Posts Tagged ‘Central Square’
Savoring the Legacy of Joyce Chen
Chef. Restaurateur. Entrepreneur. by Stephen Chen, president of Joyce Chen Foods Reproduced from joycechenfoods.com with permission Born in Beijing in 1917, my mother Joyce Chen came to this country with my dad, sister and brother in 1949. We moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where friends of the family had settled, and where I was born. Surrounded…
Read MoreReflecting on the 2019 History Tour
Amelia Zurcher, 2019 Summer Programs Intern Approaching local history through the question “How Does Cambridge Engage?” has given me an interesting lens into the city’s years of activism and community-building. Throughout the summer of 2019, I spent many days strolling Cambridge’s streets, sifting through archives, and talking with local residents. When I first began research…
Read MoreRecap of 9/23/19 History Café 3: Engaging through the Arts
Many thanks to everyone who joined us at the Central Square Theater for our final History Café of 2019! We were delighted to hear from artists David Fichter, Eryn Johnson, and Vincent Siders on how the arts can serve as a catalyst for– or reaction to– change. Our thanks to Dr. Marty Blatt for moderating…
Read MoreSelf-Guided Tour: Central Square Activism From the 1960s to Now
By Amelia Zurcher, Society Intern, July 2019 This tour was made possible by the Cambridge Heritage Trust Tour Route Overview and History Central Square has been characterized for much of its history as a working-class neighborhood. In the 1960s, the demographics around Central Square began to change subtly. The growth of local universities led to…
Read MoreNew Wine in Old Bottles
By Michael Kenney, 2017 Sunday brunch time and weekday happy hours, the courtyard at the corner of Broadway and Hampshire Street is a lively place, with hipsters and families enjoying the bars and restaurants grouped around the open brick-paved space. Hard to believe, but it was even more bustling a century ago, when shifts of…
Read MoreTrout Fishing in America Communal School
By Cambridge Historical Society Staff, 2012 There was once a school in Mid-Cambridge called the Trout Fishing in America Communal School. It was based on the book of the same name by Richard Brautigan. On November 3, 1969, the Harvard Crimson reported: ‘‘A night session two weeks ago at Trout Fishing in America… resulted in…
Read MoreSeries II: Cambridgeport
Links to all the Postcard Collection gallery pages and the Finding Aid can be found by clicking here. *Postcard was used.
Read MoreWhen Sweet Flavors Filled the Air
by Michael Kenney When Orra L. Stone compiled his History of Massachusetts Industry in 1930, he counted no less than 29 candy-manufacturing firms in Cambridge. There were giants like the New England Confectionary Co., whose 1,400 workers produced some 500 varieties of candy, including the iconic NECCO wafers, at its plant on Massachusetts Avenue, and…
Read MoreSwimming in a Countercultural Sea
By Dick Cluster, 2010 For much of its brief existence between 1968 and 1970, the 16-page tabloid underground newspaper Old Mole featured a column of short items called Zaps on page 4. Here are two: “PEACE CORPS EXPELS 13 FOR ANTI-WAR ACTIVITY –– a real, live headline from the Washington Star.” “If it isn’t in…
Read More1905: A Year of New Beginnings
By Michael Kenney, 2015 Call 1905 “a year of new beginnings.” It marked not only the final decision on a new subway route—today’s Red Line—but also the birth of the Cambridge Historical Society. Well into the year, there was debate over whether to run a subway underground once it crossed the Charles River, or to…
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