Posts Tagged ‘Black history’
American Revolution in Cambridge
Introduction Cambridge has been part of America’s Revolutionary story from its beginnings, even before the outbreak of the war for independence. On Sept. 1, 1774, Cambridge residents responded to the news that Gen. Thomas Gage, royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, had ordered the removal of gunpowder from a magazine (a powder storage…
Read More‘Reading Frederick Douglass Together’ at CCTV invites community to participate on Wednesday
By Beth Folsom, 2025 Frederick Douglass escaped in 1838 from enslavement in Maryland, where he had spent the first two decades of his life. Over the next 14 years, Douglass traveled around the northern states as an abolitionist speaker and writer, publishing his autobiography, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave,” and…
Read MoreEast Cambridge’s American Net and Twine Co. reflects a history entangled with enslaved labor
By Beth Folsom, 2025 Before the founding of the American Net and Twine Co. in 1844, fishing and other kinds of nets were either made locally using hemp fibers or were made of cotton but imported from England. American Net and Twine was the first manufacturer to use domestic cotton to craft its nets –…
Read MoreJune 19: 4th Annual Cambridge Juneteenth
Cambridge Juneteenth: A Legacy to Share Come celebrate the 4th Annual Cambridge Juneteenth! This family day promises fun, music, food, and performances. History Cambridge will be tabling at this event – we’d love to see you there! Thursday, June 19, 2025 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM 🎉 We had a wonderful time at the 4th…
Read MoreHeadquarters of a Revolution: The 250th Anniversary of Washington’s Arrival in Cambridge
Saturday, July 5, 2025Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site105 Brattle Street10 am-3 pmFree Join History Cambridge for this special National Park Service event! We are excited to participate in this special event at one of Cambridge’s most historic spaces. Explore the people, ideas, and questions that shaped General George Washington’s first revolutionary headquarters 250 years…
Read MoreJune 22: Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters Annual Juneteenth Gathering
Sunday June 22, 202512:30 pmLongfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters105 Brattle Street, Cambridge About the Event History Cambridge will gather with our friends at Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters for Juneteenth. Join us to honor those who endured slavery and seized freedom on Brattle Street 250 years ago, their descendants, and the long history of Black freedom activism in Cambridge…
Read MoreDr. Martin Luther King’s visits to Cambridge highlight evolution of the Civil Rights Movement
By Beth Folsom, 2025 On this Martin Luther King Day, we celebrate the work and legacy of King in the nonviolent pursuit of full civil rights and legal equality for Black Americans. But the goals, rhetoric and methods of the Civil Rights Movement were not static and, in fact, evolved considerably during the 1950s and…
Read MoreAll About Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins
Biography of Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins (1859-1930) Courtesy of Ira Dworkin, Department of English, Texas A&M University Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins, who was born in Portland, Maine, in 1859, is best known for four novels and numerous short stories which she published between 1900 and 1903. Her best-known work, the novel Contending Forces: A Romance Illustrative of Negro…
Read MoreOctober 17: Beyond Her Time: The Visionary Works of Pauline Hopkins
About the event Thursday, October 17Cambridge Public Library Main Branch, 449 Broadway A discussion between Dr. Susan Tomlinson, Associate Professor of English at UMass Boston and Dr. Max L. Chapnick, adjunct professor at Northeastern University; moderated by Virginia Pye, Cambridge-based author. This event was in partnership with the Cambridge Public Library and the Cambridge Black…
Read MoreOct 30: Virtual book group discussion of Contending Forces
Details Wed, Oct 30 at 7pmFreeOn Zoom A pioneering figure of her time, Pauline Hopkins was a novelist, journalist, playwright, and activist who fearlessly tackled issues of race, gender, and social justice. Join us for a virtual discussion of her 1900 novel Contending Forces (available through the Cambridge Public Library). To learn more about Hopkins,…
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