Events for: 2019-2020

ATTENTION: This event has been cancelled and will be rescheduled for fall 2020, please check back later for more information. Learn about honeybees, what it takes to keep them healthy and happy, and how adulterated honey became one of the biggest agricultural frauds in history! Dr Anderson will bring a few jars of honey to sample and you are encouraged to bring your own favorites to bee reviewed and discuss its origins.  Dr. Anderson holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biology and Entomology from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Entomology from North Carolina State University. Dr Anderson is a Science Policy Fellow with the Entomology Society of America, and is also a certified beekeeper and a life member of the NC State Beekeepers Association.

ATTENTION: This event has been cancelled and will be rescheduled for fall 2020, please check back later for more information. David and Judith will be doing a PowerPoint presentation on A.T. Hibbard with an emphasis on the pieces currently in the collection of the Whistler House Museum of Art. Judith will be speaking on the various stages of Hibbard’s career, while David will be explaining the difficulties of plein air painting and using the images to show what made Hibbard such a great painter and consummate designer. Judith is a freelance writer specializing in art-related themes and is curator of the Rockport Art Association and Museum’s permanent collection. David and Judith live on Cape Ann, where Judith is a regular contributor to the American Art Review.

Harriet Tubman, a woman of unique qualities and abilities even though she was illiterate, maintained an unblemished record of vigilance, legacy of sacrifice and struggle.  Harriet Tubman weaves a tale of truth, pain, courage, and determination that take the audience into her life:  from enslaved woman to eventual escape and the United States Government soliciting her unique talent.  They enlisted her as a scout and spy for the Union cause and she battled courageously behind enemy lines during the Civil War.

Robert Dietz, the Chief Economist of the National Association of Home Builders, will present the latest economic and housing forecast. The NAHB macroeconomic outlook will examine recent employment growth data, as well as current GDP conditions and expectations concerning a future recession. His talk will examine the housing affordability crisis and the pivot and outlook for monetary policy and the Federal Reserve. He will also present results from the Home Building Geography Index, a new research project that examines housing and apartment productions levels in suburban, rural and exurban markets, as well as examining the connection between manufacturing and construction. Dietz will discuss differences in the forecast for the single-family, multifamily and remodeling sectors. And he will present data on current, demographic-based housing demand conditions, as well as supply-side issues holding back industry output. A question and answer session will follow. Prior to joining NAHB in 2005, Robert worked as an economist for the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. He is a native of Dayton, Ohio and earned a Ph.D. in Economics from the Ohio State University in 2003. The Moses Greely Parker Lunchtime Lecture event is co-sponsored by the UMass Lowell Community Relations Department.  The program begins with a light lunch. Reservations are required, as space is limited. To reserve a seat, email community@uml.edu or call 978-934-2957.

Through an examination of the history of innovation and precision machinery building in Lowell, Worcester and in cities and towns along the Connecticut River from Springfield, MA to Springfield, VT, I will describe how these places developed enterprises and a regional approach to development that offered workers decent wages and an opportunity to support their families. How did this happen? What took place after the Second World War, which interrupted this virtuous circle of sustained and reasonably share prosperity? Through case studies of several firms, I will tell the story of the wonderful rise and sad demise of one of the U.S.’s most important manufacturing regions. I will also consider if there is a way back for this type of precision manufacturing.

“Untold stories of the women who fought for the right to vote.” A celebrated feminist historian and biographer, Susan Ware is Honorary Women’s Suffrage Centennial Historian at the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America. Ware is also serving as a historical consultant to the PBS program American Experience for a multipart documentary on suffrage and advising singer-songwriter Shaina Taub on a musical based on the life of Alice Paul. Ware tells her story through the lives of nineteen activists, most of whom have long been overlooked.  Ware’s deeply moving stories provide a fresh account of one of the most significant moments of political mobilization in American history.

Jane Brox will be reading from and discussing her new book, Silence: A Social History of One of the Least Understood Elements of Our Lives, which examines the ways in which silence – both chosen and imposed – shapes our minds and our lives.  She focuses her inquiry on two institutions that place silence at their center, the monastery and the penitentiary, and she considers the essential and increasingly rare role of silence in contemporary life.  The Wall Street Journal notes that this “engaging book offers readers an opportunity to explore a few crucial moments of…history and, in the process, to ponder what silence—or its absence—tells us about the world we are making every day.”  Silence is Jane Brox’s fifth book.  It has been selected as an Editors’ Choice by The New York Times.  She is also the author of Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light, and three books that explore the changing place of agriculture in America.  Those books are centered on her family’s farm in the Merrimack Valley.  She grew up in Dracut and now lives in Maine.

The Patriots first played in Boston, in the fledgling American Football League before joining the NFL and becoming a team that now represents an entire region as the New England Patriots. But they were born in Lowell, the hometown of their founder, Billy Sullivan. Author Glenn Stout will trace the circuitous route the Pats have taken from their humble beginnings as the last team admitted to the AFL, through their first few decades when they were one of the worst teams in professional football to their place now, as a sports dynasty.   The Pats is a story that is best told through stories, and through people, beginning with Sullivan and his Lowell upbringing, which provided the inspiration for his aspirations. And now the Patriots are stitched into the fabric of the region, the names of their greatest players and figures resonating with generations: Gino Cappelletti, Ron Burton, Jim Nance, John “Hog” Hannah, Steve Grogan, Drew Bledsoe and Tom Brady.  Come hear the story of The Pats, and share some stories of your own.

Boxcar Diplomacy is about two trains that crossed the Atlantic after WWII. “The Friendship Train” was initiated by columnist Drew Pearson who noted that Communists were getting a foothold in a hungry Europe and Americans could showcase democracy with gifts of food. On November 7, 1947, eight loaded boxcars rolled out of Los Angeles; eleven days later, the train arrived in New York with 700 boxcars bound for a hungry Europe. In February 1949, France reciprocated with a “Merci Train:” forty nine boxcars, one for each state and one for Washington DC which carried over a thousand gifts ranging from children’s drawings and handcrafted flags, to valuable works of art. This lecture will take you back to the very beginning of the Cold War, when America united in a gesture of friendship designed to showcase what people living in a free country could do. Americans chose not to isolate themselves from Europe's far greater need. And France would not let the moment pass without acknowledging their gratitude, --for the sacrifices Americans had made on their behalf in war and in peace.

Harriet Hanson Robinson was a mill girl (author of Loom and Spindle) who later became a women's suffrage activist in Massachusetts. William Robinson was her husband. The readings are broken out into four sections of poems: after an introduction to the letters and program, there is a prologue, a section on Harriet and William's courtship, a section on marriage and work and then the final section on family, politics and history.

Nancy Fox earned her master’s degree in English from Stephen F. Austin State University.  At SFA, she became a Lecturer in 1999 and taught Freshman level composition and argument classes for 15 years while pursuing her love of Jack Kerouac’s writing.  In 2001 she presented her first publication in Lowell: “Twain’s River and Kerouac’s Road”, a comparison claiming that Kerouac’s On the Road will surpass Twain’s Huckleberry Finn as America’s greatest 21st century novel.  Her further writings investigate Kerouac’s theory of spontaneous prose and his religious attitude toward life, especially his personal dream material and their correlation to Carl Jung’s theory of individuation; titles include: "The Soul of Spontaneous Prose", "Kerouac's Dream for America", "Embracing the Spontaneous Mind: Jack Kerouac's Spontaneous Prose", and "Jack Kerouac's Archetypal World".  In the end, Nancy strives to explain Jack Kerouac’s unique world-wide appeal while honoring and raising the integrity of his work to new literary heights.

Join UMass Lowell Chancellor Jacquie Moloney for a conversation with U.S. Representative Lori Trahan. Lori Trahan was born and raised in a working-class family in Lowell, Massachusetts. Her father was a union ironworker and her mother was a domestic worker who juggled various part time jobs while raising four girls. The first in her family to graduate from college, Lori earned a scholarship to play Division 1 volleyball at Georgetown University. She joined the staff of former Congressman Marty Meehan as a scheduler, eventually working her way up to Chief of Staff. She and her husband, Dave, currently reside in Westford, MA. As a member of the House Education and Labor and House Armed Services Committees, Lori is focused on fighting for working families on issues such as affordable health care, quality public education, workforce development, the environment, and working to end the pain and suffering of the opioid crisis. Lori is the first Portuguese-American woman elected to Congress. The Lunchtime Lectures are co-sponsored by the Moses Greeley Parker Lectures and UMass Lowell Community Relations. Free and open to the public, the program begins at 11:45 a.m. with a light buffet lunch at the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center. Space is limited – reservations are required. RSVP by October 1, 2019 to community@uml.edu or call 978-934-2957.

In 2019 the National Park Service partnered with American Veterans Archaeological Recovery, American Battlefield Trust and Advanced Metal Detecting for the Archaeologist to undertake a study at the Barber Wheatfield, Saratoga National Historical Park where the second battle of Saratoga started during the Revolutionary War. This project collected LiDAR data from a drone, conducted a metal detector study, and collected gradiometric data from an ATV-towed rig. Team Lead Dr. William Griswold will share preliminary results of the project.

Explore the history and lure of electric trolleys at this special film screening of Stephen Low's "The Trolley"! Travel through 39 cities and 16 countries and hear the story of one of civilization's most remarkable inventions! Following the 45-minute film, we'll celebrate our own Lowell trolleys with a presentation and Q&A with Lowell National Historical Park trolley operator, Ryan Boucher. The Lowell trolleys will be in full operation all day so be sure to take a ride! Co-presented by Lowell National Historical Park and the Lowell Film Collaborative.

Jeff Folger, known as Jeff “Foliage,” and dubbed New England’s “Arboreal Oracle,” began documenting autumn 20 years ago and searching New England for iconic images seen on postcards and calendars. His passion for fall colors has been termed “obsessive” by the editors at Yankee Magazine, but they did say “in a good way”. He has been interviewed by magazines, WGBH Boston, AM talk radio, the Weather Channel and the BBC/PBS for his passion of fall color. He was featured in a segment on CBS Sunday Morning, and taking a TV crew along the border of New Hampshire and Maine documenting his efforts to make the best photos during rainy weather. Jeff’s forecasts for the fall foliage have been better than average over the years. His website Jeff-Foliage.com and New England Fall Foliage Facebook page are visited from all over the world to get travel recommendations. Topics discussed will include, What is CFD?, tips for taking better foliage pictures, what this fall will bring, and when to visit his favorite locations.

Trend n Motion is a diverse team that genuinely loves expressive movement. They came together in 2012 after the loss of a close friend who inspired them to chase a dream with love and passion. Now, Trend n Motion is chasing their dreams using the spirit of dance to highlight how the therapy of expression is beneficial to the quality of life.

Stacey and her band play original music that engages every child. A teacher for ten years, Stacey is thrilled to combine her love of children and music into a lively act that engages kids and creates memorable and fun sing-along songs.