“Pears for Tea” by Richard Marion (c) 2011
See more artwork at www.richardmarion.net
November 27th, 2011
Bicentennial of the War of 1812
As we approach the start of 2012, remember that the coming year, besides bringing a presidential election and continued recognition of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, willmalso be the Bicentennial of the War of 1812. I don’t expect many commemorative activities locally since mostmof New England vehemently opposed the war, but the conflict still has some local connections.
For instance, the USS Constitution – more familiarly known as “Old Ironsides” – gained much of it’s fame from victories over British ships during this conflict. Indeed, the amazing accomplishments of a handful of frigates like Constitution against the most powerful navy in the world, set the United States and it’s navy on a course of global maritime dominance that continues today.
Closer to home, the war’s disruption of imports of cotton cloth created a market for domestically produced textiles that was fulfilled by Francis Cabot Lowell and his Boston Associates’ mill in Waltham. It was the incredible demand for domestically produced textiles that flowed from the war’s shortages that led Lowell’s companions to the Pawtucket Falls as the site for a larger, more powerful manufacturing center that quickly became the most important manufacturing city in America which was names for their late inspirational friend, Francis Cabot Lowell
November 27th, 2011
In the Upper Merrimack Valley: Union Leader Endorses Newt Gingrich
In the Manchester, New Hampshire influential newspaper – the Union Leader:
After careful consideration and extensive review of the major candidates in the Republican Presidential Primary, the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News, the only statewide newspapers in the Granite State, announces their endorsement in Sunday’s editions.
No on-line text from the Union Leader, so here’s the story from the Associated Press (AP):
WASHINGTON – New Hampshire’s largest newspaper is endorsing Newt Gingrich,
giving the former House speaker a jolt in a state that has the first
presidential primary.The New Hampshire Union Leader wrote in Sunday’s editions that the former
Georgia lawmaker is the choice of the conservative editorial page.The decision was published in a banner headline across the front page of the
Sunday edition.The nod had the potential to reset the contest in the state.
The Union Leader has long had great sway in Republican politics in the state,
and the newspaper used Page One editorials and columns to help Sen. John McCain
win the state’s primary four years ago and start his path to the GOP’s
nomination.
With this endorsement - supporters of Mitt Romnery as well as observers of the political scene need to stay tuned.
November 27th, 2011
Lowell’s Cardinal William Henry O’Connell ~ Red Hat Centennial
William Henry O’Connell, Cardinal/Archbishop of Boston, Massachusetts
On this day – November 27, 1911 – William Henry O’Connell – priest and bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston, Massachusetts and Lowell native – was elevated to the Roman Catholic College of Cardinals by Pope Pius X. He was 52 years of age. Born on June 8, 1852, O’ Connell died on April 22, 1944. He served as a priest for nearly 60 years, as a bishop for nearly 43 years and as cardinal for 32 years. His influence on the American Catholic Church and particulary the Archdiocese of Boston was enormous. His leadership of the Archdiocese of Boston was preceded by Archbishop John Joseph Williams and followed by Cardinal Richard J. Cushing.
In his book, Boston Catholics – A History of the Church and Its People, Thomas O’Connor, university historian at Boston College, O’Connell’s alma mater, notes that during O’Connell’s tenure as head of the Archdiocese of Boston, the number of women in religious life increased from 1567 to 5459; the number of parishes increased from 194 to 322; the number of churches increased from 248 to 375; the number of diocesan priests increased from 488 to 947; the archdiocese was operating 3 Catholic hospitals. At page 208 of Boston Catholics, O’Connor writes: “It was under O’Connell’s influence too, that the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Boston assumed a conceptual solidarity and impressive visibility that it had never seen before and would never see again.”
A few weeks ago the nation’s oldest Catholic newspaper – The Pilot – noted the centennial of Cardinal O’Connell’s taking of the “red hat” with a article entitled “The Church in Boston at Full Mast.” Read the full article here. (Note: there is an incorrect date – the election was on the 27th.) O’Connell was not without controversary. The biography Militant and Triumphant by James O’Toole professor of history at Boston College gives readers a different take on the life and times of Cardinal O’Connell.
Just a few weeks ago, William Henry O’Connell – an 1876 graduate of Lowell High School – was honored as an LHS Distinguished Alumni. He was represented by his grand-nephew former U.S. Senator Paul Kirk. See our blog post here. A parkway named in his honored highlighted with a fountain and bust of the Cardinal - located just near City Hall – was recently restored.
Culture, Current Events, History, Lowell, Politics | 
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