
In a span of merely 20 years, Canton went from one of the busiest industrial communities in the commonwealth to a shuttered factory town. A small blurb in the Boston Globe in 1907 ran under the headline: “Will Be a Blow to Canton.” It was the passing of an industry, an obituary for a way […]

It has been two weeks since the sudden passing of George Thomas IV and the unfairness of it all seems almost too much to fathom. Thomas, a nearly lifelong Canton resident, died as a result of heart complications following a routine workout at his home on February 25, just days before his 39th birthday. A […]
Mar 12 2021 | Posted in
Features | By
Jay Turner

The Canton Citizen is pleased to partner with the Canton Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee to present “Community in Unity,” a new regular series spotlighting Canton residents of diverse backgrounds. The series will run weekly throughout Black History Month and continue monthly for the remainder of 2021. Karim Gibson, who is in his third year […]
Feb 19 2021 | Posted in
Features | By
Mary Ann Price

The following is the second in a two-part series. Part one appeared in the February 11 edition of the Citizen. The book is thick and heavy with a leather cover, gilded pages and a brass clasp. From a distance it is imposing, and up close it instantly bears the weight of history. Embossed on the […]

The Canton Citizen is pleased to partner with the Canton Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee to present “Community in Unity,” a new regular series spotlighting Canton residents of diverse backgrounds. The series will run weekly throughout Black History Month and continue monthly for the remainder of 2021. As someone who was born in Nigeria, raised […]
Feb 11 2021 | Posted in
Features | By
Jay Turner

When big things happen in a small town the news can rush like wildfire. Tongues wag fast and the allure of a big crime story can be fodder for the newspapers for weeks. In the summer of 1906, big news literally exploded in Ponkapoag in what can only be described as a brazen robbery that […]

There are old virtues that still ring true today. The value of integrity, economy and perseverance. Are these subjects that come up in the course of discussion in modern-day families? Many readers will look upon their lives and find that they are wealthy, and the question is whether they choose to use their wealth for […]

In a recently posted TEDx talk as part of a new series on “Surviving Pandemics,” Dr. Anatole Manzi of Canton speaks passionately about the health care challenges inherent across large swaths of Africa and the essential role that teachers can play there in the fight against COVID-19. Drawing on his own experiences growing up in […]
Dec 31 2020 | Posted in
Features | By
Jay Turner

“Americans are not a narrow tribe,” wrote Herman Melville. “Our blood is as the flood of the Amazon, made up of a thousand noble currents all pouring into one.” We are a nation of immigrants and throughout Canton’s history there have been countless stories that share the tale of coming to America. There is a […]

Is it nostalgia or aging that brings us back to our childhood as we move through the later years of our life? There are these flashbacks to my youth that fire like an electrical synapse in my brain. I have these gauzy images of the large apple tree in our side yard and my great-grandmother […]