We Are Waltham

This event is FREE and open to the public
Space is limited REGISTER HERE
Masks encouraged Visit HERE for our current COVID-19 policies

This program aims to build a stronger Waltham community. For those new to storytelling, Lahiri will offer guidance in crafting your presentation prior to the event.

Email Chandreyee at wearewaltham@gmail.com to pitch an idea for a story for a future show, maybe even this one!

About the show 'We are Waltham:

'We are Waltham' is a storytelling show aimed at exploring the lives and experiences of residents of Waltham in order to entertain as well as help knit the community together. 

In keeping with the current standards of storytelling represented by popular shows like The Moth and Stories from the Stage, stories on this show will be true incidents from the lives of the tellers, told in their own authentic voices. In a world increasingly divided by ideology and suffering from Pandemic fallout, perhaps peeking into each others' realities might help us feel more like a community.  

The city is a unique melting pot of races, inclinations, ideologies and so rich with the histories of all these individual parts. Yet chasms exist between these sub-communities, as they must. Relating to an element of a story by someone who feels like an 'other', might help bridge this chasm if just partially. Likewise, understanding the intricacies of another culture or inclination, may make it harder to harbor hate or rage. At the very least, it promises to be entertaining.

Each show will attempt to have a cast of diverse tellers from many walks of life and stories will be their own but crafted with the help of a story telling coach. Hate speech will not be tolerated but an attempt will be made to accommodate all voices and perspectives. 

Its origins:

The show was conceived by Waltham resident Chandreyee Lahiri, a part-time writer and storyteller (chandreyeelahiri.com). It is brought to you by the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation and with the support of the Waltham Cultural Council. 

We Are Waltham

This event is FREE and open to the public
Space is limited REGISTER HERE
Proof of vaccination required; face masks required for audience members.

This program aims to build a stronger Waltham community. For those new to storytelling, Lahiri will offer guidance in crafting your presentation prior to the event.

Email Chandreyee at wearewaltham@gmail.com to pitch an idea for a story for a future show, maybe even this one!

About the show 'We are Waltham:

'We are Waltham' is a storytelling show aimed at exploring the lives and experiences of residents of Waltham in order to entertain as well as help knit the community together. 

In keeping with the current standards of storytelling represented by popular shows like The Moth and Stories from the Stage, stories on this show will be true incidents from the lives of the tellers, told in their own authentic voices. In a world increasingly divided by ideology and suffering from Pandemic fallout, perhaps peeking into each others' realities might help us feel more like a community.  

The city is a unique melting pot of races, inclinations, ideologies and so rich with the histories of all these individual parts. Yet chasms exist between these sub-communities, as they must. Relating to an element of a story by someone who feels like an 'other', might help bridge this chasm if just partially. Likewise, understanding the intricacies of another culture or inclination, may make it harder to harbor hate or rage. At the very least, it promises to be entertaining.

Each show will attempt to have a cast of diverse tellers from many walks of life and stories will be their own but crafted with the help of a story telling coach. Hate speech will not be tolerated but an attempt will be made to accommodate all voices and perspectives. 

Its origins:

The show was conceived by Waltham resident Chandreyee Lahiri, a part-time writer and storyteller (chandreyeelahiri.com). It is brought to you by the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation and with the support of the Waltham Cultural Council. 

Watch this trailer

This program will also be livestreamed on the museum’s YouTube Channel.

MILL TALK: Spinning as “Industry” presented by Zoë Lawson

If you would like to attend this Mill Talk, REGISTER HERE
Space is limited.
Proof of vaccination and face masks required.

A technical writer by day, Zoë Lawson is a spinster and public historian by vocation. She has been spinning for more than 35 years and has given numerous demonstrations at historic sites in the Boston area. An active 18th-century re-enactor, Lawson recently began to explore Medieval textile and fiber production. She enjoys experimenting with historical tools and methods and teaching spinning to anyone who wants to learn by doing.

“Spinning as ‘Industry’” is based on Lawson’s research on textiles and textile production prior to the Industrial Revolution. Even though mills as we think of them did not exist, the many stages of fabric production were organized and industrialized, within the parameters of the time period. Lawson will also discuss fiber preparation as well as the spinning process and will demonstrate spindle spinning, to remind us why the Industrial Revolution was so revolutionary.

2nd SHIFT Concert: Patty Larkin

Tickets $20 - available via EVENTBRITE

masks and proof of vaccination required for entry

The Charles River Museum is grateful for Kathy and Dan Tappan’s
GOLD Level Sponsorship of our 2022 season

MILL TALK: Cities at the Falls, with Patrick Malone, Professor Emeritus, Brown University

If you would like to attend this Mill Talk, REGISTER HERE
Space is limited.
Proof of vaccination and face masks required.

The story of power canals and waterpower at Waltham, Lowell, Lawrence, and other mill towns is one of innovative engineering and awe-inspiring construction. From above the Moody Street dam in Waltham, the Boston Manufacturing Company’s power canal ran parallel to the Charles River, allowing it to drive multiple mills in a line. Company founder Nathan Appleton first saw this concept in operation in New Lanark, Scotland, and helped bring it to the U.S. Learn how the flows of water, technology, and capital converged to power the American Industrial Revolution.

Much of his scholarship examines waterpower development on American rivers, but he has also examined tide mills and the use of steam engines for textile manufacturing.

2nd SHIFT Concert: Erin McKeown

Tickets $20 - available via EVENTBRITE

masks and proof of vaccination required for entry

The Charles River Museum is grateful for Kathy and Dan Tappan’s
GOLD Level Sponsorship of our 2022 season

MILL TALK: What Came Before, with weaver Marjie Thompson

If you would like to attend this Mill Talk, REGISTER HERE
Space is limited.
Proof of vaccination and face masks required.

Weaver Marjie Thompson of Maine has studied the handcraft of weaving as it was practiced over the millennia and around the globe. Here, she discusses New England and Mid-Atlantic weaving traditions before the era of water and steam powered textile mills. The fibers, fabrics, and patterns of labor represent a fascinating story of both continuity and change.

2nd SHIFT Concert: Hank Wonder

Tickets $20 - available via EVENTBRITE

masks and proof of vaccination required for entry

The Charles River Museum is grateful for Kathy and Dan Tappan’s
GOLD Level Sponsorship of our 2022 season

2nd SHIFT Concert: Cloudbelly

Tickets $20 - available via EVENTBRITE

masks and proof of vaccination required for entry

The Charles River Museum is grateful for Kathy and Dan Tappan’s
GOLD Level Sponsorship of our 2022 season

Mill Talk: ALMOST A RIOT—Irish Labor & Working Conditions on the Canals & Railroads presented by Kate Viens, PhD, Dir. of Education, Charles River Museum

IN-PERSON REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT IS FULL

This Mill Talk will also be livestreamed on our YouTube Channel

Proof of vaccination and face masks required.

It’s Francis Cabot Lowell’s birthday! Join us at the 1814 mill site where Lowell and his peers pioneered the integrated cotton manufacturing that served as the model for the Lowell, MA industry. Learn what it was like to build the canals and early railroads, and how Irish workers rose up to challenge low wages and unsafe working conditions. Their experiences gave these men and their families an enduring place in American life.

This MILL TALK is part of a regional series of events:
The Irish Canal Builders
Wednesday, March 9 – Sunday, April 24
at various museums

Our museum is pleased to participate in a weeks-long series of events to commemorate the April 6 bicentennial of the arrival of the first Irish in Lowell. Led by Hugh Cummiskey, this group of workers was responsible for digging the canals that would power the new mills, dramatically expanding of the textile industry launched here in Waltham.

Events include a talk by Brian Mitchell, author of The Paddy Camps: The Irish of Lowell, 1821-1861 (sponsored by St. Patrick’s Parish); a Middlesex Canal walk, bike tour, and discussion of the novel This Enchanted Land: Middlesex Village (at the Middlesex Canal Museum); and “Lowell Talks: The Irish Canal Builders,” a panel conversation including the museum’s Director of Education, Kate Viens (Lowell National Historical Park).

For details, visit the websites for St. Patrick’s Parish (lowellirish.weebly.com), the Middlesex Canal Museum (www.middlesexcanal.org), and Lowell National Historic Park (www.nps.gov/lowe/).