I Remember When, with the Fitchburg Historical Society: Brothers in Blue

A look at some of the Civil War veterans who came home to serve in the Fitchburg police force. The post-war years (the 1870's and 80's) were a time of growth and change in Fitchburg, which was rapidly industrializing.
The number of immigrants from other countries kept growing. In the first years after the Civil War, Irish names were found only on the lists of miscreants. But soon after, Irish immigrants to the United States began to serve as police officers.
This presentation was researched and written by Sally Cragin, who reads part of the script. The other reader is Amy Green, president of the Fitchburg Historical Society. Cragin's research revealed that many aspects of community policing, like knowing the needs of the people who are getting in trouble and preventing crime with regular patrols on foot, combined with visibility, were known and practiced even in the late 1800's in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.
The second half of the program features women's activities during the same time period, and the life, career and work of author, educator and editor Mary Lowe Dickinson, who was widely read and admired in the years around 1900 and was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts in the late 1830's.