (Learn more here.)

Read Ray Hoag’s essay here at the UML/ Center for Lowell.

Note: Many early automobile were “Made in Massachusetts” – even here in Lowell:

1908 Lowell-American Runabout (Lowell-American Automobile Company)

See more Massachusetts -made automobiles here: http://www.earlyamericanautomobiles.com/massautos.htm

That Dickens in America – Not All Went Well – But He Liked Lowell

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Marie

Charles Dickens as a young man… he was 30 years old on his First American Tour.

Lowell Historical Society VP Gray Fitzsimons passed along this interesting take on Charles Dickens’ 1842 American Tour from the BBC Magazine. The side bar further confirms his time in Lowell, Massachusetts (although Lowell is mispelled). Here’s the side bar followed by an exerpt and a link to the full article. What do you think? From other accounts, he DID like Lowell

Highlights of Charles Dickens’s 1842 itinerary

January 22: Arrived Boston
February 2: Visited mills at Lowel, Massachusetts
February 13: Arrived New York by boat
February 14: Ball at Park Theatre
March 2: Visited Tombs Prison and Public Department
March 6: Arrived Philadelphia
March 10: Visited Capitol and White House
March 13: Dinner at the White House
March 29: Arrived Pittsburgh
April 4: Arrived Cincinnati
April 10: Arrived St Louis
April 26- May 3: Niagara Falls
May 4- 29: Visited Canada
June 7: Left New York for England

From the article:

On his first visit to America in 1842, English novelist Charles Dickens was greeted like a modern rock star. But the trip soon turned sour, as Simon Watts reports.

On Valentine’s Day, 1842, New York hosted one of the grandest events the city had ever seen – a ball in honour of the English novelist Charles Dickens…

But a visit which had started so well quickly turned into a bitter dispute, known as the “Quarrel with America”…

As a committed social reformer, Dickens wanted to use his trip to find out if American democracy was an improvement on class-ridden Victorian England.

The novelist particularly enjoyed Boston*, his first port of call…

The tone of the visit changed when the crowds and individuals he met as the tour continued became – as he perceived rude, discourteous, undisciplined - and as Dickens scholar Professor Jerome Meckier notes: “The longer Dickens rubbed shoulders with Americans, the more he realised that the Americans were simply not English enough. He began to find them overbearing, boastful, vulgar, uncivil, insensitive and above all acquisitive.”

Check out the full article here at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17017791