Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History
Sauer, Anne
Branco, Jessica
Bennett, John
Crowley, Zachary
2000
Coolidge, Arthur W., 1882-1952
Arthur W. Coolidge (1882-1952), A1903, served as Lt. Governor of Massachusetts from 1947 to 1949.A fourth cousin of President Calvin Coolidge, Arthur Coolidge was one of more than twenty Coolidge family members to attend Tufts or receive honorary degrees from the institution, beginning in 1859. The Coolidge Room in Ballou Hall is named for Coolidge and his son, Robert Tilton Coolidge, A1936. | |
A descendent ofGovernor Bradford, Thomas Jefferson, and Charles Bulfinch (designer of the Massachusetts State House), Coolidge was born in Portland, Maine. He graduated from Tufts in 1903 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Three years later he graduated from Harvard Law School and immediately began practicing. He served several terms as a state representative in Massachusetts and in 1940 was elected to the state senate. In 1945, he was named president of the senate. The following year he was elected lieutenant governor in a Republican sweep of political offices. Coolidge held the position until 1948.In 1950, he ran unsuccessfully for the governor's office. Coolidge was also a businessman, serving for ten years as president of Clapp and Tilton, a Boston wholesale milliner company. He was a director of Reading Co-operative Bank, a trustee and member of the investment board of the Boston Penny Savings Bank, and president of the Washington Hospital of Boston. He was a member of various Masonic and fraternal groups and was elected Grand Master of the Masons of Massachusetts in 1944.Coolidge died at his home in Boston on January 23, 1952. | |
Coolidge was recipient of an honorary Masters of Arts from Tufts in 1945. | |
Source: VF | |
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