Events for: Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center

Dennis McNally received his Ph.D. in American History from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst in 1977 for a biography of Jack Kerouac, which was then published by Random House in 1979 under the title Desolate Angel: Jack Kerouac, The Beat Generation, and America. Having been selected as The Grateful Dead's authorized biographer in 1980, he became the band's publicist in 1984. In 2002 he published A Long Strange Trip; The Inside History of the Grateful Dead with Broadway Books, which achieved the New York Times Best Seller list. Dennis is working on a book about the American bohemian tradition from Thoreau through Mark Twain and thence to Bob Dylan.

John Stark's immortal words "Live Free or Die. Death is not the worst of evils" ring throughout New England and especially in New Hampshire where John Stark lived until the age of 94. Born in Londonderry in 1728, General Stark was known for his strong opinions, battlefield strategies and leadership capabilities honed during the French and Indian War when Stark was a member of Roger's Rangers.

Tom Sexton, a Lowell High graduate and Alumni Hall of Famer and former Poet Laureate of Alaska, will read from his work in progress, The Final Chapter, which is a collection of sonnets about growing up in Lowell in the 1940s and 50s. He will also read from his new book, I Think Again of Those Ancient Chinese Poets, a collection of eight-line poems, and discuss the craft of poetry.

Squashed between Maine and Massachusetts, New Hampshire claims just 17 measly miles of coastline. It has only one port. So how come Portsmouth, N.H. (population 20,000), is widely considered one of America's top heritage destinations today? Award-winning author J. Dennis Robinson rockets you through 400 years of New Hampshire seacoast history with attitude. Before Lexington and Concord, for example, Paul Revere took his first ride to Portsmouth, N.H. And who saved the Pilgrims from starving in 1623? That's right, a guy from New Hampshire. Forget what you learned in school, Robinson says, because this stuff wasn't in your textbook but it's all true.

Mark Pendergrast takes readers on a riveting journey through the history of this remarkable organization, following EIS officers on their globetrotting quest to eliminate the most lethal and widespread threats to the world’s health. Over the years they have successfully battled polio, cholera, and smallpox, and in recent years have turned to the epidemics killing us now — smoking, obesity, and violence among them.

Dr. Tietchen is a member of the UMass Lowell English Department. He holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington. He was formerly an Assistant Professor of English at Union County College in Cranford, New Jersey. He is also the author of "The Cubalogues: The Beat Writers in Revolutionary Cuba."

The author of “Banned in Boston: The Watch and Ward Society’s Crusade Against Books, Burlesque, and the Social Evil” will talk about the group that banned books, closed down theaters and burlesque houses, and extended Massachusetts’s puritan heritage into the 1940’s and 50’s.

“Whatever happened to that child worker?” Motivated by this question, Joe Manning has identified some of the more than 5,000 child laborers photographed in the early 1900s by Lewis Hine, and has tracked down and interviewed their descendants. Manning will show some of Hine’s historic photographs, tell the stories of the children in them, and talk about the exciting process of searching for descendants, most of whom were not aware of the pictures of their parents and grandparents A 20th Anniversary Series offering of the Tsongas Industrial History Center, a partnership of Lowell National Historical Park and the UMass Lowell Graduate School of Education.

The Parker Lecture speaker for the 2012 Jack Kerouac Literary Festival is George Wallace of Huntington, New york where he is the Writer in Residence at the Walt Whitman Birthplace and Center. Mr. Wallace teaches literature at New York's Pace University and has published twenty chapbooks of poetry. As a local historian he has researched and written on Jack Kerouac's stays in Northport, NY.

America is seeking its lost identity as radical revolutionaries, high unemployment, and labor unrest challenge the nation’s democratic institutions. Former Massachusetts State Trooper and author James Redfearn, will discuss his compelling story about conflict and change, during a critical period in the 20^th Century, following World War I and centering on the Irish Rebellion, America’s Red Scare, and the Boston Police Strike. According to Redfearn the novel’s themes of compassionate immigration, justice in the workplace and cultural freedom resonate today.

Let’s take a tour into forgotten corners of American company towns, with special attention to Lowell, emphasizing their many similarities and unique aspects. Hardy Green outlines the the central question of American capitalism: Does the company exist for the workers or do the workers exist for the company   Other towns include Oak Ridge, Tennessee ; Kannapolis, North Carolina; Port Gamble, Washington; and Morenci, Arizona.

Ernest Hebert’s most recent novel, NEVER BACK DOWN, tells the story of the life and loves of Jack Landry, a New England Franco-American working man. Hebert wrote his book as an answer to The GREAT GATSBY and DELIVERANCE, novels that he claims gain their exalted place in American literature at the expense of the unsung heroes—working men and women. Welcome to literary class warfare.

The late 1700s to to the mid-1800s were the golden age of whaling, with New England being the hub for the whaling fleet. These sailing ships needed crews and who better to serve than the Native people of New England. In this talk we will discuss what it took to be a crew member on one of these ships and look at why Native American men took these jobs, jobs that many people wouldn't even think about taking.

Mythology about the Founding Fathers and their work at the Convention has obscured both fact and legitimate analysis of the events leading to the agreement called the Constitution. This program explores the cast of characters called “founders,” the problems they faced and the solutions they fashioned.

Lowell native Jim Sampas is the founder of Reimagine Studios. Among his numerous film and recording projects are several that relate to the life and work of Jack Kerouac. They include the audio CD set of Doctor Sax and the Great World Snake, and the widely acclaimed documentary One Fast Move or I’m Gone which highlights Kerouac’s experience at California’s Big Sur and the novel of the same name. Jim was also a part of the production team for the soon to be released movie Big Sur, also based on the Kerouac novel. Another current project is his tribute, Kerouac—Joy, Kicks, Darkness. Jim’s work has gained him the citation by the Los Angeles Times as “The thinking man’s producer who has a reputation for sticking out of the pack.”

Today’s students are entering adult responsibilities and citizenship with the lowest level of historical literacy ever measured in this country. When "No Child Left Behind" doubled down on preparation and testing for reading and math it marginalized history and civics education. As writer Wendell Berry puts it – “when a community loses its memory, its members no longer know one another and can hardly avoid harming one another.” Our schools teach less and less history. Studying history is the key to critical thinking and the formation of informed perspective. But it is also the key to something that may be more important – civic attachment. History – local history in particular – is essential for instilling a sense of place, past and community and even awe and aspiration. The good news is that community-based historical organizations and libraries are increasingly doing the work that used be done in church, school, home and popular culture. This program celebrates the revitalization of local culture and the institutions and ideas that support it.

Award winning author and lecturer Michael Tougias shares the lessons learned about goal attainment and decision-making under pressure from researching his five national best-sellers, Ten Hours until Dawn, the Finest Hours, Overboard!, Fatal Forecast, A Storm Too Soon as well as from interviewing dozens of people who have overcome tremendous obstacles. (His latest book will be made into a major motion picture by Disney.) This inspirational and interactive presentation first illustrates the survival stories Tougias has researched and then discusses the lessons learned. Dramatic photos of survivors being rescued help bring the presentation to life. Come learn about amazing survival stories and leave with some skills and techniques that will help you achieve your goals.

Susan E. Gallagher, Associate Professor, Political Science Department, UMass Lowell and member of the Thoreau Society Board of Directors, will provide a tour of Mapping Thoreau Country: Tracking Henry David Thoreau’s Travels in Massachusetts (MTC), a digital initiative that uses historical maps to document Thoreau’s extensive excursions throughout the state.  By surveying Thoreau’s visits to Lowell and many other historic locations, MTC is designed to illuminate his underappreciated contributions to travel writing and cartography, as well as his role as a founding figure in the environmental movement.  While providing an overview of Thoreau’s reflections on the Massachusetts landscape, Gallagher’s talk will highlight ongoing efforts to preserve Thoreau Country in the face of climate change. For more information visit the Mapping Thoreau Country website.

Strategies for Securing the Natural Resource We Cannot Live Without. In a warming world with a growing population, our happiness and our safety depend on our ability to keep our water clean, full of life and widely accessible to all people. This talk will explore the exigency of these objectives and strategies for achieving them. Anthony N. Iarrapino is a Senior Attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation Clean Water and Health Program in Vermont. Anthony has also advanced the cause of clean water in his native state of Massachusetts, most notably by securing penalties and cleanup commitments as part of a landmark settlement of a Clean Water Act enforcement case against the Boston Water and Sewer Commission.

Lowell’s explosive growth as a center of textile manufacturing brought with it a boom in legal business.  From its founding up until the present day, judges, lawyers and litigants from Lowell have had a profound effect on the jurisprudence and legal culture of Massachusetts.  Register of Deeds and Lowell historian Richard P. Howe Jr. will discuss the famous and the infamous cases and personalities that contributed to Lowell’s legal legacy.

Mill hands, field hands, and the intertwined worlds of factory and plantation in antebellum America. Ralph Waldo Emerson famously quipped, “Cotton thread holds the Union together.” This talk will explore the meaning of these connections for the men and women laboring both in New England mills and on Southern slave plantations. Seth Rockman is a specialist in Revolutionary and Early Republic United States history and is currently an Associate Professor of History at Brown University.

Steve Dalachinsky is a widely published New York City poet, lecturer, and educator. He has published 10 volumes of poetry including "And the Beat Goes On" and "The Superintendent's Eye." In a more scholarly vein he has published "Logos and Language: A Post Jazz Metaphorical Dialogue. Part of Lowell Celebrates Kerouac.

Barely 20-years old, fresh out of Harvard, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. accepted a commission as first lieutenant in the 20th Massachusetts Regiment. By mid-October, the regiment was fighting in the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, where Holmes sustained a potentially life-threatening chest wound. After recovery he served with the regiment until mid-1864, sustaining two more serious wounds and experiencing an exposure to war’s suffering and heroism, particularly that of his close friend. Lowell’s own Henry L. Abbott, that affected the rest of his long life. (Although Holmes never served under General Benjamin F. Butler, the controversial Democrat played a significant, if largely unrecognized role in Holmes’ appointment to the Supreme Judicial Court.)

Using images taken by Dr. Phillips with microscopes and cameras he will illustrate the intricate architecture of insects, and how the ability of these little creatures to sense and react to their surroundings has enabled them to become the predominate land animals on earth. You will never look at insects in the same way again.

The attack on the 6th Regiment is remembered today for the deaths of four men: Luther Ladd & Addison Whitney of Lowell, Sumner Needham of Lawrence, and Charles Taylor, attributed to Lowell. However, an additional forty-five men were wounded, some severely, and those, fifteen were in Lowell companies. This is part of the story of those fifteen, and the Baltimore woman responsible for saving two of them.

The attack on the 6th Regiment is remembered today for the deaths of four men: Luther Ladd & Addison Whitney of Lowell, Sumner Needham of Lawrence, and Charles Taylor, attributed to Lowell. However, an additional forty-five men were wounded, some severely, and those, fifteen were in Lowell companies. This is part of the story of those fifteen, and the Baltimore woman responsible for saving two of them.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts was the birthplace of the burgeoning "night lunch wagon" manufacturing industry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These horse-drawn food carts eventually evolved into classic American diners. For many years, diner builders like the Worcester Lunch Car Company and J.B. Judkins Company operated in the Bay State, while few new diners opened for business after 1960. This left the state with a high concentration of some of the best-preserved diners built during the early to mid-twentieth century, including the Capitol Diner in Lynn, the Route 66 Diner in Springfield and Buddy's Diner in Somerville.

In 2010, author Tim Z. Hernandez located the real woman behind Jack Kerouac’s “Terry” from On the Road. At age 92, Bea Franco was living in relative obscurity, in Fresno, California. In this presentation, Hernandez will share his journey from research to the writing of his award winning book, Mañana Means Heaven (University of Arizona Press, 2013), as well as the choices one must make when writing a counter-narrative to Kerouac’s portrayal of California’s Mexican communities in the late 1940’s.   Hernandez is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas El Paso’s Bilingual M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing. Part of the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Festival

The figure of the Hessian soldier is a staple of the Revolutionary War mythos, and distancing the inhabitants of the "land of the free" from Britain's "hirelings and slaves" was a cornerstone of early American efforts at establishing a political identity. Globally, however, the Hessians were far more than just a Revolutionary War phenomenon. Hessian troops fought under various nations' flags for almost two hundred years, sometimes on both sides of a war. This is the story of the return of "Hessians" - militarized microstates who serve today's great powers in their various quests for local dominance. From Fiji to Estonia, Brunei to Tonga, Hessians are once again on the march. What is the significance of this return to old techniques?

Willem Lange has worked as a ranch hand, Adirondack guide, preacher, construction laborer, cab driver, bookkeeper, and bartender. After graduating from the College of Wooster in Ohio in 1962, he taught high school English in northern New York, filling in summers as an Outward Bound instructor. “In 1981 he began writing a weekly column, “A Yankee Notebook,” which appears in several New England newspapers. He's a commentator or host for Vermont Public Radio and both Vermont and New Hampshire Public Television. He’s published several audio recordings and nine books and received four Emmy nominations, and won one (!) for his work as the long-running host of New Hampshire Public Television’s award-winning show “Windows to the Wild”.