Photograph by Tony Sampas
April 5th, 2012
“First Lady of Film” Bette Davis Born In Lowell
Seen here in Jezebel (1938), Davis’s second Academy Award-winning performance
On this day April 5, 1908 - Ruth Elizabeth Davis, known from early childhood as “Betty”, was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, the daughter of Ruth Augusta “Ruthie” (née Favor) and Harlow Morrell Davis, a patent attorney. The family was Protestant, of English, French, and Welsh ancestry. She was born on Chester Street in the Highlands home of her maternal grandparents. From school productions, summer stock to Broadway and Hollywood, Bette Davis pursued her great lifelong passion - acting! The veteran of 50 years in show business with over 100 films (including made-for-tv) and ten Oscar nominations, Davis won an Oscar as Best Actress in “Dangerous,” 1935 and for “Jezebel” in 1938. The United States Postal Service honored the iconic Bette Davis with a commemorative postage stamp in 2008, marking the 100th anniversary of her birth.
April 5th, 2012
Civil War talk and Cemetery Tours
The historically minded among you might want to mark a couple of upcoming events on your calendars. On Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 2 pm at the Patrick J. Mogan Cultural Center at 40 French Street in Lowell, I will give a talk on Lowell and the coming of the Civil War as part of the opening reception for a new exhibit of the photography of Tony Sampas, a frequent contributor of incredible images to this site. The title of his exhibit is “Lowell Remembers: The Civil War 1861-1865.” It features contemporary photographs of Civil War monuments and sites in Lowell. This event is free and open to the public.
Next, we have set the dates for this spring’s tours of Lowell Cemetery. In a change from the past few years, these tours will begin at the Lawrence Street Gate (rather than the Knapp Avenue entrance near Shedd Park). The reason for the change is that there is so much to see and discuss in the cemetery, that I have decided to concentrate on the Lawrence Street side of the cemetery on the spring tours and the Knapp Avenue side in the fall (with some overlap). The tour schedule is as follows:
Friday, May 4th at 1:00 PM
Saturday, May 5th at 10:00 AM
Friday, May 18th at 1:00 PM
Saturday, May 19th at 10:00 AM
April 5th, 2012
The Lowell Textile Strike of 1912
Many are familiar with the Bread and Roses Strike which took place in Lawrence and which celebrates its centennial this year. What is not so well known is that the Lawrence action led to other strikes, one of which occurred in Lowell that same year. Next Tuesday, April 10, 2012 beginning at 5:30 pm at the Boott Cotton Mills Museum, 115 John Street in Lowell, a host of entities including the Bread and Roses Centennial Committee, UMass Lowell, the Lowell National Park, the Tsongas Industrial History Center and others, will present a program on The Lowell Textile Strike of 1912. It’s free and open to the public.
April 5th, 2012
History of Opening Day
Its opening day for the Boston Red Sox. Here is a video posted by watchmojo detailing the history of “opening day”…kind of.
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