Arthur William Coolidge (October 13, 1881 – January 23, 1952) was a

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

politician who served multiple positions within the state government.

Early life

Coolidge was born in

Cumberland County, Maine Cumberland County is a county in the U.S. state of Maine. As of the 2020 census, the population was 303,069, making it the most populous county in Maine. Its county seat is Portland. Cumberland County was founded in 1760 from a portion of ...

Career

Coolidge worked as a lawyer before becoming a member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

(1937–1940) and of the

Massachusetts State Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the s ...

(1941–1946). From 1947 to 1949 he was the 56th lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. He was the Republican nominee for

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

. From 1943 to 1947, Coolidge was head of a legislative commission (popularly known as the Coolidge Commission) to address the future of the

Boston Elevated Railway The Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) was a Tram, streetcar and rapid transit railroad operated on, above, and below, the streets of Boston, Massachusetts and surrounding communities. Founded in 1894, it eventually acquired the West End Street R ...

(BERy). The commission proposed a number of suburban extensions – some of which were built over the following four decades – and created the plans to reform the BERy as the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the predecessor of the modern

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

. A Unitarian and

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, Coolidge served as Grand Master of Masons (1943–1944) and a member of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...

and Theta Delta Chi. In 1951, he was elected as a member of the Massachusetts Society of the

Sons of the American Revolution The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), formally the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR), is a federally chartered patriotic organization. The National Society, a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Louisvi ...

Personal life

A fourth cousin to

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. A Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, he previously ...

, he had one daughter, Dorothy Coolidge Cox and two sons: Robert Tilton Coolidge (1915–1955) and Arthur William Coolidge II. One of his grandchildren is film director

Martha Coolidge Martha Coolidge (born August 17, 1946) is an American film director and former President of the Directors Guild of America. She has directed such films as '' Valley Girl,'' '' Real Genius'' and '' Rambling Rose.'' Early life Coolidge was born in ...

. He was brother of Massachusetts politician Richard B. Coolidge.

Death

Coolidge died at his home in Boston and is buried in Forest Glen Cemetery in

Reading, Massachusetts Reading ( ) is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, north of central Boston. The population was 25,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Settlement Many of the Massachusetts Bay Colony ...

. The Arthur W. Coolidge Middle School was named in his honor.

References

External links

Arthur W. Coolidge
at the

political graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations o ...