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The Birth of a Nation Sparks Protest
The Birth of a Nation Sparks Protest
On this day in 1915 Boston's African American community protested the showing of the racist film The Birth of a Nation. When 800 black women gathered at a Baptist church, one speaker suggested that "if...
Chinese Workers Arrive in North Adams
Chinese Workers Arrive in North Adams
On this day in 1870, a train arrived in North Adams with 75 young men from China hired to replace striking shoe workers. Over 2,000 people watched as the men walked to the factory under...
nMt. Holyoke Cable Car Burned
nMt. Holyoke Cable Car Burned
On this day in 1965, Massachusetts officials burned what was left of the wooden tramway that had carried thousands of people to the summit of Mt. Holyoke. Abandoned for decades, the deteriorating tramway was a...
Last Elevated Train Runs in Boston
Last Elevated Train Runs in Boston
On this day in 2004, Boston's last elevated train pulled into North Station. For over a century, Bostonians had avoided the congested streets below by riding trains carried on huge steel tracks overhead. When the...
Evangelist Billy Sunday Draws 70,000 to Boston Revival
Evangelist Billy Sunday Draws 70,000 to Boston Revival
On this day in 1916, 55,000 people came to hear Billy Sunday preach in Boston. An overflow crowd of 15,000 had to be turned away from the temporary tabernacle that had been erected on Huntington...
William Dawes Dies
William Dawes Dies
On this day in 1799, William Dawes died. The first man to be dispatched on the night of April 18, 1775, Dawes carried the same message as Paul Revere, but while Revere rowed across the...
Margaret Marshall Appointed to Supreme Judicial Court
Margaret Marshall Appointed to Supreme Judicial Court
On this day in 1999, Margaret Marshall became the first woman appointed Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The oldest court in the Western Hemisphere, the SJC was established in 1693 in the...
Activist Florence Luscomb Born
Activist Florence Luscomb Born
On this day in 1887, lifelong political activist Florence Luscomb was born in Lowell. As a child, she heard the legendary Susan B. Anthony speak. In her 20s, she traveled the state campaigning for woman...
Sumner Attacked in U.S. Senate
Sumner Attacked in U.S. Senate
On this day in 1856, Preston Brooks, a congressman from South Carolina, viciously attacked Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the United States Senate. Three days earlier, in a passionate anti-slavery speech, Sumner...
Julia Ward Howe Elected to American Academy of Arts
Julia Ward Howe Elected to American Academy of Arts
On this day in 1907, 89-year-old Julia Ward Howe became the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Howe lived most of her long life in Boston, but it was in...