Massachusetts
Sudbury may be next Massachusetts town to take down ‘one-sided’ historical signs
Sudbury is exploring whether it should become the next Massachusetts town to remove signs commemorating the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and if there’s a better way to present the complicated history.
What to do with the tercentenary markers has long been a topic of discussion in Sudbury. The conversation has ratcheted up over the past few months after three signs came down in neighboring Concord in late January.
In 1930, the Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary Commission distributed 275 cast-iron markers to 95 cities and towns across the Commonwealth to recognize the 300th anniversary of the original colony’s founding.
As time has gone on, many signs have been lost or fallen into a state of disrepair. The markers have also become a talking point as communities grapple with whether they convey an accurate history or fall short.
Michael Wallace, tasked with leading discussion on the issue for the Historical Commission, moved to affluent Sudbury, a Greater Boston suburb of roughly 19,000 people, in July 2023 and joined the Commission last November. The conversation around the historical markers predates his time in town, he said.
Sudbury, incorporated in 1639 with a population of 476, is one of the oldest towns in New England, according to its town website.
Wallace told the Herald that it’s “Impossible to say” how far away the town is from seeing its five markers come down if it takes that route.
“The goal is to build consensus,” Wallace told the Herald in a phone interview on Friday. “This is about our town’s history and its public history. It’s the history that we tell about ourselves.”
“It’s good to reach a position where everyone feels good about that,” he added. “100% of the people can’t feel 100% happy, but to arrive at some place where there is a consensus that what we are doing is reflective of our town and our history.”
The Sudbury Clergy Association, in a letter in January 2022 to the town’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commission, said it was “concerned about the representation of First Peoples (Indigenous People) in public markers.”
Three of the signs, clergy members wrote, “suggest, without providing any context, that during the so-called King Philip’s War, colonial settlers were defending their land from attacks by First Peoples.”
The conflict, known as the Sudbury Fight, was fought in town in 1676 and could be looked at differently than in 1930, clergy members added.
“Since First Peoples resided on this land for thousands of years before colonial settlers arrived, in the broader context,” the letter states, “they can be understood to have been defending their ancestral land from invasion by colonial settlers.”
Wallace said a tercentenary marker that commemorates the establishment of the original Sudbury plantation is “controversial in the sense that it’s only speaking about the Puritans … It doesn’t reference the fact that there’s a Native American population that was here long before any white settlers.”
The state Department of Transportation notified the Historical Commission in the spring of 2023 that it planned to “remove, restore and reset the Sudbury Fight” marker on Route 20. Members responded with a letter requesting the sign not be put back up.
The controversial marker was reinstated because MassDOT only has a say in repairing and maintaining the signs and not removing them permanently.
A local nonprofit, Athina Education, held a forum in April 2023 on the markers, which included Nipmuc citizen Andre Strongbearheart Gaines Jr. as a panelist. He said the signs are one-sided, highlighting how none of them convey that after King Philip was killed, his skull was placed on a rod for over 20 years.
“We’re talking about taking signs down, this is what I’m thinking about,” Gaines said. “How do you think our people felt walking by that skull every day? It’s the same thing with these signs.”
“They’re grim reminders of the assimilation, the colonization … the brutality that was set forth in law,” he added. “Why is it so hard to understand that these signs are signs of brutality?”
Critics have also taken exception to the signs carrying a depiction of the Massachusetts state seal originally adopted in 1898. It features a disembodied arm of Plymouth colony military adviser Myles Standish holding a sword over the head of a Native American figure in a peaceful stance.
A state commission tasked with rethinking the seal and motto disbanded without any specific recommendations after two years of work.
Concord officials removed their three tercentenary markers in late January after their Historical and DEI Commissions argued the signs had harmed Indigenous people and didn’t accurately reflect what happened when settlers founded the town in 1635.
State highway crews restored 21 historic markers found in 10 cities and towns, all in central or western Massachusetts, in 2019. At the time, the agency recovered roughly 174 of the original 275 signs.
One sign in the Cape Ann town of Gloucester, on the North Shore, was unveiled in July after it received a fresh restoration. It had “rusted and disintegrated almost beyond repair,” officials said in an advertisement for the event.
Gloucester’s three other signs are also being restored at an individual cost of $3,250 in state Community Preservation Act funds. A document outlining the project indicates a local historian provided “more accurate language” for the markers.
“Scattered across the state, these markers punctuate the land with an array of familiar myths,” the document states. “Seen in this light, the restoration of the Tercentenary Commission markers to their original condition is an opportunity for a reexamination of how we interpret and communicate public memory and how we can make our heritage more inclusive.”
In Sudbury, the Historical Commission is set to meet with the Historic Districts Commission in late October to discuss recommendations that will be made to the Select Board, which has the final say on the markers’ fate, Wallace said.
“Whether you think they are discriminatory or not, they were erected in the 1930s in a particular context of slower automobiles and slower roads,” he said. “Around the state a lot of these signs are missing, many are in bad condition. … These aren’t things really engaging to the public anymore, so it’s exciting to think about what we can do that’s better.”
Originally Published:
Massachusetts
Thursday’s six biggest high school takeaways, including a Gatorade award and a new all-time leading scorer in Saugus – The Boston Globe
While Newton North claimed its third straight Division 1 championship in the fall, on Thursday Sasha Selivan became the first Tiger to be named Gatorade Massachusetts Volleyball Player of the Year.
“Sasha is in a league of her own as far as Massachusetts’ setters go,” said Bishop Feehan coach Heidi Bruschi. “No one else I’ve seen comes close.”
The 5-foot-9-inch sophomore led the Tigers to a 24-1 record with 673 assists, 133 digs, and 115 kills. In the Division 1 final, a 3-0 win over Brookline, she recorded 26 assists and four aces. Selivan is ranked as the nationals’ No. 128 player in the Class of 2027, according to PrepVolleyball, and was the Division 1 tournament MVP and a Division 1 All-State selection.
She maintains an A average in the classroom and volunteers locally as a youth volleyball coach and mentor.
2. DiBiasio keeps scoring for Saugus
While Saugus assistant coach Norma Waggett watched, junior Peyton DiBiasio broke her coach’s all-time program scoring record by netting 27 points to surpass the mark of 1,100 Waggett set in 2013. Saugus lost, 51-40, to Minuteman to fall to 5-2.
3. On to college
In Danvers, St. John’s Prep announced 18 college commitments across eight sports:
Football
Merrick Barlow (Newburyport) to Naval Academy
Graham Roberts (Swampscott) to Harvard
Baseball
Will Shaheen (Portsmouth, N.H.) to Harvard
Nic Lembo (Danvers) to High Point
Lacrosse
Charlie Angell (Winchester) to Pennsylvania
Ryan DeLucia (Winchester) to Georgetown
Luke Kelly (Marblehead) to Michigan
Cameron McCarthy (Marblehead) to Loyola Maryland
JP Sullivan (Swampscott) to Saint Anselm
Jack Weissenburger (Marblehead) to Harvard
Sam Wilmot (Topsfield) to Richmond
Golf
Tripp Hollister (Sudbury) to Bryant
Cross-country
Daniel Padley (South Hamilton) to Holy Cross
Swimming and diving
Kye McClory (Lynnfield) to Holy Cross
Greg Santosus (Marblehead) to Virginia Military Institute
Tennis
Luke Prokopis (Lynnfield) to Holy Cross
Jack Prokopis (Lynnfield) to Holy Cross
Track and field
Noah Kabel (Swampscott) to Sacred Heart
4. Western Mass shuffle
Lots of league movement in Western Mass, particularly in football and girls’ soccer. Check out the reporting from Jesse Koldokin at the Eagle Tribune and Gage Nutter at MassLive.
Here’s the Cliff’s notes version: Chicopee Comprehensive and Holyoke will leave the AA League and be replaced by West Springfield and East Longmeadow. The Tri-County loses Springfield International and gains Belchertown.
In the Suburban South, Wahconah is joined by Pittsfield, Putnam, and Chicopee Comprehensive. The Suburban North will feature Taconic and South Hadley, plus Hoosac Valley, Lee, Easthampton, and Holyoke.
The Intercounty South sees Chicopee, Ludlow, Springfield International, and Northampton join Commerce and Frontier. The Intercounty North remained unchanged.
In girls’ soccer, the Berkshire League’s Grieve division will be Drury, Wahconah, Pittsfield, Lenox, Monument Valley and Mount Greylock. McCann and Hoosac Valley move to the Pioneer South and Taconic, Lee, and Mt. Everett move to the Tri-County North.
5. Thursday’s leaderboard
The top scoring performance of the night came in a defeat as Jacob Klass dropped 35 points for Beverly in a 77-73 loss to Gloucester that saw Nick Deleon score 26 for the Fishermen.
Minuteman’s Muji Vader nabbed 11 steals and added 24 points in a 63-19 win over KIPP Academy, sophomore Divine Egbuta led Lynn Classical with 26 points in a 58-46 win over Somerville, and Notre Dame (Hingham) junior Elle Orlando packed the box score with 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 steals in a 72-35 win over Ursuline.
On the ice, Newburyport’s Olivia Wilson netted a hat trick in a 7-3 win over Stoneham/Wilmington and Justin Thibert delivered three goals for Shawsheen in a 9-1 win against Nashoba Tech/Greater Lowell.
Freshman netminder Suki ten Brinke saved all 18 shots she faced to record her first shutout of the season in Lincoln-Sudbury’s 3-0 win over Westford, and Central Catholic junior Sydney Foster made 21 saves in her first shutout of the season, a 7-0 defeat of Wayland.
6. Linked up
Before we bid adieu, a few things we’ve written recently, starting with Trevor Hass’s story on Bishop Feehan honoring the late local hoops legend Mike Babul by wearing black wristbands featuring his initials during a win over Bishop Fenwick.
Brendan Kurie can be reached at brendan.kurie@globe.com. Follow him on X @BrendanKurie.
LUDLOW, Mass (WWLP) – Massachusetts State Police have released body camera footage from the arrest of Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi back in September.
The public is now getting a glimpse into the night of September 21st, when Sheriff Nick Cocchi was arrested by Massachusetts State Police outside of MGM Springfield. The night his state issued white Ford Explorer was found without a front right tire in the valet section of the garage.
The video shows the interaction with Cocchi and law enforcement as they are trying to piece together what happened.
“Yeah, ok, wanna go down that road, huh? ok,” says Sheriff Cocchi. The state trooper responds, “I want to take everything right by the numbers and by the books, sir.”
At first when asked who was driving, Cocchi said a friend, then later admitting it was him behind the wheel. The trooper also saying he can smell alcohol, asking Cocchi how much he had to drink. To which he responds he had “a couple beers” when he was at the Springfield Country Club, but nothing at MGM Springfield.
Cocchi also declined a field sobriety test, multiple times.
Since the incident, Cocchi says he has taken full responsibility for his behavior.
“I’m not looking for empathy or sympathy. I’m not looking for people to give me a pass. All I’m asking for people to do and all I’ve said that I am is human, and I have integrity, I have honesty, and I have character. And I will always try to be the best version of myself, and that night I wasn’t,” said Sheriff Cocchi in response to the video release.
In regards to that night, Cocchi praises the troopers, saying throughout this process, he should not be treated differently from anyone else.
Cocchi also said quote “Since the incident, I have done everything possible to show the public that I believe in transparency and accountability, especially in myself.”
He said at the Sheriff’s Department, they believe people are not defined by moments like these, but rather how they handle those moments.
Travel
One saw record-breaking attendance in 2024.
If you attended The Big E or the Topsfield Fair this past fall, you were in good company.
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These New England hotels, restaurants, and more are ‘must visit spots’ in 2025, according to USA Today readers
Both Massachusetts fairs ranked among the top 50 fairs in the U.S. and Canada in 2024, according to Carnival Warehouse. The list was ranked by attendance.
“2024 contained very positive indicators that North Americans have rekindled their romance for midways, outdoor shows, agricultural programming and food-on-a-stick,” wrote Carnival Warehouse on its website. “Most fairs saw increases over last year’s attendance, only 12 top-50 fairs saw decreases, most of which were nominal and all of which were due to weather.”
The Big E (the Eastern States Exposition) in Springfield ranked No. 4 with an all-time total attendance record of more than 1.6 million visitors. Seven other daily attendance records were also set this year at The Big E, including an all-time single day attendance record of 178,608 visitors on Sept. 21. The Topsfield Fair, at No. 40, saw 418,170 visitors.
Running since 1916, The Big E is New England’s biggest fair. The fair brought live musical acts, carnival rides, agricultural competitions, and food vendors this past September. All six New England states are famously represented on its grounds.
The Topsfield Fair, America’s oldest agricultural fair (running for more than 200 years), featured carnival rides, food, live music, rodeos, art shows, exhibits, and nearly 300 vendors this past October.
For those looking to help boost attendance in 2025, this year’s fair dates are Sept. 12-28 for The Big E and Oct. 3-13 for the Topsfield Fair.
North America’s No. 1 fair in 2024 is the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which saw 2.5 million visitors.
Check out the top 50 fairs in the U.S. and Canada in 2024.
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