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Anne Hutchinson Banished

March 22, 1638
March 22, 1638

Anne Hutchinson Banished

On this day in 1638, Anne Hutchinson was expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Three years after arriving in Boston, she found herself the first female defendant in a Massachusetts court. When she held prayer...

Kerouac Writes First Novel

March 23, 1948
March 23, 1948

Kerouac Writes First Novel

On this day in 1948, Lowell native Jack Kerouac happily noted in his diary that he had written 2500 words. If he could keep up this pace, he would finish his first novel in a...

Birth Control Pioneer Born

March 24, 1890
March 24, 1890

Birth Control Pioneer Born

On this day in 1890, birth control pioneer John Rock was born in the small Massachusetts town of Marlborough. He was a deeply religious Catholic even as a child. After college and medical school at...

Legislature Guarantees Access to Public Schools

March 25, 1845
March 25, 1845

Legislature Guarantees Access to Public Schools

On this day in 1845, the Massachusetts legislature guaranteed that every child in the state would have access to a public school. One source of pressure on the lawmakers was a petition submitted by a...

Deborah Sampson Performs in Boston

March 26, 1802
March 26, 1802

Deborah Sampson Performs in Boston

On this day in 1802, a performance of "The American Heroine" took place in a fashionable Boston theater. The audience watched spellbound as a middle-aged farmwife, dressed in the uniform of a Continental soldier, loaded...

Jordan Marsh Announces New Store

March 27, 1947
March 27, 1947

Jordan Marsh Announces New Store

On this day in 1947, Jordan, Marsh and Company announced that it was going to build "the greatest department store in the world" in downtown Boston. Almost a hundred years earlier, in 1851, Eben Jordan...

Dorothea Dix Begins Her Crusade

March 28, 1841
March 28, 1841

Dorothea Dix Begins Her Crusade

On this day in 1841, Dorothea Dix visited an East Cambridge jail and was appalled to see mentally ill women confined alongside hardened criminals. The 40-year-old teacher and writer had been exposed to the work...

Concord Women Cast First Votes

March 29, 1880
March 29, 1880

Concord Women Cast First Votes

On this day in 1880, Louisa May Alcott and 19 other women attended the Concord Town Meeting. The year before, the Massachusetts legislature had made it legal for women to vote in school committee elections....

UMass Plays in Final Four

March 30, 1996
March 30, 1996

UMass Plays in Final Four

On this day in 1996, the UMass Minutemen ended the winningest season in UMass basketball history. Coached by John Calipari and led by future NBA star Marcus Camby, the Minutemen racked up a 26 game...

Gloucester Fish Companies Merge

March 31, 1906
March 31, 1906

Gloucester Fish Companies Merge

On this day in 1906, Slade Gorton and Company of Gloucester stunned the fishing industry by announcing that it would merge with three other local fishing companies. With a fleet of 55 vessels, mostly sleek...

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