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To mark the 250th anniversaries of the American Revolution and the founding of the United States, a coalition of local non-profits and government agencies will present Washington in American Memory, a seven-part speaker series. Debunk myths and trace the evolution of the public memory of George Washington in Cambridge, Massachusetts, featuring: J.L. Bell, author of The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War and proprietor of Boston1775.net Charles Sullivan, co-author of Building Old Cambridge: Architecture and Development and Executive Director of the Cambridge Historical Commission

Join us for a lively discussion of a great book in person at the Main Library! Snacks will be provided. For ages 7-9 and a parent or caregiver. This month's book is Trouble at the Tangerine by Gillian McDunn. When a valuable necklace is stolen from Simon's new apartment complex, it's up to him and a quirky neighbor to solve the mystery before he and his family have to move again. Copies of this month's book are available at the Children's Desk. Both caregiver and child should read the book before the discussion to participate. Registration is required — only one registration is needed per family. For questions about parent/child book group, please email Rachel: rbeaton@cambridgema.gov

Due to statewide emergency orders limiting the size of public gatherings in response to COVID-19, and in accordance with Governor Charles D. Baker's Executive Order of March 12, 2020, temporarily amending certain requirements of the Open Meeting Law, as well as the City of Cambridge Temporary Emergency Restrictions on City Public Meetings, City Events and City Permitted Events Due to COVID-19 dated May 27, 2020, meetings of the Planning Board will be held with remote participation until further notice. Meetings will be closed to in-person attendance.

Join the Cambridge Public Library in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by welcoming Alejandro Varela, the author of three books of fiction, including The Town of Babylon, which was nominated for a National Book Award, and Middle Spoon, published just this September. Middle Spoon, which Publisher's Weekly called a "refreshingly candid tale of modern love," follows a married middle-aged gay man as he struggles to move on from a break-up with his boyfriend. After reading from his work, Varela will sit in conversation with Ursula Villarreal-Moura, the author of Like Happiness. An audience Q&A and book signing will follow. Registration is required.

Cambridge Police Commissioner Christine Elow is proud to announce that the Cambridge Police Department (CPD) has successfully obtained the Advanced Level Accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA®). CALEA was created in 1979 as a credentialing authority through the joint efforts of law enforcement’s major executive associations. A CALEA Accreditation is widely considered in the law enforcement world to be “the gold standard” accreditation, an honor reserved for only top tier police departments. For context, there are approximately 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States, and just 1,021 currently hold a CALEA Accreditation of any level.

Please join Kyera Singleton, Executive Director of the Royall House and Slave Quarters in Medford, MA, for a presentation about the history of slavery in the North, the origins of the Royall House and Slave Quarters and the importance of remembering hard histories. As one of the only remaining freestanding quarters where enslaved people lived and worked in the North, the Royall House and Slave Quarters bears witness to the lives of its residents, to the intertwined stories of wealth and bondage in pre-Revolutionary Massachusetts, and to the resistance and political and legal activism of enslaved and free Black people in the eighteenth century. The Cambridge Public Library is proud to offer passes to the museum during its tour season (June to October).

Join us for a conversation about community, resilience, and activism in the Latinx community with Gladys Vega, the Executive Director of La Collaborativa in Chelsea. Gladys Vega is a groundbreaking community organizer and advocate, working relentlessly and fearlessly to ensure the Latinx immigrant community has a voice in determining how it’s needs and concerns are addressed. She believes that empowerment of the individual leads to empowerment of the community and that social action is the vehicle an empowered community can use to achieve its goals. Gladys is the architect of nearly all of La Colaborativa’s programs, initiatives, and community organizing campaigns. Her leadership has resulted in expanded rights for immigrants, low-income families, tenants, workers, youths, and people of color across Massachusetts.

Join the Cambridge Public Library for a symposium exploring themes of the Revolution and the history of Mark, Phillis and Phoebe. Mark and Phillis were two enslaved people who were publicly executed in Cambridge in 1755 after being found guilty of fatally poisoning John Codman, the man who enslaved them. After the execution, Mark's body was gibbeted, displayed publicly in chains on Charlestown Common, for many years. Symposium participants will include Kyera Singleton, Executive Director of the Royall House and Slave Quarters and Postdoctoral Fellow at Tufts University's Slavery, Colonialism, and their Legacies at Tufts Initiative, as well as Brandeis University legal historian Dan Breen and others. The keynote speaker for the event will be Kellie Carter Jackson, Associate Professor of Africana Studies and the Chair of the Africana Studies Department Wellesley College. Registration is required.

This week's selection: Shakespeare, King Lear Reading Interests: We concentrate on Great Books in the following areas: a long novel over the summer, two sections of poetry and short stories, a book of the Bible, a Shakespeare play, an ancient and modern drama, a work of science, a smaller work of fiction, an even smaller work of fiction, and a rotating mix of politics, philosophy, and religion. Authors read in the past five years include Dickens, Keats and Yeats, O'Connor and Munro, Ecclesiastes, Sophocles and August Wilson, Darwin, Austen, Duras, The Federalist Papers, and Arendt. How to get the print book: Copies of the reading are set aside at the Main Library. Visit the Main Library at 449 Broadway during current service hours and a staff member can help you get a copy. How to register: Registration is required. Click the registration link below to register. This is a hybrid event. A Zoom link will be sent to all registered participants 1 hour before the event. For more information, contact Drew Griffin (dgriffin@cambridgema.gov)

This week's selection: Norman MacLean, A River Runs Through It Reading Interests: We concentrate on Great Books in the following areas: a long novel over the summer, two sections of poetry and short stories, a book of the Bible, a Shakespeare play, an ancient and modern drama, a work of science, a smaller work of fiction, an even smaller work of fiction, and a rotating mix of politics, philosophy, and religion. Authors read in the past five years include Dickens, Keats and Yeats, O'Connor and Munro, Ecclesiastes, Sophocles and August Wilson, Darwin, Austen, Duras, The Federalist Papers, and Arendt. How to get the print book: Copies of the reading are set aside at the Main Library. Visit the Main Library at 449 Broadway during current service hours and a staff member can help you get a copy. How to register: Registration is required. Click the registration link below to register. This is a hybrid event. A Zoom link will be sent to all registered participants 1 hour before the event. For more information, contact Drew Griffin (dgriffin@cambridgema.gov)