Many might consider art just a tool to beautify a space. “Art in Public,” a feature-length documentary film about Cambridge-based public art, illuminates ways art allows us to see the world differently. It gets a premiere Wednesday.

While the Slave Legacy History Coalition applies for its own nonprofit status, History Cambridge expects to act as its fiscal sponsor and provide administrative support. 

The annual free Cambridge Open Archives, sometimes called the Cambridge archives crawl, is back after a pandemic pause – and now online. Some delving into historical records citywide is already available, and other events are streaming on Instagram Live as soon as Monday morning.

There was an extreme lack of confidence in the public school system in the 1840s. Parents feared for their children’s morality and wanted “purification” for their schools.

Cambridge has a dozen elementary schools, all with names reflecting a complex history of people deserving honors – sometimes replacing people we decide do not – that might come after moves, divisions or mergers.

Contemporary art and Black history are unexpected on Brattle Street, but History Cambridge intends to install temporary public art this spring on the front lawn of its Hooper-Lee-Nichols House to raise awareness of Black history in West Cambridge.