At the turn of the last century, Waltham was a hub of canoeing and canoe manufacturing at the intersection of athletics, recreation, and craftmanship. A new industrial working class developed in Waltham and surrounding areas as companies like Boston Manufacturing and Waltham Watch employed thousands of line workers. Along with industrialization, leisure activities gained popularity as these same workers looked to the river to relax, socialize, and have fun on the weekends. The weekend itself is a consequence of industrialization and the factory work week.

In Waltham, builders like HB Arnold, Waltham Canoe, and others were at work crafting, renting, and selling their canoes. Large boathouses, dancehalls, and canoe launches popped up all along the stretch of the Charles from Moody Street back up to Newton Upper Falls. Come, hear about the innovative canoe builders on the Charles and the new leisure working class they served.

Benson Gray grew up in Old Town, Maine, and has always loved canoes, so it was exciting to discover that many others shared an appreciation for these wonderful boats. His work with computers, combined with an interest in the history of canoes, has led to some fascinating collaborations. In the 1990s, he initiated a project to scan the Old Town Canoe Company catalogs, which later evolved into a much larger effort encompassing a variety of canoe manufacturers, with significant help from Dan Miller and others. His largest wooden canoe history project involved scanning most of the Old Town, Carleton, and Kennebec build records. These projects have made the history of canoes more accessible to everyone, but the true essence of an organization like the Charles River Museum lies in connecting people who share an interest in wooden canoes.

Prominent researcher Gerald Denis explains the tight relationship between medical research and progress in medical care. Recent abrupt cuts to research funding and science agencies such as NIH have disrupted research labs, frequently ending carefully designed studies and upending the training of future scientists. We learn how medical discoveries are developed and tested, how research leads to medical advances and dispels false beliefs, and how young scientists’ lab experience prepares them for their careers. Medical research is absolutely necessary for the protection of our health.

Join WorldBoston for their signature Diplomacy Now program, an opportunity to consider American diplomacy within the context of U.S. national interests. This year’s program will focus on “The U.S., China, and the Great Powers.”
For this discussion, we are honored to host Nicholas Burns (ret.) Ambassador to China, and the Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Analysts of American policy in 2025 have the unusual advantage of being able to assess the new president’s likely policies regarding the Middle East against the backdrop of what he did in his first term, four years earlier.

Join WorldBoston for a timely Great Decisions discussion of this topic with Mona Yacoubian, senior adviser and director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

This program will feature an expert presentation, live audience Q&A, and time for networking and discussion with other globally-oriented participants.

Mona Yacoubian is senior adviser and director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She has more than thirty years of experience working on the Middle East and North Africa, with a focus on conflict analysis, governance and stabilization challenges, and conflict prevention. She was previously vice president of the Middle East and North Africa Center at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), where she managed field programming in Iraq, Libya, and Tunisia as well as Washington, D.C.–based staff.

Two of Revere’s biographers will speak with the Executive Director of the Paul Revere House on Paul Revere, the man and the myth. While today he is most famous for his Midnight Ride, this talk will cover his life before and after the Revolution as well.

With:
Dr. Robert Martello, Professor of the History of Science & Technology, Olin College of Engineering
Dr. Jayne Triber, Independent Scholar
Nina Zannieri, Executive Director, Paul Revere Memorial Association

Since 1986, Nina Zannieri has been the Executive Director of the Paul Revere Memorial Association in Boston, MA, which owns and operates a now fully accessible complex of three historic buildings that includes the Paul Revere House. Ms. Zannieri has held leadership positions in several national and regional professional museum organizations including American Alliance of Museum, New England Museum Association, and the American Association for State and Local History.

What does the Midnight Ride mean today, and who does it matter to? In this panel a university professor, a high school teacher and administrator, and a public history content creator will discuss how the Midnight Ride resonates (or doesn’t) with the groups they talk about history with. They will compare perspectives on societal trends that influence whether a historical event like this feels relevant today.

Moderated by Dr. Noelle Trent, Museum of African American History, Boston, with Ahsante Bean, Creator and Storytelling Strategist, Dr. Eileen Ka-May Cheng, History Faculty, Sarah Lawrence College, Kerry Dunne, History & Social Studies department head, Lexington High School,

Eileen Ka-May Cheng received her PhD from Yale University and is an associate professor of history at Sarah Lawrence College. She is the author of The Plain and Noble Garb of Truth: Nationalism and Impartiality in American Historical Writing, 1784-1860 (2008) and Historiography: An Introductory Guide (2012). She is currently working on a book project on loyalist historians of the American Revolution and their legacy, entitled “The Loyalist Historians and Their Legacy: Plagiarizing the Nation,” and a book entitled “American Losers: How Defeat Made Our Democracy” (under contract to Yale University Press).