Friends of the Lawrence Heritage State Park

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Friends of the Lawrence Heritage State Park

Friends of the Lawrence Heritage State Park The Friends of Lawrence Heritage State Park formed in 1999 to support the Park and its activities.
The Friends of Lawrence Heritage State Park formed in 1999 to support the Park and its activities. The principal founding member was Mary Girouard, a long-time volunteer at the Park as well as a long-time member of the Park's Advisory Board. The first President was Jonas Stundza, another experienced Park volunteer and avid local historian. We quickly became a 501c3 non-profit corporation. The Friends first service to the Park was to act as a fiscal agent, receiving grant funds to support Park programs. Over time the Friends have gradually increased our activity to the point that we now conduct or support several events per year, as well as raising money to support Park maintenance and improvements. The Friends elect Officers and other Board members who meet monthly, and hold an annual meeting in the Fall. The Friends keep membership fees low, and have approximately 75 members. If you appreciate the Park, and the work the Friends do to support it, please consider joining. Friends members are kept up-to-date on events by mail or email notices. Lawrence Heritage State Park opened to the public in 1986. As a part of the state's system of Heritage Parks, it has a broad mission: to preserve and reuse historic structures in the city: to celebrate local history and culture; to offer educational and cultural programming; to provide a community meeting space; to provide recreational green space in the city; to offer these amenities to Lawrencians and to visitors, and by doing all of the above, to be a catalyst for the city's revitalization. Starting with the Visitor Center in an original mill worker boardinghouse, the Park has grown to include Visitor Center Park, the North Canal Walkway, Pemberton Park, Riverfront Park and the Bashara Boathouse. The Park is a unit of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, successor to the Department of Environmental Management, under which the Heritage Parks were created.
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07/11/2020

Friends of Harold Parker State Forest

Two HPSF maps designed by Friends of HPSF have been installed by DCR crews at the pavilion and Collins Pond.

07/10/2020

Thank Rumbo Newspaper for featuring the Friends of the Lawrence Heritage State Park 's tribute to Louise Sandberg!

https://rumbonews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/e726.pdf?fbclid=IwAR028MjkeS7ltObVWHg8ZSCqAbEnE1gb1CLz0OpXUqoAwth59Jp5jGzbYhs

07/08/2020

Beautiful photo of the park adjacent to the Lawrence Heritage State Park Visitors Center!

It's a park created within the walls of an industrial-era building.

07/04/2020

Our decorate your house for the 4th of July contest made the front cover of Rumbo Newspaper!

Rumbo News July 1, 2020 is now available for download

https://rumbonews.com/

07/03/2020

Mass Humanities

An amazing reading via NPR!

07/01/2020

Tonight, June 30, 2020, the Friends of the Lawrence Heritage State Park presented "our great friend and supporter" Louise Sandberg with a gift to honor her retirement from her role as archivist of the Special Collections at Lawrence Public Library.

Congratulations and THANK YOU for your efforts -- spanning three decades -- to preserve our city's history! We are going to miss you!

06/29/2020

Park group gets creative for July 4

The independent spirit persists.

06/26/2020

Front page artwork by Micha Archer.

Now live! Check it out and sign up your business or organization. It's free! (though we welcome contributions...)
https://masshistorycommons.org

06/24/2020

Merrimack Valley Magazine

Written by the Lawrence Heritage State Park's own James Beauchesne!

1912 was a historic year - the Titanic disaster and the birth of Fenway Park come to mind. What you may not know is that an event in Lawrence that same year also had a profound effect on American history and society.

06/23/2020

The Friends of the Lawrence Heritage State Park announce a:

“Best Patriotically Decorated House/Yard” contest for the upcoming 4th of July holiday!

This contest is limited to the residents of Lawrence but may expand in the future. Residents who would like to display their patriotic spirit are invited to decorate the front of their houses and/or their front yards with red, white and blue patriotic decorations.

Participating residents should then e-mail photographs of the decorations by Friday, July 3rd to [email protected] and be sure to include their name and address. (Folks who cannot email a photo should call us to make other arrangements.)

Judging will be done by members of the Friends Board and winners will be notified by e-mail or phone. Prizes will be awarded.

Questions should be directed to the Friends at [email protected] or 978-794-1655.

Happy decorating!

06/23/2020

Nurses care for victims of a Spanish influenza epidemic outdoors amidst canvas tents during an outdoor fresh air cure, Lawrence, Massachusetts, 1918.

[Source: Hulton Archive via Getty Images]

06/22/2020

*** BOTH POSITIONS HAVE BEEN FILLED! ***

The Lawrence Heritage State Park is HIRING!

LHSP is seeking candidates for 2 job openings for short-term summer seasonal laborers. Preference given to those age 18 or above so they can use motorized equipment.

If you know a person looking for a summer job, please send them our way!

Call the Park (978-794-1655) and ask for Dave.

Lawrence Heritage State Park
1 Jackson Street
Lawrence, MA 01840
978-794-1655
fax: 978-794-9241
http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-north/lawrence-heritage-state-park.html

06/07/2020

"Collective Voices" Bread and Roses Commemorative Video

The year 2012 marks the centennial anniversary of the Great Lawrence Strike of 1912, popularly known as The Bread and Roses Strike. To commemorate this pivotal moment…

06/06/2020

Lawrence History Center

Whether you create a new diary entry or copy/paste a post you have already made to social media, please document your experience living in Lawrence and the United States at this moment in time. Your words, photos, artwork, videos, and other documents may be uploaded at the link below.

The Lawrence History Center will compile them, post/publish (with permission only), and then add them to our archival collection for posterity and the broader telling of Lawrence history.

http://www.lawrencehistory.org/collections/remoteoralhistory/diaryentry

05/28/2020

Essex County Community Foundation

During this time, the spaces, places and activities that enrich our lives can feel more meaningful than ever. What cultural experiences are you missing right now? Show your support by sharing them with us. ➡️ https://www.placeandmeaning.mvpc.org/

#EssexCountyCreates #MerrimackValleyCulture Essex County Creates

05/27/2020

Glimpses of the Past: The Ghost Signs of Lawrence (by Rick Wetmore, LHC Volunteer)

Ghost signs are painted advertisements on sides of buildings, typically from the late 1800’s & early 1900’s. These faded billboards can offer a…

05/25/2020

Why Are There Almost No Memorials to the Flu of 1918?

A restaurant owner in Barre,Vermont, is among the few to commemorate the most lethal pandemic since the bubonic plague.

https://www.nytimes.com/…/14/busin…/1918-flu-memorials.html…

N.B. Barre, VT, is the city which hosted children of striking workers during the 1912 Lawrence Bread and Roses Strike.

[In 2018, Brian Zecchinelli commissioned a five-ton granite memorial to those lost to the 1918 flu pandemic. It sits in Hope Cemetery in Barre, known for its elaborately crafted memorial stones. Credit Caleb Kenna for The New York Times]

05/14/2020

Lawrence History Center

Please help the Essex County Community Foundation promote their project - Merrimack Valley: Place and Meaning 2020 by:

-- Participating and helping to spread the word. Please share this post and link: https://www.placeandmeaning.mvpc.org/

-- Pinning a special place on our map and/or sharing a story, poem or image for our community Expression Book.

In this moment, let’s capture special memories and places of meaning in your community.

Together, we can mark what matters today and look to our future!

Thank you!

Karen Ristuben
Essex County Community Foundation

Nate Robertson
Merrimack Valley Planning Commission

Marquis Victor
Elevated Thought

05/13/2020

Essex County Community Foundation

Where do you love art? Name the place and share your story for the Merrimack Valley Expression Book. Be part of the Merrimack Valley: Place and Meaning 2020 project. #EssexCountyCreates #MerrimackValleyCulture Essex County Creates

Learn more here ➡️ https://www.placeandmeaning.mvpc.org/

05/08/2020

The Lawrence History Center invites you to make a diary entry (or daily entries!) about your experience living in Lawrence during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic. We will compile them, post/publish, and then add them to our archival collection for posterity.
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Lo/La invitamos a que contribuya una entrada de diario (o entradas diarias!) sobre su experiencia viviendo en Lawrence durante la pandemia de COVID-19 de 2020. Recopilaremos las entradas, las compartiremos o publicaremos, y luego las agregaremos a nuestra colección de archivos para la posteridad.

http://www.lawrencehistory.org/collections/remoteoralhistory/diaryentry

Thanks to Terry Date at The Eagle-Tribune for the front page story highlighting the Lawrence History Center Remote Oral History and Lawrence Community Diary projects!

"Afar and up close"
The Lawrence History Center chronicles the pandemic
https://www.eagletribune.com/news/merrimack_valley/afar-and-up-close/article_1ce8a196-dd7a-5d7e-a85a-5b260d4ffb47.html

So far Mark Cutler and his students have conducted 4 of 6 Zoom Video Oral History interviews scheduled for this week.

The Community Diary has received dozens of entries from people of all ages and backgrounds. Please share your experiences during the pandemic (or about living in the city in general) at http://www.lawrencehistory.org/collections/remoteoralhistory/diaryentry

[Image below: LHC director Susan Grabski, bottom, and LHC collections manager Amita Kiley along with LHC board VP/Phillips Academy Spanish instructorMark Cutler talk over Zoom video conferencing about the center's new project chronicling the 2020 pandemic.]

05/02/2020

Today at Noon!
https://meetingsamer7.webex.com/meetingsamer7/j.php?MTID=mab46c6971500e3bc588454fe5c6229fc

04/28/2020

Going once, going twice ... SOLD!

This Day in Lawrence History -

On this day, April 28, 1847 at 11:00 am, the Essex Company began to auction off lots of land in the newly created town on Lawrence! The map below, digitized by the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library is titled "Plan of lots in that part of Methuen called Lawrence: to be sold by the Essex Company at auction on the 28th of April, 1847, on the premises at 11 o'clock a.m"

Lawrence History Center holds original copies of this map in our Essex Company Collection (http://www.lawrencehistory.org/collections/essexcompany). If you've ever visited us and explored our first floor vault, you've seen this map!

To view this map in more detail, click here: https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:x059c9063

04/27/2020

We spy the boarding house that the Lawrence Heritage State Park Visitors Center is housed in - 2nd building on the right at 1 Jackson Street (corner of Canal and Jackson Streets)!

From the Lawrence History Center Photograph Collection:

Title: American Woolen Co. headquarters. Mill St., Lawrence
Date: [ca. 1950]

https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:rb68xp29x

04/23/2020

Celeste Cruz used to grace the reception desk at the Lawrence Heritage State Park! Be sure to check out her wonderful work!

Celeste’s Coloring Book is now available! Download here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1uQuw1W61rLGbslaVbB45M5aURXVrrwUp

When you finish, post your illustrations on social media and tag us and the creator! 😌

04/20/2020

Does (or did) your family live in a triple decker in Lawrence?

Does (or did) your family live in a triple decker in Lawrence?

This Wednesday, April 22, 2020 at 4:00PM, be sure to check out:

Triple Deckers: A New England Love Story, a talk and screening by documentary filmmaker Marc Levitt

Levitt will share both a short, trailer and a longer compilation of footage from his his “in ‘in progress’” documentary, Triple Deckers: A New England Love Story, exploring how the iconic three story homes helped to create the first US suburbs, forged a multi-cultural, mixed gender American Industrial working class and through their architectural DNA helped to make a country where its citizens understood that their well being and that of their neighbors were interdependent.

Register by emailing [email protected].

https://www.rihs.org/event/virtual-virtual-valley-talks-marc-levitt-on-triple-deckers-a-new-england-love-story/

04/18/2020

Historic Trolley Tour of Lawrence

Join the President of the Friends of the Lawrence Heritage State Park Joe Bella on a Historic Trolley Tour of Lawrence!

Credit: Lawrence Community Access Television.

This video is about Historic Trolley Tour of Lawrence

04/16/2020

Make making a daily entry in the Lawrence History Center Community Diary a ritual! Or assign it to your students as a writing exercise! Be a part of history in real time!

Building on our new Remote Oral History project (http://www.lawrencehistory.org/collections/remoteoralhistory), please check out our new "Lawrence Community Diary: COVID-19 Pandemic 2020 | Diario comunitario de Lawrence / COVID-19 Pandemia 2020" project!

At the Lawrence History Center, we have the diaries of a young woman, Helen Annie Benker, written in 1918 and 1920. The following is an excerpt from an entry made on Wednesday, October 2, 1918, during the flu pandemic:

"...When I got home I refilled my little camphor bag which I wear, and took a drink of whiskey which we do twice a day to prevent sickness."

We invite you to make a diary entry (or daily entries!) about your experience living in Lawrence during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic. We will compile them, post/publish, and then add them to our archival collection for posterity!

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En el Centro de Historia de Lawrence, tenemos los diarios de una joven, Helen Annie Benker (haga clic para la transcripción completa), escritos en 1918 y 1920. Lo siguiente es un extracto de una entrada realizada el miércoles 2 de octubre de 1918, durante la pandemia de gripe:

"... Cuando llegué a casa volví a llenar mi pequeña bolsa de alcanfor que llevo puesta, y tomé un trago de whisky que hacemos dos veces al día para prevenir enfermedades."

Lo/La invitamos a que contribuya una entrada de diario (o entradas diarias!) sobre su experiencia viviendo en Lawrence durante la pandemia de COVID-19 de 2020. Recopilaremos las entradas, las compartiremos o publicaremos, y luego las agregaremos a nuestra colección de archivos para la posteridad.

http://www.lawrencehistory.org/collections/remoteoralhistory/diaryentry

04/09/2020

Are you from Lawrence? Tell us your story about your community coming together in difficult times. Let us know how you’re faring during the current pandemic, or tell your story of resilience during other crises, such as the Merrimack Valley gas explosions, “City of the Damned” fallout, and more. We want to hear from you and include your voice in the history of Lawrence!

Follow the link to see how the Lawrence History Center is bring oral history to you!

The Lawrence History Center is pleased to announce a new project:

"Remote Oral History: Physically Distanced. Socially Connected. /
"Historia oral remota: Distanciados físicamente. Conectados socialmente."

The Lawrence History Center, at this difficult moment in our shared history, would like to capture stories of our community coming together in times of crisis. Our project, "Remote Oral History: Physically Distanced. Socially Connected.", seeks to allow people to make personal, human connections when they most need them and also to help to highlight the lives of community members in a way that reflects the current reality.

Participation methods include a brief 2-minute story and/or a full-length interview via Zoom.

To participate, please visit: http://www.lawrencehistory.org/collections/remoteoralhistory

Funded, in part, by the Lawrence Cultural Council.

04/07/2020

Andy X. Vargas

Please be responsible with our public spaces. We won't have them even moderately available for long, unless we all practice social distancing and good hygiene.

03/23/2020

Heritage At Home

These are challenging times in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis and we are all navigating a new reality together. Despite the changes to our daily schedules, it is still important to experience the cultural, natural, and historic resources in the heritage area--even through social distancing. M...

03/18/2020

You Can Virtually Tour A Whole Bunch Of National Parks From Your Couch

All for free, too!

03/15/2020

Hi all,

As you probably expected DCR has announced the closing of all State Park Visitor Centers at least through April 1.

Unfortunately that ends our Irish Month events, although Lawrence's AOH had wisely already cancelled all of its programs. I should qualify that by saying that today's would-be White Fund lecture by Joseph Blanchette, author of "The View From Shanty Pond", will likely be rescheduled in the Fall. That said, below is the state announcement making it official.

In the meantime, be safe and feel free to enjoy some fresh Spring air at our greenspaces... at a safe social distance, of course. Also do call or email if you have any questions...we'll still be coming in (or at least checking in).

Thanks,
Jim Beauchesne, VSS/LHSP
[email protected]
978-794-1655

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Baker-Polito Administration Announces Temporary Closure of Certain State Conservation and Recreation Managed Facilities

BOSTON - Out of an abundance of caution due to the spread of COVID-19 in Massachusetts, the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has announced the temporary closure of certain agency managed facilities effective Saturday, March 14, 2020 through Wednesday, April 1, 2020 at which time DCR will reassess circumstances. Additionally, during the temporary closure all associated events at these locations are cancelled.

Importantly, all state parks and comfort stations across the Commonwealth remain open and available for the public to utilize. DCR reminds residents and visitors to avoid gathering in large groups, maintain social distancing, and practice healthy personal hygiene to stop the spread of the virus.

The temporary closures of certain facilities is consistent with the State of Emergency declared by Governor Baker on Tuesday, March 10, 2020 and guidance that conferences, seminars and other discretionary gatherings, scheduled and hosted by Executive Branch agencies involving external parties are to be held virtually or cancelled. Additionally, Governor Charlie Baker issued an emergency order prohibiting most gatherings of over 250 people to limit the spread of the COVID-19.

For information about the Baker-Polito Administration’s ongoing efforts to prevent and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, please visit the Department of Public Health’s (DPH) website: https://www.mass.gov/resource/information-on-the-outbreak-of-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19

Address

1 Jackson St
Lawrence, MA
01840

Opening Hours

Monday	09:00 - 16:00
Tuesday	09:00 - 16:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 16:00
Thursday	09:00 - 16:00
Friday	09:00 - 16:00
Saturday	09:00 - 16:00
Sunday	09:00 - 16:00

Telephone

(978) 794-1655

Website

http://friendsoflawrenceheritage.org

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