General John Rogers Galvin
Wakefield Native rose to
Supreme Allied Commander, NATO
Harvard Knitting Mills
The single largest employer in Wakefield during the first third of the twentieth century, the Harvard Knitting Mill at one time employed 20% of the mill workers in New England. Thought to be the first company to institute an employee profit sharing plan while still paying generous wages and also providing free medical services for…
David Dellinger
A member of the Chicago Seven, a close friend of Martin Luther King Jr., and a lifelong pacifist, David Dellinger grew up in Wakefield
Elizabeth Eaton Boit, 1849-1932
by Nancy Bertrand Recognized by the Harvard Business School as one of the 20th century’s “Great American Business Owners,” Elizabeth Eaton Boit began her life in 1849 in Auburndale, Massachusetts. The second of six daughters of James and Amanda Boit, Elizabeth graduated from Lasell Seminary in Auburndale at the age of 18. Later that…
Winter in South Reading, 1858-1859
by Nancy Bertrand A 19th Century Journal describes what may have been the town’s first Christmas tree. The custom of Christmas trees originated in Germany and was popularly introduced in England after Queen Victoria’s marriage to the German Prince Albert. In 1848, an image of the Royal Family with their Christmas Tree was presented to…
Wakefield Historical Society 