This mystery Concord leader, in bowtie at right, received a high public office from President Dwight D. Eisenhower, at left. At the same time, one could observe that the mystery man helped Ike get the job he held in 1957, when this picture was taken by a White House photographer.

The mystery man is one of many lives remembered in "Crosscurrents of Change," the history of Concord in the 20th century, written by the Concord Historical Society. He had a major influence in making Concord the city it is today.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed James M. Langley ambassador to Pakistan in 1957. Langley, 1894-1967, served as editor and publisher of the Concord Monitor. His 1952 editorials boosted Ike’s presidential primary campaign in 1952 and were influential in the novice politician’s victory. In a long, stellar career, Langley introduced civic planning to Concord and helped create Concord Hospital out of two predecessors. Langley was a participant in a 1967 incident that led to the impeachment and removal of Mayor J. Herbert Quinn . These are among the tales told in Crosscurrents of Change, the Concord Historical Society’s history of the capital city in the 20th century.