The Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation is showcasing
Waltham’s legacy of revolutionary innovation as part of
Massachusetts’ 250th celebration.

This is one of 12 public history displays that can be seen around Waltham from Fall 2025 to Summer 2026.

It honors Michael Folsom,
founder of the Charles River Museum.

You can visit this display on site at the Museum!

Four of the total of twelve banners can be previewed here.
An interactive map of all the banner locations will be
coming soon!

Who was Michael Folsom?

Visit this banner at the Charles River Museum

Michael Brewster Folsom was a teacher, scholar, and industrial historian who was the driving force behind the creation of the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation. He was active in the Society for Industrial Archeology and taught humanities, anthropology, and archaeology at MIT and later at Brandeis University. In 1975, as part of his MIT course, Culture and Society in America: The Rise of a Technological Civilization, Mike brought students out to the Francis Cabot Lowell mill site in Waltham next to the Moody Street dam. At the time, the mill complex was mostly abandoned and considered an eyesore. 

Yet Folsom knew the mill’s pivotal role in launching the American Industrial Revolution  

The 1814 Boston Manufacturing Company (BMC) textile mill was the first fully integrated factory in the world. Here, for the first time, bales of raw cotton were picked and cleaned, the fibers were drawn out and spun, the yarn was woven into cloth, and the fabric was bleached and dyed to produce bolts of finished cloth. The BMC was the first factory to turn raw goods into market-ready products in a singular location, under a single power source, and with a dedicated workforce.

Folsom knew that this space needed to be preserved. He was instrumental in the site being declared a National Historic Landmark District, granting it federal protection and an opportunity to renovate the mill into senior housing, and the old Boiler House and Engine Room into a new museum. Thus, in 1988, with the help of Waltham’s community and industrial historians all over New England, the Charles River Museum opened its doors to the public. As the first Executive Director, he was incredibly forward thinking. Recently unearthed papers of his demonstrate his commitment to education, environmentalism, racial justice, workers rights, and the local community. 

Who was Paul Moody?

Location coming soon!

Paul Moody perfected the power loom which allowed the Boston Manufacturing Company to become the first fully integrated factory in the world. Moody grew up in Newbury, MA in the late 1700s with ten siblings. His father owned farmland and a gristmill site where grain was ground into flour.   

In his youth, Moody quickly realized that he had an aptitude for mechanics. He left preparatory school after only a year of attendance. By his early teens, he had declared independence from his family and supported himself by working at a local wool mill where he learned the fundamentals of weaving. He then went from working at Jacob Perkins’ nail factory to forming the Amesbury Wool and Cotton Manufacturing Company. It was here that he acquired the skills essential for building and maintaining factory machinery.  

In the early 19th Century, Francis Cabot Lowell and the Boston Associates were looking to build textile mills in the United States as a way to gain economic independence from the British. To do so, they had to first learn how the thriving mills of England were using waterpower to create machine-produced textiles. In 1812, Lowell visited power mills in England and memorized exactly how their machinery worked so he could not only replicate but improve upon their designs. After returning, Lowell and Patrick Tracy Jackson attempted to build a machine crucial to their success, a powerloom. Nonetheless, they quickly realized that the construction of this machine was beyond their skill set. They contacted Jacob Perkins, as he was the best-known mechanic in the area at the time. Perkins was occupied with other projects and recommended that the Boston Associates reach out to Paul Moody instead. Moody successfully built a power loom akin to this one here and soon made himself indispensable to Francis Cabot Lowell and the BMC. 

Moody went on to build the Lowell Machine Works, serve as the chief engineer for the Proprietors of Locks and Canals company, and start a large machine shop where his innovations earned him multiple patents. Moody was also a leader in his community. As his wealth increased, so did his role in Lowell and the surrounding area. He was an advocate for the alcohol temperance movement and a frequent churchgoer. He was married to Susan Morrill and the father of three sons. He died in 1831 and has been honored by having several streets named after him including Moody St in Waltham.

Who was Charles Metz?

Visit this banner at Gore Place, 52 Gore St, Waltham

Charles Metz produced innovative bikes, automobiles, and motorcycles right here in Waltham. Born in 1863 in Utica, NY, Metz’s path to innovation began with his father, a mechanic whom he apprenticed under. Metz would later be employed by Orient Fire Insurance Company. Although he only worked there for a few years, his time there would serve as the namesake for the line of “Orient” bicycles that his company became well known for.  

Metz was a talented bicyclist, racer, and mechanic; thus, it didn’t take long for him to find his place within the bicycle industry. As early as 1883, he was working as an agent for Columbia Cycles in his hometown of Utica, New York. He then moved to the Boston area to design bikes for the Union Cycle Club in Newton. In 1893 he opened the Waltham Manufacturing Company with three partners. His love for racing inspired Metz to design lightweight, high performance bikes that were used by celebrity athletes and casual cyclists alike across the country. 

The Waltham Manufacturing Company was notable for its production of popular bicycles, tandem bikes, the first motorcycles, and cars. Listed in catalogs for the first time in 1899, the Orient-Aster was an Orient Bicycle with a French-built engine. Advertisements and literature referring to the Orient-Aster are the earliest published uses of the word “motorcycle.” The official public debut of the Orient-Aster was on July 31st, 1900 at the Charles River Race Park in Boston during the first officially recorded motorcycle speed contest in the United States. Metz’ Orient won. 

Charles Metz stepped away from Waltham Manufacturing Company until 1907 when the president of Waltham National Bank wrote to him asking if he would once again take charge of the organization. The company had been producing cars but was not finding much success. Metz turned their profits around with The Metz Plan Car. This consisted of 14 sets of packaged parts through which individuals could build their very own cars. At only $25 per set, The Metz Plan Car was roughly $150 cheaper than the average price for an automobile. 

The Waltham Manufacturing Company sold 500 of these before focusing on the sale of fully-assembled cars once again in 1909. The last Metz vehicle was produced in 1923. Charles Metz drove this car to Glendale, CA where he and his family lived until he passed away in 1937.  

Metz was awarded over 20 patents in his lifetime. He had many other notable innovations such as the 1896 Ori-ten which seated up to ten riders. Additionally, in 1898, Metz made one of the first electric cars for the General Electric Company in Lynn. 

Who were the Apollo 11 Weavers?

Visit this banner at the Waltham Public Library, 735 Main St, Waltham

The innovation and hard work of 534 women played a vital role in landing the first humans on the moon. The phrase “Apollo 11 Weavers” specifically refers to a group of women who helped build the Guidance Computer (AGC) that directed Apollo 11 to its galactic destination and back.

The AGC was very advanced for the time. So much so that the technology needed to automate the manufacturing of its memory had not yet been invented. Thus, its core rope memory had to be woven by hand alongside fitting the lightness, compactness, and indestructibility requirements set by NASA. This project was based out of the MIT Instrumentation Lab in the 60s. They collaborated with subcontractors such as Waltham-based Raytheon which was responsible for producing the final product that would be brought to space. 

Raytheon needed skilled workers to create this hardware and knew just where to look, former employees of the Waltham Watch Company and experienced weavers who worked in textile mills. Some of these women may have come from the Boston Manufacturing Company as their status as elders is frequently referenced in a 2001 interview with a series of men who worked at Raytheon in the late 50s and early 60s. They were specifically called “little old ladies.”   

These women created computer software by weaving half a mile of Nickel alloy wire through 512 magnetic cores. This was based off of the punch cards derived from sheets of code. One participant reflects on working with them in the aforementioned interview stating that, “we paid those women to sit there and wait until the deck of cards or the tape came out. And they would be sitting there knitting for two or three weeks. And then the deck of cards would come out, or the program would come out, and they’d go like hell.”  

In November of 1966, there was a strike of over 10,000 Raytheon workers after negotiations with the union went south. During this walk out, the supervisors and managers tried to complete the work that the women had been doing. When the strike ended, their work was assessed and all of it had to be scrapped. One worker in the interview recalls how this moment taught them that, “you'd think you could just-- but you couldn't, you needed those girls-- little old ladies-- who wound those ropes.” Their labor was far more complex than management gave them credit for.” 

The women successfully wove the entire core memory for Apollo 11. Thanks to their innovation, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made it to the moon and back. An ongoing project at MIT called Sisters in the Making is looking to uncover more information about these innovators and their lives before, during, and after this period. Much of the information about this historic legacy has come from their virtual archive.