Talks and community exhibitions will feature both Fitchburg’s Revolutionary War participation, especially General James Reed, who exemplified the Revolutionary period during his long life in Fitchburg, and the stories of Fitchburg’s many immigrant communities. This project examines Fitchburg’s cultural heritage as both a traditional New England industrial city and a lively, ethnically diverse, multicultural center in the 21st century. Funding will help support display panels to be shared around the city to inform new residents and visitors about Fitchburg’s extraordinary history of colonial culture, industrial innovation, and immigration. They will link the traditional identities of Finntown, Greektown, the (Irish, Polish, and Italian) Patch, Fitchburg’s Little Quebec (Cleghorn), the Jewish and African American neighborhoods with today’s Hispanic, African, and Asian immigrant communities.
