110-602: The Republican is a newspaper based in Springfield, Massachusetts , covering news in the Greater Springfield area, as well as national news and pieces from Boston , Worcester and northern Connecticut. It is owned by Newhouse Newspapers , a division of Advance Publications . Throughout much of the 19th century, the paper was the largest circulating daily in New England and the most widely-read across
220-632: A 40 percent stock interest in the Republican Company, Inc., holder of The SpringfieId Union , The Springfield Sunday Republican and The Springfield Daily News . The Newark, New Jersey–based company had an agreement with the Bowles heirs to purchase their 45 percent stock holdings in the Springfield companies on Sept. 1, 1967. The purchase was opposed by the editors of the newspapers and a prolonged legal battle ensued. An organization called
330-647: A Cotton Plantation." They were well-received by a curious public. He wrote local news and essays, many of which were collected and published in book form, helping establish his literary reputation. Bowles encouraged Holland to publish under the pseudonym Timothy Titcomb, which he did to great success. Under the editorial leadership of Bowles and Holland, the Republican became the most widely-read and respected small city daily in America. In 1851, Holland received an A.B. honorary doctorate degree from Amherst College ,
440-513: A Springfield church (North Congregationalist) that was frequented by abolitionists , freedmen and fugitive slaves though Josiah was not considered an abolitionist . Literary clubs in Holland’s honor formed in towns and cities across the country, especially in the Midwest . Newspapers published memorials on the hundredth anniversary of his birth. Fans obtained wood from maple trees standing in
550-496: A bestseller. Holland was the first to publish the first known poem written by an African American . One of Holland’s novels was among the earliest examples of the genre that became literary realism . He published a few poems of Emily Dickinson ’s in the newspaper that he edited. Holland and his wife, Elizabeth Chapin Holland, were close friends with her. Holland became a popular Lyceum lecturer and wrote advice essays under
660-582: A business reporter for the Springfield Daily Republican, as an apprentice to the newspaper's then-owner, Samuel Bowles III. The Republican launched the careers of several prominent journalists and novelists. I. E. "Sy" Sanborn , longtime Chicago sportswriter and one of the original organizers of the Baseball Writers' Association of America in 1908, began his career at The Republican. Radio's "poet laureate" Norman Corwin
770-555: A buzz-saw, and mix 'em up, and put 'em into a woman, that's jasm.’” The word was used to describe the "inexpressible personal force of the Yankee " and morphed into the word “jazz” in the early twentieth century. In the devastating wake of the American Civil War , Holland offered Americans spiritual guidance and ultimately, hope. That there was a Dr. Holland, a man who brought hope, reassurance, continuity and order into
880-456: A chaotic, threatening world was itself a fact of great spiritual significance for millions of Americans. Unlike Henry Ward Beecher , whom he steadfastly supported, nothing even remotely suspect ever came near him. Instead, in such essays as "The Reconstruction of National Morality," published in April 1876, and "Falling from High Places," published in April 1878, he offered acute analyses of why, in
990-646: A collection of Asian curiosities; the Springfield Science Museum , which features a life-size Tyrannosaurus Rex, an aquarium and the first American-made planetarium , designed and built (1937) by Frank Korkosz; the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum , as Springfield is the birthplace of Theodor Geisel ; and the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History, a museum about the multi-faceted city. The Connecticut Valley Historical Museum
1100-540: A collection of rare artifacts that tell stories about the ill-fated ocean liner's passengers and crew. The Springfield Symphony Orchestra performs in Springfield Symphony Hall . In 2011, Springfield's music scene was eclectic. It featured a notable heavy rock scene, from which the bands Gaiah, Staind , All That Remains , Shadows Fall , and The Acacia Strain rose to national prominence. Jazz and blues rival rock in popularity. In 2010 and 2011
1210-674: A confidant and intimate friend of Emily Dickinson . In early 1847, Holland begin publishing a newspaper, The Bay State Weekly Courier , but the attempt proved unsuccessful, as did his medical practice. He also published work in the Southern Literary Messenger . He left New England that spring for the South , and took a teaching position in Richmond, Virginia , followed by one in Vicksburg, Mississippi , where he
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#17327986288041320-526: A degree in 1843. Hoping to become a successful physician, he began a medical practice with classmate Dr. Charles Bailey in Springfield, Massachusetts . He then opened a women’s hospital in Springfield with his former roommate from college, Charles Robinson , who would become the first governor of the State of Kansas, but it failed within six months. In 1845 he married Elizabeth Luna Chapin, “the scion of an old and substantial Springfield family.” She would become
1430-617: A few miles north from his birthplace, where Edward Dickinson ( Emily Dickinson 's father) was treasurer. Holland's first book under his birth name was a two-volume History of Western Massachusetts (1855), the first book to feature a poem by a Black woman poet in the U.S. He followed in 1857 with an historical novel, The Bay-Path: A Tale of Colonial New England Life, and a collection of essays titled Titcomb's Letters to Young People, Single and Married in 1858. There were at least fifty editions of this book. He also published his narrative poem “Bitter-Sweet” that year. In 1857, he began touring on
1540-448: A history spanning nearly four centuries, Springfield has been home to a number of legacy companies that were household names, including: Springfield's mosaic of ethnic communities have long played a role in its culinary institutions, with many newer smaller restaurants and several decades-old establishments in its downtown. Among its oldest institutions are Smith's Billiards, founded in 1902, which serves Theodore's Blues, Booze, & BBQ,
1650-685: A location well suited for distribution, and in the past this has played a significant role in its economy. For this reason in the early 20th century it was the largest producer in New England of commercially produced cakes and pastries, and among the largest in bread—with one 1926 estimate of 1.4 million loaves of bread and 14 million breakfast rolls produced in the city on a weekly basis. Today Springfield's top five industries (in order, by number of workers) are: Education and Health Services; Trade and Transportation; Manufacturing; Tourism and Hospitality; and Professional & Business Services. Springfield
1760-575: A luxury condominium building. The Hotel Kimball , (140 Chestnut Street), which hosted several U.S. Presidents as guests and once featured the United States' first commercial radio station (WBZ), has been converted into The Kimball Towers Condominiums . The former McIntosh Shoe Company (158 Chestnut Street), one of Springfield's finest examples of the Chicago School of Architecture , has been converted into industrial-style condominiums; and
1870-627: A neighboring barbecue and music venue since 1979, recognized as the "Best Blues Club in the Country" in 2004 by the Blues Foundation . Other venues include The Student Prince Cafe , a long-running German restaurant at its downtown location since 1935, featured on Thrillist 's 2014 Editor's Choice bars, and a wide array of long-running acclaimed Italian restaurants such as Frigo's (1950), The Red Rose (1963), and Leone's (1988) and pastry shops like La Fiorentina (1947). In recent decades
1980-524: A protracted decline during the second half of the 20th century, due largely to the decommissioning of the Springfield Armory in 1969; poor city planning decisions, such as the location of the elevated I-91 along the city's Connecticut River front; and overall decline of industry throughout the northeastern United States . During the 1980s and 1990s, Springfield developed a national reputation for crime, political corruption, and cronyism. During
2090-400: Is considered to have a "mature economy", which protects the city to a degree during recessions and inhibits it somewhat during bubbles. Springfield is considered to have one of America's top emerging multi-cultural markets—the city features a 33% Latino population with buying power that has increased over 295% from 1990 to 2006. As of 2006, more than 60% of Hispanic Springfielders had arrived in
2200-412: Is divided into 17 distinct neighborhoods; in alphabetical order, they are: According to the 2010 Census , Springfield had a population of 153,060, of which 72,573 (47.4%) were male and 80,487 (52.6%) were female. 73.0% of the population were over 18 years old, and 10.9% were over 65 years old; the median age was 32.2 years. The median age for males was 30.2 years and 34.1 years for females. According to
2310-459: Is home to Springfield College , Western New England University , American International College , and Springfield Technical Community College , among other higher educational institutions. The area that would become Springfield was historically inhabited by indigenous people, with documented middle archaic period sites, a ceramic workshop site from the Woodland period in south Springfield, and
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#17327986288042420-522: Is home to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' largest Fortune 100 company, MassMutual Financial Group. It is also home to the world's largest producer of handguns, Smith & Wesson , founded in 1852. It is home to Merriam Webster , the first and most widely read American–English dictionary, founded in 1806. Springfield is also home to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' third largest employer, Baystate Health , with over 10,000 employees. Baystate
2530-489: Is known as The City of Homes for its attractive architecture, which differentiates it from most medium-size, Northeastern American cities. Most of Springfield's housing stock consists of Victorian " Painted Ladies " (similar to those found in San Francisco); however, Springfield also features Gilded Age mansions, urban condominiums buildings, brick apartment blocks, and more suburban post-World War II architecture (in
2640-508: Is published online to MassLive , a separate Advance Publications company. MassLive had a record six million unique monthly visitors in June 2019. Established by Samuel Bowles II in 1824 as a rural weekly , it was converted into a daily in 1844. From the beginning it had a focus on local news. As rapidly as possible its news-gathering was extended until within a few years its columns contained departments of items from every town and hamlet along
2750-703: Is relatively flat, and follows the north–south trajectory of the Connecticut River; however, as one moves eastward, the city becomes increasingly hilly. Aside from its rivers, Springfield's second most prominent topographical feature is the city's 735-acre (297 ha) Forest Park . Forest Park lies in the southwestern corner of the city, surrounded by Springfield's attractive garden districts, Forest Park and Forest Park Heights , which feature over 600 Victorian Painted Lady mansions. Forest Park also borders Longmeadow. Springfield shares borders with other suburbs such as East Longmeadow , Wilbraham , Ludlow and
2860-401: Is simple, it is easy to write, and the person concerned can translate it properly according to the circumstances." In 1915, Samuel Bowles , who had been dead nearly four decades, was compared to William Rockhill Nelson , publisher of The Kansas City Star , who died that year. "Of course, The Star was William R. Nelson even more than The Springfield Republican was Samuel Bowles ," wrote
2970-599: Is the western campus of Tufts University School of Medicine . Baystate Health is in the midst of a $ 300 million addition; nicknamed "The Hospital of the Future", it is the largest construction project in New England. In addition to Baystate, Springfield features two other nationally ranked hospitals; Mercy Medical , run by The Sisters of Providence , and Shriners Hospital for Children. The following companies maintain their headquarters in Springfield: With
3080-502: Is “said to have reached a wider popular audience than most of the other minor poets.” Called "a poetic 'play' infused with the beauties of Christianity," Holland's first book-length poem Bitter-Sweet: A Poem (1858, 220 pp.) sold 90,000 copies by 1894 and remained in print four decades after his death. Thirty years after Holland's death, an "outstandingly authoritative commentator upon American literature" called Arthur Bonnicastle "the best" of Holland's five novels and another wrote that it
3190-543: The Chicago Post in a tribute. During the 1920s, Sherman Bowles, son of Samuel Bowles IV, constructed a modern printing plant at 32 Cypress Street in Springfield and launched the hostile takeover of three competitors. His newspaper monopoly controlled a combined circulation of 280,000. He died on March 3, 1952, of a heart attack at the age of 61. In 1960, Advance Publications, owned by the Newhouse family, purchased
3300-589: The Springfield Republican . After the Civil War he reduced his editorial duties and wrote many of his most popular works, including the Life of Abraham Lincoln (1866), and Kathrina: Her Life and Mine, In a Poem (1867). Holland wrote an eloquent eulogy of Abraham Lincoln within days of Lincoln's death, prompting a commission for a full biography of the late president. He quickly pulled together
3410-520: The 2010 Census , there were 61,706 housing units in Springfield, of which 56,752 were occupied. This was the highest average of home occupancy among the four distinct Western New England metropolises (the other three being Hartford, New Haven, and Bridgeport, Connecticut ). Also as of 2010, Springfield features the highest average homeowner occupancy ratio among the four Western New England metropolises at 50%—73,232 Springfielders live in owner-occupied units, versus 74,111 in rental units. By comparison, as of
The Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3520-699: The City Beautiful movement. The Quadrangle's five distinct collections include the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden ; the largest collection of Chinese cloisonne outside of China; and the original casting of Augustus Saint Gaudens 's most famous sculpture, Puritan . The Quadrangle's five museums are the Museum of Fine Arts, which features a large Impressionist collection; the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum,
3630-543: The Hotel Kimball ); and most famously, the world's second-most-popular sport, basketball (1891, Dr. James Naismith ). Springfield would play major roles in machine production, initially driven by the arms industry of the Armory, as well as from private companies such as Smith & Wesson , established by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson . Similarly, the industrial economy led Thomas and Charles Wason to establish
3740-620: The Italianate villa style (also called a “ Swiss-chalet style” ). It was located on a bluff overlooking the Connecticut River in North Springfield near present day 110 Atwater Terrace. Holland named the mansion “Brightwood”; it was painted Venetian red . The neighborhood today retains the name Brightwood . When Sam Bowles took an extended trip to Europe, Holland temporarily assumed the duties as editor-in-chief of
3850-696: The Lyceum lecture circuit , soon mentioned with Oliver Wendell Holmes , Bayard Taylor and George William Curtis . Gold-Foil: Hammered from Popular Proverbs under his Timothy Titcomb pen name came out in 1859. He published his second novel, Miss Gilbert‘s Career: An American Story , in 1860. It is considered one of the first novels of American Realism , anticipating “much abler and more penetrating realists” who would come later that century. The year following he released Lessons in Life: A Series of Familiar Essays (1861). In 1862, he erected an opulent home in
3960-513: The Pioneer Valley . Springfield has several nicknames—"The City of Firsts", due to the many innovations developed there , such as the first American dictionary , the first American gas-powered automobile , and the first machining lathe for interchangeable parts ; "The City of Homes", due to its Victorian residential architecture; and "Hoop City", as basketball was invented in Springfield in 1891 by Canadian James Naismith . Hartford ,
4070-571: The Republican became the most widely-read and respected small town daily in America. Bowles was an acquaintance of Emily Dickinson , and he published a handful of the very few poems by the poet printed in her lifetime, including "A narrow fellow in the grass" and "Safe in their alabaster chambers". Bowles was succeeded as publisher and editor-in-chief of the Republican by his son Samuel Bowles (b. 1851). Charles Dow , founder of Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal , started his career as
4180-632: The Springfield Daily Republican , with Sam Bowles and Josiah Holland as editors, published five, all unsigned, between 1852 and 1866. Some scholars believe that Bowles promoted her the most; Dickinson wrote letters and sent her poems to both men. Later, as editor of Scribner’s Monthly beginning in 1870, Holland told Dickinson’s childhood friend Emily Fowler Ford that he had “some poems of [ Dickinson’s ] under consideration for publication [in Scribner’s Monthly ]—but they really are not suitable—they are too ethereal.” Josiah Gilbert Holland published
4290-749: The Wason Manufacturing Company , which produced the first manufactured sleeping car . The largest railcar works in New England, Wason produced 100 cars a day at its peak; the company was eventually purchased by Brill in 1907 and closed during the Depression in 1937. Among numerous other industries, during the first half of the 20th century Springfield also produced brass goods, chemicals, clothing and knit goods, paper goods, watches, boilers, engines, manufacturing machinery, silverware, jewelry, skates, carriages, buttons, needles, toys, and printed books and magazines. Springfield underwent
4400-485: The fireside poets such as contemporaries William Cullen Bryant and James Russell Lowell and his work appeared in anthologies, featuring domestic themes, messages of morality and focused on a historical romantic past. He is also categorized as among the ”minor” New England authors of the transcendental period . In the History of American Literature by Leonidas Warren Payne, Jr., and published in 1919, Holland
4510-434: The tornado left three dead, hundreds injured, and over 500 homeless in the city alone. The tornado caused hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage to Springfield and wrought significant destruction in a 39-mile-long (63 km) path from Westfield to Charlton, Massachusetts . It was the first deadly tornado to strike Massachusetts since May 29, 1995. Neighborhoods of Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield
The Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4620-619: The "Old Fort", the first such house to be built in the Connecticut River Valley. Out of the siege, Miles Morgan and his sons were lauded as heroes; as one of the few homesteads to survive the attack, alerting troops in Hadley, as well as Toto, often referred to as the "Windsor Indian" who, running 20 miles from Windsor, Connecticut , to the settlement, was able to give advance warning of the attack. The original settlement—today's downtown Springfield—was located atop bluffs at
4730-616: The 2010 Census, New Haven features an owner occupancy rate of 31%; Hartford of 26%; and Bridgeport of 43%. In terms of race and ethnicity, Springfield is 51.8% White , 22.3% Black or African American, 0.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.4% Asian (1.2% Vietnamese, 0.3% Chinese, 0.2% Indian, 0.1% Cambodian, 0.1% Filipino, 0.1% Korean, 0.1% Pakistani, 0.1% Laotian), 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 18.0% from Some Other Race, and 4.7% from Two or More Races (1.5% White and Black or African American; 1.0% White and Some Other Race). Hispanics and Latinos of any race made up 38.8% of
4840-424: The 2016 film A Quiet Passion about the life of Emily Dickinson , Steve Dan Mills portrays Holland. In the 2018 film Wild Nights with Emily , Josiah and Elizabeth Holland are portrayed by actor Michael Churven and actress Guinevere Turner , respectively. The Osage Nation politician Arthur Bonnicastle —named for the titular character in Holland’s 1873 novel —appears as a character in the 2023 film Killers of
4950-600: The American Quaker poet and abolitionist , consistently praised Holland throughout his life and upon his death. The New York Times referred to J.G. Holland as “one of the most celebrated writers which this country has produced.” Holland is buried in Springfield Cemetery in Springfield, Massachusetts . His imposing monument includes a bas-relief portrait sculpted by the eminent American 19th-century sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens , and includes
5060-570: The Armory's manufacture of the famed " Springfield rifles " used ubiquitously by Union troops. Closing during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration, today the national park site features the largest collection of historic American firearms in the world. Today the city is the largest in western New England , and the urban, economic, and media capital of Massachusetts' section of the Connecticut River Valley , colloquially known as
5170-667: The Connecticut Valley, as well as from Springfield. It achieved national renown in the 19th century under the tenure of Samuel Bowles III , a legacy that was passed to his son, Samuel Bowles IV, and grandson, Sherman Bowles. In 1854, the newspaper reportedly became the first to publish the oldest known work of literature by an African American . A 16-year-old named Lucy Terry (1733–1821) witnessed two White families attacked by Native Americans in 1746. The fight took place in Deerfield, Mass . Known as “ Bars Fight ,” her poem
5280-493: The Democratic candidate for president in every modern election -except the 2008 election, in which the newspaper, under publisher Larry McDermott, endorsed Republican John McCain in his failed White House bid. The newspaper subsequently endorsed President Barack Obama in his 2012 re-election campaign. During Bowles' lifetime, and subsequently, the Republican office was a sort of school for young journalists, especially in
5390-461: The FBI, and indexed by NeighborhoodScout showed between 2010 and 2018 the violent crime rate for Springfield decreased by approximately 52.5%, whereas the property crime rate declined by 54%; both rates remain more than twice their respective state averages, as of 2018. Distribution of Greater Springfield NECTA Labor Force (2016) Springfield's vicinity to both Boston and New York City lends it
5500-531: The Hollands between 1853 and 1886 in which she shares “the details of life that one would impart to a close family member: the status of the garden, the health and activities of members of the household, references to recently-read books.” Emily was a poet “influenced by transcendentalism and dark romanticism ,” and her work bridged “the gap to Realism .” Of the ten poems published in Dickinson's lifetime,
5610-521: The Latin inscription "Et vitam impendere vero" meaning "to devote life to truth". Although Josiah Gilbert Holland’s 23 books of fiction, nonfiction and poetry are rarely read today, during the late nineteenth century they were enormously popular and by 1894 more than 750,000 volumes were sold. Holland was born at the beginning of the period of romanticism in American literature . He is considered one of
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#17327986288045720-709: The Manse (1874), and The Puritan's Guest (1881). In 1877, Holland erected a summer house on one of the Thousand Islands in upstate New York, in Alexandria Bay , where one of its streets is named for him. He gave the mansion itself the name “Bonniecastle” from the name of the titular hero of his novel, Arthur Bonnicastle (1873). It is known as the Bonnie Castle Resort & Marina today. Josiah Gilbert Holland died on October 12, 1881, at
5830-590: The Nation in the years following the Civil War . Born in Western Massachusetts, he was “the most successful man of letters in the United States” in the latter half of the nineteenth century and sold more books in his lifetime than Mark Twain did in his. Known often by his initials “J.G.,” Holland penned the first biography of Abraham Lincoln just months after his assassination, which was
5940-703: The New World. In the late 1700s, during the American Revolution , Springfield was designated by George Washington as the site of the Springfield Armory because of its central location. Subsequently it was the site of Shays' Rebellion . The city would also play a pivotal role in the Civil War , as a stop on the Underground Railroad and home of abolitionist John Brown , widely known for his raid on Harpers Ferry , and for
6050-579: The Sixteen Acres and Pine Point neighborhoods). While Springfield's architecture is attractive, much of its built-environment stems from the 19th and early 20th centuries when the city experienced a period of "intense and concentrated prosperity"—today, its Victorian architecture can be found in various states of rehabilitation and disrepair. As of 2011, Springfield's housing prices are considerably lower than nearby New England cities which do not feature such intricate architecture. In Metro Center, stands
6160-642: The Springfield Newspapers became the local division of the Newhouse family empire with David Starr, a vice president for Advance, serving as publisher. The Springfield Daily News and the Morning Union merged operations in the 1970s, operating as separate papers, even endorsing different candidates for the same offices. The circulation for the Morning Union was reported at 128,041 on October 8, 1972. The Springfield Daily News circulation stood at 92,342 on September 30, 1972. Eventually
6270-658: The Springfield-headquartered Hampden Bank sponsored the Hoops City Jazz & Art Festival, a three-day event that drew approximately 30,000 people to Metro Center to hear varieties of different jazz music—from smooth jazz, to hard bop, to New Orleans-style jazz. Headliners included Springfield great Taj Mahal , the Average White Band , and Poncho Sanchez . In addition to its nickname The City of Firsts , Springfield
6380-592: The U.S., and played a key role in the United States Republican Party 's founding. Abraham Lincoln was an avid reader. The newspaper became the first U.S. periodical to publish the earliest known poem authored by an African American writer in North America. By 2024, The Republican ' s daily circulation had plummeted to 9,388, according to an audit published in the newspaper on September 27, 2024. Content from The Republican
6490-472: The United States' City Crime Rankings—its second-lowest ranking in recent years, (in 2009, it ranked 51st). Springfield's 2010 crime rating of 142 is down approximately 50% from its heights in the late 1990s and 2000s. The Urban Land Institute stated in 2010 that "the perception of crime [in Springfield] appears to be worse than the reality". By another measure, crime and population data collected by
6600-551: The age of 62, in New York City of heart failure . The evening prior, he “remained late at the office to finish an editorial tribute to the martyred President James A. Garfield ,” who had been assassinated a few weeks before. Most small town newspapers and major metropolitan dailies published memorial tributes to Holland, including journals that had often spoken scornfully of his “literary mediocrity, his triteness, and his intellectual parochialism.” John Greenleaf Whittier ,
6710-483: The capital of Connecticut , lies 24 miles (39 km) south of Springfield, on the western bank of the Connecticut River. The Hartford–Springfield region is known as the Knowledge Corridor because it hosts over 160,000 university students and over 32 universities and liberal arts colleges —the second-highest concentration of higher-learning institutions in the United States. The city of Springfield itself
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#17327986288046820-575: The city has also become home to a number of cuisines not found elsewhere in the region, including Cajun restaurant Chef Wayne's Big Mamou, Lebanese restaurant Nadim's Downtown, local chain Puerto Rican Bakery, and a host of other Greek, Jamaican, Mexican, and Vietnamese venues. Springfield is home to five distinct museums at the Quadrangle , along with the ornate Springfield City Library —an architecturally significant example of
6930-460: The city of Chicopee (which constituted one of Springfield's most populous neighborhoods until it separated and became an independent municipality in 1852). The Connecticut state line is only 4 miles (6 km) south of Springfield, beside the wealthy suburb of Longmeadow , which itself separated from Springfield in 1783. Springfield's densely urban Metro Center district surrounding Main Street
7040-605: The city of Chicopee. The small cities of Agawam and West Springfield lie less than a mile (1.6 km) from Springfield's Metro Center, across the Connecticut River. The City of Springfield also owns the Springfield Country Club, located in the autonomous city of West Springfield, which separated from Springfield in 1774. Springfield, like other cities in southern New England, has a hot-summer humid continental climate ( Köppen : Dfa ) with four distinct seasons and precipitation evenly distributed throughout
7150-551: The city since 1986. With 25 universities and colleges within a 15-mile (24 km) radius from Springfield, including several universities and liberal arts colleges , and more than six institutions within the city itself, the Hartford–Springfield metropolitan area has been dubbed the Knowledge Corridor by regional educators, civic authorities, and businessmen—touting its 32 universities and liberal arts colleges , numerous highly regarded hospitals, and nearly 120,000 students. The Knowledge Corridor universities and colleges provide
7260-410: The confluence of four rivers, at the nexus of trade routes to Boston , Albany , New York City , and Montreal , and with some of the northeastern United States' most fertile soil. In 1777, Springfield's location at numerous crossroads led George Washington and Henry Knox to establish the United States' National Armory at Springfield , which produced the first American musket in 1794, and later
7370-558: The contact period Long Hill site, excavated in 1895. At the time of European contact at settlement, the Springfield area was inhabited by the Agawam tribe, who sold land to English settlers. Springfield was founded in 1636 by English Puritan William Pynchon as "Agawam Plantation" under the administration of the Connecticut Colony . In 1641 it was renamed after Pynchon's hometown of Springfield, Essex , England, following incidents, including trade disputes as well as Captain John Mason's hostilities toward native tribes, which precipitated
7480-409: The country. On the occasions that hurricanes have hit New England, Springfield's inland, upriver location has caused its damages to be considerably less than shoreline cities like New Haven, Connecticut , and Providence, Rhode Island . On June 1, 2011, Springfield was directly struck by the second-largest tornado ever to hit Massachusetts . With wind speeds exceeding 160 mph (257 km/h),
7590-400: The early 21st century, Springfield saw long-term revitalization projects and several large projects, including the $ 1 billion New Haven–Hartford–Springfield intercity rail ; a $ 1 billion MGM casino ., and the $ 95 million redevelopment of Springfield Union Station. In December 2022, Springfield was designated by the National Park Service as an American World War II Heritage City,
7700-408: The end of his career as at the beginning. Holland coined a term that later became the word " jazz ." The earliest tracing in the Oxford English Dictionary finds that “ jasm ” first appears in Holland’s 1860 novel, Miss Gilbert's Career : “‘She's just like her mother... Oh! she’s just as full of jasm!’.. ‘Now tell me what jasm is.’.. ‘If you'll take thunder and lightening [sic], and a steamboat and
7810-472: The end of his days is all too abundantly attested. His provincial ethical standards; his subconscious Pharisaism ; his incorrigible moralizing; his stubborn opposition to woman suffrage; his failure to distinguish between social drinking and debauchery, between light wine and strong whisky, between beer and rum, between the intelligent frankness of Walt Whitman and the vulgar pornography of The Black Crook —all these remained almost as irritatingly obtrusive at
7920-512: The famous Springfield rifle . From 1777 until its closing during the Vietnam War , the Springfield Armory attracted skilled laborers to Springfield, making it the United States' longtime center for precision manufacturing. The near-capture of the armory during Shays' Rebellion of 1787 led directly to the formation of the U.S. Constitutional Convention . During the 19th and 20th centuries, Springfielders produced many innovations, including
8030-587: The fertile Connecticut River Valley , surrounded by mountains, bluffs, and rolling hills in all cardinal directions, Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River, near its confluence with two major tributary rivers—the western Westfield River , which flows into the Connecticut opposite Springfield's South End Bridge; and the eastern Chicopee River , which flows into the Connecticut less than 0.5 mi (0.8 km) north of Springfield, in
8140-509: The first American-English dictionary (1805, Merriam-Webster ); the first use of interchangeable parts and the assembly line in manufacturing (1819, Thomas Blanchard ); the first American horseless car (1825, Thomas Blanchard); the mass production of vulcanized rubber (1844, Charles Goodyear ); the first American gasoline-powered car (1893, Duryea Brothers ); the first successful motorcycle company (1901, " Indian "); one of America's first commercial radio stations (1921, WBZ , broadcast from
8250-558: The first in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and one of only 18 communities in the country. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 33.1 square miles (85.7 km ), of which 31.9 square miles (82.5 km ) are land and 1.2 square miles (3.1 km ), or 3.65%, are water. Once nicknamed "The City in a Forest", Springfield features over 4.0 square miles (10.4 km ) of urban parkland, 12% of its total land area. Located in
8360-484: The high snowfall amounts and blustery wind averages of nearby cities such as Worcester, Massachusetts , and Albany, New York . Springfield's summers are very warm and sometimes humid. During summer, several times per month, on hot days afternoon thunderstorms will develop when unstable warm air collides with approaching cold fronts . The daily average in July is around 74 °F (23 °C). Usually several days during
8470-931: The lengthy Life of Abraham Lincoln , finished in February 1866. The 544-page bestseller portrayed Lincoln as an emancipator opposed to slavery and began many enduring myths about the slain President. He moved with his family to 46 Park Avenue in New York City in 1872. These years in New York were also productive for his own literary efforts. During the 1870s he published three novels: Arthur Bonnicastle (1873), Sevenoaks (1875), and Nicholas Minturn (1877), which first were serialized in Scribners (afterwards it became The Century Magazine ). His poetry volumes included The Marble Prophecy (1872), The Mistress and
8580-548: The limits of any section. During the controversies affecting slavery and resulting in the American Civil War , Bowles supported, in general, the Whig and Republican parties, but in the period of Reconstruction under President Ulysses S. Grant , his paper represented anti-administration or Liberal Republican opinions, while in the disputed election of 1876 it favored the claims of Samuel J. Tilden , and subsequently became independent in politics. Its editorial board endorsed
8690-693: The low-slung family farmhouse at Dwight and later quipped that he’d like to “burn it to the ground.” The youngest of six children, his parents were deeply religious and evangelical , from pious Puritan stock. His father moved the family every year or two: Heath , back to Belchertown, South Hadley , Granby and Northampton . Josiah worked in a factory to help the family. He then spent a short time studying at Northampton High School before withdrawing due to ill health. He tried daguerreotypy and taught penmanship from town to town, reciting "his own poems to his intimate friends." He saved enough money to study medicine at Berkshire Medical College , where he took
8800-474: The matter of pungency and conciseness of style, one of his maxims being: "put it all in the first paragraph". In 1849, Bowles hired Josiah Gilbert Holland , a poet who had studied medicine and taught school in the American South . Soon, the assistant editor purchased an interest in the newspaper and wrote spiritual and advice columns. Under the leadership of editor Bowles and assistant editor Holland,
8910-517: The nation’s readers cared so much about.” His writings are quoted by politicians and pastors alike though few today recognize Holland’s name. Born along the Hop Brook near the intersection of Federal Street and Orchard Road, in the village of Dwight , in Belchertown, Massachusetts , on July 24, 1819, Holland grew up in a poor family struggling to make ends meet. He spent only a few years at
9020-484: The newspaper should be a power in the moral, religious, and literary, as well as the political life of the community, and he tried to make his paper fulfill those functions. With the aid of J. G. Holland and others who joined the staff the paper attained excellent literary quality and a high moral tone. Its opinions soon reached all New England , and after the formation of the Republican party they extended far beyond
9130-582: The oldest known work of literature written by an African American in North America. A 16-year-old named Lucy Terry (1733–1821) witnessed two White families attacked by Native Americans in 1746. The fight took place in Deerfield, Mass . Known as “ Bars Fight ,” her poem was told orally until it was published, thirty-three years after her death, first in The Springfield Daily Republican , on November 20, 1854, as an excerpt from Holland's History of Western Massachusetts , which
9240-426: The population (33.2% Puerto Rican, 1.7% Dominican, 1.0% Mexican, 0.5% Guatemalan, 0.3% Cuban, 0.2% Colombian, 0.2% Spanish, 0.2% Salvadoran, 0.1% Peruvian, 0.1% Ecuadorian, 0.1% Panamanian, 0.1% Costa Rican, 0.1% Honduran). Non-Hispanic Whites were 36.7% of the population in 2010, down from 84.1% in 1970. Data is from the 2009–2013 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. In 2010, Springfield ranked 35th in
9350-452: The post-war years, so many Americans, including prominent Christian leaders, had succumbed to the temptation of attempting to obtain great riches dishonestly. Such was the sanctity of Holland's own life that he seemed to offer a living, earthly warrant for the promise of eternity that he pictured in his writings. Of poets and their mission, Holland wrote: The poets of the world are the prophets of humanity. They forever reach after and foresee
9460-507: The pseudonym Timothy Titcomb as well as lyrics to hymns, including the beloved Methodist Christmas tune " There's a Song in the Air .” He helped establish and was editor of the middle-class flagship magazine Scribner's Monthly . Though Holland was a contemporary of the canonical and more renowned poet Walt Whitman and the novelist Herman Melville , neither “ever tasted the sweets of success as Holland did, perhaps, because neither wrote what
9570-405: The public domain. Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts , United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River , the eastern Chicopee River , and the eastern Mill River . At the 2020 census , the city's population
9680-522: The red-brick, former Milton Bradley toy factory is now Stockbridge Court Apartments (45 Willow Street). In the Ridgewood Historic District, the 1950s-futurist Mulberry House (101 Mulberry Street), is now a condominium building that features some of the finest views of Springfield. Josiah Gilbert Holland Josiah Gilbert Holland (July 24, 1819 – October 12, 1881) was an American novelist, essayist, poet and spiritual mentor to
9790-404: The region with an educated workforce, which yields a yearly GDP of over $ 100 billion—more than at least 16 U.S. States. Hartford–Springfield has become home to a number of biotech firms and high-speed computing centers. As of 2009 Springfield ranks as the 24th most important high-tech center in the United States with approximately 14,000 high-tech jobs. In 2010, the median household income
9900-638: The settlement's joining the Massachusetts Bay Colony . During its early existence, Springfield flourished both as an agricultural settlement and as a trading post, although its prosperity waned dramatically during (and after) King Philip's War in 1675, when natives laid siege to it and burned it to the ground . During that attack, three-quarters of the original settlement was burned to the ground, with many of Springfield's residents survived by taking refuge in John Pynchon's brick house,
10010-497: The slightest forereach; ... the style of man ... who can tell the difference between a dime and a fifty-cent piece—but is useless for occasions of more serious moment.” The irony was that Holland wrote a bestseller after the “more serious moment” of President Lincoln’s assassination . All the same, even Springfield Republican publisher Samuel Bowles "thought Holland something of a prig.” A later biographer had this to say: That Josiah Gilbert Holland remained priggish and prudish to
10120-472: The summer exceed 90 °F (32 °C), constituting a " heat wave ". Spring and fall temperatures are usually pleasant, with mild days and crisp, cool nights. Precipitation averages 45.85 inches (1,165 mm) annually, and snowfall averages 40.5 inches (103 cm), most of which falls from mid-December to early March. Although not unheard of, extreme weather events like hurricanes and tornadoes occur infrequently in Springfield compared with other areas in
10230-674: The two newspapers were combined into The Union-News (a morning paper) in 1988, with The Sunday Republican being published on Sundays. Larry McDermott served as publisher for a decade beginning in 1999 and the newspaper reverted to its historical, pre- Union-News name of The Republican around 2003. At the start of McDermott's tenure, circulation for the Union-News was 90,555. By September 2005, it had slipped by less than 5 percent to 86,359. With McDermott's retirement in December 2009, George Arwady became publisher of The Republican . He
10340-563: The two prominent skyscrapers, Tower Square, and Monarch Place , the latter of which is the tallest building in Massachusetts outside of Boston. Many of the city's Victorian buildings including former hotels, factories, and other institutions have been converted into apartment buildings and luxury condominiums. For example, Springfield's ornate Classical High School (235 State Street), with its immense Victorian atrium—where Dr. Seuss, Timothy Leary, and Taj Mahal all went to high school—is now
10450-597: The ultimate good. They are evermore building the Paradise that it is to be, painting the Millennium that is to come. When the world shall reach the poet’s ideal, it will arrive at perfection; and much good will it do the world to measure itself by this ideal and struggle to lift the real to its lofty level. He also wrote: "God never said it would be easy, He just said He would go with me." Holland’s narrative poem “ Bitter-Sweet ” would become one of his most popular, and
10560-560: The works of Robert Burns or Sir Walter Scott . She cited the praise that it had earned from poet James Russell Lowell . Today, a Holland sentence or paragraph is still quoted by politicians, artists and spiritual leaders alike, including Martin Luther King, Jr ., though few recognize his name. In 1920, Holland’s novel Sevenoaks (1875) was adapted into the Goldwyn comedy-drama, Jes' Call Me Jim , starring Will Rogers . In
10670-564: The yard of his birthplace at Dwight, Mass ., to fashion into memorabilia such as penholders. The doorstone of his birthplace, which burned to the ground in 1876, was recovered in 1932 and placed at the Stone House Museum , which also displays first editions of his works. J. G. Holland and his wife were frequent correspondents and intimate family friends of poet Emily Dickinson . She was a guest at their Springfield home on numerous occasions. Dickinson sent more than ninety letters to
10780-465: The year, but the intensity (and sometimes the duration) of warmer periods is greater than in northern areas. Winters are cold with a daily average in January of around 26 °F (−3 °C). During winter, nor'easter storms can drop significant snowfalls on Springfield and the Connecticut River Valley . Temperatures below 0 °F (−18 °C) can occur each year, though the area does not experience
10890-464: Was $ 35,236. Median income for the family was $ 51,110. The per capita income was $ 16,863. About 21.3% of families and 26.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 40.0% of those under age 18 and 17.5% of those age 65 or over. The City of Springfield is the economic center of Western Massachusetts. It features the Pioneer Valley 's largest concentration of retail, manufacturing, entertainment, banking, legal, and medical groups. Springfield
11000-405: Was 155,929, making it the third most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the fourth most populous city in New England after Boston , Worcester , and Providence . Metropolitan Springfield , as one of two metropolitan areas in Massachusetts (the other being Greater Boston ), had a population of 699,162 in 2020. Springfield was founded in 1636, the first Springfield in
11110-411: Was a reporter for The Republican in the 1930s. Novelist Tom Wolfe was a reporter for The Springfield Union in the late 1950s. The title "Ms." was first suggested by an anonymous 1901 letter to The Republican . The letter read, in part, "To call a maiden Mrs. is only a shade worse than to insult a matron with the inferior title Miss. Yet it is not always easy to know the facts... The abbreviation 'Ms.'
11220-468: Was described in 1894, by biographer Harriette Merrick Plunkett , as, Dr. Holland’s reflections on the mysteries of Life and Death, on the soul-wracking problems of Doubt and Faith, on the existence of Evil as one of the vital conditions of the universe, on the questions of Predestination , Original Sin , Free-will , and the whole haunting brood of Calvinistic theological metaphysics . She declared it to be “truly an original poem,” and compared it to
11330-523: Was dying and his wife went to care for her. The following month he was offered $ 40 a month as assistant editor of the Springfield Daily Republican , where he began working with the younger, formidable and charming owner—the journalist and editor Samuel Bowles . On Wednesday, September 26, 1849, the Republican began publishing Holland's writing of plantation life in a seven-part series, though uncredited, titled, "Three Weeks on
11440-535: Was named superintendent and implemented the ideas of fellow Massachusetts educator and reformer Horace Mann . In fall 1848, he and his wife were invited to a large cotton plantation in northeastern Louisiana and Holland wrote down his observations. Here he received word that his poetry would be published in the Knickerbocker Magazine and The Home Journal. In April 1849, Holland and his wife returned to Western Massachusetts . His mother-in-law
11550-761: Was one of the Quadrangle's five museums until 2009. In 2017 the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum opened in the former location, the William Pynchon Memorial Building. The collections of the Connecticut Valley Historical Museum are now located in the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History. Springfield's Indian Orchard neighborhood is home to the RMS Titanic Historical Society's Titanic Museum , which displays
11660-685: Was previously publisher of The Newark Star-Ledger , where he had threatened to shut down that newspaper amid financial crises. In 2019, the New England Newspaper Association awarded The Republican the "Newspaper of the Year" title as a daily, and among Sunday newspapers, for its investigative reporting on the Springfield Police Department controversies earlier that year. Longtime editor and Yankee Quill winner Wayne E. Phaneuf retired in 2020 and
11770-552: Was published as a book the following year. Holland, Herman Melville and Walt Whitman were born the same year. Holland, as associate editor of The Republican , was critically favorable to canonical novelist Herman Melville and as co-founder and editor of Scribner's Monthly , Holland turned down publishing the more widely read canonical poet Walt Whitman . Considered a writer and man of "Victorian virtue," J.G. Holland found Whitman's poetry “immoral.” Whitman later called Holland, “a man of his time, not possessed of
11880-506: Was succeeded by Cynthia G. Simison and later Larry Parnass . Like many daily newspapers, The Republican has seen its advertising base erode and circulation shrink in recent years. It reported its daily circulation was down to 9,388 in September 2024 – a tenth of where it stood a quarter of a century earlier. The newspaper marked its 200th anniversary on September 8, 2024. Cambridge History of English and American Literature (1921) in
11990-668: Was told orally until it was published, thirty-three years after her death, first in the Springfield Daily Republican, on November 20, 1854. The poem appeared in Josiah Gilbert Holland's History of Western Massachusetts the following year. In 1855, Bowles III called for the founding of a new party that would abolish slavery. He suggested the name "Republican". Once abolitionists founded a party by this name, The Republican became one of its most unrelenting supporters. Bowles III believed that
12100-550: Was “undoubtedly Holland's masterpiece." The novel remained in print into the 1920s. In 1875, Holland wrote a letter to be read at the dedication of a monument to Edgar Allan Poe , the poet and writer, though Holland wrote that the man and his poetry were “without value.” Holland was against Women's suffrage but donated funds to the New England Female Medical College in Boston. He was member of
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