Coolidge Museum News and Articles

The Trustees of Forbes Library cordially invite you to the Gertrude P. Smith Trustees Award Ceremony to honor Richard Szlosek for his dedication and volunteer service to Forbes Library on Wednesday, April 2, at 6:30 PM in the Coolidge Museum at the Forbes Library.
 
The event will begin with a brief business meeting of the Friends of Forbes Library followed by a presentation by Trustee Award winner, Richard Szlosek, who will read excerpts from his two recently printed anthologies, Essays on Coolidge and Some Thoughts from Rich’s Corner and share tales of Northampton history.
 
Richard is a lifelong Northampton resident and an alum of Amherst College and Western New England Law. He worked in the Szlosek family owned Imperial Bakery before becoming a family law attorney. He began writing after taking a Learning in Retirement course and wrote a column “slice of life” in the Daily Hampshire Gazette and is a frequent contributor to the Gazette and the Conz Street Chronicle. He has volunteered in the Coolidge Museum since 2010 as a tour guide, researcher, writer and board member.
 
We hope you can join us for this special evening.
 
I suppose you could call me a “rememberist” as I often seemed to write nostalgic essays, mostly because I have always been proud of my hometown. ~ Richard Szlosek in the introduction to Some Thoughts From Rich’s Corner

Printed in the March 4, 2025 Daily Hampshire Gazette

Calvin Coolidge’s initial presidential inauguration will forever be unique in American history. He was vice president and vacationing at his father’s home in Vermont. Upon learning of the sudden death of President Harding, he was sworn in there on Aug. 3, 1923, in the wee hours of the morning. The ceremony took place in the living room of his father’s home, which had no electricity or phone service.

To add to the singularity of the event, the oath of office was administered by his father, who was a notary public. It was witnessed by a half-dozen people, including his wife, Grace, and it was an incredibly informal swearing-in event for someone assuming the presidency. (Years later it was revealed that federal court judge, Adolph Hoehling, had re-administered the oath to Coolidge n a private ceremony in Washington on Aug. 21, 1923.)

Since that night, Coolidge had shed the onus of being an accidental president by winning his own four-year term in the election of 1924. On March 4, 1925, just 19 months after his first inauguration, Coolidge underwent his second one with all the public formalities and celebrations associated with the assumption of the nation’s highest office. There is a photo of Coolidge seated in the back of a car with Kansas Sen. Charles Curtis, who would become vice president under Hoover. Coolidge looks quite pleased. In between the two men sits Grace Coolidge and she is beaming with her big smile that charmed Washington society and the nation.

On this occasion, Coolidge was given the oath of office by Chief Justice William Howard Taft, who had served as president from 1908 to 1912. Coolidge took the oath with his left hand on a Bible that had been a gift to him from his mother. It marked the first time a former chief executive had sworn in another president.

It is interesting to note that when Taft led the nation, Coolidge was mayor of Northampton. In just 15 years, he had gone from being the leader of a small city to leader of the nation. In another first that day, the inauguration was broadcast across the country on radio. It is probable that more Americans heard Coolidge’s voice that day than any other president up to that time.

In keeping with Coolidge’s sense of modesty, the entire inauguration ceremony was a low-key affair. The parade was barely an hour long and there would be no fancy ball that evening. The president, whom the press would categorize as “Silent Cal,” gave one of the longest inaugural addresses on record. One reporter wrote that it was nearly as long as the parade. The Coolidges had celebrated the previous evening with a state dinner and being guests of honor at a performance of the opera “Aida.”

The next day the newspaper stories focused more on Vice President Charles Dawes than on Coolidge. Dawes, whose chief duty was to preside over the Senate, was sworn in by the president pro tem of that body. He then chose to make a blistering speech in which he vilified the Senate and its customs. The unanticipated nastiness of that talk created a ripple of excitement and the press latched on to it. Coolidge was reportedly quite upset at Dawes’ stealing the spotlight from him, and the relationship between the two men remained chilly for the entire four-year term.

Coolidge quickly became the center of attention again. His quiet dignity and devotion to duty were appreciated by the nation and he always remained highly popular. He had steered the country through the Harding scandals and his cool, calm leadership was just what the nation required as the world rapidly changed. Radio sales were proliferating, and Coolidge recognized the new medium’s importance. He made 40 radio talks during his term, which helped solidify his popularity. The first talking motion pictures happened during his term and Coolidge was the first president to make a short talking film. Voters always appreciated Coolidge’s sense of fiscal restraint and that he kept taxes low. He, in turn, was fortunate that the economy was good and that there were no international conflicts on the immediate horizon.

If he had chosen to run again, Coolidge likely could have had a third inauguration. Instead, he chose to return to Northampton and his rented home, hoping for the privacy he longed for after more than a quarter-century of public service. Less than four years after that return, a shocked nation learned on Jan. 5, 1933, that Calvin Coolidge, age 60, was dead. Maintaining the sense of a modest lifestyle, the family opted for a quick funeral in Northampton rather than an elaborate state funeral in Boston or Washington.

Only two days after his death, Coolidge was buried in the family plot in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. The 30th president was now at rest.

Richard Szlosek lives in Northampton.

Tuesday March 4 is Centennial Giving Day

March 4, 1925 Supreme Court Justice and former President William Howard Taft administer the oath to President Calvin Coolidge.

We have chosen this historic date of the 100th anniversary of President Coolidge’s inauguration to kick off a $400,000 fundraising campaign for a new Museum exhibit and program space.  

Thanks to generous giving and support, we have recently hired Design Division of Amherst, Massachusetts to begin the process with us of designing new engaging and thought provoking exhibits and an improved multi functional program space.  We are excited to re-imagine the Coolidge Museum as we continue to celebrate the centennial of the Coolidge administration.  

Please join with others in our community to make a difference by taking part in Centennial Giving Day on March 4. Here is how you can help with this exciting project:

• Consider making a gift today. $100 for the 100th anniversary!
• Share this with a friend.
• Join a committee! The Coolidge Museum Standing Committee or one of its subcommittees- Programming, Marketing, Development or Exhibits. 
• Recruit a friend to volunteer on a committee or as a Museum guide or for a remote research project. 
• Share Coolidge resources with teachers and history lovers
  Forbes Library archives database including over 4000 images related to Coolidge https://archives.forbeslibrary.org/ or Watch or share a recording of a past program 
• In early summer we will have conceptual drawings to share and will host a public listening session to provide feedback and learn more! 

We are grateful for your support and hope we can count on you to share and participate in creating new Coolidge Museum exhibits and an upgraded general program space. 

Thank you for your help in every way, and please know how much we appreciate your part in making us the terrific community we are.   

Make your gift go even farther by making a recurring donation and become a member of Cal’s Pals and receive a set of Coolidge bookmarks.

On behalf of The Trustees of Forbes Library, the Board of the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum invites exhibition design firms to submit proposals to work with the Head of the Coolidge Museum, Forbes Library Director and Coolidge Museum Exhibits Committee to re-envision and reimagine the Coolidge Museum space.  

Request for Proposal

We encourage you to make an appointment for a physical or virtual walk through of the space or request additional information.

Contact Coolidge@forbeslibrary.org or 413-587-1014

For more information, contact: Julie Bartlett Nelson, coolidge@forbeslibrary.org or 413-587-1014.
Make a Gift

As the centennial of the presidency of Calvin Coolidge is being marked, the library and museum which bears the name of the 30th U.S. president has launched the first public fundraising campaign in its history. The campaign comes as plans are underway to upgrade the exhibits and modernize the museum space for the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at the Forbes Library in Northampton.

The museum, which receives no federal or state funds and has never charged an admission fee, has remained basically unchanged since it opened in 1956.  It is the only presidential museum situated within a public library and operates with a budget that comes from a small endowment, minimal city funds and voluntary contributions.

“This centennial of Calvin Coolidge’s presidency seems an appropriate time to launch this public fundraising effort,” said J.R. Greene, chair of the museum’s standing committee.  “We are pursuing plans to revamp the museum to make it a place that attracts new generations to learn and understand Coolidge’s story and his legacy to our nation.”

The plans to revamp the museum are to begin later this summer with a request for design proposals.  Preliminary estimates are that this phase will cost about $30,000. The revitalization effort, added Greene, “will greatly strengthen the museum’s mission to give our visitors a well-balanced historical account of Coolidge’s political and family life.”

The Coolidge library and museum preserves and makes available for research materials that document the public and private life of the man who also served as mayor of Northampton and governor of Massachusetts.  It was in Northampton that Coolidge began his political career and where he returned to live after the White House. The collection also includes materials related to first lady Grace Goodhue Coolidge and their sons, John and Calvin Jr.

The museum dates to 1920 when, as governor and vice president-elect, Calvin Coolidge began giving documents and memorabilia to Forbes Library.  He continued to add other materials during his presidency and upon leaving the White House until his death in 1933.The library, upon the request of Grace Coolidge, formally established the “Calvin Coolidge Memorial Room” as a separate entity.

The Coolidge collection includes the memorabilia from Coolidge’s law office in Northampton, his personal papers, the Howard Chandler Christy portraits of the president and first lady and the famous electric exercise horse that he used in the White House when the Secret Service advised against horseback riding.

The museum’s meeting space is also regularly used by a variety of public groups throughout the year, and they, too, will benefit from a more modern, up-to-date facility.

Visit the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum’s website to learn more about the museum and to make a gift.

Press Release – For immediate release

Contact: Lisa Downing, Library Director, director@forbeslibrary.org or 413-587-1016

The Calvin Coolidge Standing Committee of the Forbes Library Board of Trustees voted at its Sept. 11, 2023 meeting to support the joint statement of thirteen presidential foundations and centers “regarding the future of our nation and an urgent call to action for all Americans.” The library’s Board of Trustees also endorsed the statement at its Sept. 21 meeting.

The joint statement, released on Sept. 7, reminds citizens, “As a diverse nation of people with different backgrounds and beliefs, democracy holds us together. We are a country rooted in the rule of law, where the protection of the rights of all people is paramount. At the same time, we live among our fellow citizens, underscoring the importance of compassion, tolerance, pluralism, and respect for others.”  

It goes on to say that “Civility and respect in political discourse, whether in an election year or otherwise, are essential,” warning that the world is watching “our own house in disarray.”

“Each of us has a role to play and responsibilities to uphold,” the statement continues. “Our elected officials must lead by example and govern effectively in ways that deliver for the American people.” The statement admonishes citizens to “engage in civil dialogue; respect democratic institutions and rights; uphold safe, secure, and accessible elections; and contribute to local, state, or national improvement.”

In adding the Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum’s voice to the statement, Standing Committee President J.R. Greene said, “Coolidge was a true conservative, believing that the system of government established by the founding fathers was the best in the world. He stated that, ‘Democracy is obedience to the rule of the people.’ He also spoke of the ‘righteousness of democracy,’ and that ‘its foundation lays hold upon eternity.’ 

Greene added, “Coolidge also observed, ‘the difference between despotism and democracy is not a difference in the requirement of obedience, it is a difference in rulers.’  He stated, ‘We are very proud of our democracy. We are very proud of our form of government. We believe that there is no other nation on earth that gives to the individual the privileges and rights that he has in America.’”

“In light of this philosophy,” Greene concluded, “our board voted unanimously to endorse the Presidential Libraries declaration.”

The joint statement was released by the George W. Bush Presidential Center and was co-signed by presidential centers and foundations from Presidents Hoover through Obama, with the exception of the Eisenhower Foundation. 

Established in 1920, the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum collects, preserves and makes available for research materials documenting the public and private life of Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933).  Manuscripts, artifacts and exhibits cover his political career from Northampton to Boston to the White House and his post-presidential years as a Northampton resident. The Collection also includes materials related to Grace Goodhue Coolidge (1879-1957) and sons John (1906-2000) and Calvin Jr. (1908-1924).

The Daily Hampshire Gazette published this excellent local historical & biographical article by Bob Flaherty on August 3, 2023. (includes 9 photos)

The Daily Hampshire Gazette published this article on August 3, 2023, the 100th anniversary of Calvin Coolidge’s swearing in as the 30th President of the United States. (includes 11 photos)