City of Medford, Medford, MA 02155
Kit Collins currently serves as a City Councilor for the City of Medford, MA, since January 2022. With a diverse background in the arts, Kit operates as an Illustrator and Muralist through Kitsch Collins since June 2015. Previous roles include positions at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum as a Collection Maintenance Technician and Embroiderer, and at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education as Welcome Staff. Kit has also held leadership positions in customer experience at The Purple Carrot, and interned with organizations focused on arts advocacy and environmental issues. Kit holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Peace & Justice Studies from Tufts University.
City of Medford, Medford, MA 02155
The name Medford is thought to have come from "the ford by the meadow" or "Meadford" thus commemorating the importance of the fordable part of the Mystic River located just west of present-day Medford Square. The original area of Medford was owned by Mathew Cradock, the first Governor of the Massachusetts colonies. Although Cradock never saw it, he employed men to develop his land into a plantation. After his death, the plantation passed to his heirs and then was sold en masse in 1652 to Edward Collins. The area was designated a "peculiar" which signified that it was private property and not a properly incorporated town. Collins began selling pieces of land to others after 1656. In 1684, Medford was granted the right to raise its own money by the General Court. In 1892, Medford became incorporated as a city.