Massachusetts

It is also one of the highest scoring states on advanced placement tests. See also Memphis Mafia. It has one of the lowest high-school dropout rates in the nation and is tied with New Jersey for having the 2nd highest percentage of students who go on to college after high-school.
. Massachusetts is known for having one of the best public school systems in the nation. Other. Massachusetts also is home to well-known independent research institutions, including Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Marine Biological Laboratory. Military.

Music schools include Berklee and the New England Conservatory. Sports Figures. Other notable Massachusetts colleges include Hampshire College and the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts). Jurists, Politicians and Activists. In addition to MIT, technology-oriented universities include Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and University of Massachusetts Lowell, which includes the former Lowell Institute of Technology ("Lowell Tech"). Businesspeople. Massachusetts is home to one Ivy League university (Harvard) and four of the Seven Sisters (Mount Holyoke, Radcliffe College (now a research institute at Harvard), Smith, and Wellesley). Actors, Directors and Musicians.

News & World Report, 10 of the nation's top-50 colleges and universities are located in Massachusetts: Amherst College, Boston College, Brandeis University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Tufts University, Wellesley College and Williams College. Other museums in the area include:. According to U.S. Along with the legendary Stax Sound, the museum also spotlights the music of Muscle Shoals, Motown, Hi and Atlantic. Massachusetts hosts more prominent colleges and universities than any other state in the U.S. The museum is home to a broad collection of artifacts, photographs, exhibits, commentary, and music. The population of metropolitan Boston surges noticeably during the school year due to the concentration of colleges and universities in the area (see list of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston). Also, there is the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.

Eight Boston-area institutions (Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis, Harvard, MIT, Northeastern, Tufts, and UMass/Boston) call themselves "research universities;" they became, according to them, "engines of economic growth" following World War II, and currently contribute $7 billion annually to the local economy [3] (http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2003/econimpact.html). The Children's Museum of Memphis features many interactive exhibits, including a simulated grocery store, a wood skyscraper maze, and full-scale models of a fire truck and an airplane fuselage. population, but is home to many of its most renowned preparatory schools, colleges, and universities[2] (http://www.utexas.edu/world/univ/state/) (see full list of colleges and universities in Massachusetts). A smaller art museum, the Dixion Gallery and Gardens focuses on impressionism and has several works by Monet, Degas and Renoir. Massachusetts contains only 2.5% of the U.S. The Brooks Museum of Art in Overton Park, founded in 1916, serves as the region's major art museum. Massachusetts cities and towns of historical or cultural importance include. was assassinated.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has a total of 50 cities and 301 towns, grouped into 14 counties. Memphis is home to the National Civil Rights Museum, located in the former Lorraine Motel, where the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. See also: List of Massachusetts counties; List of cities in Massachusetts. A month long festival, Memphis in May, is held each year to host the city's largest events like the Beale Street Music Festival, the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest and the Sunset Symphony. Barnstable and Dukes Counties have adopted modern county charters, enabling them to act as efficient regional governments. There are several art galleries in Memphis, including, most prominently, the Dixon Gallery. The governments of Bristol, Plymouth, and Norfolk Counties remain substantially unchanged. Opera Memphis, the region's opera company, performs at the Clark Opera Memphis Center in East Memphis.

This law was later amended to abolish Hampshire County on January 1, 1999; Essex County on July 1 of that same year; and Berkshire County on July 1, 2000. Chapter 34B of the Massachusetts General Laws (http://www.state.ma.us/legis/laws/mgl/gl-34B-toc.htm) provides that other counties may also vote to abolish themselves, or to reorganize as a "regional council of governments", as Hampshire and Franklin Counties have done. Ballet Memphis, which is the region's only major ballet company, performs at The Orpheum Theatre. The law abolishing Middlesex County also provided for the elimination of Hampden County and Worcester County on July 1, 1998. The Memphis area is home to many of West Tennessee's larger arts and culutral organizations, such as the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, which performs at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts in Downtown Memphis. Later that year, the Franklin County Commission voted itself out of existence. Carnival salutes various aspects of Memphis and its industries, and is reigned over by the current year's secretly selected King & Queen of Carnival. The government of Middlesex County was officially abolished on July 11, 1997. Carnival Memphis (formerly known as the Memphis Cotton Carnival), is a series of parties and festivities staged every year by the Carnival Memphis Association and its member krewes (similar to that of Mardi Gras) during the early summer.

Mismanagement of Middlesex County's public hospital in the mid 1990s left that county on the brink of insolvency, and in 1997 the legislature stepped in by assuming all assets and obligations of the county. Jude Classic, a PGA Tour golf tournament. The government of Nantucket County, which is geographically coterminous with the Town of Nantucket, is operated along similar lines- the town selectmen (executive branch) act as the county commissioners. Also part of Memphis in May is the FedEx St. Thus, residents of the other three Suffolk County communities do not have a voice on the county commission, but all the county expenses are paid by the city of Boston. Each year, the city honors a foreign country, and each weekend hosts a special event, including the World Championship Barbeque Cooking Contest and the Beale Street Music Festival. The government of Suffolk County was substantially integrated with the city government of Boston more than one hundred years ago, to the extent that the members of the Boston city council are ex officio the Suffolk County Commissioners, and Boston's treasurer and auditor fulfill the same offices for the county. The Mid-South Fair comes to the city every fall, and every May there is the Memphis in May.

By the 1990s, most functions of county governments (including operation of courts and road maintenance) had been taken over by the state, and most county governments were seen as inefficient and outmoded. There is Libertyland Amusement Park and the adjacent Liberty Bowl and Memphis Children's Museum, Mud Island, Detour Memphis - an art and performing space, Lichterman Nature Center, the Pink Palace Museum, The Pyramid, The Memphis Zoo, the Memphis Queen riverboat. However, many residents also identify with neighborhoods, villages, or other districts of their towns. King used to play his guitar, and occasionally still appears at a club bearing his name and partly owned by him. Census Bureau, which in most data products considers towns to be minor civil divisions, equivalent to townships in other states (usually with much weaker forms of government). Blues fans can head down to Beale Street, where a young B.B. This complicates comparisons with other states, as most residents identify strongly with the town or city in which they reside, and not with the "populated places" as defined and used in the U.S. Other famous musicians who got their start at Sun include Johnny Cash, Rufus Thomas, Charlie Rich, Howlin' Wolf, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis.

In contrast, the cities and towns of Massachusetts divide up all of the land between them and there are no "unincorporated" areas or population centers. Rock and roll is located in the city also. County governments have significant importance, particularly to those living outside towns, and often perform major functions such as operating airports. Sun studios was where Elvis first recorded "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin". In contrast, the state is completely apportioned into counties. Tourists come from all over the world to see Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley. Between the towns are unincorporated areas, usually quite large, which do not belong to any town. Out of the total population, 30.1% of those under the age of 18 and 15.4% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

In many states, a town is a compact incorporated area. 20.6% of the population and 17.2% of families are below the poverty line. Massachusetts municipalities are subject to a budgetary law known as "Proposition 2½", by which they may not increase expenditures by more than 2½% per annum without the approval of the voters in a plebiscite. The per capita income for the city is $17,838. Massachusetts has a very limited home rule mechanism; in order to exercise jurisdiction outside of these bounds, a municipality must petition the General Court for special legislation giving it that authority. Males have a median income of $31,236 versus $25,183 for females. These cities are legally styled "the City Known as the Town of X". The median income for a household in the city is $32,285, and the median income for a family is $37,767.

There are now a number of municipalities which are legally cities and thus have city councils, but retained the word "town" in their names, including Agawam, Methuen, Watertown, Weymouth, and Westfield. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 84.9 males. This distinction dates to the 1820s; prior to that, all municipalities were governed by Town Meeting. For every 100 females there are 89.8 males. Politically, the only difference between a town and a city is that a town is governed under the Town Meeting or Representative Town Meeting form of government, whereas a city has a city council (and may or may not have a mayor, a city manager, or both). The median age is 32 years. Massachusetts law maintains a distinction between "cities" and "towns"; the largest town in population is Framingham. In the city the population is spread out with 27.9% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who are 65 years of age or older.

Massachusetts shares with the six New England states, plus New York and New Jersey, a governmental structure known as the "New England town.". The average household size is 2.52 and the average family size is 3.18. The three largest Protestant denominations in Massachusetts are: Baptist (4% of total state population), Episcopalian (3%), Methodist & Congregationalist (tied 2%). 30.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.9% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The religious affiliations of the people of Massachusetts are:. There are 250,721 households out of which 31.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.1% are married couples living together, 23.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 36.8% are non-families. The five largest ancestries in Massachusetts are Irish (22.5%), Italian (13.5%), English (11.4%), French (8%), German (5.9%). 2.97% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Historically, the coast has been much more urban than Western Massachusetts, which is very rural, save for the cities of Springfield and Worcester. The racial makeup of the city is 34.41% White, 61.41% African American, 0.19% Native American, 1.46% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.45% from other races, and 1.04% from two or more races. The bulk of this population surrounds Greater Boston, with approximately 5,800,000 people, and the North and South Shores. There are 271,552 housing units at an average density of 375.4/km² (972.2/mi²). The population of Massachusetts is 6,433,422 (US Census, 2003). The population density is 898.6/km² (2,327.4/mi²). See the list of Massachusetts places by per capita income. As of the census² of 2000, there are 650,100 people, 250,721 households, and 158,455 families residing in the city.

Other sectors vital to the Massachusetts economy include higher education, health care, financial services and tourism. Slightly over 80% of office space in the city is occupied. Thanks largely to the Ocean Spray cooperative, Massachusetts is the second largest cranberry producing state in the union (after Wisconsin). Memphis as a whole contains about twenty million square feet (2,000,000 m²) of office space, with the downtown area containing only around four million square feet (400,000 m²). Its industrial outputs are machinery, electric equipment, scientific instruments, printing, and publishing. Memphis' Division of Light, Gas and Water ("MLGW") is one of the largest municipal utitilites in the United States. Its agricultural outputs are seafood, nursery stock, dairy products, cranberries, and vegetables. Because of its status as the primary hub for FedEx, Memphis International Airport is currently the world's busiest cargo airport in terms of tonnage.

Per capita personal income in 2003 was $39,504, 4^th in the nation. It is also the headquarters of FedEx shipping. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (http://www.bea.gov/) estimates that Massachusetts's total state product in 2003 was $297 billion. Memphis is a center of manufacture of textiles, heating equipment, pianos, and automobile and truck parts. See the articles on same-sex marriage in the United States and same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. Public transportation in the Memphis area is provided by the Memphis Area Transit Authority (http://www.matatransit.com), which provides the area with buses and a downtown trolley system that is also in the process of expanding into a regional system. Following a November 2003 decision of the state's Supreme Court, Massachusetts became the first state to issue same-sex marriage licenses on May 17, 2004. The future interstates of I-22 and I-69 are also planned to converge into the Memphis area.

When informed that the Democratic National Convention would be in Boston, House Majority Leader Dick Armey remarked, "If I were a Democrat, I suspect I'd feel a heck of a lot more comfortable in Boston than, say, America." While campaigning in the western part of the country, President Bush would often jab, "My opponent says he's in touch with the West, but sometimes I think he means Western Massachusetts." The stump speech that he used at many of his campaign stops included many such disparaging remarks directed at Massachusetts and New England in general. The interstates of I-40 and I-55 (along with rail lines) cross the Mississippi at Memphis into the state of Arkansas. During the 2004 Presidential Election, Massachusetts was the target of many GOP regionalist attacks along the campaign trail. Interstate highways I-40, its spur highway I-240 and I-55 are the main freeways in the Memphis area. During the Colonial period, Massachusetts was one of the leading states in the fight for independence. The Memphis metopolitan area encompasses the counties of Fayette, Tipton, and Shelby in Tennessee, DeSoto, Marshall, Tate, Tunica in Mississippi, and Crittenden in Arkansas. The liberal tendencies of Massachusetts extend throughout American history: in the 19th century, Massachusetts was a center of abolitionism, having been the first state to abolish slavery by law. Census.

Two of these governors, Paul Cellucci and Jane Swift took office when their predecessors resigned to take other positions. The Memphis metropolitan area has a populuation of 1,195,977, according to the 2000 U.S. Although Republicans have held the governor's office continuously from 1991 to the present, many of these (especially William Weld, the first of the recent lineage of Republican governors) are considered among the most moderate or progressive Republicans in the nation. Memphis is the primary city of a metropolitan region including parts of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Congress. Major Memphis parks include Tom Lee Park, Audubon Park, Overton Park and the Memphis Botanic Garden. state represented by one party in the U.S. The total area is 5.24% water.

It is the home of the Kennedy family of political fame, and routinely votes for the Democratic Party in federal elections. As of 2004, it is by far the largest U.S. 723.4 km² (279.3 mi²) of it is land and 40.0 km² (15.4 mi²) of it is water. Massachusetts has a reputation as being a politically liberal state, and is often used as an archetype of liberalism in the U.S. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 763.4 km² (294.8 mi²). The most populated part of western Massachusetts is the "Pioneer Valley", alongside the Connecticut River, which flows across Western Massachusetts from north to south. Memphis is located at 35°7'3" North, 89°58'16" West (35.117365, -89.971068)¹. Western Massachusetts is more rural and sparsely populated, especially in the Berkshires, the branch of the Appalachian Mountains which forms the western border of the state. See also: List of mayors of Memphis.

Most of the population of the Boston metropolitan area (approximately 5,800,000) does not live in the city; eastern Massachusetts on the whole is fairly densely populated and largely suburban. There has been in recent years the idea thrown around of the potential of the merger of county government of Shelby County and City of Memphis into a metropolitan government similar to that in Nashville. Boston is the largest city, located at the inmost point of Massachusetts Bay, at the mouth of the Charles River, the longest river entirely within Massachusetts. Herenton served for 12 years as the superintendent of Memphis City Schools. A few cities and towns on the Massachusetts–Rhode Island border are also adjacent to Narragansett Bay. Prior to his election, Dr. Massachusetts is known as the Bay State because of the several large bays that give its coastline its distinctive shape: Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod Bay on the state's east coast, and Buzzards Bay to the south. He was elected for the first time in 1991, when he became Memphis' first black mayor.

The islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket lie to the south of Cape Cod. Herenton is currently serving his fourth consecutive term as Mayor. At the southeastern corner of the state is a large, sandy, arm-shaped peninsula called Cape Cod. Dr. Massachusetts is bordered on the north by New Hampshire and Vermont, on the west by New York, on the south by Connecticut and Rhode Island, and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. Herenton. Massachusetts is commonly referred to by residents both as "the state" and as "the Commonwealth." For example, on March 22, 2005, one Boston Globe story said that opponents of a proposal saw it as "burdening the state with more law schools than it needs," while another published the same day noted that "the Commonwealth faces difficult spending choices.". W.

In his "Life and Works", Adams wrote: "There is, however, a peculiar sense in which the words republic, commonwealth, popular state, are used by English and French writers, who mean by them a democracy, a government in one centre, and that centre a single assembly, chosen at stated periods by the people and invested with the whole sovereignty, the whole legislative, executive and judicial power to be included in a body or by committees as they shall think proper." Source: [1] (http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cismaf/mf1a.htm). W. In this draft, Part Two of the Constitution, under the heading "Frame of Government", states, "that the people...form themselves into a free, sovereign, and independent body politic, or state by the name of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts." The first draft of the Constitution, and all acts and resolves up to 1780, had used the name "State of Massachusetts Bay"; but since the adoption of the second draft of the Constitution the state has always been referred to as The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The current mayor of Memphis is Dr. The name "Commonwealth" for Massachusetts can be traced to the second draft of the state Constitution, written by John Adams and accepted by the people in 1780. This plan provides for nine districts, seven with one representative each and two districts with three representatives each. There may have been some anti-monarchic sentiment informing the use of the word Commonwealth, which was also used to mean 'republic'. In 1995, the council adopted a new district plan which changed council positions to all districts.

In the era leading up to 1780, when the state Constitution was ratified, the word Commonwealth was the preferred term among political writers for a whole body of people constituting a nation or state. The new city charter provided for the election of a mayor and thirteen council members, six elected at large from throughout the city and seven elected from geographic districts. federal government's use of the term "commonwealth" to refer to the status of certain insular areas such as Puerto Rico. Since 1966, Memphis has been governed by the "weak mayor" form of mayor-council government. states that use the name "Commonwealth"; the others are Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky; this is distinct from the U.S. "Boss" Crump. It is one of four U.S. H.

Massachusetts is officially termed "the Commonwealth of Massachusetts" (rather than "State") by its constitution. From the 1910s to the 1950s, Memphis was a hotbed of machine politics under the direction of E. Retrieved March 24, 2005)
* Celebrated only in Suffolk County (Boston, Chelsea, Revere, Winthrop). In 1897, Memphis' pyramid-shaped pavilion was a conspicuous part of the Tennessee Centennial exposition. Secretary of the Commonwealth Massachusetts web page (http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cismaf/mf1a.htm). A yellow fever epidemic in 1870 greatly reduced the population for many years thereafter. (Galvin, William F., (2005). At the conclusion of the Battle of Memphis on June 6, 1862 during the American Civil War, Union forces captured Memphis from Confederate control.

Whenever a holiday falls on a Sunday it is observed on the following Monday. The city was founded in 1819 and incorporated as a city in 1826. Constitution, Amendments, Article CXX (November, 1990). The French built Fort Prudhomme in the vicinity. Mass. The Spanish explorer, Hernando de Soto, is believed to have visited what is now the Memphis area. 1. Memphis was settled by the Chickasaw tribe.