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Springfield Dedicates Memorial to Dr. Seuss

May 31, 2002
May 31, 2002

Springfield Dedicates Memorial to Dr. Seuss

On this day in 2002, Springfield celebrated the completion of a memorial to a hometown hero, Dr. Seuss. Located in the Library and Museum Quadrangle is a bronze sculpture garden peopled with characters from Dr....

Alcott Family Arrives at Fruitlands

June 1, 1843
June 1, 1843

Alcott Family Arrives at Fruitlands

On this day in 1843, a group of three adults and five children made its way from Concord to the town of Harvard. Their destination was an old and dilapidated farmhouse in a beautiful but...

George McNeill Organizes Workers

June 2, 1852
June 2, 1852

George McNeill Organizes Workers

On this day in 1852, hundreds of mill workers at the Woolen Company in Amesbury walked out on strike. Fourteen-year-old George McNeill, who had worked in the carding room since he was ten, immediately organized...

Massachusetts Creates Nation's First Regional Park System

June 3, 1893
June 3, 1893

Massachusetts Creates Nation's First Regional Park System

On this day in 1893, Governor William Eustis Russell signed a bill creating the Metropolitan Parks Commission, the nation's first regional park system. It was the result of planning and politicking by a group of...

Ellen Swallow Marries Robert Richards

June 4, 1875
June 4, 1875

Ellen Swallow Marries Robert Richards

On this day in 1875, Ellen Swallow married M.I.T. Professor Robert Hallowell Richards. Three days later, they set off on a wedding trip to Nova Scotia — accompanied by Robert Richards's class in mining engineering....

Paper Publishes First Installment of Uncle Tom's Cabin

June 5, 1851
June 5, 1851

Paper Publishes First Installment of Uncle Tom's Cabin

On this day in 1851 an abolitionist newspaper published the first installment of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. The following March, a Boston publisher issued the work in book form. It sold 50,000 copies...

Captain Absalom Boston Dies on Nantucket

June 6, 1855
June 6, 1855

Captain Absalom Boston Dies on Nantucket

On this day in 1855, Captain Absalom Boston of Nantucket died. In an era when many African Americans worked as seamen, Absalom Boston stood out. In 1822 he captained an all-black crew on the whaleship...

Writer Edith Wharton Builds in Lenox

June 7, 1902
June 7, 1902

Writer Edith Wharton Builds in Lenox

On this day in 1902, the writer Edith Wharton wrote to a friend about a visit to the site of her new home, The Mount, under construction in Lenox: "Lenox has had its usual tonic...

Children's Cancer Research Foundation Incorporated

June 8, 1951
June 8, 1951

Children's Cancer Research Foundation Incorporated

On this day in 1951 the Children's Cancer Research Foundation was incorporated. Founded by pioneering Boston physician Sidney Farber, it was the first cancer center in the country designed specifically for children. In the days...

Tornado Devastates Worcester

June 9, 1953
June 9, 1953

Tornado Devastates Worcester

On this day in 1953, Worcester County was devastated by the strongest tornado ever to hit New England. With winds close to 300 mph, the twister traveled 46 miles across the county, reaching its peak...

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