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Massachusetts
People
Every state of the Union has given birth to people who have left a lasting impression on our history and culture. The following native Bay Staters have played distinctive roles.
Born in Massachusetts
| Famous Bay Staters | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Born / Died | Place | ||||
| John Adams
President of the United States, Signer: Declaration of Independence, Political philosopher, Diplomat, Politician, Lawyer, Teacher |
Born: | October 30, 1735 | Braintree (now Quincy) | |||
| Died: | July 4, 1826 | Quincy | ||||
| John Quincy Adams
President of the United States, Diplomat, Politician, |
Born: | July 11, 1767 | Braintree (now Quincy) | |||
| Died: | February 23, 1848 | Washington, D.C. | ||||
| Samuel Adams
Politician, Writer, Statesman, Governor, Political philosopher, Brewer |
Born: | September 16, 1722 | Boston | |||
| Died: | October 2, 1803 | Boston | ||||
| Jonathan George "Jack" Albertson
Actor, Entertainer |
Born: | June 16, 1910 | Malden | |||
| Died: | November 25, 1981 | Hollywood, Calif. | ||||
| Jane Alexander
(born Jane Quigley) Actress, Author |
Born: | October 28, 1939 | Boston | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Horatio Alger, Jr.
Writer |
Born: | January 13, 1832 | Chelsea (now Revere) | |||
| Died: | July 18, 1899 | Natick | ||||
| Susan Brownell Anthony
Social activist, Teacher |
Born: | February 15, 1820 | Adams | |||
| Died: | March 13, 1906 | Rochester, N.Y. | ||||
| Francis "F." Lee Bailey
Defense attorney |
Born: | June 10, 1933 | Waltham | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Clara Harlow Barton
Founder: American Red Cross, Humanitarian, Teacher |
Born: | December 25, 1821 | Oxford | |||
| Died: | April 12, 1912 | Glen Echo, Md. | ||||
| Katharine Lee Bates
Educator, Author |
Born: | August 12, 1859 | Falmouth | |||
| Died: | March 28, 1929 | Wellesley | ||||
| Leonard Bernstein
(born Louis Leonard Bernstein) Conductor, Composer, Author, Pianist |
Born: | August 25, 1918 | Lawrence | |||
| Died: | October 14, 1990 | New York, N.Y. | ||||
| Forrest M. Bird
Inventor, Aeromedical scientist, Pilot |
Born: | June 9, 1921 | Stoughton | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Harold Stephen Black
Electrical engineer |
Born: | April 14, 1898 | Leominster | |||
| Died: | December 11, 1983 | Summit, N.J. | ||||
| Ray Bolger
(born Raymond Wallace Bulcao) Entertainer, Actor |
Born: | January 10, 1904 | Dorchester | |||
| Died: | January 15, 1987 | Los Angeles, Calif. | ||||
| Rachel Fuller Brown
Organic chemist, Inventor |
Born: | November 23, 1898 | Springfield | |||
| Died: | January 14, 1980 | Albany, N.Y. | ||||
| William Cullen Bryant
Poet |
Born: | November 3, 1794 | Cummington | |||
| Died: | June 12, 1878 | New York, N.Y. | ||||
| Charles Bulfinch
Architect |
Born: | August 8, 1763 | Boston | |||
| Died: | April 4, 1844 | Boston | ||||
| Luther Burbank
Plant breeder, Horticulturist |
Born: | March 7, 1849 | Lancaster | |||
| Died: | April 11, 1926 | Santa Rosa, Calif. | ||||
| George Herbert Walker Bush
President of the United States, Politician, Businessman |
Born: | June 12, 1924 | Milton | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| John Chapman
(aka Johnny Appleseed) Nurseryman, Missionary |
Born: | September 26, 1774 | Leominster | |||
| Died: | March 18?, 1845 | near Fort Wayne, Ind. | ||||
| Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane
Baseball player, Manager |
Born: | April 6, 1903 | Bridgewater | |||
| Died: | June 28, 1962 | Lake Forest, Ill. | ||||
| William David Coolidge
Physicist, Electrical engineer, Inventor |
Born: | October 23, 1873 | Hudson | |||
| Died: | February 3, 1975 | Schenectady, N.Y. | ||||
| Anthony Richard "Tony" Conigliaro
Baseball player |
Born: | January 7, 1945 | Revere | |||
| Died: | February 24, 1990 | Salem | ||||
| John Singleton Copley
Painter |
Born: | July 3, 1738 | Boston | |||
| Died: | September 9, 1815 | London, England | ||||
| Edward Estlin "E.E." Cummings
Poet, Painter |
Born: | October 14, 1894 | Cambridge | |||
| Died: | September 3, 1962 | North Conway, N.H. | ||||
| Jane Therese Curtin
Actress, Comedienne |
Born: | September 6, 1947 | Cambridge | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon
Actor, Screenwriter |
Born: | October 8, 1970 | Cambridge | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis
Actress |
Born: | January 21, 1956 | Wareham | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Bette Davis
(born Ruth Elizabeth Davis) Actress |
Born: | April 5, 1908 | Lowell | |||
| Died: | October 6, 1989 | Neuilly-sur-Seine, France | ||||
| Cecil Blount DeMille
(used "deMille" in personal life) Filmmaker |
Born: | August 12, 1881 | Ashfield | |||
| Died: | January 29, 1959 | Hollywood, Calif. | ||||
| Emily Elizabeth Dickinson
Poet |
Born: | December 10, 1830 | Amherst | |||
| Died: | May 15, 1886 | Amherst | ||||
| Olympia Dukakis
Actress |
Born: | June 20, 1931 | Lowell | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Ralph Waldo Emerson
Essayist, Poet, Transcendentalist, Lecturer |
Born: | May 25, 1803 | Boston | |||
| Died: | April 27, 1882 | Concord | ||||
| Benjamin Franklin
Signer: Declaration of Independence, Publisher, Printer, Inventor, Author, Diplomat, Scientist, Politician |
Born: | January 17, 1706 | Boston | |||
| Died: | April 17, 1790 | Philadelphia, Penn. | ||||
| Richard Buckminster Fuller
Architect, Inventor, Author, Poet |
Born: | July 12, 1895 | Milton | |||
| Died: | July 1, 1983 | Los Angeles, Calif. | ||||
| Theodor Seuss Geisel
(aka Dr. Seuss) Writer, Cartoonist |
Born: | March 2, 1904 | Springfield | |||
| Died: | September 24, 1991 | La Jolla, Calif. | ||||
| Robert Hutchings Goddard
Professor, Physicist, Inventor |
Born: | October 5, 1882 | Worcester | |||
| Died: | August 10, 1945 | Baltimore, Md. | ||||
| Edward Everett Hale
Clergyman, Writer |
Born: | April 3, 1822 | Boston | |||
| Died: | June 10, 1909 | Roxbury | ||||
| John Hancock
Signer: Declaration of Independence, Businessman, Politician |
Born: | January 12, 1737 | Braintree (now Quincy) | |||
| Died: | October 8, 1793 | Quincy | ||||
| Nathaniel Hawthorne
(born born Nathaniel Hathorne) Writer |
Born: | July 4, 1804 | Salem | |||
| Died: | May 19, 1864 | Plymouth, N.H. | ||||
| Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Physician, Writer, Poet |
Born: | August 29, 1809 | Cambridge | |||
| Died: | October 7, 1894 | Cambridge | ||||
| Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Supreme Court Justice, Historian, Philosopher |
Born: | March 8, 1841 | Boston | |||
| Died: | March 6, 1935 | Washington, D.C. | ||||
| Winslow Homer
Painter |
Born: | February 24, 1836 | Boston | |||
| Died: | September 29, 1910 | Prouts Neck, Me. | ||||
| Elias Howe
Inventor, Machinist |
Born: | July 9, 1819 | Spencer | |||
| Died: | October 3, 1867 | Brooklyn, N.Y. | ||||
| Helen Maria Hunt Jackson
Poet, Novelist |
Born: | October 15, 1830 | Amherst | |||
| Died: | August 12, 1885 | San Francisco, Calif. | ||||
| James Jackson Jarves
Newspaper editor, Author, Art critic/collector |
Born: | 1818 | Boston | |||
| Died: | 1888 | Tarasp, Switzerland | ||||
| William Le Baron Jenney
(Father of the American skyscraper) Architect, Engineer |
Born: | September 25, 1832 | Fairhaven | |||
| Died: | June 15, 1907 | Los Angeles, Calif. | ||||
| Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy
Politician, Lawyer |
Born: | February 22, 1932 | Brookline | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| John Fitzgerald Kennedy
President of the United States, Politician, Lawyer |
Born: | May 29, 1917 | Brookline | |||
| Died: | November 22, 1963 | Dallas, Tx. | ||||
| Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy
Lawyer, Politician |
Born: | November 20, 1925 | Brookline | |||
| Died: | June 6, 1968 | Los Angeles, Calif. | ||||
| Jack Kerouac
Novelist, Writer, Poet, Artist |
Born: | March 12, 1922 | Lowell | |||
| Died: | October 21, 1969 | St. Petersburg, Fla. | ||||
| John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III
Actor |
Born: | February 8, 1925 | Newton | |||
| Died: | June 27, 2001 | Los Angeles, Calif. | ||||
| Henry Cabot Lodge
Politician, Statesman, Historian |
Born: | May 12, 1850 | Boston | |||
| Died: | November 9, 1924 | Cambridge | ||||
| Amy Lawrence Lowell
Poet, Lecturer |
Born: | February 9, 1874 | Brookline | |||
| Died: | May 12, 1925 | Brookline | ||||
| Percival Lowell
Astronomer, Businessman |
Born: | March 13, 1855 | Boston | |||
| Died: | November 12, 1916 | Flagstaff, Ariz. | ||||
| James Russell Lowell
Poet, Critic, Essayist |
Born: | February 22, 1819 | Cambridge | |||
| Died: | August 12, 1891 | Cambridge | ||||
| Robert Traill Spence Lowell, Jr.
Poet |
Born: | March 1, 1917 | Boston | |||
| Died: | September 12, 1977 | New York, N.Y. | ||||
| Horace Mann
Educator, Abolitionist, Reformer |
Born: | May 4, 1796 | Franklin | |||
| Died: | August 2, 1859 | Yellow Springs, Ohio | ||||
| Rocky Marciano
(born Rocco Francis Marchegiano) Boxer |
Born: | September 1, 1923 | Brockton | |||
| Died: | August 31, 1969 | Des Moines, Iowa | ||||
| Cotton Mather
Minister, Author |
Born: | February 12, 1663 | Boston | |||
| Died: | February 13, 1728 | Boston | ||||
| Sharon Christa Corrigan McAuliffe
Teacher, Astronaut |
Born: | September 2, 1948 | Boston | |||
| Died: | January 28, 1986 | Cape Canaveral, Fla. | ||||
| Jo-Dee Marie Messina
Singer, Songwriter |
Born: | August 25, 1970 | Holliston | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Dwight Lyman "D.L." Moody
Evangelist, Publisher |
Born: | February 5, 1837 | East Northfield | |||
| Died: | December 22, 1899 | Northfield | ||||
| Agnes Robertson Moorehead
Actress |
Born: | December 6, 1900 | Clinton | |||
| Died: | April 30, 1974 | Rochester, Minn. | ||||
| Samuel Finley Breese Morse
Painter, Inventor |
Born: | April 27, 1791 | Charlestown | |||
| Died: | April 2, 1872 | New York, N.Y. | ||||
| Leonard Simon Nimoy
Actor, Director, Poet, Photographer, Musician |
Born: | March 26, 1931 | Boston | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| James Otis, Jr.
Lawyer |
Born: | February 5, 1725 | Barnstable | |||
| Died: | May 23, 1783 | Andover | ||||
| Robert Treat Paine
Signer: Declaration of Independence, Jurist, Politician |
Born: | March 11, 1731 | Boston | |||
| Died: | May 11, 1814 | Boston | ||||
| George Peabody
Merchant, Financier |
Born: | February 18, 1795 | South Danvers (now Peabody) | |||
| Died: | November 4, 1869 | London, England | ||||
| Albert Pike
Attorney, Confederate officer, Writer |
Born: | December 29, 1809 | Boston | |||
| Died: | April 2, 1891 | Washington, D.C. | ||||
| Edgar Allan Poe
Poet, Writer, Critic, Editor |
Born: | January 19, 1809 | Boston | |||
| Died: | October 7, 1849 | Baltimore, Md. | ||||
| Paul Revere
Metalsmith, Merchant |
Born: | January 1, 1735 | Boston | |||
| Died: | May 10, 1818 | Boston | ||||
| Robert H. Rines
Professor, Lawyer, Inventor, Researcher, Composer |
Born: | August 30, 1922 | Boston | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Lucy Stone
Lecterer, Abolitionist, Suffragist |
Born: | August 13, 1818 | West Brookfield | |||
| Died: | October 18, 1893 | Dorchester | ||||
| Louis Henry Sullivan
Architect |
Born: | September 3, 1856 | Boston | |||
| Died: | April 14, 1924 | Chicago, Ill. | ||||
| James Vernon Taylor
Singer, Songwriter, Musician |
Born: | March 12, 1948 | Belmont | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Henry David Thoreau
(born David Henry Thoreau) Essayist, Naturalist, Transcendentalist, Philosopher, Poet |
Born: | July 12, 1817 | Concord | |||
| Died: | May 6, 1862 | Concord | ||||
| Max Tishler
Chemist |
Born: | October 30, 1906 | Boston | |||
| Died: | March 18, 1989 | Middletown, Conn. | ||||
| John Francis "Jack" Welch, Jr.
Businessman, CEO, Chairman |
Born: | November 19, 1935 | Peabody | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Painter, Etcher |
Born: | July 11, 1834 | Lowell | |||
| Died: | July 17, 1903 | London, England | ||||
| Eli Whitney
Inventor, Mechanical engineer, Manufacturer |
Born: | December 8, 1765 | Westborough | |||
| Died: | January 8, 1825 | New Haven, Conn. | ||||
| John Greenleaf Whittier
Poet, Abolitionist |
Born: | December 17, 1807 | near Haverhill | |||
| Died: | September 7, 1892 | Hampton Falls | ||||
| Steven Alexander Wright
Comedian, Actor, Writer |
Born: | December 6, 1955 | Burlington | |||
| Died: | ||||||
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