It’s Also History: Tales & Tidbits from Alan's Archives

In 1776, when America officially broke from Great Britain, slavery was legal in all 13 states. Four years later, Massachusetts adopted its state constitution which appeared to outlaw the practice for the first time anywhere in the United States. To end slavery, though, it took a series of court cases to determine the constitution's exact meaning. Two brave souls, who were afforded very little freedom to that point, tested the law and made sure it lived up to its lofty words.

Before serving, elected presidents must first take the oath of office. Since the beginning of our nation, six communities have played host to the ritual - five large cities and one very small New England town. Listen to hear how a village of less than 700 residents was once the site of this iconic transfer of power.

Jingle Bells is one of the most famous songs of all time, but its composer and origin are barely known today. Listen to hear about its connections to New England 

Two days before Thanksgiving there was an explosion in the town of Danvers, Ma that leveled mor than 300 homes and businesses. It was described by one reporter as looking like a war zone. Listen to hear how, despite the devastation, no one was killed or even seriously hurt.

Today, Monday night and Thursday night football games are staples of the NFL schedule. There was a time when all games were played during the day. That pattern was broken right here in New England, but not by a team you might expect.

There's an old New England tradition that began as a newspaper marketing scheme that still lives on long after the paper's demise. It involves a gold-tipped ebony cane and the oldest resident in town. 

Right in the middle of the Roaring 20s Boston’s Pickwick Club was celebrating the Fourth of July. Tragedy struck while the crowd was dancing the Charleston, when the building came crashing down.

Her image was plastered all over every product sold, she was America’s first self-made female millionaire, songs were written about her, but today she’s nearly forgotten. Just who was this woman from Lynn, Massachusetts?

Worcester might be the second largest city in New England, but Major League Baseball doesn't necessarily come to mind when thinking about it. Regardless, the city actually boasted a National League club for three years that played in maybe the strangest venue of any big-time club in any sport.

Mt. Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts, has always attracted the literary elite of America. The mountain serves as the background for many stories and poems by authors ranging from Melville to Rowling. You might be surprised by the works of fiction centered around the oft hiked peak.

Frederick Douglass was a larger than life figure in the abolitionist movement and in American history. Nearly forgotten are the eight years he lived in Lynn, Massachusetts. Although he writes very little of the city, it's the place where he morphed into a movement leader and is the site of an infamous, but transforming incident aboard a train.

Out in the woods of Cape Ann exist the remnants of a village where hardworking folk once dwelled alongside interesting characters and legends. Hear about the people -and the dogs - who once populated the countryside and the myths that grew up around them.

Jacob Marley, who was, in life, Scrooge's partner, is deeply rooted in mid-19th century London, but was his character inspired by a story written in Lowell, Massachusetts? Listen in and decide for yourself, about Marley's Middlesex County roots.

In 1927 - three years before the first FIFA World Cup - The Uruguay National Team made an unlikely visit to Malden, MA as a warm-up game for that first tournament. Uruguay had done well, beating top teams from around the world, and the club would be victorious in the 1930 World Cup. More surprisingly than their visit, was the fact that they lost to a local team. Listen how the Boston Wonderworkers took on - and beat - the world's best, not only in the match, but also in the ensuing riot.

Sometimes legend and reality coincide. That's the case with the famous Thanksgiving song "Over the River and Through the Woods." Although a seemingly wistful ditty of what we'd like life to be, the tune is actually biographical. The sights and events chronicled in the verses actually exist. Listen to find out where the route of the sleigh takes the listener and discover what river is being crossed.

Everyone knows George Washington was our first president, right? Well, there's a little more to the story than that. Before the current constitution was in place we already had a government - The Congress of the Confederation, and at its head was the President of the United States in Congress Assembled. Nine people held that position before Washington was sworn in. First among them was a man from Connecticut. Hear the story of Huntington's brief, but meaningful, presidency.

What could be more exciting than pirates, buried treasure, and a treasure hunt, all in our own backyard? That's what we have in Lynn Woods. In the mid 1600s it was rumored that pirate Tom Veal secreted his ill-gotten booty deep in the heart of Lynn Woods. Did it really happen? Nobody knows for sure, but that didn't stop nineteenth century treasure hunters from seeking it out. Listen to how a man and his son devoted their lives to searching for it, and hear about what they left behind.

Boston has had several well-known fires, from the Great Fire of 1872 which consumed most of the downtown area, to the Cocoanut Grove, taking 492 lives, and the tragedy at the Hotel Vendome. One that is nearly forgotten today is the Stadium Fire of 1894 - a blaze that started in the middle of a baseball game and ended with the destruction of an entire neighborhood.

When the Civil War came to a close, musician Patrick Gilmore developed a fantastical idea to help heal the nation's wounds - a large-scale concert featuring thousands of performers to be held in a temporary building holding 50,000 spectators. Nearly everyone thought he was crazy, but, against all odds, he pulled it off.

On a cold January day President Elect Franklin Pierce and his family boarded a train in Andover, Massachusetts, two months before he took office. A mile later the train left the track and tumbled down an embankment. The horrible accident nearly ended his presidency before it started, He survived, but the tragedy hobbled his administration for the entire term, destroyed his home life, and probably led to an early death..

Lexington is a town that everyone knows about. The first shots of the American Revolution took place on the town green. Every school child learns about it early on. Together with nearby Concord it's a household word. But who was its most famous resident? He had nothing to do with the town's fame, but, nonetheless, he's notorious. This podcast explains how this person's name became a part of the language.

Every runner and casual sports observer knows that the Boston Marathon is a big deal. What most don't realize, however, is that it is directly connected to the first Modern Olympics in Athens and, thus tied to the birth of the sport. Listen to hear how the Boston Marathon came into being and how it was an offshoot of the Athens Games.

A spring day in 1780 was like no other. It was so dark at noon that candles were needed at lunchtime, animals returned to the barn, and the crickets chirped as if it were night. Some thought the end of the world was at hand. Others looked for a rational explanation, and some just took the time to goof off. Although there have been many plausible hypotheses, no one has ever been absolutely sure what happened on that long ago May 19th.

The Davis Cup Tournament is viewed as the World Cup of Tennis: Nation vs. Nation vying for top honors. The competition moves from city to city, around the globe, but almost forgotten is that very edition in 1900 - the inaugural event staged in Boston. In fact, the tournament was the brainchild of a Harvard tennis player, and the trophy, emblematic of the championship, was created by a venerable Boston jeweler.

You don't often hear of nobility in New England, but if you drive through Woburn Square - about four miles from where the American Revolution began, that would free this country of royal and noble titles - you might just spot a statue labeled "Count Rumford." How did this happen? Why is he honored as such? Listen in to find out about this genius inventor and politician, and a man on the wrong side of the American cause.

In the middle of the depression era the city of Boston had not just one, but two professional football teams. They didn't play in the same leagues, but they were rivals nonetheless - not on the field, but at the box office. They both fought for more than championships. They were in battles for survival.Both teams were slated to host their respective title games, but circumstances got in the way. Listen to the story of how the Boston Redskins and the Boston Shamrocks vied for the football fandom of Boston with neither coming out on top.

The early 1900s was a more innocent time in some ways. Access to the governor’s office was not complicated. Anyone could walk in and ask to speak with the state’s chief executive. One day in 1907, a would be assassin walked in and began shooting. The governor survived the attack and was actually one of the heroes of the day. Listen in to hear the complete story of the attack on Massachusetts governor, Curtis Guild.

Every year the city of Boston receives a gift from the city of Halifax and the province of Nova Scotia - a Christmas tree. Its purpose is to bind the two regions in friendship, but it also commemorates the response to a terrible tragedy that happened more than a century ago. On Dec. 6, 1917, a series of explosions devastated Halifax, killing thousands and injuring many more. Massachusetts responded immediately, before knowing any details, and saved, or relieved the suffering, of thousands more. This is the back story; the saga of the amazing response to those awful events that prompts Nova Scotia's annual present to Boston.

There are all sorts of holiday traditions. Some come steeped in history, honoring great turning points or important people, while others, inexplicably, grow organically from small - almost meaningless events.

One such unusual Thanksgiving rite is based on a relatively trivial matter that happened back in 1965. If it had happened to anyone but a folksinger it would never be remembered today. He wrote a song about it which became a hit and later spawned a movie. Today hundreds, maybe thousands, pull out the song and play it some time before feasting on turkey. It's become part of the annual ritual.

Now, we all know that the story behind the song "Alice's Restaurant" can't possibly be true, right? But it is - at least, partly. Listen in to get the lowdown on the real story of Alice's Restaurant.

On October 24, 1961, a young mother of two toddlers went about her daily routine: A dentist appointment in the morning, some grocery shopping, checking in with her best friend who just gave birth, she sent her husband's suits to the dry cleaners, fed the children, and then vanished without a trace. Newspapers across the country covered the story in its early days, the local press kept with the story for the rest of the year, but, with no breakthroughs, it faded from the consciousness of the area. Whatever happened to Joan Risch, of Lincoln, MA? Was she murdered? Was she abducted? Did she plan her own disappearance, and, most intriguing of all, at 91, could she still be out there? "Vanished in Lincoln" answers some, but not all, of the questions.surrounding this enduring mystery.

As the Civil War raged across the country, one North Shore town became part of the great recruitment. The crossroads village of South Lynnfield, with its train station, access to Suntaug Lake, and plenty of flat open fields, was the site of the Eastern Massachusetts recruitment center. The tiny town saw an influx of people, raising the temporary population to heights only recently surpassed. Hear about the two summers in the early 1860s when Lynnfield was transformed into the epicenter of Massachusetts military activity.

On August 26, 1871 - just over 150 years ago - the worst train crash in Massachusetts history happened. It wasn't caused by any one mistake or breakdown but, rather, by a series of events. Any of them going right would have prevented the calamity, but that's not what happened. This debacle, known simply as "The Revere Disaster," is nearly forgotten today even in the city where it happened, but it cost 30 lives, was responsible for the downfall of a great railroad, and caused laws and regulations to be changed.

Sports fan or not, you've heard of Fenway Park. The history and trivia buffs can add Braves Field and, maybe even, the Huntington Avenue Grounds to the list, but nearly no one has any knowledge of Lincoln Park, the hub of Boston's Black Baseball. Learn about its very brief history and how this podcaster discovered its existence.

Most people have heard the term "gerrymandering" and might know what it means,generally, but most don't know the origin, or who it was named for, or even how to pronounce the word. This episode explains all that - and more

Pittsburg, NH was caught in a power struggle between the fledgling United States and the British colony in Canada. Each side clamed the village and tried to tax them. The town solved the problem, at least temporarily, by declaring independence from both.

You've probably been on board - or, at least seen photos of - The Mayflower II, in Plymouth. But, whatever happened to the original? We all know about its most famous voyage, but what else was it used for? Who was its captain? And most intriguing - does it still exist? Tune in to find out, because it's also history.

This week from the archives is a side story from the day the American Revolution began. As arms were taken up in Lexington & Concord we, instead, follow the footsteps of two founding fathers as they trek across Middlesex County.

Tales & Tidbit’s from Alan’s Archives