Duane Brown

Duane Brown grew up in Cambridge, and moved to the Port neighborhood as a teenager. He attended programs and dances at the Margaret Fuller House as a youth, and later served on the board. Duane worked in Human Resources for the City of Cambridge for 29 years, until his retirement. He currently lives in his…

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Self-Guided Tour: The History of Candy Making in Cambridge

By Natalie Moravek, Intern In 1946, sixty-six candy manufacturing companies were listed in the phone book. The candy industry in the area began in 1765, on the banks of the Neponset River in Dorchester, when an Irish immigrant named John Hannon established a chocolate mill. The large and populated city made an ideal setting for…

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Nicola Williams

Nicola Williams was born in Jamaica, and spent her childhood in both Jamaica and Brooklyn, NY. She moved to Boston the day after graduating college in Upstate New York, and has lived in Cambridge for over 30 years. In 1995, she founded The Williams Agency, a marketing and event planning firm.

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Elba Santiago

Elba Santiago was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Cambridge when she was 17 and a half years old. Elba has worked at a number of jobs in Cambridge, including factory work, child care, and as a teacher’s aid in the Cambridge school system. Elba currently lives in a house she owns with her…

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Cambridgeport: Its People and Their Stories

By Michael Kenney, Winter 2011  Cambridgeport stands, geographically and socially, midway between East Cambridge and Old Cambridge, neither a traditional southern European enclave nor the remnants of Puritan New England. This issue of the Newetowne Chronicle focuses on Cambridgeport and its vibrant past through a collection of articles and a report on the celebration of…

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New 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…

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When 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…

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Past History Café – Candy, Soap, or Beer? The Working Life in The Port Neighborhood of Cambridge

CHS History Cafe "Candy, Soap or Beer?" Image

Tuesday, 05/09/17, 5:30–8:00pm 5:30–6:30pm Walking Tour:Tour The Port with Marian Darlington-Hope; focusing on the manufacturing history, and workers’ lives in The Port, through time. Tour starts in front of Lamplighter Brewing Company at 5:30pm sharp. Please show up by 5:25. 6:45–8:00pm History Café:Cayla Marvil will tell Lamplighter’s story of making beer in Cambridge today. Learn…

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