CALVIN COOLIDGE LIVES ON IN NORTHAMPTON!

I have been screwing around trying to post my blog about my trip to Northampton. Both Amherst and Northampton really thrill me. It was in June of 1959 American Legion Mike Zugrovich transported my 17 year old body to attend Boys State at U-Mass. Little  did I know what influence attending Boys State would have on my life and what Amherst and Northampton would have in my development.


Essentially I'm a country boy but just two years later I began to blossom intellectually through influence of one Frank Cooke. I was being introduced to the finer things in like antique Rolls Royce motor cars, Diane, his daughter and Byron. I then catapulted my life's journey to Saint Louis University as a Transfer student. I was 20.


Leaving home twice, once for college then twice for the U.S. Army saw me come of age, big time. Service in Vietnam further broadened my horizons. The funny thing is my neighbors, Chuck and Pat McCarthy were products of Amherst and Northampton! They both were college graduate and introduced me to the real world. Their son is Kevin.


This educated duo from North Brookfield slammed-dunked me into what the educated class was all about. Included was the reputation of President Calvin Coolidge. This morning I went to the Forbes Library and chatted with Julie Bartlett Nelson who is Archivist of the Calvin Coolidge collections. I signed the book "Mecca" and made a donation of a crisp ten dollar bill. How wonderful to make a profound discovery as I turn the corner to age 74 in July.


This Presidential Library is set by Coolidge's time in Northampton, Boston and the White House. He was quite a guy, that Coolidge. Will Rogers, noted columnist of the time joked about President Coolidge all the time. Of course, back then, newspapers and radio reigned supreme in our plain vanilla world. Artifacts in the Coolidge Museum reveal how simple life was back then. They also reveal both the public and personal lives of Calvin and wife Grace and sons, Calvin and John.


As mentioned I once interviewed John Coolidge in Farmington, CT. in the mid-seventies.


The Coolidge Library and Museum can be found on West Street, Northampton. jbartlett@forbeslibrary.org is there to help you. www.forbeslibrary.org or 413-587-1014 ..