A guided tour of this historic town, showing how the areas you know and love have transformed over the centuries.

In 1970 the Museum of Fine Arts commissioned a two-volume Centennial history by its trustee, Walter Muir Whitehill. That was a time of turmoil as then director Perry T. Rathbone was forced to resign resulting from the questionable acquisition of a portrait by Raphael later returned to Italy.Instability followed with the quick succession of acting director, Cornelius Vermeule, the ill-fated Merrill Rueppel, then Asiatic curator, Jan Fontein promoted from acting to full time director. Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 1870 to 2020: An Oral History is only the second publication chronicling 150 years of a great museum with aspects of its collection second to none. The book summarizes events of the first century with a vivid update of what has occurred since then.The fascinating story of a world-class museum is updated in the words of each of its directors from Perry T. Rathbone to Matthew Teitelbaum. There are also interviews with curators, trustees, art historians, administrators, and arts journalists.The founders were individuals of class and privilege who gave generously. The tone of Brahmin elitism changed by the 1950s as the museum expanded and become more costly to maintain. There was a search for new money and expansion of the board to include Jews and people of color. By the 1960s the museum drew broad criticism for its elitism and indifference to modern/ contemporary art and Boston's contemporary artists, including the Jewish Boston Expressionists. Charges of racism have accelerated in the past few years as they have for all cultural institutions. The MFA has been charged with a transition from the "Our Museum" of its founders to a "Museum for all the people of Boston" under current director Matthew Teitelbaum.As an observer and writer, Charles Giuliano is a consummate insider. In 1963 upon graduation from Brandeis University he worked for two and a half years as a conservation intern for the Egyptian Department. He later became one of Boston's most influential art critics covering the museum for a range of publications. This book is the culmination of that coverage since the 1960s.

Although the Church played a major role in the development of towns and cities from the earliest times, many important aspects of the early stages of urbanization in England are still poorly understood.Urban Growth and the Medieval Church employs a wealth of historical and archaeological evidence from two key towns - Gloucester and Worcester - to provide a comprehensive picture of their respective developments throughout the medieval period. Only then can the crucial role played by the Church, in shaping the spiritual, social, economic and cultural development of the urban environment, be discovered.

In 1817, as Gloucester, Massachusetts, was recovering from the War of 1812, something beneath the water was about to cause a stir in this New England coastal community. It was a misty August day when two women first sighted Gloucester's sea serpent, touching off a riptide of excitement among residents that reached a climax when Matt Gaffney fired a direct shot at the creature. Local historian Wayne Soini explores the depths of Gloucester harbor to reveal a treasure-trove of details behind this legendary mystery. Follow as he tracks Justice of the Peace Lonson Nash's careful investigation, the world's first scientific study of this marine animal, and judges the credibility of numerous reported sightings.

In July 1976, a twenty-four-year-old white woman, Margo Olson, was found in a shallow grave in Stamford, Connecticut, with an arrow piercing through her heart. A few weeks later, Howie Carter, her black boyfriend, was killed by the police. Howie and Margo’s interracial relationship held a distorted mirror to the author’s own, with Howie’s best friend, Joe. Joe’s theory was that the police didn’t have any evidence to arrest Howie; operating on the assumption that the black man is always guilty, they killed him instead. Margo’s murder was never solved. Looking back at what might have happened in 1976, the author discovers a Bicentennial year steeped in recession, racism, and unrelenting violence. It was also a time of flourishing second-wave feminism, when young women were encouraged to do anything, if only they knew how. Stamford was in the midst of urban renewal, destroying historically black neighborhoods to create space for corporations escaping a bankrupt and dangerous New York City, just forty miles away. Organized crime followed the money, infiltrating Stamford at all levels. The author reveals how racism, misogyny, the economy, and corruption affected the young people’s daily lives, and helped lead Margo and Howie to their deaths.

The inspiring story behind the national anthem and the American flag comes alive in this “page-turning narrative [with] generous archival illustrations” (Kirkus, starred review). “O say can you see” begins one of the most recognizable songs in the US. Originally a poem by Francis Scott Key, the national anthem tells the story of the American flag rising high above a fort after a night of intense battle during the War of 1812. But there is much more to the story than what is sung at ball games. What was this battle about? Whose bombs were bursting, and why were rockets glaring? Who sewed those broad stripes and bright stars? Why were free black soldiers fighting on both sides? Who was Francis Scott Key anyway, and how did he have such a close view? An illustrated history for young readers, Star-Spangled tells the whole story from the perspectives of different key figures—both American and British—of this obscure but important battle. The book includes an author’s note, a timeline, a glossary, endnotes, a bibliography, and an index. A Kirkus Best Book of 2020

The Maximus Poems is one of the high achievements of twentieth-century American letters and an essential poem in the postmodern canon. It stands out, in Hayden Carruth's words, as "a huge and truly angelic effort," matching the dimensions of its hero's name and returning poetry to its Homeric and Hesiodic scope. This complete edition of The Maximus Poems brings together the three volumes of Charles Olson's long poem (originally published in 1960, 1968, and 1975, and long out of print) in an authoritative version edited according to the highest standards of textual criticism. Errors in the previous editions have been corrected, twenty-nine new poems added, and the sequence of the final poems modified in the light of the editor's research among the poet's papers. --University of California Press.

This is my second book, a collection of ghost stories and tales from me and my friends and colleagues. I have shared some experiences both scary and funny.