Archive for September 10th, 2010

September 10th, 2010

Edith Nourse Rogers

by DickH

Edith Nourse Rogers grave, Lowell Cemetery

As Marie points out in her earlier post, today is the 50th anniversary of the death of Edith Nourse Rogers who represented Lowell in Congress from 1925 to 1960. She is buried alongside her husband, John Jacob Rogers, who preceded her in Congress (serving from 1913 until his death in 1925), in the Lowell Cemetery.

Although a Republican, Edith Rogers was an enthusiastic supporter of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. During World War Two, she filed legislation that created the Women’s Army Corps (WACs) and was one of the co-authors of the GI Bill.

A participant in today’s Lowell Cemetery tour explained that he was a young man living near the cemetery on the day of Rogers’ funeral. Hundreds of soldiers from Fort Devens attended. Their trucks were all parked atop Fort Hill and the troops lined Knapp Avenue and the cemetery roads from Rogers Street all the way to the grave site.

CategoryHistory | Comment2 Comments »

September 10th, 2010

Remembering 9/11

by DickH

World Trade Center site, August 2010

A friend who is retired from federal law enforcement and who worked at the World Trade Center in the 1990s returned to lower Manhattan a few weeks ago for a special tour of the site and of the “Tribute WTC Visitor Center” which is filled with artifacts from that fateful day. He was extremely impressed by what he saw and sent me some photos which I’ve combined in the following video slideshow:

CategoryHistory | CommentNo Comments »

September 10th, 2010

National “Blue Ribbon Schools” Honor for Lowell’s Ste. Jeanne D’Arc School

by Marie

U. S.  Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has notified Ste. Jeanne d ‘Arc  School of Lowell that it has been designated as a 2010 National Blue Ribbon School – a distinction awarded to only fifty private schools in the nation.

Principla Sr. Prescille Malo notified parents that these Blue Ribbon Schools are “places where improved teaching and improved learning benefits every student, and where students are challenged to meet high expectations with the active support of teachers, parents and the community.”

From the press release:

September 9, 2010 – LOWELL, MA – Ste Jeanne d’Arc School announced that it has achieved recognition as one of 304 schools, and one of 50 private schools, in the nation to achieve the coveted 2010 National Blue Ribbon award. The award honors public and private schools that are academically superior. The Department of Education has sought out schools where students attain and maintain high academic goals. In order to be considered for Blue Ribbon status, a school must be in the top 10% in nationally-normed tests.

“These Blue Ribbon Schools have shown that all children can learn with appropriate supports, ” said Arne Duncan, U. S. Secretary of Education. “They are producing outstanding results for their students. Some have shown dramatic improvements in places where students are overcoming the challenges of poverty, and others serve as examples of consistent excellence that can be a resource for other schools. They are places where improved teaching and learning benefits every student, and where students are challenged to meet high expectations with the active support of teachers, parents and the community.”

“It is an honor to be recognized for the quality of education that is a daily experience at SJA. The applause goes to the entire staff which is dedicated to academic excellence, students who live the mission, and all who support the vision of this community of learners,” said Sr. Préscille Malo, Principal of Ste Jeanne d’Arc School.

Ste Jeanne d’Arc School was established in 1910 to serve the children of the Pawtucketville section of Lowell, Massachusetts. It has grown to serve the children of the Greater Lowell area, serving 450 students in grades Pre-K through 8 from 16 different cities and towns in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

 Congratulations to Sr. Prescille and her staff but especially kudos to the students and the parents of Ste. Jeanne d’Arc for their committment to seeking and providing the highest levels of excellence in education.

 

CategoryCurrent Events, Education, Greater Lowell, History, Lowell | Comment4 Comments »

September 10th, 2010

Lowell’s Edith Nourse Rogers: “Fight hard, fight fair, and persevere.”

by Marie

MassMoments reminds us this morning that on this day – September 10, 1960 - U. S. Representative Edith Nourse Rogers died. Mrs. Rogers was the longest serving woman in the U. S. Congress having replaced her late husband John Jacob Rogers upon his death in 1927. The heroine of Veterans and their families for her longtime activism on their behalf, she was about to end her 19th campaign for Congress. Her death opened the way for Lowell’s F. Bradford Morse to serve in the 5th Congressional seat until 1972. With the election of Paul E. Tsongas in 1974, this seat went Democrat for the first time since 1877.

…in 1960, Representative Edith Nourse Rogers died of a heart attack in a Boston hospital, just three days before the end of her nineteenth campaign. The longest-serving woman in congressional history, she was first elected in 1927 to fill the seat occupied by her late husband. For the next 35 years, she represented her hometown of Lowell and the rest of the Massachusetts Fifth District, making veterans’ rights her highest priority. The fearlessness that she showed as an amateur pilot in the era of unsteady biplanes served her well on the House floor. She was an outspoken opponent of totalitarianism, denouncing Hitler’s treatment of the Jews as early as 1933, and an early advocate of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Read the rest of her story here at MassMoments and here at Woman in Congress.

Edith Nourse Rogers presides over the House Chamber in the 1920′s image from the Collection of the U. S. House of Representatives.

CategoryCulture, Education, Greater Lowell, History, Lowell | Comment1 Comment »

September 10th, 2010

Governor’s debate – sparring, with the fight to come by Marjorie Arons-Barron

by Tony

The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog.

Contrary to the prevailing wisdom, I believe that Governor Deval Patrick came out of Tuesday night’s debate as the winner. Why? Because people are often guided by their impressions more than the substance of candidates’ arguments. Cahill proved likable enough to be Mr. Geniality to the Scott Brown crowd. And, if Cahill solidifies his support, he’s the Governor’s protection, a ticket back to the corner office.

Without Cahill, Patrick would be on the ropes. By contrast, Charlie Baker appeared testy, even occasionally nasty. The man never smiled. Patrick, coached to be firm, factual and smooth, sometimes seemed unctuous. Every time he stepped inadvertently on someone’s lines (usually Jill Stein’s), he deferred with “I’m sorry.” I can imagine someone editing the tape and putting together a negative campaign spot by patching together last evening’s repetitions of “I’m sorry,” “I’m sorry,” “I’m sorry.”

Cahill is not rooted in any coherent philosophy other than that he’s not the Republican or Democrat. “Charlie blames the Governor. The Governor blames Charlie. I want to move forward.” At one point, Patrick praised Cahill for his role in limiting school construction costs. (gracious or canny?)

The Green Party’s Jill Stein left an impression of terminal earnestness. She railed against the “immense insurance bureaucracy” and touted green jobs. She criticized tax inequities and repeatedly called for higher taxes on the wealthy, a tax policy that, in essence, would be a graduated income tax, which would require a Constitutional amendment and has regularly been rejected by voters. Stein’s approach seems limited to a few well-worn clichés. Her candidacy would be irrelevant if she, too, didn’t represent a potential spoiler of Patrick’s support if the Baker-Patrick margin continues to narrow.

read more »

CategoryElection 2010 | CommentNo Comments »

September 10th, 2010

Biden on Colbert Report

by Tony

This is a really funny clip from The Colbert Report featuring VP Joe Biden.

CategoryUncategorized | CommentNo Comments »

September 10th, 2010

Uncle Dave’s Provocative Idea of the Week

by PaulM

He’s back with another brain-stretcher of a mega-concept. David Brooks is writing about a national “gentility shift,” a long-term trend in how Americans are organizing their society, that he suggests may be a root cause of today’s new kind of economic pain. This has to do with younger people mostly—what those with more options are choosing to do to earn their livings and how well prepared others are if they don’t have a lot of choices. Read what old Uncle Dave has to offer today, and consider buying the NYT if you appreciate the attempt to make sense of “it all.”  Here’s a small piece of the column:

… Manufacturing firms can’t find skilled machinists. Narayana Kocherlakota of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank calculates that if we had a normal match between the skills workers possess and the skills employers require, then the unemployment rate would be 6.5 percent, not 9.6 percent.

There are several factors contributing to this mismatch (people are finding it hard to sell their homes and move to new opportunities), but one problem is that we have too many mortgage brokers and not enough mechanics.

Finally, there’s the lower class. The problem here is social breakdown. Something like a quarter to a third of American children are living with one or no parents, in chaotic neighborhoods with failing schools. A gigantic slice of America’s human capital is vastly underused, and it has been that way for a generation. …

CategoryCulture, Current Events, Election 2010, History, Lowell | CommentNo Comments »