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Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation

Located in the Francis Cabot Lowell Mill, an icon of the American Industrial Revolution, the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation brings together intriguing artifacts, cultural insights, and inspiring stories to delight people of all ages, enabling them to see the past and envision the future.

https://www.charlesrivermuseum.org/

Making It in America: The Past, Present and Future of New England Textile Manufacturing

Wed, Oct 9, 2024

New England has a rich apparel and textile manufacturing history. The United States' industrial revolution started here, and many of the region's famous families made their first fortunes in textile, shoe, and apparel production. Over the past 40 years, much of that industry has vanished as companies have been forced to deal with ever cheaper imports from abroad.

Now, a new group of entrepreneurs is reviving every aspect of this legacy. Why are they doing it? What does it take to breathe life into a dying industry? And will they succeed?

This far-reaching conversation with journalist Rachel Slade, author of Making It in America, and Michelle Finamore, fashion historian, author, and curator, will explore New England's manufacturing legacy while exploring the ways new companies are revitalizing centuries-old industries.

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Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation
Tech Talk: The Making of Millpower: An Animated Series for the Charles River Museum

Wed, Oct 23, 2024

Join The Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation for a Tech Talk about our new series of short animations on the history of the Boston Manufacturing Company, designed to educate and entertain audiences of all ages, with a particular focus on middle school students.

Waltham animator Macy Lawrence will discuss the research, design, and animation process, and the event will include a screening of the short films.

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Racing Against the Odds: Major Taylor and the Golden Age of Cycling

Wed, Oct 16, 2024

Join the Charles River Museum for an inspiring look at the life and times of Major Taylor, one of the most consequential athletes in American sports history.

Taylor was racing on the national and international stage at a time when the U.S. was deeply segregated. He combatted both racial prejudice and systemic barriers to triumph as the 'world's fastest man'. The legendary African American cyclist and the Charles Metz Company of Waltham, MA., were deeply intertwined through the golden age of bicycle racing and innovation. Taylor raced on Metz's "Orient" bicycles, and his sprinting ability and speed on the lightweight Orient bikes brought him national fame during the rise of cycling as a competitive sport in America.

However, as the 20th century progressed, the bicycle industry began to decline, largely due to the rise of automobiles. Charles Metz himself shifted his focus from bicycles to cars, founding the Metz Company in 1909, marking the end of an era for Waltham's bicycle production. Still, Taylor's triumphs in the face of racial diversity remain a lasting legacy of both his own perserverance, and the innovations of the Waltham-based Metz Company.

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Many Voices, One Mission : Liberating Folk Music

Tue, Apr 2, 2024

How The Folk Collective aims to create a model for liberating folk music from its narrowly defined past.

Every culture has its own folk music - be it traditional and passed through the ages, or new creations that tell the human stories of lives lived and living. The popularity of the Folk Revival of the 50s and 60s brought a widened audience and a new generation of performers - but also a problematic whitening of the genre that had been so multicultural in its origin.

The Folk Collective was created in 2022 by the arts non-profit organization and presenter Passim to face this challenge of representation and narrow definition in folk music. Being that Club Passim has been at the center and forefront of folk music in this country for more than half a century, the organization felt a duty to reframe the narrative and take action to create real change.

This panel discussion with the Folk Collective will explore folk music's historical roots and question why it's been narrowly defined. It aims to challenge this limited perspective by highlighting diverse voices and experiences often sidelined within the genre. Through inclusivity and authenticity, the discussion seeks to redefine folk music as truly reflective of the rich tapestry of human expression. This marks a pivotal moment in reshaping the narrative and fostering a more inclusive community within the genre.

The Folk Collective hopes to answer those questions. They are a broad representation of a community, performing music “of the people” for their community. Simply put, they are folk musicians.

Moderated by Callie Crossley.

More About The Folk Collective
The Folk Collective is a quarterly gathering of twelve select artists, musicians, and cultural thought leaders. Through an active exchange of ideas, creative collaboration, and partnership, we aim to foster and develop sustainable channels to invite and welcome diverse audiences, artists, and conversations to the Passim stage.
Alastair Moock is an award-winning singer-songwriter; a Grammy-nominated family musician; social justice and Songwriting educator for all ages; and co-founder of The Opening Doors Project, an anti-racist music organization. The Boston Globe calls him "one of the town's best and most adventurous songwriters," and The Washington Post says, "every song is a gem."
Anju is a singer, songwriter, producer, and performer shaped by the people and places in Minnesota and Massachusetts. Their music conjures imaginary lovers, scents of citrus, and visions of hairy brown skin under the sun. Anju was highlighted by NPR's All Songs Considered as an outstanding Tiny Desk Contest entrant. They are currently teaching young musicians piano, violin, and guitar and working on their debut full-length album.
Maxfield Anderson is an American roots multi-instrumentalist, teacher, writer, and music director living in Somerville, MA. As an artist, Maxfield aims to bring new light to honored traditions and to share the joy of making music with others.
Award-winning Tlingit artist Kim Moberg was born in Juneau, Alaska, and currently calls Cape Cod, MA home. Kim began playing guitar at age 14, but severe stage fright kept her from becoming a professional performer. In 2014 Kim set out to overcome her stage fright and wrote her first song. Kim teamed with Grammy-nominated producer Jon Evans to record two albums: "Above Ground" and "Up Around The Bend." Both have received worldwide airplay, charting on the Folk Alliance International Folk DJ charts and the NACC Radio charts. Kim and Jon are collaborating on her third album, which features songs that tie ancient prophecies to our current social environment. Kim's recognitions include the 2021 Rocky Mountain Songwriting Contest Finalist, the 2021 Great American Songwriting Contest Folk/Americana Finalist, and the 2020 CT Folk Grassy Hill Songwriting Competition Winner.
Stephanie Mckay is a recording artist, songwriter, arts educator, and advocate based in Medford. Her artistic practice lies at the intersection of music, community, and education.
Made up of a diverse cohort of twelve artists in the Greater Boston region, The Folk Collective has taken this challenge head-on, performing concerts in the club as well as out in the community that push the boundaries of folk music…from themed concerts like Re-Imagining Lilith Fair to curated festivals such as We Black Folk to timely shows like the Indigenous Peoples Day event and the Inaugural Pride Month Celebration… The Folk Collective is reclaiming Folk Music as a music for all people.
The inaugural cohort brings twelve diverse, multigenerational, talented artists, educators, and thought-leaders together, to collaborate, inspire, and rethink what Folk Music looks like today. In doing so, they’ve become their own community.
And now, as the Folk Collective is deep its second year (a new cohort will be chosen for 2024-2026 season), one of the most exciting developments is the plan to learn what has worked (and what hasn’t) from this exciting trailblazing initiative and create tools and a template for other organizations to use ... The Folk Collective is artist-led. Passim continues to learn from these inspiring leaders and incorporate their thoughts and ideas into the core of its practice.

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Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation
TECH TALK: The Revolution in Racing Sailboat Materials and Hardware From 1956 to 1976

Wed, Mar 20, 2024

The period from 1956 to 1976 introduced huge changes in racing sailboats. There was the transition in hulls from wood to fiberglass, in spars from wood to aluminum, in lines from manila to Dacron, and in sails from cotton to Dacron (main and jib) and Nylon (spinnaker). There were also major upgrades in the running rigging with the introduction of cam cleats, ball bearing travelers, light weight blocks, light weight shackles, and the ratchet block. Put today’s sailor in a boat from 1956 and it would all seem quite foreign and antiquated. Put that same sailor in a state-of-the-art boat from 1976 and except for the lack of electronics it would all feel quite familiar.

As a teenager, from 1964 to 1969, Alan Palevsky worked in a small machine shop that at the time was the leader in ball bearing travelers and light weight blocks. The shop won the contract to build much of the running rigging for 12-Meter Intrepid, the 1967 America’s Cup defender.

Little did Alan realize at the time that the hardware he worked on was the harbinger of major changes in hardware across all of sailing. The talk will cover some of his memories of working in that era and some of the details of the hardware design and fabrication techniques, and the new materials put into service.

The owner and brains of the operation was Edmund Laviano. He was a local sailor with an inventive mind who had gotten into designing and fabricating small boat hardware in the early 1960’s. Mr. Palevsky will tell Mr. Laviano's story in this immersive talk.

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Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation
Artificial Intelligence and the Next Industrial Revolution?

Wed, Mar 6, 2024

Do recent advances in artificial intelligence herald a new stage of human development? Or is the current AI fervor yet another technology hype?

Rapid advances in AI have captured considerable public interest. Like prior technology developments, we can increasingly replace human activity with machines. But while prior technology developments deeply affected physical labor, AI developments (particularly generative AI) encroach on what was previously an entirely human domain -- knowledge work. Machines now seem to be able to think and learn. With these developments, we may see liberation from routine tasks, standardization of processes, and a head start on human learning. But we may instead see unemployment from job displacement, bias at a massive scale, and a race to mediocrity.

“Has the machine in its last furious manifestation begun to eliminate workers faster than new tasks can be found for them?” Stuart Chase asked this topical question in his book, “Men and Machines” -- in 1929. While everyone seems to talk about artificial intelligence, we’ll talk about what people are really doing now and where they seem to be headed.

The discussion builds from a 10-year MIT Sloan Management Review research program and stories from the Me, Myself, and AI podcast. In particular, we’ll focus on the role of human agency in choosing how we use these exciting tool developments.

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Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation
Community Engineering: Stories and Soaring to the Future

Thu, Feb 1, 2024

The Charles River Museum hosts EWB-USA CEO Boris Martin, Former EWB-USA Board President Dr. Chris Lombardo, and EWB-USA volunteers from across the New England area for a forward-moving Mill Talk on community engineering. Expect to be regaled with stories of impact, engaged in reflection on engineers’ and educators’ calling, and moved toward action to build a better world.

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Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation
Mill Talk: The Hidden Costs Of A Greener Future

Wed, Feb 7, 2024

The sustainable future we are collectively building comes with significant environmental costs, primarily felt by the global south. The mining and processing of rare earth metals, nickel, cobalt, copper, and many other critical materials, essential for electrification and renewable technologies, often result in considerable ecological damage.

These activities can lead to deforestation, contamination of water sources, soil erosion, and the emission of harmful gases. Consequently, the health and safety of workers and local residents are compromised along with the environment. All of this stands in stark contrast to the overall goals of the green revolution, but currently represents an unavoidable aspect of progress.

This talk explores how the mining and extraction of these materials, while essential for driving forward the clean energy revolution, often contradicts the principles of environmental stewardship. The lecture particularly focuses on the impact in the global south, where much of the world's mining and refining activities take place, often with less stringent environmental regulations and oversight. This raises critical questions about the true cost of our transition to renewable energy and electric mobility.

In response to these challenges, Dr. Tomas Villalón shares Phoenix Tailings’ transformative approach to mining and material processing. Our innovative strategies aim to revolutionize the industry by extracting rare earth metals and other crucial materials sustainably. He discusses their cutting-edge techniques for minimizing ecological impact through rethinking the approach to material refining and the remediation of toxic waste. By turning a historically pollutive process into a more environmentally responsible one and cleaning up the toxic byproducts of mining operations, Phoenix Tailings is not only contributing to the cleaner production of electrification materials but also paving the way for a more equitable and truly sustainable future.

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How Dickens Helped Bring Christmas to Boston

Tue, Dec 12, 2023

Readings and performances of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol have played an integral part in winter holiday festivities since longer than most of us can remember. What fewer people know, however, is that the British literary superstar and his popular novella actually helped bring Christmas back to Boston.

Accompanied by a beautiful slide show, Susan Wilson—the Official House Historian of the Parker House—traces the history of Christmas celebrations, which were discouraged and even banned in the Puritan stronghold of colonial Boston. Wilson explains how and why Christmas finally began to be embraced in the mid 19th century, and how Charles Dickens' arrival in 1867—when he made his home at the Parker House for 5 months—really added fuel to the yule log.

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Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation
Mill Talk: From Textile Workers to Rideshare Drivers with Dave Broker

Tue, Nov 22, 2022

In the second decade of the 21st Century, a major shift took place in the world of ground transportation. Taxicab drivers – long protected by local barriers to market entry – found themselves overtaken in the marketplace by new and disruptive rideshare services. Uber and Lyft drivers were able to provide a cheaper and simpler and more convenient means of getting around. This has created a significant benefit to consumers, though there have been winners and losers among drivers. Yet, even for the winners, this profession is now at serious risk of redundancy, thanks to the prospect of the driverless car. While still in development, autonomous vehicles could well mean the end of a livelihood – not only for rideshare drivers, but also for truckers and other vehicle operators – in the years to come. However, this is not a new phenomenon. In this talk, industrial history podcaster Dave Broker explains how, between the 17th and 19th centuries, an almost identical process played out in the British textile trade. It was the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, and its explosive consequences should be remembered and studied as we face the economic changes on the horizon.

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Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation

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