John J. Galluzzo

The Humane Society of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the oldest lifesavig organization in the United States, preceding even the parent agencies of the United States Coast Guard. Formed in 1785, inspired by the notion that the "apparently drowned" could be revived, the Humane Society took lifesaving of mariners in distress at sea to the next level with the construction of the first American shore-based lifeboat in 1807. Volunteers living under the motto "I'd like to think that if I was out there, someone would come for me" bent over the oars for the next century and rowed into the teeth of the biggest storms the Massachusetts coast has ever seen, as sailing ships headed for shore. Join veteran lifesaving history author John Galluzzo for the history of the 18th century founders, the 19th century heroes and the 20th and 21st century champions of the Humane Society cause of preserving life along the Massachusetts coast.

The history of the U.S. Coast Guard and its predecessor agencies dates from 1790, with missions in both domestic and international waters. The service has provided aids to navigation, enforcement of maritime laws, environmental protection, search and rescue, immigration and narcotics interdiction, maritime safety assistance, port security, natural disaster response and national defense missions, including overseas with other U.S. armed forces and federal and state public safety agencies. The Service has operated under the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Transportation and, since 2003, the Department of Homeland Security. Its maritime mission regions have included Arctic and Antarctic waters, inland and coastal U.S. waterways and the seas and oceans of the world. This history describes how the Coast Guard has manifested its legacy and motto, Semper Paratus (Always Ready), in changing conditions under each of its leaders.

From Plymouth Rock to Quincy granite, the South Shore of Boston has been a place of revolution, relaxation and revelation. Artists have gained inspiration from the meeting of sea and shore, enemy navies have targeted its strategic ports and, in better days, merrymakers have sought its warming sun, cooling breezes, amusement parks and historic and natural landmarks. The Toll House Cookie, the song When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along)" and the U.S. Navy's rallying cry "Don't give up the ship " all were South Shore born. John Galluzzo, author of "The North River: Scenic Waterway of the South Shore" and "When Hull Freezes Over," gathers the best of his "Look Back" column in this compilation of historic vignettes from "South Shore Living" magazine."

It is hard to believe that just three little words, Isles of Shoals, can evoke as much romanticism as they do. Yet when those words are spoken, remembrances of years long past--of one of New England's earliest and most prosperous fishing communities; of Celia Thaxter and her life well spent surrounded by beautiful flowers, fine art, and high-society friends; of Uncle Oscar Laighton and his ancient but unfailing smile; and of the Victorian grandeur of the expansive Oceanic and Appledore Hotels--bring one back to the glory days of the Isles of Shoals.

The eyes of the United States Navy first focused on Quincy's Squantum peninsula in 1909, when daring young pilots from around the world gathered for the Harvard Air Meet. By the 1930s, the Victory Plant--a destroyer plant that set production records--had come and gone and the navy had set up the nation's first naval reserve aviation training center on the site. When air traffic over Boston Harbor thickened in the 1930s, the navy moved its aerial operations inland to the South Weymouth Naval Air Station. That base and its ubiquitous hangar became South Shore landmarks for more than a half-century. Squantum and South Weymouth Naval Air Stations brings back to life the early age of naval aviation on the South Shore, from biplanes to blimps to bombers and beyond.