Growing up in Cambridgeport has been idyllic, but Gen Zers see the area changing around them
Neither Nora Sokolovska nor Katrina Pallais can imagine a better place to grow up than Cambridgeport. And the 17-year-olds don’t just mean in comparison to other Cambridge neighborhoods. They mean on the face of the earth.
Read MoreYou live in Anmoughcawgen
For millennia before this area became known as Cambridge, it was called Anmoughcawgen – in the Algonquin Natick dialect, “fishing weir” or “beaver dam,” which described the neighborhoods from Alewife to Kendall/MIT. A Participatory Budgeting project will return traditional Eastern Woodland languages to city property.
Read MoreThe War of 1812 sank trade in Cambridgeport, risking good livings at sea for Black residents
The military and diplomatic skirmishes of the early 19th century created greater opportunities for Black sailors, as shipowners and captains took any able-bodied men they could find, regardless of race.
Read MoreBlack History in Action for Cambridgeport’s revival of St. Augustine’s Church honors a lengthy legacy
As the Cambridgeport neighborhood grew and changed over decades and many Black residents were displaced, St. Augustine’s had a period of disrepair.
Read MoreRediscovering the Howard Industrial School: Freedom, Work, and Black Womanhood in Nineteenth-Century Cambridge
Above Image: An artist’s impression of a Freedmen’s Bureau Industrial School in 1866. (Image via House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College) By Beth Folsom, 2023 By the time of the Civil War, enslavement had been illegal under Massachusetts law for almost eight decades. But the end of formal enslavement for Black…
Read MoreGrowing up in Cambridgeport was unforgettable for Louis Fenerlis, the child of Greek immigrants
Louis Fenerlis, of Louie’s Haircuts in Boston, considers himself to be a proud product of Cambridgeport. When his family moved during during his first year in high school, he says he never adjusted to the new town.
Read MoreWe’re searching for the Indigenous voices of Cambridge
How did you learn about Native American/American Indian people? Your experiences and memories will be helpful primary source material for our scholars.
Read MoreCommunity walk for Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrates history of city visited by MLK himself
For the second year, Many Helping Hands 365 will join with community partners in leading a community walk to highlight the history and present of Cambridge’s Black and Brown community in The Coast, Riverside and Cambridgeport neighborhoods.
Read MoreThe past, present and future of Fort Washington Park is grant funded for a monthslong examination
As it moves forward with its Year of Cambridgeport, History Cambridge is excited to share that it has received a grant from the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati for a series of programs on Fort Washington Park
Read MoreHistory Cambridge looks back at 2022
As 2022 comes to a close, History Cambridge is looking back on a year filled with events and collaborations that have helped us to live into our mission to collect and share the stories of all Cantabrigians. Our theme for 2022 was “Who Are Cambridge Workers?” Many of our programs focused on the history of labor in the city, but we also held events and created partnerships in other areas of Cambridge history, including our temporary art installation honoring the lives of the enslaved people who lived and worked on Brattle Street.
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