History Cambridge

01/04/2025

What is this??

We were recently asked to identify this object. Does anyone want to make a guess?

12/30/2024

Want to support community history with some extra cash in your venmo?
Find us there!
And thanks! 🙏

12/28/2024

As we enter 2025, we're doubling down on our efforts to deepen our roots in East Cambridge through our Neighborhood History Center initiative. There, and throughout Cambridge, we will partner with local organizations to create inclusive and impactful programs.

We need your help to keep this momentum going! Please consider a gift in support of community today!

There are many ways to give:

Give online at our website: https://buff.ly/3WzVhaJ
Donate using Venmo : https://buff.ly/3DvQWPL
Make a gift of appreciated stock through your financial advisor
Mail a check to History Cambridge, 159 Brattle St, Cambridge, MA 02138
Send a gift through a corporate matching gift program

Thank you! 🙌

12/26/2024

2024: Our year in North Cambridge!

Our pop-up History Center on Mass. Ave. Block parties, lectures, and clay days. A community exhibit, and two behind-the-scenes parties at North Cambridge landmarks. North Cambridge, you have been good to us in 2024.💕

Look back with us at our year in North Cambridge:
https://buff.ly/4iU7FwA

12/18/2024

Bring your four-legged friends to for Yappy Hour with Santa this Thursday, December 19.

12/18/2024

The City of Cambridge will renovate Raymond Park in Neighborhood Nine. The design and community engagement process will begin in early 2024, and construction is anticipated to begin in 2025.

12/18/2024

Mark your calendars!

Register Today for the 15th annual MLKDAY of Service and Learning

Link is in the bio and registration is up on our website. Come solo, meet new friends, bring your fam or your posse of friends, workmates, churchmates, schoolmates! January 20 hold meaning for everyone this year. Find some joy and community while participating in lending a helping hand for your neighbors.

12/14/2024

Shop is open from 3:00 to 6:00 on Saturday! Get your New Deal, Elmendorf, and Live Poultry Merch!

12/11/2024

🎁 What do you get the Cambridge history lover on your holiday shopping list? Born in Cambridge: 400 Years of Ideas and Innovators by Karen Weintraub and Michael Kuchta! 📚
Don't be scared by the size of it--Karen and Mike have broken down the subjects into easy-to-digest amounts. It is smart, fun, and informative. You'll probably need to get a copy for yourself.
We're lucky to have Mike as a member of the History Cambridge board. If you want your copy of the book signed, let us know. We see him often!
You can purchase it on the MIT Press website:
https://buff.ly/4fGPRD1 or at your local bookstore!

12/11/2024

If you are free tomorrow (Thurs, Dec 11) be sure to head up to the Cabot Theater in Beverly to check out our friends, the Squirrel Nut Zippers!

While the band originated in North Carolina, their name is rooted in Cambridge history. Our friend Jimbo Mathus chatted with us about the connection back in 2020.

Have a great show!

Check out our video with Jimbo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYCCv-8FfiY&list=PLvSRduDuQKlm0PH-Br_hZ3qLRQLPgvJdU

Learn more about the history of candy in Cambridge: https://historycambridge.org/?s=candy

Get show tickets: https://thecabot.org/event/squirrel-nut-zippers-christmas-caravan-24/

A Festive Show For Zipsters, Friends and Family

12/09/2024

This Sunday: Full Moon Silent River Walk with Diana Lempel
December 15
All ages
Free, no registration
1 hour
All weather

Meet at Weeks Footbright (Memorial Drive and DeWolfe St.
Ends at Magazine Beach

Diana Ruta Limbach Lempel is a history curator and nonfiction writer, who has been working and living along the banks of the Charles River in Cambridge for over ten years. She developed this walk as part of her training with the National Association of Interpreters, to experiment with other ways of engaging with place than traditional informational walking tours. Learn more about Diana at dianalempel.me.

Presented in collaboration with Mass Audubon, Magazine Beach Partners, and History Cambridge.

12/06/2024

WOW! Many thanks to Ruth and the team at Paddy's Lunch for their very warm welcome earlier this week. Our holiday party was, in the words of one guest, "brilliant." 🍀

We've LOVED our time in North Cambridge this year and treasure these great community connections we've made. Thank you to everyone who shared their stories and expriences with us this year. You are making Cambridge a stronger community!

More photos on our website: https://historycambridge.org/events/paddys-party/

Photo credit Eric Workman | TMP Images 🙌

12/06/2024

🎁 NEED A HOLIDAY GIFT IDEA? What about the Cambridge Black History Project's 2025 Calendar?
This calendar is a love letter to Cambridge for the contributions that Black Americans have made to the city’s rich multi-textured cultural and economic fabric and features a series of curated vintage photographs obtained from private collections.
Just $25!
Get yours in person at Porter Square Books or on their website: https://buff.ly/3ZdPKsU

12/04/2024

Reporting from WGBH on last week's new signage unveiling. Congratulations to our friends Elizabeth Solomon, Sage Carbone, and Dr. David Shane Lowry, and all the City of Cambridge departments that made this happen.

The signs on the city's numbered streets is part of a broader a effort to recognize the history and continued presence of Indigenous people.

12/03/2024

Tomorrow! Join our friends at the Partnership of Historic Bostons and historian Chernoh Sesay Jr. for "Petition after Petition": Boston's Black Freemasons Fight for Freedom on Dec 4 (virtual)

Nearly 150 years after the Puritans granted themselves rights, Black Bostonians were still fighting for liberty

11/30/2024

❄️ Join us on Wednesday, December 4 for our annual Holiday Party! ❄️

We’ve had a great year learning about North Cambridge, and we’re excited to close out the year with you! We can’t think of a better place to celebrate than Paddy’s, the oldest family-owned pub in Cambridge.

Party Details:
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
6:00 PM–8:00 PM
Paddy’s Lunch
260 Walden Street

Light bites will be served at the party and drinks will be available for purchase at the bar. Please note that Paddy’s is CASH ONLY. There’s an ATM on site!

Space is limited, and registration is required!
https://buff.ly/3YDsiDp

11/29/2024

This Sunday! December 1
Join our friends at BHAC to help celebrate the completion of St. Augustine’s beautiful exterior restoration.
The success of this amazing 3-year project owes so much to so many, and they want to honor your collaboration and support, as they celebrate this milestone in St. Augustine’s rebirth as an inclusive center for Black arts, culture, and community.
Along with ribbon-cutting, we’ll have refreshments, art engagement, and a rousing performance by the BLS Step Squad:
3:00 Artists Dzidzor and Crystal Bi lead a community activation
3:30 Boston Latin School Step Team
4:00 Ribbon-cutting
4:30 Food, refreshment, and rest
4:50 Close-out by BLS Step Team
This celebration of New Light caps off our fall season of programs, on the theme, “The People Could Rise.” In this tumultuous time, we celebrate the power of gathering, the strength of common cause, and the uplift of visionary power.
More at bhacambridge.org