Arthur W. Coolidge

{{Infobox officeholder

| image = 1945 Arthur Coolidge senator Massachusetts.jpg

| caption =

| order1 = 56th

| office1 = Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts

| term_start1 = January 2, 1947

| term_end1 = January 6, 1949

| governor1 = Robert F. Bradford

| predecessor1 = Robert F. Bradford

| successor1 = Charles F. Sullivan

| office2 = President of the Massachusetts Senate

| term2 = 1945–1946

| predecessor2 = Jarvis Hunt

| successor2 = Donald W. Nicholson

| office3 = Member of the Massachusetts Senate
from the 7th Middlesex District

| term3= 1941–1946

| predecessor3 = Joseph R. Cotton

| successor3 = George Jelly Evans

| office4 = Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives

| term4 = 1937–1940

| birth_name = Arthur William Coolidge

| birth_date = October 13, 1881

| birth_place = Cumberland County, Maine, U.S.

| death_date = January 23, 1952 (aged 70)

| death_place = Reading, Massachusetts, U.S.

| party = Republican

| alma_mater = Tufts University (1903)
Harvard Law School (1906)

| profession = Attorney

| spouse = Mabel Tilton

| footnotes =

| relations = Richard B. Coolidge (brother)
Calvin Coolidge (cousin)
Martha Coolidge (granddaughter)

| children = 2

}}

Arthur William Coolidge (October 13, 1881 – January 23, 1952) was a Massachusetts politician who served multiple positions within the state government.{{Cite web |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/202738352.html?dids=202738352:202738352&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Jan+23%2C+1952&author=&pub=Christian+Science+Monitor&desc=Arthur+W.+Coolidge&pqatl=google |title=Arthur W. Coolidge |access-date=2017-07-05 |archive-date=2012-10-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017224307/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/202738352.html?dids=202738352:202738352&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Jan+23,+1952&author=&pub=Christian+Science+Monitor&desc=Arthur+W.+Coolidge&pqatl=google |url-status=dead }}

Early life

Coolidge was born in Cumberland County, Maine.

Career

Coolidge worked as a lawyer before becoming a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1937–1940) and of the Massachusetts State Senate (1941–1946). From 1947 to 1949 he was the 56th lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. He was the Republican nominee for governor in 1950.

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 (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.{{cite book |title=Streetcar Lines of the Hub - The 1940s |last=Clarke |first=Bradley H. |year=2003 |publisher=Boston Street Railway Association |isbn=0938315056 |pages=15–17}}

A Unitarian and Freemason, Coolidge served as Grand Master of Masons (1943–1944) and a member of the American Bar Association and Theta Delta Chi. In 1951, he was elected as a member of the Massachusetts Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.

Personal life

A fourth cousin to President Calvin Coolidge, he had one daughter, Dorothy Coolidge Cox and two sons: Robert Tilton Coolidge (1915–1955) and Arthur William Coolidge II.{{Cite web |url=http://dl.tufts.edu/catalog/tei/tufts:UA069.005.DO.00001/chapter/C00035 |title=Tufts Digital Library |access-date=2013-05-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104210930/http://dl.tufts.edu/catalog/tei/tufts:UA069.005.DO.00001/chapter/C00035 |archive-date=2014-01-04 |url-status=dead }} One of his grandchildren is film director Martha Coolidge.{{Cite web |last=Lybarger |first=Dan |date=2003-04-16 |title=The Prince & Me - Interview with Martha Coolidge |url=https://www.nitrateonline.com/2004/fprince.html |access-date=2019-09-04 |website=Nitrate}}

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

References

External links

[https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/coolidge.html Arthur W. Coolidge] at the political graveyard
[https://web.archive.org/web/20100313213251/https://www.harvardlodge.org/membersofnote.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20100313213251/http://www.harvardlodge.org/membersofnote.htm]

{{s-ttl|title=Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts|years=1946, 1948}}

{{s-ttl|title=Republican nominee for Governor of Massachusetts|years=1950}}

{{Succession box

| before=Robert Bradford

| title=Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts

| years=1947–1949

| after=Charles F. Sullivan

}}

Category:1881 births

Category:1952 deaths

Category:People from Cumberland County, Maine

Category:People from Reading, Massachusetts