As the first American to roll copper into sheets for the young United States Navy, Revere’s innovative practices helped lead his young nation into the industrial age.
Give new life to old textiles in this hands-on workshop at the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation!
With 11.5 million tons of fabric wasted annually, upcycling offers a creative way to reduce waste while learning hand sewing, embroidery, and darning techniques. Held in the historic mill where America’s textile industry began, this class connects past and present by transforming worn clothing into something new.
Bring your own fabric items and reimagine them with sustainability and creativity in mind!
Presented by David Mindell
Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing at MIT
Free to the public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Climate change, global disruption, and labor scarcity are forcing us to rethink the underlying principles of industrial society. How can a new generation reanimate the best ideas of our industrial forebearers and begin to build a realistic and human-centered future? Join us at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation for a conversation with David Mindell who envisions a new form of industrialism that draws upon the first principles of the Industrial Revolution that date back to the 18th Century in his recent book The New Lunar Society.
While discussing new industrialism, he will tell the story of the Lunar Society, a group of engineers, scientists, and industrialists who came together to apply the principles of the Enlightenment to industrial processes. The Lunar Society included pioneers like James Watt, Benjamin Franklin, and Josiah Wedgwood whose conversations both ignited the Industrial Revolution and shaped the founding of the United States.
David Mindell is Professor Aerospace Engineering and Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing at MIT. He has led or participated in more than 25 oceanographic expeditions, written seven books, and holds 34 patents in RF navigation, autonomous systems, and AI-assisted piloting. He is also Founder and Executive Chair of Humatics, a navigation technology company based in Waltham, and Cofounder of Unless, an investment firm that is catalyzing the next technological revolution.
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
Give new life to old textiles in this hands-on workshop at the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation!
With 11.5 million tons of fabric wasted annually, upcycling offers a creative way to reduce waste while learning hand sewing, embroidery, and darning techniques. Held in the historic mill where America’s textile industry began, this class connects past and present by transforming worn clothing into something new.
Bring your own fabric items and reimagine them with sustainability and creativity in mind!
FREE to the Public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
250 years ago, the revolution that would lead to our country’s independence was in its early stages. The Continental Army was facing a major problem, gunpowder shortages. Join the Charles River Musuem for an exploration of how the production of saltpeter, the principal ingredient of this explosive material, changed the course of history.
This talk will explore the different ways saltpeter was manufactured by Americans, the wide variety of instructions that guided their efforts, and the motivations-both lofty and materialist-that drove them forward.
A native of the Chicago area, David C. Hsuing earned his B.A. from Yale, his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, and ever since has taught history at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, He has won multiple awards for his teaching and scholarship, including an award from the Forest History Society for his article, “Food, Fuel, and the New England Environment in the War for Independence, 1775-1776" in The New England Quarterly. He is currently writing a book on the environmental history of the War of Independence.
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
Free to the public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
When Francis Cabot Lowell revolutionized industrial manufacturing, he could never have imagined that industrialization at scale would change everything about the way we work, live, and even eat. Join us for an eye-opening talk from NYU Professor Amy Bentley as she traces the development of the modern American diet as it became another sector of the mass manufacturing commercial economy. Food could be processed, packaged, and sold faster, more efficiently, and in huge quantities – but there were serious unintended consequences. Her case study – baby food.
By the 1950s, commercial baby food had become emblematic of all things modern in postwar
America. Little jars of baby food were thought to resolve a multitude of problems in the domestic sphere, but these baby food products laden with sugar, salt, and starch also became a gateway to the industrialized diet that blossomed during this period.
Today, baby food continues to be shaped by medical, commercial, and parenting trends. Baby food producers now contend with health and nutrition problems as well as the rise of alternative food movements. All of this matters because it’s during infancy that palates become acclimated to tastes and textures, including those of highly processed, minimally nutritious, and calorie-dense industrial food products.
Speaker Bio: Amy Bentley is Professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University, a 2024-25 NYU Humanities Fellow, and recipient of a 2024 NYU Distinguished Teaching Award. A historian with interests in the social, historical, and cultural contexts of food, she is the author of Inventing Baby Food: Taste, Health, and the Industrialization of the American Diet (California, 2014), (James Beard Award finalist, and ASFS Best Book Award).
Current research projects include a history of food in US hospitals, the cultural and historical contexts of meat and dairy substitutes, the cultural contexts of food waste, the role of flavor in human and planetary health, and an assessment of how historians write about food. She has been featured as an expert on the science of the American diet, most recently in the New York Times Magazine article “Ozempic Could Crush the Junk Food Industry. But It Is Fighting Back” (Nov. 19, 2024).
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
FREE to the Public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
250 years ago, the revolution that would lead to our country’s independence was in its early stages. The Continental Army was facing a major problem, gunpowder shortages. Join the Charles River Musuem for an exploration of how the production of saltpeter, the principal ingredient of this explosive material, changed the course of history.
This talk will explore the different ways saltpeter was manufactured by Americans, the wide variety of instructions that guided their efforts, and the motivations-both lofty and materialist-that drove them forward.
A native of the Chicago area, David C. Hsuing earned his B.A. from Yale, his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, and ever since has taught history at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, He has won multiple awards for his teaching and scholarship, including an award from the Forest History Society for his article, “Food, Fuel, and the New England Environment in the War for Independence, 1775-1776" in The New England Quarterly. He is currently writing a book on the environmental history of the War of Independence.
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
Give new life to old textiles in this hands-on workshop at the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation!
With 11.5 million tons of fabric wasted annually, upcycling offers a creative way to reduce waste while learning hand sewing, embroidery, and darning techniques. Held in the historic mill where America’s textile industry began, this class connects past and present by transforming worn clothing into something new.
Bring your own fabric items and reimagine them with sustainability and creativity in mind!
FREE to the public, REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Join the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation for a captivating Mill Talk on the history of Levi Strauss & Co., the invention of the modern blue jean, or riveted denim pant, and how a historic American brand continues to stay relevant today. Tracey Panek, Historian and Director of Archives at Levi Strauss & Co., will explore how this American brand, founded by an immigrant during the California Gold Rush, revolutionized fashion and became a global icon.
This talk is especially fitting at the Charles River Museum, the site of Francis Cabot Lowell’s first cotton textile mill, where America’s industrial revolution transformed fabric production and laid the foundation for the mass manufacturing of textiles—including the denim used to create the first Levi’s® blue jeans. Discover how industrial ingenuity, and a patented innovation, shaped what we wear today and helped define American culture.
Speaker Bio: Tracey Panek is the Historian for Levi Strauss & Co. and Director of Archives at the company’s world headquarters in San Francisco. She manages the day-to-day workings of the Levi Strauss & Co. Archives as a key corporate asset, answering historical questions, assisting designers, brand managers, executives and other employees whose work requires historical materials in the Archives. She regularly hunts for unique vintage Levi’s® garments and unusual Levi’s® items to add to the Archives.
Tracey is a contributor to Unzipped, the company’s blog, writing about company history, vintage Levi’s® garments, and behind-the-scenes work in the Archives. She narrates the video series From the Levi’s® Archives on YouTube and From the Levi’s® Archives on TikTok. Tracey is the media spokesperson for Levi Strauss & Co. heritage.
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
Mill Talk: “The Greater Boston School of Harpsichord Building”
Opening: “Rediscovering Waltham’s Harpsichord History” Special Exhibition
(6:00 PM Exhibit Opening, 7:00 PM Discussion)
presented by Mark Kroll, Professor Emeritus, Boston University
FREE to the Public, Registration Required
Join us for the kickoff of our very special exhibition, Rediscovering Waltham’s Harpsichord History, which will examine the story of Frank and Diane Hubbard, founders and operators of Hubbard Harpsichords manufacturers of instruments and kits for almost 50 years. Through their work, Greater Boston became a center of the revivial of the harpsichord as an instrument and Early Music as a genre. Mark Kroll has written the definitive book on chronicling this important period of music history and collected dozens of firsthand accounts of the principal players, workers, and artisans associated with the ‘Big Three’ harpsichord shops in Greater Boston – Hubbard in Waltham, William Dowd and Eric Herz, both in Cambridge.
Kroll will give a talk that sets the context in which the Hubbards’ shop at the Lyman Estate carriage house expanded to the old Cotton Picker Building of the Boston Manufacturing Factory site on Moody Street. Hubbard Harpsichords pioneered the use of DIY kits that became popular in the 1960s and 70s, many of which were built in this mill complex.
This Mill Talk marks the grand opening of Rediscovering Waltham’s Harpsichord History, a special exhibition on the artisanship, industry, and art of designing and building harpsichords, exemplified by those of the Hubbard shop. This three-month exhibition will include a full harpsichord, wood-bending frames, tools and materials of the trade, and imagery from the Hubbard shop that centers the workers who created instruments and kits for decades on site. Over the course of its installation, the program will include music, informational talks, panel discussions, and other special events to bring this almost-forgotten part of Waltham’s and Greater Boston’s music history back to the forefront.
March 22, 2025: Mark Kroll performs chamber music concert at the Charles River Museum (free, registration required) (supported in part by the Waltham Cultural Council)
Speaker Bio: Professor emeritus Mark Kroll, Boston University:
Mark Kroll’s distinguished career as a performer, scholar and educator spans a period of more than fifty years. He has appeared in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia as a recitalist and chamber musician, winning critical praise for his expressive playing and virtuosity. He has also performed as concerto soloist with the world’s major orchestras and served as harpsichordist for the Boston Symphony from 1979-2008. Kroll’s extensive list of recordings includes the music of Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, Biber, Duphly, Balbastre, Royer, Schubert, and Hummel; a 10-disc set of the complete pièces de clavecin of François Couperin; critically acclaimed CDs of contemporary harpsichord music; and Dutilleux’s Les Citations with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players.
Equally active as a scholar, Kroll has published eight books— Bach, Handel and Scarlatti: Reception in Britain 1750-1850; The Cambridge Companion to the Harpsichord; Ignaz Moscheles and the Changing World of Musical Europe; Playing the Harpsichord Expressively; The Beethoven Violin Sonatas; Johann Nepomuk Hummel: A Musician and His World (a second edition and a Slovakian translation were published this year in Bratislava); The Boston School of Harpsichord Building; and an annotated facsimile of part III of J. N. Hummel’s piano treatise—plus numerous chapters and articles, and scholarly editions for Bärenreiter, Ut Orpheus and A-R Editions. His book, Contemporary Harpsichord Music Since 1900, is in preparation.
A dedicated educator, Kroll is Professor emeritus at Boston University, where he served for twenty-five years as Professor of Harpsichord and Chair of the Department of Historical Performance. He teaches and lectures worldwide and has been visiting professor and guest lecturer at Northeastern University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale and Princeton Universities, and others throughout the United States.
Links:
Mark Kroll: Personal Website
The Boston School of Harpsichord Building (2019) Edwin Mellen Press
March 22, 2025: Mark Kroll performs chamber music concert at the Charles River Museum (free, registration required) (supported in part by the Waltham Cultural Council)
presented by Benson Gray
FREE to the public, Registration required
With a presentation display of three canoes in our collection – two HB Arnolds and one Robertson Racing Canoe
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.
On view as part of Benson’s talk will be three wonderful examples of period canoes – two that were crafted by the HB Arnold Company of Waltham, and a Robertson racing canoe built in Auburndale. Two of our canoes were recently and expertly restored by members of the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association, Norumbega Branch.
Speaker Bio: 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.
Links: Wooden Canoe Heritage Association
Maine Boats: "An Heirloom Canoe An Old Town family boat finds its way home"
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
Give new life to old textiles in this hands-on workshop at the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation!
With 11.5 million tons of fabric wasted annually, upcycling offers a creative way to reduce waste while learning hand sewing, embroidery, and darning techniques. Held in the historic mill where America’s textile industry began, this class connects past and present by transforming worn clothing into something new.
Bring your own fabric items and reimagine them with sustainability and creativity in mind!
FREE TO THE PUBLIC Registration Required
Kittie Knox was a young biracial cyclist in the 1890s who fought against race-based limitations in America’s post-Reconstruction reaction against Black advancement. During her cycling career (1893 – 1899), she became a well-known century (100-mile) rider, protested the League of American Wheelmen’s color bar in 1895, and refused to conform to conventions about fast riding and wearing a long skirt while cycling. For decades after her untimely death, Knox’s groundbreaking story was virtually unknown outside of the world of cycling. Scholar and writer Larry Finison has worked to bring her remarkable life back to a wider audience and will speak about Kittie Knox in the context of the late 19th century cycling craze.
The Charles River Museum has long had a display of turn of the century bicycles to represent the Waltham Manufacturing Company of Charles Metz. Metz innovated and built bicycles, motorcycles, and cars, all under the Orient brand name. Alongside Major Taylor, Kittie Knox will have a prominent representation in our gallery as a pioneering figure in the early days of cycling history and having appeared here in Waltham at the Waltham Cycling Track in its heyday.
Speaker Bio: Lorenz “Larry” Finison
Larry Finison is a social psychologist by training and public health practitioner by profession and then turned to the social history of bicycling. He is the author of Boston's Cycling Craze, 1880-1900, Boston's 20th Century Bicycling Renaissance, and Bicycling Inclusion and Equity (2023). His most recent work is Kittie Knox: Exclusion and Inclusion in Boston’s Black Athletes: Identity, Performance, and Activism. He is also a friend to the University of Massachusetts Boston’s Bicycling History Collections Archives and a member of the New England Cycling Coalition for Diversity. Larry has done significant research in bringing the story of Kittie Knox’s life to a modern audience.
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
Mill Talk: “Denim Culture: Past Present & Future”
and Screening: “Riveted: The History of Jeans” from PBS’s American Experience
FREE to the Public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Join us for a fascinating discussion on the past, present, and future of a ubiquitous fabric – denim. The Charles River Museum is at the site of Francis Cabot Lowell’s first cotton textile mill, and it was cotton manufacturing that powered the Industrial Revolution. Now, jeans are the iconic American fashion staple that almost all of us own. Fashion history professor, curator, and author Emma McClendon will join us as we screen the acclaimed PBS documentary, “Riveted: The History of Jeans.” The production features McClendon and other experts tracing the history and culture of jeans, and their place in American’s self-image.
Then, Emma McClendon will engage in an interactive discussion about where she sees the future of jeans as a fashion item, utilitarian garment, and manufactured product. She has a special interest in the sustainability of denim production, and the ways in which jeans have become not just clothing, but a way of expressing individuality and identity. This is sure to be a thought-provoking conversation around an article of clothing that, at any given moment, literally half of the planet’s population is wearing.
Speaker Bio: Emma McClendon, St. John’s University
Emma McClendon is Assistant Professor of Fashion Studies at St. John’s University in New York and author of Denim: Fashion’s Frontier (2016). While Associate Curator at The Museum at FIT from 2011-2020, she curated numerous critically acclaimed fashion history exhibitions including “Power Mode: The Force of Fashion” (2019), “The Body: Fashion and Physique” (2017) and “Denim: Fashion’s Frontier” (2015). She holds an MA Hons. in Art History from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and an MA in the History of Dress from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.
She is currently completing her PhD at the Bard Graduate Center for decorative arts, design history, and material culture in New York City. Her research focuses on the power dynamics inherent in clothing with a particular interest in body politics, labor, technology, and standardized sizing. Recent publications include Power Mode: The Force of Fashion (Skira, 2019) and the forthcoming (Re)Dressing American Fashion: Wear as Witness (Yale, March 2025).
Links:
Denim: Fashion's Frontier (2016) Yale University Press
(Re)Dressing American Fashion: Wear as Witness | Yale University Press
Online Exhibition: Denim: Fashion's Frontier
Emma McClendon, St. John’s University – Jeans: Universal and Unsustainable
The Washington Post: Denim is getting weird again
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
In 1816, Francis Cabot Lowell was in Washington DC lobbying Congress to pass the first protectionist tariff in American history. In the aftermath of the War of 1812, the burgeoning cotton textile industry he had fought so hard to build was imperiled by the cheap dumping of British imports. By building a coalition between Northern industrialists and Southern plantation owners, Lowell was successful in arguing that tariffs would ensure that American domestic manufacturing should be protected, and that the federal government’s trade policy had a duty to so.
Now, tariffs are back in the political conversation, and the efforts around the Tariff of 1816 and its consequences are as relevant as ever. Join us as we engage in a dynamic conversation connecting the past, present, and future of tariffs and trade policy and their effects. Economist Bryan Snyder and historian Larry Peskin will draw lessons from American history to inform our understanding of economic policy today.
Speaker Bio: Lawrence Peskin, Morgan State University
Lawrence Peskin is a professor of History at Morgan State University in Baltimore. He specializes in antebellum political economy and has written extensively on pro-manufacturing protectionism, most recently on American business and diplomacy in the Mediterranean. His books include Manufacturing Revolution: The Intellectual Origins of American Industry (Johns Hopkins University Press; Matthew Carey, The New Olive Branch (Anthem Press, editor); Three Consuls: Capitalism, Empire and the Rise and Fall of America's Mediterranean Community, 1776-1840."
Links:
Dr. Lawrence Peskin | Morgan State Univeristy Faculty
Speaker Bio: Bryan Snyder, Bentley University
Professor Snyder is a Distinguished Lecturer in the Department of Economics at Bentley University. His teaching interests cover a wide scope of economics, economic history and political economy. His current writing and research activities focus on the editing and production of the classroom readers Real World Micro (31st edition), Real World Macro (41st edition) and Economic of the Environment (4th edition) for Dollars & Sense magazine. He has also taught Business Ethics at University of Massachusetts-Lowell and has adapted the curriculum to high school, undergraduate and graduate curriculums. Professor Snyder delights in incorporating “normative” issues into his curriculum and challenges his students to address moral and ethical issues in the study of economics.
Links:
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
FREE to the public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Join Dr. Jonathan Michael Square on February 6 at Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation for an in-depth exploration of the history of negro cloth and its pivotal role in the American fashion industry, with a focus on its production in Lowell, Massachusetts. The talk will also examine how enslaved individuals utilized textiles as a form of self-fashioning in the face of the deprivation of their self-hood.
Dr. Jonathan Michael Square is the Assistant Professor of Black Visual Culture at Parsons School of Design. He earned a PhD from New York University, an M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin, and a B.A. from Cornell University. Previously, he taught in the Committee on Degree in History and Literature at Harvard University and was a fellow in the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Most recently, he curated the exhibition Past Is Present: Black Artists Respond to the Complicated Histories of Slavery at the Herron School of Art and Design, which closed in January 2023. He is currently preparing for his upcoming show titled Almost Unknown: Afric-American Picture Gallery at the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library. A proponent of the use of social media as a form of radical pedagogy, Dr. Square also leads the digital humanities project Fashioning the Self in Slavery and Freedom.
Link: https://www.instagram.com/fashioningtheself/
Tatter: ‘We Black Folks Had To Wear Lowells’: an interview with Dr. Jonathan Michael Square (May 11, 2024)
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
Free to the public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
What can a 19th-century mill disaster teach us about workplace safety today?
Join Professor Robert Forrant (UMass Lowell) and Gabriel Porter (Safety and Health Specialist/Process Safety Management Coordinator OSHA Boston Regional Office) for a compelling discussion moderated by Charles River Museum’s Director of Education, Stephen Guerriero. Forrant will delve into the catastrophic Pemberton Mill collapse of 1860—an industrial tragedy that claimed 98 lives, revealed systemic failures, and left questions of accountability unresolved. Porter will explore how OSHA builds on lessons from such events to safeguard workers in today’s industries. Together, they’ll connect history to modern-day practices, offering insights into the ongoing fight for safer workplaces.
Robert Forrant is Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. His most recent book, Where Are the Workers: Interpreting Labor and Working-Class History at Museums and Historic Sites, was published in 2022. In early 2024 he published “‘No Avenging Gibet’: The 1860 Pemberton Mill Collapse” in The New England Quarterly. The article forms the basis for his talk.
Links:
Robert Forrant: UMASS Lowell
Where Are the Workers? Labor’s Stories at Museums and Historic Sites (University of Illinois Press)
"'No Avenging Gibbet': The 1860 Pemberton Mill Collapse" The New England Quarterly
Gabriel Porter is a New Hampshire based Safety and Health Specialist/Process Safety Management Coordinator with the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Boston Regional Office. A graduate of Northeastern University, he has close to 20 years' experience working in the field of workplace safety and compliance. Porter helps to communicate the role and history of OSHA as a regulatory agency tasked by Congress to ensure worker health and safety are maintained across a broad spectrum of industries and sites.
Links:
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
OSHA at 50: 50 Years of Workplace Safety and Healt
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
presented by author Stephen Puleo
Shortly after noon on January 15, 1919, a 50-foot-tall steel tank filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses collapsed on Boston’s waterfront, disgorging its contents in a 15-foot-high wave of molasses that traveled at 35 miles per hour. The Great Boston Molasses Flood claimed the lives of 21 people and caused widespread destruction.
Puleo’s bestselling book, Dark Tide (2003) tells the gripping story of the molasses flood in its full historical context, from the tank’s construction in 1915 through the multiyear lawsuit that followed the disaster. Puleo uses the gripping drama of the flood to examine the sweeping changes brought about by World War I, Prohibition, the anarchist movement, immigration, and the expanding role of big business in society. To understand the flood is to understand America of the early twentieth century – the flood was a microcosm of America, a dramatic event that encapsulated something much bigger, a lens through which to view the major events that shaped a nation.
It’s also a chronicle of the courage of ordinary people, from the firemen caught in an unimaginable catastrophe to the soldier-lawyer who presided over the lawsuit with heroic impartiality. Even now, the tragic event behind Dark Tide continues to capture the imagination of readers across the country and is the only adult nonfiction book on America’s most unusual tragedy.
Author Bio
A former award-winning newspaper reporter and contributor of articles and book reviews to publications and organizations that include American History magazine, Politico, The Boston Globe, and the Bill of Rights Institute, Steve has also taught history at Suffolk University in Boston and at UMass-Boston. He also has developed and taught numerous writing workshops for high school and college students, as well as for adults who aspire to be writers.
Steve holds a master’s degree in history from UMass-Boston. His master’s thesis, “From Italy to Boston’s North End: Italian Immigration and Settlement, 1890-1910,” has been downloaded more than 25,000 times by scholars and readers around the world. Steve is also a Massachusetts Historical Society Fellow and is a past recipient of the prestigious i migliori award, presented by the Pirandello Lyceum to Italian-Americans who have excelled in their fields of endeavor. Steve and his wife Kate, who live south of Boston, donate a portion of his book proceeds to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). His latest work is The Great Abolitionist: Charles Sumner and the Fight for a More Perfect Union (2024), a biography of U. S. Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts.
Links:
Bookshop.org: The Great Abolitionist: Charles Sumner and the Fight for a More Perfect Union
City of Boston: The Great Molasses Flood, 100 Years Later
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
Since Francis Cabot Lowell and Paul Moody set the first power looms in motion in 1814, textiles have been at the crossroads of American industry, artisan craft, and functionality. The great textile mills of New England drove the American Industrial Revolution, starting with the Boston Manufacturing Company on this very site in Waltham.
Now two centuries later, designers are forging innovative ways to ‘weave’ textiles using 3D technology and design in virtual space, grounded by the principles of the loom. Award-winning designer, artist, and professor at the Rhode Island School of Design, Oren Sherman, will bring us along on his own journey, discovering the cultural meaning and evolving technology embedded in textile design. Pattern traveled on textiles and the availability of locally made affordable woven cloth gave birth to an industry supercharged by the Waltham-Lowell System, including fabric dyeing and pattern design. That scale led to rapid innovation in manufacturing and design.
In exploring the construction of commercial textile patterning, Sherman found himself leaving the world of the ‘repeat’ and exploring in virtual space. He’ll explain how a desire to ‘walk through walls’ lead him to 3D weaving as an inspiration that, ironically, led him back to the first principles of the elegantly complex power loom. Oren’s talk will feature vivid color and vibrant patterns, while simultaneously connecting innovation with cutting-edge technology.
Author Bio: Oren Sherman
An alumnus and professor specializing in design, marketing and branding at the renowned Rhode Island School Of Design, Oren has partnered with corporations across the country developing original artwork and licensed collections that capture a brand’s identity. His work is sophisticated, contemporary and utterly unique, standing at the cutting edge where art meets commerce. Oren’s versatility and visual intelligence inform his distinctive approach. His art powers brand, creating a multi-level subliminal experience that resonates as an unspoken message everywhere the environment touches the customer.
Oren's work lives at the intersection between visual storytelling, art and architecture, focusing on applying two-dimensional work in a three-dimensional way to create engaging and experiential spaces. Oren worked at Elkus Manfredi Architects in Boston, crafting strategic narratives and original artworks for interior spaces, creating a multilevel, subliminal experience that resonates as a lyrical and unspoken message, recently making the leap to consulting and exploring both fine art and designing collections in 3-D space.
In 2022 he was awarded The Lifetime Achievement Award from Boston Design Week and in June 2022 gave his first TEDx presentation “Finding Creativity: A Solo Journey to a Connected Place.”
Links: Designer Page: Oren Sherman
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
POSTPONED
Join the Charles River Museum for an illuminating exploration of timeless innovation principles through the lens of Francis Cabot Lowell's revolutionary ideas. Dr. Nathan Lang-Raad will uncover how these same concepts drive today's tech giants and shape our digital future. From Lowell's daring industrial espionage in British textile mills to his groundbreaking implementation of the power loom, his journey parallels the disruptive innovations we see in Silicon Valley today. Dr. Lang-Raad will demonstrate how Lowell's approach aligns with nine essential habits of innovative thinking, drawing insights from his book "Renaissance Thinking in the Classroom."
This talk will draw fascinating parallels between Lowell's innovations and modern challenges, offering valuable insights for anyone interested in the evolution of American industry and technology. Dr. Lang-Raad will explore how these habits of thinking - including cultivating diverse curiosity, taking risks, and embracing lifelong learning - can be applied to foster innovation in our rapidly changing digital world. Attendees will discover how historical lessons from the Industrial Revolution apply to current technological advancements, with a focus on interdisciplinary learning and addressing real-world problems.---
Author Bio:
Dr. Nathan Lang-Raad is an educator, speaker, and author with a passion for innovative teaching methods and the integration of technology in classrooms. He has served in various roles throughout his career, including as a teacher, school administrator, and education supervisor at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Dr. Lang-Raad is the author of several books on instructional coaching and innovative teaching methods.
Renaissance Thinking in the Classroom: Interdisciplinary Learning, Real-World Problems, Intellectually Curious Students by Dr. Nathan Lang-Raad provides educators with a comprehensive guide to fostering innovative thinking in K-12 education. This book details nine specific habits of thinking and a challenge-based framework that educators can integrate to promote students' academic knowledge and lifelong learning skills.
Links:
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
FREE to the public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Join the Charles River Museum for a journey back to Waltham’s railroad heyday, when the advent of the railroad was deeply entwined in the industrial history of the region, and the Boston Manufacturing Company specifically.
Rick Kfoury is a railroad historian and author with an express interest in New England railroading in the second half of the twentieth century. He has authored four books on the subject, The New England Southern Railroad Volumes I and II, Queen City Rails: Manchester's Railroads 1965-1990, and Steam Trains of Yesteryear: The Monadnock, Steamtown & Northern Story.
A 2018 graduate of the Keene State College history program, Rick currently serves as President and Newsletter Editor for the Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society and is employed in college admissions for Southern New Hampshire University.
The Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society, Inc. is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization composed of people who want to share their knowledge, and learn more about, the history and operations of the Boston and Maine Railroad, its predecessors, and successors. The Society was founded in 1971 and consists of over 1,000 active members from the New England region and beyond.
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
Presented in collaboration with the Southern New England Chapter of the Society of Industrial Archeology and Industrial History New England
The environmental impact of industrialization is often imagined as belching smokestacks or noxious effluents. But local pollution is only the most obvious impact of industrialization. Often overlooked are the distant impacts and ‘externalities’ that accompanied mechanized production and the growth of modern cities.
The Waltham and Lowell systems which birthed textile manufacturing in America were highly profitable and spurred a massive influx of investment capital into the sector. Between 1830 and 1840, more than 270 textile manufacturers were incorporated in Massachusetts alone, each equipped with hundreds of machine tools and dozens of hydro-turbines.
The tremendous demand for raw materials – wood, cotton, iron, clay, limestone, granite, etc. – transformed landscape and watershed. The dramatic rise in demand for raw cotton in America and Britain intensified the brutality of forced labor in the American South, expanded the plantation system into Alabama and Mississippi, and prompted war against Mexico. The growing network of factory sites co-produced an extensive network of railroads and canals. The first twenty years of factory building in Lowell alone required clearing more than 25 square miles of forest for structural timber.
In this talk, historical archaeologist Kevin Coffee shares his research on the standing structures commissioned by the Lowell manufacturers and explores some of the most significant wide-area impacts produced by the new industry.
Kevin Coffee is an archaeologist and museologist whose research explores the materiality of late-modern societal development, especially urbanization and industrialization. From 2018 into 2023, he was the chief interpretation and education officer at Lowell National Historical Park in Lowell MA. He has published about urban development and industrialization in Industrial Archaeology Review, Post-Medieval Archaeology, Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology, and in the Routledge International Handbook of Heritage and Politics. He has presented on the subject to annual meetings of the Society for Historical Archaeology, Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology, and the Society for Industrial Archeology. He is also the author of Museums and Social Responsibility (Routledge 2023) and Objective Culture and the End of the Museum (Routledge 2025).
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
FREE to the public REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Join us 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
Macy Lawrence is an animator based in Waltham, Massachusetts. She is currently an Art Director for Cengage/National Geographic Learning. In 2024 she will complete a master’s degree in Digital Media Studies from Harvard University's Extension School.
Outside of her professional endeavors, she enjoys learning about history and spending time on Cape Cod.
All proceeds of this event will benefit the programs of the Charles River Museum.
GENERAL ADMISSION — Tickets $65
DESIGNATED DRIVER — Tickets $20 (Includes food from ALL our great restaurants and non-alcoholic beverages. No alcohol service)
Best Day Brewing (non-alcoholic beer- *available for our DESIGNATED DRIVERS!)
Woodland Farms (non-alcoholic beer- *available for our DESIGNATED DRIVERS!)
Not into beer??
There will be wine and other options available for sampling!
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS:
All proceeds will benefit the exhibits and programs of THE CHARLES RIVER MUSEUM OF INDUSTRY & INNOVATION, a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization.
FREE to the Public
Registration Required
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 US 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 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 adversity remain a lasting legacy of both his own perseverance, and the innovations of the Waltham-based Metz Company.
Todd Balf writes for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and others, and is the author of several books including this summer’s “Three Kings” and “Major: A Black Athlete, a White Era, and the Fight to be the World’s Fastest Human Being.” He is an enthusiastic advocate for cycling and accessibility.
Major: A Black Athlete, a White Era, and the Fight to Be the World's Fastest Human Being by Todd Balf tells the riveting and inspiring story of Major Taylor, an African American cyclist who defied the odds in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Amidst the deeply segregated society of his time, Taylor rose to become the world’s fastest cyclist and a global sports icon. Balf’s meticulously researched book not only captures Taylor’s athletic prowess but also highlights his struggles against racial prejudice and personal battles. This powerful narrative sheds light on a groundbreaking figure whose legacy transcends sports, symbolizing resilience and the fight for equality in a racially divided world.
MAJOR: The story of Worcester’s world champion cyclist Marshall “Major” Taylor and the race to build the world’s fastest bike
Lynne Tolman is a cyclist herself, an editor -- retired from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette -- and president of the nonprofit Major Taylor Association, based in Worcester. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She has written about bicycling for VeloNews, USA Cycling, and other publications, and she bikes with the Seven Hills Wheelmen. One of her other hobbies is genealogy, another species of the history bug.
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
RESCHEDULED FROM THE ORIGINAL MAY DATE
presented by:
Rachel Slade author of Making It in America
& Michelle Finamore fashion historian, author, and curator
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.
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
Rachel Slade
Rachel Slade spent a decade in the city magazine trenches at Boston magazine—first as the design editor, ultimately as executive editor. In 2015, she helped steer Boston to a top national award from the City and Regional Magazine Association.
Her two-part story about Boston’s secretive planning and development agency won national awards and laid the groundwork for Mayor Michelle Wu’s sweeping reforms to the city's planning processes.
In 2016, Yankee magazine ran Slade’s long-form narrative about the sinking of the container ship El Faro. A CRMA finalist for reporting, the story led to the national bestselling book, Into the Raging Sea.
Into the Raging Sea earned starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly; the Maine Literary Award for nonfiction; the Massachusetts Honor Book Award; and the Mountbatten Award for Best Book from the Maritime Foundation UK. It was a NYT Notable Book, an NYT editors’ pick, an Amazon editors’ pick for Best History, and among NPR’s Best Books, Paste magazine’s best books, Longread’s best books, Inc. Magazine’s 7 Best Business Books, the Maine Edge’s favorite books, and Book Scrolling best history books.
In 2021, Into the Raging Sea was adapted for a Harvard Business School case study. In 2023, Down East magazine named Slade’s book one of its top 25 “New Maine Classics.”
Slade’s second book, Making It in America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the USA (and How It Got That Way), Pantheon/Penguin Random House, came out 1/9/24.
Slade’s editing and writing have won national awards in civic journalism, reporting, criticism, and reader service.
She earned her BA in political science from Barnard College and a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. She splits her time between Brookline, Massachusetts, and Rockport, Maine.
Michelle Finamore
Michelle Tolini Finamore, Ph.D., is a fashion and design historian, curator, and author. She has curated numerous exhibitions, including the recent Fashioning America: Grit to Glamour, as well as the groundbreaking Gender Bending Fashion, #techstyle, Hollywood Glamour: Fashion and Jewelry from the Silver Screen, and Think Pink at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
She has written numerous articles for both the scholarly and popular press on topics as varied as American fashion, menswear, contemporary fashion, sustainability, studio jewelry, and food history. Her books include Hollywood Before Glamour: Fashion in American Silent Film, Fashioning America: Grit to Glamour, Gaetano Savini: The Man Who Was Brioni, and Jewelry by Artists: In the Studio, 1940-2000.
Michelle has taught courses on fashion/design/film history at Northeastern University, Rhode Island School of Design, Massachusetts College of Art, and the Fashion Institute of Technology. She has also interviewed fashion luminaries such as Hamish Bowles, Fern Mallis, Isaac Mizrahi, Liz Goldwyn, Hussein Chalayan, Diane Pernet, Viktoria Modesta, Virgil Ortiz, and Rodarte on stage.
Presenters:
Bernard P. Fishman
Director, Maine State Museum
George L. Mutter
Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School
FREE to the public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
See a stunning 3D projection of original images from the 1800s and early 1900s, showing how past inventions, economic changes, and conceptual freedoms have made today’s world. The growth of early industry, mechanized production, industrialized warfare, transformation of cities by an emergent middle class, labor activism, the revolution in domestic life and the women’s rights movement are all shown. You will see lively and thought-provoking scenes of whaling, oil exploration, mining, textile manufacture, skyscraper construction, and the depletion of forests, grasslands, and fisheries. Look into the faces of those affected by slavery, dispossession, and poverty, as well as immigrants in search of a better life. Although this world is gone, we live in its shadow.
You will be provided magic glasses to see these photos in 3D, as they were viewed in Victorian parlors.
Warning: This presentation includes explicit images as they were shown in the day. Content may not be suitable for children.
R: Bernard P. Fishman, L: George L. Mutter
Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
General Admission $15.00
Students & Seniors Admission $10.00
This show may not be suitable for young children.
Join the community as Waltham resident and storyteller Chandreyee Lahiri takes us on a journey into the lives of others in Waltham.
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.
STORIES: A cast of 6 tellers will share true 6-8 minute stories about memorable experiences in their lives. All live, work or have close ties to the city so will help bond the community together as we discover the similarities that run through our differences.
“One of the best ways to promote inclusivity and understanding is to know about each other,” says Lahiri. “Knowing your neighbors: what their stories are, what their journeys are so you can start dismantling stereotypes.”
Chandreyee Lahiri
'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.
The show was conceived by Waltham resident Chandreyee Lahiri, a part-time writer and storyteller (chandreyeelahiri.com).
Available and FREE to all active Museum Members, Individual and above.
Capacity is limited, RSVP Required
Wish to become a member and take advantage of the different benefits available at each of our six different levels?
Join us for a preview of a 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.
The research, design, and animation process will be explored, and the event will include a sneak preview of the short films before they are shared publicly.
Macy Lawrence is an animator based in Waltham, Massachusetts. She is currently an Art Director for Cengage/National Geographic Learning. In 2024 she will complete a master’s degree in Digital Media Studies from Harvard University's Extension School.
Outside of her professional endeavors, she enjoys learning about history and spending time on Cape Cod.
Macy Lawrence at work
General Admission $15.00
Students & Seniors Admission $10.00
This show may not be suitable for young children.
Take the stage alongside Waltham resident and storyteller Chandreyee Lahiri to share your own story as a presenter, or join us as an audience member to learn about others’ journeys.
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.
STORIES: A cast of 6 tellers will share true 6-8 minute stories about memorable experiences in their lives. All live, work or have close ties to the city so will help bond the community together as we discover the similarities that run through our differences.
RAFFLE: The fun raffle for the Spring show will be some Rubik's cubes that feature prominently in some stories plus some tote bags with the show logo.wearewaltham.com
“One of the best ways to promote inclusivity and understanding is to know about each other,” says Lahiri. “Knowing your neighbors: what their stories are, what their journeys are so you can start dismantling stereotypes.”
Chandreyee Lahiri
'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.
The show was conceived by Waltham resident Chandreyee Lahiri, a part-time writer and storyteller (chandreyeelahiri.com).
Magic glasses will be provided
Note: Due to the special nature of this 3D presentation, this Mill Talk will not be recorded or livestreamed. This is an in-person event only.
Warning: This presentation is uncensored, showing imagery as it was prepared for and shown to audiences in the day. Some content may be considered offensive to current sensibilities. Viewer discretion is advised.
Explore the exciting and bizarre world of days gone by, with a thrilling 3D projection by the TimeGuys of photographs locked up for over a century. No reconstructions, or AI generated fantasies here, just the realities of what hit the tabloids and made your great-grandfather smile and slap his leg!
Explore natural and manmade disasters, meet superstars of the day, and see beauties of the moment. No internet or movies - no problem! We have thrilling games of chance and risky amusements that have long been banned. See the rise of machines when they were still made of wood and steel. And enjoy the company of those whose times sizzled, including kids unencumbered by caution, adults on the make, and grizzled oldsters who have seen it all.
Using special projection techniques, TimeGuys Bernard Fishman and George Mutter are your hosts for this unique multi-dimensional tour.
George Mutter and Bernard Fishman have over five decades of combined experience searching for, and studying, historic stereophotographs. The prospect of bringing these to a broad audience through digitization launched what has become a fruitful collaboration. The result is a freshly digitized archive of approximately 30,000 original stereo images covering many subjects, most of which have not been seen by the public in the last century.
George L. Mutter (left) and Bernard P. Fishman (right) of Photoarchive3D
Tintype by Richard Cyan-Jones, 2018, St.Andrews, Scotland.
George Mutter trained in medicine at Harvard and Columbia, and is currently a Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. He is a prolific scientist and educator, having authored over 120 scientific papers, and delivered numerous invited lectures internationally.
Bernard Fishman is an Egyptologist trained at Columbia U. and U. of Pennsylvania. He worked in Egypt with the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago before becoming a nonprofit institution administrator. He is presently the Director of the Maine State Museum in Augusta, Maine.
The Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
FREE to the Public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
This lecture will be recorded for later viewing on the WGBH Forum Network.
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.
Construction of a tailings storage area Goro Nickel Mine, Kwe West Bassin, New Caledonia, Photo: Barsamuphe, Creative commons license
We will explore 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 will particularly focus 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 will share 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 will discuss 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.
Dr. Tomas Villalón has dedicated his life to solving the issues of the mining and metals industry. He received his PhD Boston University, and BSc from MIT, going on to co-found Phoenix Tailings in 2019 with a mission of building the world’s first fully clean mining and metals production company. Tomas is an expert in the sustainable extraction of critical minerals from tailings and environmentally responsible rare earth refining.
Phoenix Tailings is the first exhibit in new exhibition series at the Charles River Museum called "Course Correctors" that confronts the more destructive aspects of industry's legacy, spotlighting companies that seek to mitigate damage that various industries have done to our world.
The Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
FREE to the Public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Engage in a dynamic and lively conversation with the leaders and volunteers of Engineers Without Borders USA!
The Charles River Museum will host 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 happy hour social followed by a unique and 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.
Come for a happy hour social (with light appetizers and a cash bar) from 6-7 pm, and a dynamic and conversational Mill Talk with Dr. Boris Martin and Dr. Chris Lombardo from 7:15 to 8 pm.
Boris Martin
Boris believes that every engineer today can play a role in helping humanity heal and adapt to climate change, and that profound impact happens when engineers embrace their own acts of generosity as a journey of personal transformation.
Boris is the CEO of Engineers Without Borders USA. His personal commitment to building positive, respectful, and mutually accountable partnerships across the world mirrors EWB-USA’s long-term commitment to communities that have allowed the organization to understand the deep complexities and nuanced challenges that resilient infrastructure can address.
Perhaps above all, Boris is proud to contribute to EWB-USA’s global impact projects that provide reliable access to safe water, renewable energy, nutritious food, and improved economic opportunities for thousands of underserved communities across the USA and around the world. His commitment is to make EWB-USA a leading Community Engineering organization and a catalyst and partner for Community Engineering around the world.
Dr. Chris Lombardo
Dr. Lombardo is currently employed at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences as the Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies and Lecturer in Electrical Engineering. His teaching focuses on electronics, engineering design, and the intersection of engineering and human centered design with a focus on low resource settings.
Dr. Lombardo began volunteering with EWB-USA in 2004 and has been an active volunteer ever since. He serves as the faculty advisor of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences chapter of EWB-USA and has held numerous leadership roles both locally and nationally including the Curriculum Chair of the EWB-USA/ASCE Global Leadership Program, Faculty Leadership Committee, and is a former member and Past President of the EWB-USA Board of Directors.
This Mill talk is FREE and open to the public.
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.
Susan Wilson with Dickens' great great grandson, Gerald Charles Dickens
Susan Wilson is a widely respected photographer, author, and public historian who has written and lectured about Boston history for the past three decades.
She is the official House Historian of the Omni Parker House, an Affiliate Scholar at Brandeis University’s Women’s Studies Research Center, and an Honorary Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Her most recent books are Heaven, By Hotel Standards: The History of the Omni Parker House (2019) and Women and Children First: The Trailblazing Life of Susan Dimock, M.D. (2023).
The Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.
General Admission $10.00
Senior Admission (65 and over) $5.00
Take the stage alongside Waltham resident and storyteller Chandreyee Lahiri to share your own story as a presenter, or join us as an audience member to learn about others’ journeys.
“One of the best ways to promote inclusivity and understanding is to know about each other,” says Lahiri. “Knowing your neighbors: what their stories are, what their journeys are so you can start dismantling stereotypes.”
Chandreyee Lahiri
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!
'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.
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.
This event is supported by a grant from the Waltham Cultural Council.
for inquiries on private event rentals, use our contact form HERE
HOURS of OPERATION: Wed - Fri: 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM * Sat: 10:00 AM - 2:30 PM
Final admission is 30 minutes before closing. Hours subject to change due to special and private events.
Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
We are proud to participate in Mass Cultural Council's Card to Culture program in collaboration with the Department of Transitional Assistance, the Department of Public Health's WIC Nutrition Program, the Massachusetts Health Connector, and hundreds of organizations by making cultural programming accessible to those for whom cost is a participation barrier.
EBT cardholders receive 50% off regular admission.
See the complete list of participating organizations offering EBT, WIC, Wonderfund, and ConnectorCare discounts.
The Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation
