Pioneer Valley - Culture - Springfield

Springfield

Springfield's cultural contributions to the United States and world at large have been so numerous that here, only brief descriptions of very important national and international cultural milestones will be mentioned.

As of 2011, Springfield's most famous cultural contribution worldwide is basketball, currently the world's 2nd most popular sport. That said, the "City of Progress" produced three other innovations, not nearly as well publicized, but which have proven to have proven to be just as significant, if not more so, to the world at large. In 1892-93, the first, functional, American gasoline-powered car was produced at the Stacy Building in Springfield by the Duryea Brothers. The Duryea's car also won the world's first automobile race in 1895 in Chicago. In 1901, the first motorcycle company in the world was "Indian", produced in Springfield; in 1905, the first modern fire engines in the world were produced by Knox Automobile, (which made Springfield's fire department the first modern fire department in the world;) and lastly, the first commercial radio station in the U.S. was broadcast from Springfield's luxurious Hotel Kimball in 1921.

Of national importance, Springfield featured the United States' first witch trial in 1646 - decades before the Salem Witch Trials; and a few years later in 1650, a Springfielder wrote the New World's first banned book, The Meritous Price of Our Redemption by William Pynchon. Pynchon was the founder of the city of Springfield. His book, expressing views contrary to Puritan Calvinist doctrine, caused him to be brought before the high court in Boston and accused of heresy. He later to return to England.

In Springfield, in 1860, Milton Bradley invented and produced his popular parlor games, including the still popular The Game of Life. Also in Springfield, Dr. Seuss grew up, and wrote several of the works for which he is now best known, (e.g. And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.) Psychiatrist and LSD activist Timothy Leary - the man who influenced a generations to "turn on, tune in, drop out" - was born and educated in Springfield. Earlier, from 1846–1850, John Brown, the famed abolitionist, lived in Springfield, where he met, for the first time the national leaders of the abolition movement like Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth. In Springfield, in response to the Fugitive Slave Act, John Brown founded his first militant anti-slavery organization, The League of Gileadites. Brown's years in Springfield have often been called his "transformative years."

To the extent that military history adds to a place's culture, Springfield's history is notably rich, beginning with the 1675 Attack on Springfield during King Phillip's War. Later, events such as George Washington's and Henry Knox's founding of the Springfield Armory atop a bluff in the town made Springfield one of the U.S. military's most important sites for centuries. Shays's Rebellion, which led directly to the U.S. Constitution, occurred at the Armory ten years after Washington's founding of it - and also forced him to come out of retirement.

As regards literary works, the world's first American-English dictionary was published in Springfield in 1806, and is still published in the city by Merriam Webster. Also, the first comprehensive, major United States history book was written by Springfielder George Bancroft in 1830.

To the extent that cultural contributions comprise invention, innovation, and progress, Springfield has been, historically, one of the nation's most innovative cities. In 1819, inventor Thomas Blanchard invented the lathe in Springfield, which would catalyze manufacturing developments now known the world over as interchangeable parts and the assembly line. In 1825, Blanchard also built the first American car, a "horseless carriage," which was powered by steam. In 1844, inventor Charles Goodyear perfected and patented his process for making vulcanized rubber in Springfield - as of 2011, as it has been for many years previous, Goodyear's name is known the world over for rubber production.

Other major cultural contributions from Springfield include the first U.S. postcard in 1873; the first American, national horse show in 1853; the first American dog show - and even the first American friction match in 1834.