USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Andover > Andover: symbol of New England; the evolution of a town > Part 37
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The fact that times had changed was indicated by the con- stituency of this committee. On the list was not a single Abbott, either with one "t" or two "t's," and no Foster, Holt, Lovejoy, or Stevens. Some of those named were relatively new to An- dover, but all were familiar with and interested in its history. One of them, Mr. Lewis, had participated in the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary ceremonies in 1896 and even, for the edification of his colleagues, recalled some of the speeches. Sev- eral members represented important business and commercial interests in the town. Everybody knew everybody else by his or her first name. They met frequently in a drab and dismal room in the town hall, but the discussions were so lively and absorbing that they soon forgot their surroundings.
The primary desire was to produce a celebration which would not be stuffed with antiquarianism. Commendably ambitious, the committee, meeting in wartime, prepared a preliminary budget of 22,000 dollars, which the town meeting of 1945 re- jected as being too extravagant for a community hitherto dis- tinguished for prudence and economy. Thus warned, the com- mittee reconsidered and emerged with a modest request for 5,000 dollars, exlusive of a projected history of the town, the re- search expense for which was estimated at 2,000 dollars. This revised budget, apparently more in accord with the wishes of the taxpayers, was accepted, and the committee modified its plans accordingly. The program as eventually prepared covered four days and was sufficiently elaborate so that nobody complained.
On Thursday, May go (Memorial Day), 1946, with the Second World War over, the Tercentenary program opened with a service for the veterans of all wars in the Memorial Auditorium,
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with Lieutenant-Colonel Philip K. Allen as the principal speak- er. This was followed by the traditional parade to the Memorial Tower, participated in by old-timers from World War I as well as recently discharged service men in more modern uniforms.
Meanwhile from across the Atlantic had arrived as guests of the town Mayor George D. Young, of Andover, Hampshire County, England, and his official "Mayoress," Mrs. Maud Sains- bury. The bachelor mayor, in accordance with local custom, was entitled to choose his own hostess, whom in this instance he must have appointed because of her charm and graciousness. The committee, not having been notified in advance of this ar- rangement, had naturally engaged what was virtually the bridal suite at the Andover Inn. When the true situation was discov- ered, newspapers all over the United States pounced on what was obviously an unusual item; and Mrs. Sainsbury hastened to telephone her husband of the mistake, which had, of course, been rectified.
To add to the confusion, Mayor Young, accustomed to the climatic surprises of an English May, arrived wearing heavy woolens. The weather happened to be unseasonably warm and, in addition, the heating apparatus in the inn went on a rampage and could not be turned off. Mr. Young, although he was a spe- cialist in this field, was unable to adjust the radiators and had to wait until a plumber could be secured. Even in the open air, under the hot sun, he sweltered and not until he was taken down- town and bought two Palm Beach suits was he at last reasonably comfortable. Despite these disasters, he was uniformly cheerful and carried out an arduous schedule without showing fatigue.
Throughout the proceedings an industrial exhibit was kept open in the Memorial Gymnasium, where Andover manufactur- ers and salesmen displayed their products. It was described as a varied and colorful panorama, ranging from stuffed toy animals to a rubber bridge pontoon made by the Tyer Company, capable of displacing eight hundred and sixty tons of water. Many of the objects had been created by school children in their various de-
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partments. Visited by hundreds of sightseers, this exhibit of- fered a comprehensive and rather thrilling picture of Andover at work, a very different community from the original simple rural settlement of the seventeenth century.
What the town had been and done over the years was shown in the historical pageant on Friday afternoon, when on the Play- stead scenes prepared and personalized by school children were depicted, each in the costumes of its period. The Indian Ridge School, for example, portrayed the crude village of the abo- rigines, the purchase of land from Cutshumache, and the town's incorporation in 1646. The succeeding "episodes" were classi- fied under five headings: educational, social, industrial, politi- cal and religious, and military. Various celebrities associated with Andover appeared one after another: Washington, Lafay- ette, Mrs. Stowe, Emerson, Franklin Pierce, Samuel F. Smith, James Russell Lowell, and others. Such incidents as the witch- craft trials and the Acadian exiles in 1756 lent themselves es- pecially well to this picturesque treatment. The program closed with groups illustrating each of the eight wars in which, up to that date, Andover had taken part. Many a junior citizen learned from this panorama facts about his town which he had never known before.
On Saturday, June 1, athletic sports had been arranged, but the rain descended in torrents, and the baseball game in the aft- ernoon was completely drowned out. In the evening, which was far from agreeable outside, the huge Tercentenary banquet was held in the Case Memorial Building on the Hill. Many distin- guished Americans spoke. President James P. Baxter, III, of Williams College, gave a brilliant historical address. Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal, Governor Maurice J. Tobin, Senator Leverett Saltonstall, Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rog- ers-all these had something friendly and complimentary to say about the Good Old Town. Mayor Young then made his only public address during his visit, bringing greetings not only from the ancient borough of Andover, England, but also from
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his British fellow countrymen. He remarked that Andover, Eng- land, had probably seen more of the American Army than An- dover, Massachusetts, having had five thousand American troops billeted there at one time. He expressed a wish that the close connection established between the English-speaking peoples in wartime would be continued and strengthened in days of peace.
The Worshipful Mayoress, Mrs. Sainsbury, however, stole the show. Bringing greetings particularly from the women of Great Britain, she spoke appreciatively of the warm welcome which she had received; and in a manner which won all hearts she referred to our "lovely wooden houses" and to our "charm- ing children." She closed with a fervent hope that the women of the two nations would help to build a lasting peace-"the heart's desire of all." Her brief but sincere message was followed by deafening applause. Everything considered, it was a good eve- ning with which the Anniversary committee, very critical of themselves, were quite satisfied.
On Sunday morning large congregations filled the local churches to listen to historical addresses. That evening a chorus of two hundred and fifty voices, directed by the versatile J. Ev- erett Collins, gave a sacred concert in the Cochran Chapel, to the accompaniment of its superb organ. Thus, with music, An- dover closed its three-hundredth year. A great deal of time was devoted to preparation for the event, but the results justified the planning and the expense. From the Mayor's parlour in the Municipal Office in England came an official message of good will, saying in part:
We wish to be placed on record that we in Andover, England, be- ing mindful of the bond of friendship and the historic link that has existed between our two towns from the early years of the seven- teenth century, sincerely desire that this bond of friendship shall continue and be strengthened in the future.
From 1646 to 1946! Andover men and women always lock arms and walk together in times of danger and times of rejoicing.
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Responding to emotions of fear and joy, they become united, to the great benefit of the community. World War II and the Ter- centenary thus brought about this result, with the citizens first enduring and then commemorating together. The story of the town comes fittingly to a pause at the end of the first three hun- dred years. All that is needed to round it out is a concluding word of summary and attempted prophecy.
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CHAPTER XXVII
Today's Actualities and Trends
S' TATISTICALLY speaking, the Andover of today covers an area of approximately thirty-one square miles, with a population of almost fourteen thousand, of whom about 20 per cent are fourteen years old or younger and about 11 per cent sixty-five or older. The property valuation must be not far from 23,000,- 000 dollars. Abject poverty is almost unknown within its bor- ders, and the number of those in the upper income brackets is well above the average of the nation. Indeed the standard of living is probably not surpassed by that of any town of its size in New England. The level of education is high, college gradu- ates being numerous and illiteracy very rare.
Andoverians, being fond of their town, are not likely to un- derestimate it; but never has it been put under the sociologist's microscope, like Newburyport ("Yankee City") or Muncie, In- diana ("Middletown"), as a specimen of American "culture." In 1954, however, Andover was selected for one of the five "case studies" conducted under the auspices of the American Library Association and financed by a grant from the Fund for Adult Education. In this completely objective investigation, Andover's Memorial Hall Library was cited as an outstanding example of "Library-Community Interaction." But what is even more in- teresting about this Report, published in a volume entitled Li- brary Education in Action, was its interspersed comment on the quality of our town. Some relevant passages from the article in- dicate the impression made by the community as a whole on an unprejudiced visitor:
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Located within commuting distance of Boston but economically a part of the Lawrence metropolitan area, Andover has become ab- sorbed by neither, retaining its individuality and its small-town char- acter to a marked degree. ... Andover has suffered in the past from the vicissitudes of the textile industry, but the industrial picture has recently exhibited a new vitality in the efforts of local business lead- ers to bring a greater diversity of industry to the entire area. In ad- dition to a wool warehouse, a woolen and worsted mill, and two rub- ber factories, manufacturers in Andover include crayons, chemicals, and silver-plating, while market gardening, poultry and milk dis- tribution are important to the town's economy. Andover is, however, chiefly residential in character, and is becoming part of the rapidly developing "rurban" fringe. The coming of the currently planned new express highway, which will cut across a rural portion of the town, will soon present new problems of zoning and development for the town fathers .. . .
The large majority of residents are of native stock. Some are "old settlers"; some are derived from the English and Scotch skilled tex- tile workers who came to the mills years ago; others, from the Irish, Polish, and French-Canadians who are numbered among the largest national groups in the state; while some come more recently from the Italians and Levantines who have gravitated to the country from the Boston area.
There is a strong nucleus of old families, well educated, with the broadly cultivated but conservative tastes natural to a Boston sub- urb; a fair proportion are retired people. To this older element is now being added an influx of younger families of industrial execu- tives, particularly those drawn in by the establishment in a nearby town of a large new home plant for Western Electric, with the conse- quent transfer of its executive personnel from other areas. Proximity to Boston and Lawrence no doubt accounts for the wide range of oc- cupations, including many phases of business and industry, as well as the service trades and the professions, which is shown in the re- sponses to the questionnaires on library use. The area's historic em- phasis on education is evident not only in the existence of Phillips and Abbot Academies, but also in the fact that the local public high
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school, Punchard High School, operates partially on endowment funds, while there are two institutions of higher learning, Merri- mack College and Lowell State Teachers College, as well as Lowell Textile School, not far away. The questionnaires show that students from at least 11 colleges and universities use the Memorial Hall Li- brary, and that probably a third of its users are college graduates.
While the phrase "the hill, the mill, and the till," (Phillips Acad- emy being located in a commanding position at one end of the town), is still quoted, the participation of the Academy personnel in the life of the town is of such a character that its influence is pervasive, but not the kind of force that arouses general opposition. This is in great part due to the attitude of the administration at Phillips Academy, which has always recognized the extent of its responsibility to the community of which it is an integral part, to a larger degree than is often true of an educational institution which draws its clientele largely from outside the community.
These ties are manifested in many ways. The faculty and their wives contribute their talents to such community organizations as the churches, the League of Women Voters, and the P.T.A. While provision is made for the faculty on the campus, there are many who have homes in the town; their children attend the grade schools. Many Andover families in turn send their sons to Phillips; these graduates have not infrequently returned to Andover after gradua- tion to carry on a business or professional career, the recently retired first selectman for example. The Addison Gallery of the Academy is open to the public; the Academy offers concerts, film and theatrical series, and lectures, many of them without charge, while the public is also invited to lectures and musical programs at Abbot Academy.
This comprehensive Report mentions with respect and praise the Evening Study Program, started in the 1930's by volunteer instructors at Phillips Academy as a means of maintaining com- munity morale in a difficult period and enriching the spare time of adults temporarily out of work. Eventually it became a commendable local enterprise, drawing for its staff on teachers and administrators in the public schools and on qualified men and women in the town as well as on the Hill. It is characteristic
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of contemporary Andover that even after the immediate need was over, the program continued, "open to all men and women regardless of their previous educational opportunities."
If for the moment the library and the Adult Education Pro- gram are being stressed, it is mainly because outsiders investi- gated them and found them good. Actually Andover is today supporting a multiplicity of organizations-ecclesiastical, social, fraternal, educational, industrial-all of them bringing groups of congenial people together for commendable purposes. The mere listing of them would fill a page or more, and each is de- serving of some special mention. It must be a very determined recluse who cannot find in one or two of them an opportunity for relaxation and self-expression. They serve to illustrate the variety of interests which exist among several thousand adult and active Americans; and they also emphasize the inherent heterogeneity of the people who find the town a congenial place of residence. The recent increase in population has brought in new elements, born and trained in other places and perhaps not likely always to agree on such matters as schools and roads and garbage disposal. Many of these newcomers arrive with little knowledge of Andover's past. They are thinking, quite natural- ly, of today-of their comfort, their financial stability, their chil- dren, and sometimes of their church responsibilities.
Whether Andover can assimilate these later arrivals is, of course, a constant problem; and it is equally important that the town should please them. Fortunately most of them are not habitually mobile or migratory. They have come because, for one reason or another, they have been seeking a home. Perhaps their motives are not unlike those which brought the first set- tlers through the virgin forest to Lake Cochichawicke. It is dif- ficult to believe that these recent comers will not, in due season, be interested in the history and traditions of their adopted community. Some of our most loyal native sons and daughters have now and then been critical of the town's policies and pro- cedures, but their animadversions have usually been aimed at
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improvement. This is tremendously important. Theirs has usu- ally been the constructive comment of good citizens, based on the conviction that the truth should never be evaded and will, in the long run, keep us free.
This is the story of Andover's first three centuries, but history continued to be made after 1946. The barbarous invasion of South Korea in June, 1950, united Americans in their decision to resist this new Communist challenge. The country, led by President Truman, undertook what was described as "a police action under the United Nations," but which was actually an- other catastrophic war, carried on in far-off and little-known places. For the third time in a century, Andover's young men were sent off to fight a war, this time a war for which nobody felt any enthusiasm. Once again Andover mothers waited anxiously from one mail to another, wondering when the letters from their sons would cease. At first came retreat and disaster, with mount- ing astonishment at our lack of success. Finally came the gradual driving back of the enemy, and the wearisome negotiations which terminated on July 27, 1953, with what amounted to a truce. The Korean War lasted thirty-seven months and two days, and cost our country more than 150,000 casualties. As time went on, General MacArthur was retired, Dwight D. Eisen- hower was elected President, and Senator McCarthy began, car- ried on, and terminated his spectacular career as an exposer of Communist activities. We were all involved, without knowing precisely why or how, in what Eric F. Goldman called The Cru- cial Decade of 1945-1955.
The military, political, economic, and social events of these fast-speeding years are so close to all of us that they need no de- tailed amplification. In the midst of almost unprecedented ma- terial individual prosperity our people were in an apprehensive mood, feeling that our civilization was precariously near de- struction. While most of us were earning more and spending more than in any previous decade, buying new homes and auto- mobiles and household appliances, our uncertainty about the
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future kept us tense and jittery. The confident American self- assurance of a century before had obviously been weakened. Our mood was far less jaunty and arrogant than it had been when the town held its two hundred and fiftieth anniversary celebration.
Of recent local events, perhaps the most significant has been the opening of Merrimack College, an institution of higher learning established in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine. Starting with a freshman class of one hundred and sixty, it has since had a rapid but healthy growth under the presidency of the Reverend Vincent A. McQuade, O.S.A. It owns and operates a dozen buildings and controls two hundred and fifty acres of land for future development. The enrollment includes not far from one thousand full-time day session undergraduates and more than eight hundred in the evening division, with a facul- ty of more than eighty members. Strategically located and well administered it has performed an increasingly valuable service at a moment when educational facilities everywhere have been inadequate. A liberal admissions policy has accepted Protestants as well as Roman Catholics in the undergraduate body.
Because the physical facilities of the local public schools have proved inadequate for the increasing demands of an expanding population, a completely modern high school has recently been constructed on a plateau to the west of the village. At the same time the traditional name of Punchard High School was changed to Andover High School, and the well-conceived but older struc- ture on the Playstead has become the junior high school. With pride in its educational facilities, the town has always paid its teachers well. With the present arrangements, Andover has no reason to fear comparison with other communities in the Com- monwealth.
The approval by the voters of a selectmen-town manager form of government brings radical changes to a system which has en- dured for more than three centuries, and is indicative of a new spirit on the part of the citizens.
The town is like an adolescent who is outgrowing his clothes
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and requiring larger shoes and shirts and suits. The water, sew- age, and fire departments, subjected to an unprecedented strain, have had to be adjusted to the expansion. New home construc- tion can be observed in almost every section. Parking has become more and more of a problem. Impersonal chain stores are re- placing the former personalized shops in which one greeted the proprietor as an old friend. All these are, of course, signs of the times, characteristic of other American villages from coast to coast, but they are bewildering to the older inhabitants.
Out of this apparent confusion thoughtful observers can trace certain trends, some of them already noted. Most significant, perhaps, is the urbanization of the area. The former open spaces between Lawrence on the north and Reading to the south are rapidly filling up and will soon evolve into an almost continuous city. The popular recognition of North Andover and Andover as desirable suburban communities has, by a paradox, brought about the destruction of some of the very virtues which the new- comers have sought. The families who have moved here in quest of suburban life have themselves created something already re- sembling a metropolis.
With the increased cost of town operations, the introduction of new industries has naturally seemed important; and a con- certed effort to attract manufacturing companies has the back- ing of substantial citizens. The arrival of a huge Western Elec- tric plant in the vicinity has been welcomed as a contribution to local prosperity. The association with Lawrence, geographical- ly inescapable, is fostered by those who hope for a larger market and more business-and, of course, more taxpayers. Thus a strange circle is created, whether or not "vicious" remains to be seen. At any rate, the rural character of the town is rapidly disappearing.
That Andover would become less homogeneous could have been predicted a quarter of a century ago. Located as it is only a short distance from cities like Lawrence, Haverhill, and Low- ell, on a direct and important route from south to north, it could
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hardly have been expected to retain its simplicity. Its recent rapid increase in population has brought with it a wider diversi- ty of family origins, of political opinion, and of practical philoso- phy. The administration of town affairs has become more com- plicated, and the demands upon the town fathers are more and more urgent.
Always in the past, however, an imminent danger, an Indian raid or a flood or an industrial crisis, has produced in the town an effective coordination of energy. That is perhaps the chief lesson of this narrative. Under pressure, citizens of different re- ligious beliefs and sharply contrasted social strata have discov- ered that their prejudices and too freely expressed dislikes were unjustified. The United States is composed of countless similar communities, each with its local problems to solve; and the strength of our country depends on their ability to think and act together in emergencies. Its possible weakness lies in their unwillingness to cast selfishness aside. Andover fortunately has always had an essential accord, an agreement on basic economic and moral issues, which could not easily be disturbed.
Moreover the two Andovers, separated by the General Court in 1855, have never really lost their fundamental unity. Their internal diversities have continued to be much the same. In war- time, however, they have inevitably been linked by common perils and loyalties; and in the intervals of peace, they have worked gladly together, as distinct from neighboring Boxford or Middleton or Reading. Today it is possible for a North An- dover housewife to go to and from Andover stores in a brief hour or two, an expedition which, in the horse-and-buggy age, would have consumed an entire morning. The attractive country club on the shores of Lake Cochichawicke has probably a larger mem- bership from Andover than from North Andover. Socially the two sections, especially in the younger groups, grow more and more alike. Citizens of both towns go to their offices or benches not only in Lawrence but even in Haverhill and Lynn. The in- terlocking of the two communities is significant in schools and
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