Ryan W. Owen, Writer and Photographer
We New Englanders have long called Boston “the Hub”. And there’s a sense, just barely concealed, that we’re really referring to the hub of the universe, and not merely the hub of the state or region. Undoubtedly, New England has a strong regional identity that includes the ubiquitous image of the “proper Bostonian” as well as a […]
Read MoreDo you commute to work using public transportation? There’s a certain etiquette, a set of norms, that is easily observable when you are on the bus, the train, the subway, or even a plane. There’s a prevailing thought out there that civility is a “thing of the past”. But, was it? Did our ancestors live […]
Read MoreIf you were to walk . . . through Boston’s Scollay Square and down Tremont Street, into what those alive in 1895 called “the congested district”, you would feel the crush of people and electric car traffic on what, even then, was considered a narrow road. On this midsummer workday, as you walk southwest through the […]
Read MoreQuestion: What was the price of a cup of chicken soup in 1915? Answer: Ten cents a cup. Add some ham and eggs to that, and you should be prepared to part with the Barber quarter and Buffalo nickel burning a hole in your pocket. If you’re feeling a little more adventurous or extravagant, you […]
Read MoreWhen I started researching my family tree in 1988, the hobby was quite solitary. I spent hours in the local history room of the Pollard Memorial Library in Lowell, Massachusetts, threading microfilm reels of the local papers through the microfilm readers and leafing through dusty, yellowed City Directories. I remember the excitement of the first time […]
Read MoreFor those of us born into Generation X, the earliest living memory of a family member we’ve likely been exposed to might stretch as far back as Prohibition, or the Great War, or maybe, for the older members of our generation, childhood memories of the Spanish-American War. I write a local history column for the […]
Read MoreTo me, one of the most fascinating concepts to ponder in history is when you can pinpoint a historical event to an exact moment, an exact minute, in time. This gives an event a sense of immediacy – like, if I were there, witnessing the event unfold and looked at my watch, the time would […]
Read MoreTown farms were Victorian society’s equivalent to today’s homeless shelters, nursing homes, and mental hospitals. Often relegated to a far corner of town, unseen, forgotten, and hopefully self-sufficient, the town farm was created to instill a sense of industriousness and self-sufficiency in paupers who would, in turn, provide what labor they could to help run […]
Read More“Let’s have something.” Jake turns back from the bar, and pulls a quart of whisky from his pocket. “$10 . . .” he sighs. “A full Hamilton, this one cost me.” You examine the label in the dim light. It’s not even one of the better brands. The bartender glances at the bottle of whisky, smiles, […]
Read MoreI’ve climbed my family tree. Amidst laborers, farmers, and even a pirate hidden within its branches, I’ve also found circus performers and musicians clinging to the acorns. Someday (yes, the proverbial and elusive someday), I think it would be interesting to write a story around the Victorian stage, and its actors and actresses – and […]
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Forgotten New England 