Somerville in the New York Times

[mzrowan.livejournal.com]

The post on gentrification reminded me of something that I've been meaning to post here for ages. About a year ago, I searched the NYT for every article mentioning Somerville MA, as far back as its archives go. I compiled links to all of them by year. Here is the result.

To sum up -- from 1860 to 1995 is pretty much all "murder and mayhem" (including several articles about Mrs. Robinson, the Somerville Poisoner*). Then from 1995 to the present, there is a sharp turn towards "so hip it hurts".


*Hey local playwrights, Mrs. Robinson's story would make a riveting drama. Or possibly black comedy.

Comments

[misterthorn.livejournal.com]

Neat list, thanks for sharing. Weird that there's such a big gap between 1921 and 1984.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Trey Parker and Matt Stone could do a bang-up job of telling Mrs. Robinson's story, I'm sure, in musical format.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

This is fascinating, even from just the headlines. I might have to buy a subscription so I can read the full articles.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

You can read at least the post-1985 ones online through the Minuteman Library System if you have a library card.