Posts Tagged ‘innovation’
Nov. 24: Making It in East Cambridge
Making It in East Cambridge: Industry and Innovation History Cafe with Mike Kuchta Monday, November 24, 20256-7 pmEast Cambridge History Center, 625 Cambridge Street (the former Mayflower Poultry site) Beginning in the early 1800s, East Cambridge grew into a regionally- and nationally-important center of manufacturing, activity which largely disappeared by the late 1960s. Prominent local industries included…
Read MoreElias Howe’s 1846 sewing machine is example of creativity in Cambridge
By Beth Folsom, 2025 The Inman Eats & Crafts Makers Market set for Sunday celebrates the many creative people and organizations that call Cambridge home. As part of the festival, History Cambridge offers visitors the opportunity to see the first commercially available sewing machine, invented in Cambridge by Elias Howe Jr. in 1846. Building on the work…
Read MoreInnovation in Cambridge
Researched and written by Katie MacDonald, 2012 Introduction It’s nearly impossible to get through a single day without using something born right here in Cambridge. Think about it: from the childhood vaccines that protected you to the software powering your computer, the ice cooling your drink, or the screen displaying this very text – Cambridge’s…
Read MoreNow April 27!: Ideas, Invention, and Imagination: A Guided Tour of Cambridgeport
Switching to the rain date! This tour is now Sunday, April 27 at 2 pm Saturday, April 26, 20252-3:30 pmFree; registration requiredLimited space availableWeather date: Sunday, April 27 at 2 pm About the tour Join authors Karen Weintraub and Michael Kuchta for a series of free tours exploring Cambridge’s legacy of innovation, adaptation, and revolutionary…
Read MoreHow the highlighter was invented in Cambridge by Carter’s Ink, an innovator back to the 1800s
By Michael Kuchta, 2025 History Cambridge is spending 2025 focused on the history of East Cambridge, including the people who have inhabited the neighborhood, the occupations that employed them and the buildings, streets and public places they created. This is the story of a company that was based in East Cambridge for decades, Carter’s Ink.…
Read MoreJune 7: Open Archives 2023: Born in Cambridge
On June 7, 2023, the staff of History Cambridge and special guest Mike Kuchta hosted Open Archives at the historic Hooper-Lee-Nichols House
Read More‘Born In Cambridge’ authors plan a walking tour this month of Cambridgeport and its innovations
In their new book, “Born in Cambridge: 400 Years of Ideas and Innovators,” Karen Weintraub and Michael Kuchta argue that “the story of Cambridge reflects the story of America … Major events and trends that affected the nation left fingerprints here, too.” How the city and its residents react to those forces, though, makes for a compelling story of invention, reinvention and adaptation spanning four centuries.
Read MoreSept. 17 Guided Tour of Cambridgeport Recap: “Ideas, Invention, and Imagination in Cambridge History”
September is a great time to get out and explore the city.
Join us for a tour of Cambridgeport and the innovations that began there with authors Karen Weintraub and Michael Kuchta.
Read MoreThe Reverend Jose Glover And The Beginnings Of The Cambridge Press (Part 2)
by John A. Harrer, 1960 This article can be found in the Proceedings of the Cambridge Historical Society Volume 38, from the years 1959-1960. The newly appointed printer, Samuel Green, having had no experience in his new trade, was at once confronted with the work of producing a small book that involved some problems not…
Read MoreThe Reverend Jose Glover And The Beginnings Of The Cambridge Press (Part 1)
by John A. Harrer, 1960 This article can be found in the Proceedings of the Cambridge Historical Society Volume 38, from the years 1959-1960. The most famous antiquarian sale of books America has known was held in the year 1879. None other has equaled it in the eighty years that have passed since then. The…
Read More