Posts Tagged ‘East Cambridge’
Self-Guided Bike Tour: Pedaling the People’s Republic, A History of Political Activism in Cambridge
The city played a central role in the American Revolution and the abolitionist movement before being named “The People’s Republic” for its role in the anti-war, civil rights, tenant’s rights, gay rights, sustainable development, and environmental movements. Pedaling the People’s Republic will take participants on a tour of past political activity from the Revolution to the grass roots movements of the 20th century.
Read MoreSome Aspects of the East Cambridge Story
By John W. Wood, 1956 “This paper gives a totally inadequate account of an appealingly picturesque and colorful neighborhood, the area that might have been a slum and isn’t, the step-child of the University City. “ – J. W. W. For some reason, the local history of East Cambridge has been almost completely neglected. It…
Read MoreThree Distinct and Separate Communities: The Old Cambridge Secession Attempts of 1842–44
By Edward Rodley, 2018 Introduction The Cambridge, Massachusetts, of 2017 is a heavily developed, densely populated urban center with a population that has hovered around 100,000 for the past twenty years. Regional differences exist from one part of the city to another, but the sense of Cambridge as a unique, distinct community provides a cement…
Read MoreFirst Resident in “A More Goodly Country”
By Michael Kenney, 2013 “This much I can affirm in general, that I never came to a more goodly country in my life,” wrote Thomas Graves shortly after his arrival in the Bay Colony in 1629. He was a planner and, after laying out Charlestown, was rewarded with the grant of some hundred acres of…
Read MoreWhere Portuguese Families Found a New Home
By Sarah Boyer, 2013 Portuguese families from the North End of Boston and East Boston started to move into East Cambridge soon after the Civil War. Most of them had emigrated from the Azores, an archipelago 800 miles off the coast of Portugal, mainly from the largest island, São Miguel. Their numbers increased in the…
Read MoreThe Downside of Progress
By Doug Brown, 2017 Cambridge has made a lot of things over the centuries, not all of them valuable. Our manufacturing history has its dirty, dangerous downside, and dealing with the hazards and by-products of production has always been a challenge in this jam-packed, 7.1-square-mile city. By the end of the 19th century, the technological…
Read MoreEarly Glass Making In East Cambridge
by Doris Hayes-Cavanaugh, 1926 Much has been said recently about the business growth of Cambridge, and a number of publications have stressed the fact that Cambridge, and particularly the section known as East Cambridge, now stands very high in the scale of New England manufacturing centres. Imposing schedules of plants and factories have appeared, setting…
Read MoreEarly Cambridge Newspapers
By George Grier Wright, 1928 This article can be found in the Proceedings of the Cambridge Historical Society Volume 20, from the years 1927-1929. In the fall of 1839 two school boys, Peter L. Cox, aged fifteen years, and his brother Henry S., aged twelve years, conceived the idea of publishing a weekly paper for…
Read MoreThe Makings of City Streets By Michael Kenney
As we lean into this year’s theme of “What Does Cambridge Make?”, a look at street names reveals a product–filled past. Porter Square was Union Square until 1899, when it was renamed in honor of Zachariah B. Porter, the proprietor of Porter’s Hotel; many claim he lent his name to the specialty of the house,…
Read MoreEast Cambridge Anti-Slavery Society, 1837-1840
Administrative Information Historical Sketch Sources Related Collections Scope and Content Note Library of Congress Subject Headings Series Description and Folder Listing ½ file box .13 linear feet Processor: Michael O’Connor Date: May 21, 2009 Acquisition: The records of the East Cambridge Anti-Slavery Society were donated by Alfred C. Potter to the Cambridge Historical Society on…
Read More