Representative Don Humason



MASSACHUSETTS FIRSTS By Representative Don Humason, Jr. June 9, 2007 I derive inspiration for column topics from various places. In my column last week I mentioned that I was appointed to the Conference Committee on Identity Theft, my first one. That got me thinking about other “firsts.” Last year I received a copy of the “Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2006” from the state Comptroller Martin Benison. I saved it. Besides being full of numbers, the Comptroller also interspersed his report with pages of “Massachusetts Firsts.” So, in the interest of educating myself and my readers, I am going to borrow from the Comptroller and list some famous MASSACHUSETTS FIRSTS. I won’t put the following in quotes, but it is all paraphrased directly from the report. You can read the report online at www.mass.gov/osc. FIRST LADY. Isabella Stewart Gardner is celebrated as the first American to build a collection of old masters, the first to own a Matisse, the first to own a Raphael, the first to build and curate a private, personal art museum. It could also be said that she is the first developer to risk large scale construction in the Fenway, which at the turn of the century was newly filled land. ARTS AND CULTURE. Since 1933, Jacobs Pillow in Beckett is the oldest dance festival. William Billings, 1746-1800, was the first major American composer. The Peabody Essex museum in Salem is the oldest continuously operating museum. The first lion exhibited in the United States was shown in Boston in 1716. HOLIDAYS. The first Thanksgiving, actually a feast held after the Pilgrim’s first harvest, was celebrated in Plymouth, 1621. The first Mother’s Day was proposed in 1872 by Julie Howe Ward. The first American Christmas card was made in 1875 by printer Louis Prang. GOVERNMENT. The oldest state Constitution in America is the Massachusetts Constitution. The first woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives was Edith Nourse Rogers in 1925. The first Post Office was the Richard Fairbanks Tavern in Boston, 1639. The first United States Postal code was Agawam 01001. WAR. The first battle in the American Revolutionary War was fought at Lexington and Concord in April 1775. Massachusetts had the first all Black regiment in the Civil War in 1863. The U.S.S. Constitution was commissioned in 1798 and is the world’s oldest commissioned battleship. The first aerial photograph in America was taken of Boston Common from a hot air balloon in 1860. MEDICINE. The first time anesthesia was used during surgery was at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston in 1846. The first kidney transplant was performed in 1954 at Peter Bent Brigham hospital. The first use of chemotherapy to treat cancer was in 1947. EDUCATION. Massachusetts was the first state to mandate a public education system in 1647. The Franklin Public Library, through a donation of books from Benjamin Franklin, was the first public lending library in 1778, although the Boston Public Library was the first library in 1646. Harvard University was the first in the nation in 1636. The Perkins Institute was the first school in the country for the blind in 1829 and the Fanny Farmer School was the first cooking school in 1896. TRANSPORTATION. The first subway system in America was built in Boston in 1898. Charles and Frank Duryea built the first successful gasoline powered automobile in Springfield in 1893. The oldest highway in the country is Route 20, the old Boston Post Road, from Boston to New York. The Indian Motorcycle of Springfield was the first in the land in 1901. Lynn can claim the first electric trolley in 1888. The Boston Light was America’s first lighthouse in 1716. The first patented lifeboat came from Massachusetts in 1807. FOOD. Massachusetts can claim the first frozen food, by Clarence Birdseye, in 1925, the first fried clams in Essex in1914, and the first chocolate chip cookie in 1930. COMMERCE. Paul Revere established the first Trade Union in 1795. The first safety razor was made by Gillette in 1903 and the first sewing machine was made in 1845 by Elias Howe. Charles Thurber of Worcester made the first typewriter in 1840. The first microwave oven was created by Perry Spencer at Raytheon in 1947. Alexander Graham Bell patented and demonstrated the country’s first telephone in Boston in 1876. The first lie detector machine was invented by William Marston in Harvard in 1915. The first large scale automatic digital computer and calculator was devised by Howard Aiken and shipped to Harvard in 1944 where it was called the Mark I. Representative Don Humason and his new aide Sarah Latour may be reached at their Westfield District office, 64 Noble Street, Westfield, MA 01085, 568-1366. Their Boston address is State House Room 542, Boston, MA 02133, (617) 722-2803. Email address: Rep.DonaldHumason@Hou.state.ma.us
This Site Designed and Maintained by: The Barre Group

MASSACHUSETTS FIRSTS

By Representative Don Humason, Jr.

June 9, 2007

I derive inspiration for column topics from various places. In my column last week I mentioned that I was appointed to the Conference Committee on Identity Theft, my first one.

That got me thinking about other “firsts.” Last year I received a copy of the “Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2006” from the state Comptroller Martin Benison. I saved it. Besides being full of numbers, the Comptroller also interspersed his report with pages of “Massachusetts Firsts.”

So, in the interest of educating myself and my readers, I am going to borrow from the Comptroller and list some famous MASSACHUSETTS FIRSTS. I won’t put the following in quotes, but it is all paraphrased directly from the report. You can read the report online at www.mass.gov/osc.

FIRST LADY. Isabella Stewart Gardner is celebrated as the first American to build a collection of old masters, the first to own a Matisse, the first to own a Raphael, the first to build and curate a private, personal art museum. It could also be said that she is the first developer to risk large scale construction in the Fenway, which at the turn of the century was newly filled land.

ARTS AND CULTURE. Since 1933, Jacobs Pillow in Beckett is the oldest dance festival. William Billings, 1746-1800, was the first major American composer. The Peabody Essex museum in Salem is the oldest continuously operating museum. The first lion exhibited in the United States was shown in Boston in 1716.

HOLIDAYS. The first Thanksgiving, actually a feast held after the Pilgrim’s first harvest, was celebrated in Plymouth, 1621. The first Mother’s Day was proposed in 1872 by Julie Howe Ward. The first American Christmas card was made in 1875 by printer Louis Prang.

GOVERNMENT. The oldest state Constitution in America is the Massachusetts Constitution. The first woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives was Edith Nourse Rogers in 1925. The first Post Office was the Richard Fairbanks Tavern in Boston, 1639. The first United States Postal code was Agawam 01001.

WAR. The first battle in the American Revolutionary War was fought at Lexington and Concord in April 1775. Massachusetts had the first all Black regiment in the Civil War in 1863. The U.S.S. Constitution was commissioned in 1798 and is the world’s oldest commissioned battleship. The first aerial photograph in America was taken of Boston Common from a hot air balloon in 1860.

MEDICINE. The first time anesthesia was used during surgery was at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston in 1846. The first kidney transplant was performed in 1954 at Peter Bent Brigham hospital. The first use of chemotherapy to treat cancer was in 1947.

EDUCATION. Massachusetts was the first state to mandate a public education system in 1647. The Franklin Public Library, through a donation of books from Benjamin Franklin, was the first public lending library in 1778, although the Boston Public Library was the first library in 1646. Harvard University was the first in the nation in 1636. The Perkins Institute was the first school in the country for the blind in 1829 and the Fanny Farmer School was the first cooking school in 1896.

TRANSPORTATION. The first subway system in America was built in Boston in 1898. Charles and Frank Duryea built the first successful gasoline powered automobile in Springfield in 1893. The oldest highway in the country is Route 20, the old Boston Post Road, from Boston to New York. The Indian Motorcycle of Springfield was the first in the land in 1901. Lynn can claim the first electric trolley in 1888. The Boston Light was America’s first lighthouse in 1716. The first patented lifeboat came from Massachusetts in 1807.

FOOD. Massachusetts can claim the first frozen food, by Clarence Birdseye, in 1925, the first fried clams in Essex in1914, and the first chocolate chip cookie in 1930.

COMMERCE. Paul Revere established the first Trade Union in 1795. The first safety razor was made by Gillette in 1903 and the first sewing machine was made in 1845 by Elias Howe. Charles Thurber of Worcester made the first typewriter in 1840. The first microwave oven was created by Perry Spencer at Raytheon in 1947. Alexander Graham Bell patented and demonstrated the country’s first telephone in Boston in 1876. The first lie detector machine was invented by William Marston in Harvard in 1915. The first large scale automatic digital computer and calculator was devised by Howard Aiken and shipped to Harvard in 1944 where it was called the Mark I.

Representative Don Humason and his new aide Sarah Latour may be reached at their Westfield District office, 64 Noble Street, Westfield, MA 01085, 568-1366. Their Boston address is State House Room 542, Boston, MA 02133, (617) 722-2803. Email address: Rep.DonaldHumason@Hou.state.ma.us

This Site Designed and Maintained by: The Barre Group