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Utopians Purchase Brook Farm
Utopians Purchase Brook Farm
On this day in 1841, a group of Boston-area utopians purchased Brook Farm in West Roxbury. The writer Nathaniel Hawthorne spent six months there and later wrote about his experiences in his satirical novel Blithedale...
Pilgrim Monument Completed in Provincetown
Pilgrim Monument Completed in Provincetown
On this day in 1909, two young girls, using ropes and a pulley, helped haul the last stone into place to complete the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown. The town's Yankee residents had long been seeking...
"Richest Woman in America" Born in New Bedford
"Richest Woman in America" Born in New Bedford
On this day in 1834, the wealthiest whaling family in New Bedford celebrated the birth of their only daughter. This little girl would grow up to be the richest — and, according to legend, the...
Crowd Gathers to Hear Writer Mary Antin
Crowd Gathers to Hear Writer Mary Antin
On this day in 1912, over 1,000 people gathered at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York to hear Boston writer Mary Antin. She had come to make a plea for more aid to support...
Boston's "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald Elected to Congress
Boston's "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald Elected to Congress
On this day in 1895, a colorful Irishman from Boston's North End, nicknamed "Honey Fitz" for his charming and loquacious ways, was elected to the U.S. Congress. Ten years later, John Francis Fitzgerald returned to...
John Greenleaf Whittier Dies
John Greenleaf Whittier Dies
On this day in 1892, the poet John Greenleaf Whittier died at the age of 85. He had come a long way from his Quaker boyhood on a struggling farm in Haverhill. He began writing...
First African American Graduate of Harvard Born
First African American Graduate of Harvard Born
On this day in 1844, Richard Greener, the first African American graduate of Harvard, was born. Born in Philadelphia, his mother moved the family to the Boston area in search of educational opportunities for her children....
Horatio Alger Born
Horatio Alger Born
On this day in 1832, Horatio Alger was born in Revere. The author of the rags-to-riches stories that captured the imagination of generations of American boys, Alger was always more interested in literature than in...
Gloucester Fish Companies Merge
Gloucester Fish Companies Merge
On this day in 1906, Slade Gorton and Company of Gloucester stunned the fishing industry by announcing that it would merge with three other local fishing companies. With a fleet of 55 vessels, mostly sleek...
Lydia Maria Child Dies
Lydia Maria Child Dies
On this day in 1880, Lydia Maria Child, whom abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison called "the first woman in the Republic," was buried in Wayland. A successful novelist and magazine editor and the author of a...