Coolidge Commutes to Boston

Have you ever wondered how Coolidge, who didn’t drive, got to the State House to serve as a state rep, state senator, lieutenant governor and governor? There was no turnpike as we know it so one hundred years ago, he took the train.

When in Boston, Coolidge and some of the other Western Mass legislators stayed at the Adams House. The legislature was in formal session during the first half of the year giving Coolidge a chance to continue his law practice and see his family in Northampton summer and fall. This chart gives information on the sessions during Coolidge’s time in the senate.

Length of Massachusetts State Senate Sessions- 1912-1915

Year	Dates	Total Days	Days Sitting
1912	Jan 3 – June 13	163	113
1913	Jan 1 – June 20	171	120
1914	Jan 7 – July 7	182	127
1915	Jan 6 – June 4	150	104
Average		166.5	116

       Data Source: Dalton, Wirkkala and Thomas. Leading the Way, A History of the Massachusetts General

                       Court, 1629-1980

 

 

 

Preparing for the Great War

Calvin Coolidge’s terms in the Massachusetts Senate coincided with the beginning of World War I in Europe (1912 – 1915). The great debate about America’s role and participation in the conflict began. The Massachusetts legislature appointed a Committee to Study Preparedness in 1915.

The Hampshire Gazette reported on a union service at the Methodist Church marking a day of prayer for peace in its October 5, 1914 issue. Among State Senator Coolidge’s reported remarks were these:

            “Science, while it makes men wiser, makes the instruments of destruction more deadly… Therefore, it seems that the only hope for permanent peace is to be found in the hearts of men.”

A State Senator and His Committees

After serving as mayor of Northampton in 1910 and 1911, Coolidge was elected to the Massachusetts State Senate. He would serve four years before being elected Lieutenant Governor and Governor.

In 1912, Coolidge was appointed to the Cities, Agriculture, and Legal Affairs Committees. He chaired the last two. In the summer, he also led a special recess committee, the Western Mass. Trolleys Committee. These appointments were good for a freshman senator since they related to his background and experience.

He had been the mayor of a small city and a lawyer so the first and third appointments made sense. In Boston, Western Mass still means agriculture so this committee was appropriate.

In 1913, his committees changed completely to the Municipal Finance, Rules, and Railroads Committees (chair). His assignments still seem to fit his background quite well.

During his last two years in the senate (1914-1915), he was its President, a position of great influence, not least of which was the power to appoint members to committees. The museum has a letter in its collection from Coolidge to a fellow Senator asking his preferences for committee assignments.

Note: The display at the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum about his Senate career has been refurbished recently so the next few posts will highlight some of the new information.