History of poorhouses reflects changing attitudes toward those on the margins of society
By Heli Meltsner, 2024 This year, as part of its exploration of North Cambridge, History Cambridge highlights the ways in which the neighborhood has historically been home to industries and institutions Cantabrigians needed but wanted to push to the edges of the city’s boundaries. Slaughterhouses, tanneries and brickyards were all necessary industries, but those in the…
Read More‘The corner of the city he calls home’: North Cambridge through the eyes of Charlie Sullivan
By Marieke Van Damme, 2024 No matter what era you’re in, some things are universal – such as young people enjoying a good time. Where did North Cambridge teenagers go to party in the mid-1970s? Some went to a vacant, overgrown area near the train tracks just out of Porter Square, the site of a horrific…
Read MoreNew Years in Cambridge of the past held meaning as ways to address moments of crisis such as war
By Beth Folsom, 2024 For most of us in present-day Cambridge, the arrival of a new year brings with it both reflection on the past year and the promise of a new start; whether we want to eat healthier, get organized, start exercising or any other of the many resolutions we make each New Year’s, the…
Read MoreSetting up a Neighborhood History Center provided a physical connection with the past
By Beth Folsom, 2024 History Cambridge embarked on a new model of programming in January 2023 centered on the deeper exploration of one city neighborhood each year. Beginning with Cambridgeport and continuing in 2024 with North Cambridge, the Neighborhood History Center model has enabled us to delve more deeply into the people, places and events…
Read MoreIndustrial Age Cambridge supported bicycling, but with the genders and races together? Egads!
It seems there’s always been reasons for bicycling to be controversial in Cambridge, starting in the late 19th century when cycling gained popularity in Cambridge – and the nation as a whole – as a form of exercise and opportunity for social connection.
Read MoreCelebrations of Washington’s Birthday reflect tangled legacies of immigration, integration
Honoring Washington as a beloved president came to include minstrel shows in the early 1900s. That these performances were by prisoners in prisons playing the role of Washington’s enslaved people adds yet another layer of complexity.
Read MoreYou can treat your Valentine at one of North Cambridge’s historic businesses
American colonists began to mark Valentine’s day in the 18th century by exchanging handmade Valentine cards. Local businesses with significant history can help residents keep celebrating this Valentine’s Day.
Read MoreWhere’s the border? Debate on North Cambridge illustrates many ways to define a neighborhood
Defining a neighborhood is not as easy as it may seem at first glance. This is proving to be particularly true for the focus for 2024: North Cambridge.
Read MoreReader inquiry about plaque on Fresh Pond rotary rediscovers Teeven, a North Cambridge war hero
The marker’s location makes an up-close examination difficult, but it draws attention. Then-Boston Herald columnist Steve Buckley was also intrigued by the memorial and ultimately produced a documentary about it: “I’ll Be Seeing You: An American Story of World War II.”
Read MoreSt. John the Evangelist’s embrace of newcomers turned it into a cornerstone of North Cambridge
The 19th century need for a parish in North Cambridge was fed by industrial development in clay pits and brickyards and the immigrants who worked in these industries, especially Irish and French Canadian Catholics.
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