A6. Chair City Journal – Gardner, Massachusetts

In its day, Gardner, Massachusetts was the "Chair City of the World." Yours truly was born in Gardner. My paternal grandparents, immigrants from Finland, raised my father and uncle in a three-decker on Pine Street.  Gardner is a quirky city, population staying stubbornly around 20,000 for more than a century. The factories are mostly gone, downtown has more storefronts empty than open, and the train station is no more. You hear Spanish accents more than French, Finnish, Polish, or Italian. The Communists are beyond the memories of even the oldest residents.  This course is a story of a New England factory town that changes and yet doesn’t, who arrives and who goes, and where is home, anyway?

is a long-time WISE instructor who has taught courses on technology, history, journalism, music, and law. He was born in Gardner, Massachusetts.