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Mary Dyer

Mary Dyer

] Mary Barrett Dyer (1611? - June 1, 1660) was an English Quaker who was hanged in Boston, Massachusetts for repeatedly defying a law banning Quakers from the colony. She is considered to be the last religious martyr in North America. Mary Dyer met Anne Hutchinson in 1637, who preached that God "spoke directly to individuals" rather than only through the clergy. Dyer joined with Hutchinson and became involved in the what was called the "Antinomian heresy," where they worked to organize groups of women and men to study the Bible in contravention of the theocratic law of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1638, Mary Dyer and her husband William were banished along with Hutchinson from the colony. On the advice of Roger Williams the group that included Hutchinson and the Dyers moved to Portsmouth in the colony of Rhode Island. William Dyer signed the Portsmouth Compact along with 18 other men. Mary Dyer and her husband returned to England with Roger Williams and John Clarke in 1652, where Mary Dyer joined the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) after hearing the preaching of its founder George Fox and feeling that it was in agreement with the ideas that she and Hutchinson held years earlier. She eventually became a Quaker preacher in her own right. The Dyers returned to Rhode Island in 1657. The next year she traveled to Boston to protest the new law banning Quakers, and she was arrested and expelled from the colony. (Her husband, who had not become a Quaker, was not arrested.) Mary Dyer continued to travel in New England to preach Quakerism, and was arrested in 1658 in New Haven, Connecticut. After her release, she returned to Massachusetts to visit two English Quakers who had been arrested, she was also arrested and then permanently banished from the colony. She traveled to Massachusetts a third time with a group of Quakers to publicly defy the law, and was again arrested, and sentenced to death. After a short trial, two other Quakers were hanged, but because her husband was a friend of Governor John Winthrop he secured a last-minute reprieve -- against her wishes, for she had refused to repent and disavow her Quaker faith. She was forced to return to Rhode Island, traveled to Long Island, New York to preach, but her conscience led her to return to Massachusetts in 1660 to defy the anti-Quaker law. Despite the pleas of her husband and family, she again refused to repent, and she was again convicted and sentenced to death on May 31. The next day Mary Dyer was hanged on Boston Common for the crime of being a Quaker in Massachusetts. Her last words were, "Nay, I came to keep bloodguiltiness from you, desireing you to repeal the unrighteous and unjust law made against the innocent servants of the Lord. Nay, man, I am not now to repent." A statue of her stands in front of the Massachusetts state capitol in Boston.

External links


- [http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1371/context/archive WomensNews biography of Mary Dyer]
- [http://www.mayflowerfamilies.com/enquirer/mary_dyer.htm Mary Dyer: A Quaker Martyr]
- [http://www.lawbuzz.com/justice/mary/mary.htm Trials without Justice: Mary Dyer] Dyer, Mary Dyer, Mary Dyer, Mary Dyer, Mary Dyer, Mary ja:メアリ・ダイアー

1611

Events


- June 23 - Henry Hudson's crew maroons him, his son and 7 others in a boat
- November 1 - At Whitehall Palace in London, William Shakespeare's romantic comedy The Tempest is presented for the first time.
- Gustavus Adolphus becomes king of Sweden
- Denmark attacks Sweden
- King James Version of the Bible first published in England
- George Abbot becomes archbishop of Canterbury
- Johannes and David Fabricius discover sunspots
- End of the reign of Emperor Go-Yozei of Japan
- Emperor Go-Mizunoo ascends to the throne of Japan Gov. Sir Thomas Dale arrives at Jamestown from England announcing new rules called "Laws Divine, Morall and Martial."

Births


- January 28 - Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer (d. 1687)
- May 16 - Pope Innocent XI (d. 1689)
- July 16 - Cecylia Renata, Queen of Poland
- September 8 - Johann Friedrich Gronovius, German classical scholar (d. 1671)
- September 11 - Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne, Marshal of France (d. 1675)
- November 1 - François-Marie, comte de Broglie, Italian-born French commander (d. 1656) See also :Category:1611 births.

Deaths


- March 5 - Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese warlord and samurai (b. 1533)
- June 8 - Jean Bertaut, French poet (b. 1552)
- July 26 - Horio Yoshiharu, Japanese warlord (b. 1542)
- August 2 - Kato Kiyomasa, Japanese warlord and samurai (b. 1562)
- August 20 - Tomás Luis de Victoria, Spanish composer (b. 1548)
- October 3 - Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne, French military leader (b. 1554)
- October 30 - King Charles IX of Sweden (b. 1550) See also :Category:1611 deaths. Category:1611 ko:1611년 ms:1611

1660

Events


- Expulsion of the Carib indigenous people from Martinique by French occupying forces.
- January 1 - colonel George Monck with his regiment crosses from Scotland to England at the village of Coldstream and begins advance towards London in support of English Restoration. Samuel Pepys began his diary.
- February 2 – George Monck and his regiment arrive in London
- February 23 - Charles XI becomes king of Sweden.
- February 27 – John Thurloe reinstated as England's secretary of State for a short time
- March 16 - The Long Parliament disbands
- May 8 - The Parliament of England declares Prince Charles Stuart King Charles II of England
- May 15 - John Thurloe arrested for high treason after English Restoration
- May 23 - King Charles II of England reaches the shores of his Kingdom. On May 29 he arrives in London and assumes the throne, marking the beginning of the English Restoration
- May 25 – Charles II of England crowned
- June 29 - John Thurloe released
- November 28 - At Gresham College, 12 men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray meet after a lecture by Wren and decide to found "a College for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning

Religious Society of Friends

The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers or Friends, is a religious community who do not have a universal set of doctrines to which all members subscribe but who embrace certain concepts that have been adopted by consensus. The most central concept of all is the Inner Light. Friends believe that the Inner Light is a guiding force within each person. This belief has been understood in several different ways but always accepted by various branches within the Society. Belief in the Inner Light has led to the development of several key concepts that are referred to as Testimonies. The Testimonies involve a commitment to such issues as peace, equality between the sexes and among the races, living simply, and maintaining personal integrity. They are explained in more detail in a subsequent section below and in separate articles. The Religious Society of Friends was founded in England in the 17th century. Quakers are counted among the historic peace churches, and have congregations scattered across the world. Since its origin in England, Quakerism has spread to other countries, chiefly the United States, Kenya and Bolivia. The number of Quakers in the world is relatively small (approximately 600,000), although there are places, such as Philadelphia & Pennsylvania in the United States, in which Quaker influence is concentrated. Although Quakers are historically Christian, there are many who consider themselves atheist, universalist or who do not accept any religious label.

Basic divisions and organization

Like many movements, the Religious Society of Friends has evolved, changed, and split into various smaller subgroups. It is difficult to describe the Religious Society of Friends without making numerous qualifications and listing exceptions. In order to understand other aspects of the Religious Society of Friends, it is helpful to understand the basic divisions and organization.

In Great Britain

In Britain there has been a high level of organizational unity throughout the history of the Society. The local Friends meetings there are called preparative meetings. Several local meetings are part of a Monthly meeting. Several monthly meetings are organized into a general meeting. Formerly, general meetings were called quarterly meetings, and, while they continue to meet up to three times per year, they usually play no direct role in Quaker structures. Monthly meetings are represented directly in Meeting for Sufferings, which meets in between Yearly meetings. (For further information, see [http://www.quaker.org.uk/qfp/index.html Quaker Faith and Practice], published by yearly meeting]]. In programmed traditions, the local congregations are often referred to as "Friends Churches". They usually have a paid pastor. Their services are planned ahead of time and include hymns, prayers, and sermons by the pastor. They resemble Protestant churches, but many retain aspects of unprogrammed worship, including periods of silence. The programmed tradition also has attracted a form of Evangelical Christianity within it. Although "programmed Quakerism" has become more akin to mainline Protestantism, many Quakers consider their faith neither [[Protestant nor Catholic, but rather an expression of a third way to experience Christianity. There is a wide range of beliefs among Quakers and discovering what it truly means to be Quaker means struggling with these different viewpoints in the Meeting and the viewpoints held by the larger Quaker community. There are also semi-programmed Friends Meetings, in which there is some planning of the service and some silent waiting on the Spirit.

Names

Christianity Various names have been used for the Friends movement and its adherents. These include:
- Seekers
- Saints
- Children of the light
- Friends of the Truth
- Quakers
- Religious Society of Friends
- Society of Friends In the first few years of the movement, Quakers thought of themselves as the restoration (or at least part of it) of the true Christian church after centuries of apostasy. For this reason, during this period they often referred to themselves as simply the "saints" or the "children of light". Another common name was "Friends of the Truth", reflecting the central importance in early Quaker theology of Christ as an Inner light that shows you your true condition. The name "Quaker" was first used in 1650, when preacher George Fox was brought before Justice Bennet of Derby on a charge of blasphemy. According to Fox's journal, Bennet "called us Quakers because we bid them tremble at the word of God." (Here Fox would have meant Christ by "word of God"; see Beliefs and practices of Friends.) Indeed, early Friends did tremble and shake at their meetings, and spent many pamphlets defending "quaking" as a biblical phenomenon. Some Friends (including Fox) disliked the name, but it began to stick nonetheless. There was apparently an attempt after a 1654 meeting in Leicestershire to become known as the "children of light", but this was not successful. The name "Religious Society of Friends" came many years later, in the 18th century. This remains the official name to this day, although often "Quakers" is added in parentheses for the sake of clarity. Also, there are some Friends, usually in unprogrammed meetings, who object to the word "religious" and refer to themselves as part of the "Society of Friends". There are some monthly meetings that for this reason do not include "religious" in their name, while most larger Quaker organizations, such as yearly meetings, use the full name.

History

yearly meetings The Quakers began in England in the early 1650s as a Nonconformist breakaway movement from Anglicanism. Traditionally George Fox has been taken to be the founder or at least the most important early figure. As the movement expanded, it faced opposition and persecution. Quakers were imprisoned and beaten in both the British Isles and the British colonies. In the Massachusetts Bay colony, some Quakers (most famously Mary Dyer) were put to death for upholding their beliefs. The state of Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn as a safe place for Quakers to live and practice their faith. Despite persecution, the movement grew steadily into a strong and united society. During the 19th century Friends in Ireland and the United States suffered a number of separations, while Friends in Great Britain generally remained united. Hicksite-Orthodox Split In 1827 Elias Hicks was expelled for expressing universalist views. The next year, a number of Friends in sympathy with him separated to form a parallel system of yearly meetings in America, referred to as Hicksite. The Quakers who did not follow Hicks are called Orthodox. Gurneyite-Wilburite Split The Orthodox Friends in America were exercised by a transatlantic dispute between Joseph John Gurney of England and John Wilbur of Rhode Island. Gurney emphasized scriptural authority and favored working closely with other Christian groups. Wilbur, in response, defended the authority of the Holy Spirit, i.e. the Inner light, as primary and worked to prevent the dilution of Friends tradition of Spirit-led ministry. Wilbur was expelled from his yearly meeting in a questionable proceeding in 1842. Over the next several decades, a number of Wilburite-Gurneyite separations occurred. (See [http://www.snowcamp.org/shocf/ A short history of Conservative Friends] for further information.) Beanites Joel Bean was an Orthodox Friend who opposed the extreme evangelicalism that was creeping into his branch of Quakerism. He formed a new branch of Quakerism in the western part of the United States. The "Beanite" or independent Quakers resemble an amalgam of Hicksite and Wilburite Quakerism, some of them adopting the label "Christ-Centered Universalism".

Beliefs and practices of Friends

Experiencing God

Fox and the other early Quaker preachers believed that direct experience of God was available to all people, without any mediation (e.g. through a pastor, or through sacraments). Fox described this by writing in his journal that "Christ was come to teach his people himself." Friends have often expressed this belief by referring to "that of God in Everyone", "Inner light", "inward Christ", "the spirit of Christ within", and many other terms. Since Friends believe that everyone contains "that of God", much of the Quaker perspective is based on trying to hear what the Inward Guide is saying to us. Isaac Penington put it this way in 1670: "It is not enough to hear of Christ, or read of Christ, but this is the thing - to feel him my root, my life, my foundation..." [http://www.qhpress.org/texts/penington/letter40.html]

Mysticism

Quakerism is often termed a mystical religion, but it differs from other mystical religions in two important ways. First, Quaker mysticism is primarily group-oriented rather than focused on the individual. The unprogrammed Quaker meeting may be considered an expression of that group mysticism, where all the members of the meeting can together listen for the Spirit and, ideally (in what is called a "gathered meeting") the Spirit moves people to speak such that disparate comments are later seen to be part of a larger theme or idea. Second, Quaker mysticism includes a strong emphasis on its outwardly directed activism. Rather than seeking withdrawal from the world, the Quaker mystic translates his or her mysticism into action. Action, in turn, leads to greater spiritual understanding — both by individuals and by the Meeting as a whole. Quakers refer to calls of the Spirit to do some particular act as a Leading. John Woolman is one example of how an individual or group with a Leading — in his case the abolition of slavery — can change individuals, the Society of Friends and the world at large for the better. In the process, the Spirit manifests itself in new ways and informs the mysticism of the Meeting community. Another term used to refer to the Quaker practice of stillness or silent worship -- a component common to both programmed and unprogrammed meetings -- is quietism.

The Bible

Early Friends believed that Christ, not the Bible, was the Word of God; for example, according to Robert Barclay the scriptures "are only a declaration of the fountain, and not the fountain itself, therefore they are not to be esteemed the principal ground of all Truth and knowledge, nor yet the adequate primary rule of faith and manners" (Apology prop. 3). Early Friends did however believe that Christ would never lead them in ways that contradicted the Bible, and so making the Bible subordinate to the spirit led to fewer conflicts than it does today. As time passed, conflicts between what the Bible appeared to teach and how Friends believed they were being led by the Spirit began to arise. Some Friends decided that in these cases the Bible should be authoritative, in effect making explicit early Friends' assumption that the Spirit would never lead contrary to scripture. For example, the Richmond Declaration of 1887 declared, among other things, that any action "contrary to the Scriptures, though under profession of the immediate guidance of the Holy Spirit, must be reckoned and accounted a mere delusion". Today Evangelical Friends believe that the Bible is authoritative and that personal Leadings are not right if they are contradictory to its teachings. Other Friends, partly under the influence of movements such as liberal Protestantism, decided that it was possible to be truly led in ways contrary to scripture, and that in such cases scripture should give way. Still other Friends rejected (or began to neglect) the Christian Bible altogether; hence in many liberal (usually unprogrammed) Friends meetings one will encounter non-Christian Friends. In nearly all cases however, modern Friends believe in the necessity of being continually guided by the inward light. Divine revelation is therefore not restricted to the Bible, but rather continues even today; this doctrine is known as continuing revelation. From this interpretation a common set of beliefs emerged, which became known as testimonies. (See Testimonies for a list and description of them.)

Creeds

Quakerism is a creedless religion. George Fox dismissed theologians as "notionists", and modern Quakerism is less concerned with theology than many other faiths. This lack of focus has resulted in a broad range of theologies from fundamentalist Christian to new-age universalist. Quakerism focuses more on faithfulness in life in the here and now than on ultimate destiny. Friends believe authentic listening to the Spirit cannot be reduced to a formula, and God's revelation continues as history unfolds. A formal creed would be an obstacle - both to authentic listening and to the recognition of new insight.

Sacraments

Early Friends did not believe in performing any special rites or sacraments, believing that holiness can exist in all the activities of one's life—all of life is sacred. Thus they did not perform baptism as a rite of membership, and their method of worship was considered unorthodox and heretical. Friends also believe that any meal with others can be a form of communion.

Plainness

Like many aspects of Quaker life, the practice of plainness has evolved over time, although it is based on principles that have been a lasting part of Quaker thought. These principles are now part of the Testimonies of Simplicity, Equality, and Integrity. Friends have practiced plainness in their dress and outward appearance as well as in their speech. Quakers wore plain clothes in order to address three concerns: the vanity and superiority associated with fanciness, the conformity associated with wearing the latest fashions, and the wastefulness of frequently buying new styles and spending money on adornment. At one time this practice of plainness allowed other people to identify Friends easily. Many people are still familiar with the image of the Quaker man in a gray or brown suit with a flat broad-brimmed hat, and the Quaker woman in a plain dress and bonnet. These specific practices are not followed by most Quakers today; however, the principles behind them are just as important to Quakers as ever, and most Friends apply them to their daily lives in new ways. Plainness in speech addressed other concerns: honesty, class distinction, and vestiges of paganism. These principles were put into practice by affirming rather than swearing oaths, setting fixed prices for goods, using familiar forms for the second person pronoun, avoiding the use of honorific titles, and using numbers rather than names for the days of the week and the months of the year.

Egalitarianism

For more information about Quaker Egalitarianism see Testimony of Equality Early Quakerism included a strong sense of spiritual egalitarianism, including a belief in the spiritual equality of the sexes—remarkable for that time. Both women and men were granted equal authority to speak in meetings for worship. George Fox's wife, Margaret Fell, was as vocal and literate as her husband, publishing several tracts in Quakerism's early days. One trait continued by modern Friends is taking a dim view of titles and ranks. For example, at Earlham College, a Quaker college in Richmond, Indiana, professors and administrators are addressed by their first name by students, without the use of "professor" or "doctor". It is generally accepted in Quaker communities for children to address adults by their first names.

Oaths and fair-dealing

For more information on this topic see Testimony of Integrity Early Friends believed that an important part of Jesus' message was how we treat our fellow human beings. They felt that honest dealing with others meant more than just not telling lies. Friends continue to believe that it is important not to mislead others, even if the words used are all technically truthful. Early Friends refused to swear oaths, even in courtrooms, believing that one must speak truth at all times, and the act of swearing to it implied otherwise.

Quaker terminology

Though the practices of plain dress and speech made them known as a "peculiar people", for the most part modern Quakers dress and speak in a manner indistinguishable from others. Some Friends do retain the use of "thou" and "thee" with other Friends. Friends also use certain distinctive terms when describing their theology and practices:
- Convincement: the process of a non-Friend deciding to become a Friend.
- Birthright Friend: those Friends born into families that are members of a Friends Meeting. (This is no longer recognized officially by British Friends.)
- Weighty Friend: a Friend, often (though not always) older, whose opinion or ministry is especially valued.
- Ministry: the act of speaking during a meeting for worship.
- Speaks to my condition, "Friend speaks my mind": directly addresses my personal understanding.
- That of God in everyone: the belief of an Inner Light within all people.
- Hold in the Light: think about, pray for, or hold special thoughts about another person.
- Lay down: what you do to a committee that is no longer needed, i.e. you disband it.
- Clearness: a process undergone to discern rightness of action, similar to consensus (when applied to group decision-making), but guided, according to Quaker belief, by the Holy Spirit or Inner light. Friends often work with Clearness committees when struggling with a difficult issue.
- Proceed as Way Opens: to undertake a service or course of action without prior clarity about all the details but with confidence that divine guidance will make these apparent and assure an appropriate outcome.
- I hope so: (British usage) during a meeting for worship for business, when the clerk asks those present if they agree with a minute, Friends will usually say "I hope so" rather than "yes". It is meant in the sense of "I hope that this is the true guidance of the Holy Spirit".

Testimonies

Quaker testimonies are the traditional statements of Quaker belief. Testimonies are not formal static documents, but rather a shared collection or view of how Quakers relate to God and the world. Testimonies cannot easily be taken one at a time, as they are interrelated. As a philosophical system, they are coherent, even outside of Christian theology. From today's perspective, Friends have not always followed their own testimonies well. For example while Friends were some of the first to oppose slavery in the United States (Germantown Monthly Meeting minuted their opposition to slavery in 1733), a number of Friends continued to own slaves. While the list of testimonies is evolving (see [http://www.quaker.org.uk/shared_asp_files/uploadedfiles/0baedba2-9b9c-4b82-a142-a9065fecbea6_testimonies_leaflet.pdf Quaker Testimonies leaflet]), like all aspects of Friends theology, the following is a generally accepted list.
- The Peace Testimony
- The Testimony of Integrity
- The Testimony of Equality
- The Testimony of Simplicity

The Peace Testimony

See main article on the Peace Testimony. The Peace Testimony is the most static testimony; it is also the best known testimony of Friends. The belief that violence is always wrong has persisted to this day, and many conscientious objectors, advocates of non-violence and anti-war activists are Friends. Because of the peace testimony, Friends are often considered as one of the historic peace churches. In 1947 Quakerism was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the prize was accepted by the American Friends Service Committee and Friends Service Council.

The Testimony of Integrity

See main article on the Testimony of Integrity. Also known as the Testimony of Truth, or Truth Testimony, the essence of the Testimony of Integrity is placing God at the center of one's life and refusing to place things other than God there—whether it be oneself, possessions, the regard of others, belief in principles or something else. To Friends integrity is in choosing to follow the leading of the Spirit despite the challenges and urges to do otherwise. This testimony has led to Friends having a reputation for being honest and fair in their dealings with others. It has led them to give proper credit to others for their contributions and to accept responsibility for their own actions.

The Testimony of Equality

See main article on the Testimony of Equality. Testimony of Equality Friends believe that all people are created equal in the eyes of God. Since all people embody the same divine spark all people deserve equal treatment. Friends were some of the first to value women as important ministers and to campaign for women's rights, they became leaders in the anti-slavery movement, and were among the first to pioneer humane treatment for the mentally ill and for prisoners.

The Testimony of Simplicity

See main article on Testimony of Simplicity. Simplicity to Friends has generally been a reference to material possessions and is often referred to as plainness. Friends traditionally limited their possessions to what they need to live their lives, rather than pursuing luxuries. Recently this testimony is often taken to have an ecological dimension: that Friends should not use more than their fair share of the Earth's resources.

Quaker worship

Testimony of Simplicity Friends treat all functions of the church as a form of worship, including business, marriage, and memorial services, in addition to regular worship services. There are two main styles of Quaker worship, programmed and unprogrammed. Unprogrammed worship is the more traditional style of worship among Friends and remains the norm in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and much of the United States. During an unprogrammed meeting for worship, Friends gather together in "expectant waiting" for messages from God. They wait in silence. When a member feels led to share a message with the gathered meeting, they will generally rise and share (give "ministry"). Traditionally, messages, testimonies, ministry, or other speech are unprepared, and members are called on to discern the source of their inspiration—whether divine or ego. Sometimes a meeting is entirely silent, sometimes quite a few people speak. The number of people speaking is unrelated to how gathered a meeting feels to its participants. Generally meeting for worship lasts about an hour (although it can be shorter or longer depending on the group gathered). Unprogrammed worship is deemed to start as soon as the first member of the congregation is seated, the other participants entering the room in silence. The Meeting for Worship ends when a predetermined person (usually an "elder") shakes the hand of his or her neighbor. All the members of the assembly then shake hands with their neighbors, after which one member (usually the "clerk") usually rises and extends his or her greetings. Many meetings serve coffee or tea after meeting, which gives everyone an opportunity to catch up with friends and chat with visitors. Programmed worship arose in the US in the 19th century in response to large numbers of converts to Quakerism during the national spiritual revivalism of the time. Worship at a Friends Church resembles a typical Protestant worship service in the United States. Typically there are readings from scripture, hymns, and a sermon from the pastor. Many Friends in the southern and central United States worship in this way. Some Friends also hold what is termed Semi-Programmed Worship, which brings programmed elements like hymns and scripture readings into an otherwise unprogrammed worship service. While the different styles of worship generally reflect the theological splits within US Quakerism, with unprogrammed meetings generally being more theologically liberal and programmed Friends churches more theologically conservative, this is not a strict rule. The UK did not undergo the same schisms as the US and continued with unprogrammed meetings. As a result, there is a broader spectrum of theological beliefs within Britain Yearly Meeting.

Quaker weddings

See main article on Quaker weddings. Traditionally in a Friends Meeting when a couple decides to get married they declare their intentions to marry to the meeting. A traditional wedding ceremony in a Friends meeting is similar to any other Meeting for Worship, and therefore often very different from the experience expected by non-Friends. Quaker marriage ceremonies were performed in the same manner as worship, meaning there was no priest or high official to conduct the ceremony and sanction the union. The pair did, and still do, marry one another before God and human witnesses gathered.

Decision making among Friends

Quaker wedding Business decisions on a local level are conducted at a monthly "Meeting for Worship with a concern for business", or simply "business meeting". A meeting for business is a form of worship, and all decisions are reached so that they are consistent with the guidance of the Spirit (called "unity" or "sense of the meeting"). There is no voting. Instead, the Business Meeting attempts to gain a sense of God's will for the community. Each member of the meeting is expected to listen to that of God within themselves and, when led, to contribute it to the group for reflection and consideration. Each member listens to others' contributions carefully. A decision is reached when the meeting as a whole feels that the "way forward" has been discerned. Occasionally, some members of the Meeting will "stand aside" on an issue, meaning that these members do not share in the general sense of unity but are willing to allow the group to move forward. In still other cases a meeting may reach a sense of unity notwithstanding that some members remain opposed, although the meeting would proceed only after considerable time was spent in discernment to ensure that the concerns of the dissenting members have been heard and the sense of the meeting is clear. The business procedure of Friends can seem impractical. While the process can be frustrating and slow, at its best it works very well. By the time a decision is made, all the issues have been worked out and the group is ready to implement the decision. Making decisions by the sense of the meeting has been a centerpiece of the Religious Society of Friends for over 350 years, at times seeing them through extremely difficult decisions. Quaker-style decision making has been adapted for use in secular settings in recent years (see Consensus decision-making).

Memorial services

Quaker memorial services are also held as a form of worship. Friends gather for worship and offer remembrances about the person who has died. Memorial services often last over an hour, particularly if there are a large number of people in attendence. Memorial services give everyone a chance to remember the lost individual in their own way, thus bringing comfort to those present. Many Quaker meetings remind families of the testimonies related to "plainness" in the context of choosing a grave marker.

Quaker organizations

Many schools around the world were founded by Friends. For a list of such schools with links to other articles, see List of Friends Schools. National or regional bodies of Friends are called yearly meetings. For a wider treatment of yearly meetings and a list of yearly meetings around the world, see Yearly meeting. Some yearly meetings belong to larger organizations, the three chief ones being Friends General Conference (FGC), Friends United Meeting (FUM), and Evangelical Friends International (EFI). (In each of these three groups, most member organizations are from the United States.) FGC is theologically the most liberal of the three groups, while EFI is the most conservative. FUM is the largest of the three. Some monthly meetings belong to more than one of these larger organizations, while others are independent. The Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) is the international Quaker organization which loosely unifies the diverse groups of Friends. FWCC was set up at the 1937 World Conference of Friends in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, US, "to act in a consultative capacity to promote better understanding among Friends the world over, particularly by the encouragement of joint conferences and intervisitation, the collection and circulation of information about Quaker literature and other activities directed towards that end." About 175 representatives, appointed by the almost 70 affiliated yearly meetings and groups, meet together every three years at Triennials, aiming to provide links among Friends. FWCC bring together the largest variety of Friends in the world. There are also various associated Friends organizations including: a US lobbying organization based in Washington, DC called the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL); several service organizations like the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), the Quaker United Nations Offices, Quaker Peace and Social Witness, and the Friends Committee on Scouting.

See also


- Christian anarchism
- Conservative Friends
- List of pacifist faiths
- List of Quakers
- List of Friends Schools
- Movement for a New Society
- Nonviolence
- Peace churches
- Pennsylvania, U.S. state founded by Quaker William Penn. (Penn was also a trustee for part of New Jersey.)
- A Quaker Action Group
- Quaker Bible
- Quaker tapestry
- Quaker views of homosexuality
- Quaker views of women
- Quakers in Kenya
- Quakers in Latin America
- Renovare
- Shakers

Recommended reading


- Bacon, Margaret H., The Quiet Rebels: The Story of the Quakers in America ISBN 0-87574-935-6
- Brinton, Howard H., Friends for 300 Years ISBN 0-87574-903-8
- Birkel, Michael L., Silence and Witness: The Quaker Tradition ISBN 1-57075518-3 (in the UK, ISBN 0-232-52448-3)
- Cooper, Wilmer A., A Living Faith : An Historical and Comparative Study of Quaker Beliefs. 2nd ed. ISBN 0-944350-53-4
- Gillman, Harvey, A Light that is Shining: Introduction to the Quakers ISBN 0-85245-213-6
- Hamm, Thomas D., The Quakers in America ISBN 0-231-12362-0
- Hubbard, Geoffrey, Quaker by Convincement ISBN 0-85245-189-X and ISBN 0-14-021663-4
- ed. Mullet, Michael, New Light on George Fox ISBN 1-85072-142-4
- Punshon, John, Portrait in Grey : a short history of the Quakers ISBN 0-85245-180-6
- Pym, Jim, Listening to the Light: How to Bring Quaker Simplicity and Integrity into our Lives. ISBN 0-7126-7020-3
- Smith, Robert Lawrence, A Quaker Book of Wisdom ISBN 0-688-17233-4
- ed. West, Jessamyn, The Quaker Reader ISBN 0-87574-916-X
- Wilson, Lloyd Lee, Essays On The Quaker Vision Of Gospel Order ISBN 0-87574-925-9
- Wilson, Lloyd Lee, Wrestling with Our Faith Tradition: Collected Public Witness, 1995-2004 ISBN 1-888305-36-4

External links

Information on Quakers and Quakerism


- [http://www.quaker.org Links, websites, mailing lists, and other information on Quakers]
- [http://www.britainyearlymeeting.org.uk/warwickshire/page.asp?pageid=3 Warwickshire Monthly Meeting - about Quakers in Britain]
- [http://www.quakerinfo.com Quaker Information Center]
- [http://www.fgcquaker.org/library Friends General Conference online resources library]
- [http://www.quaker.org.uk/ Quakers in Britain]
- [http://www.friends.org.uk/quakers/qschools.htm Friends Schools in the UK]
- [http://www.nonviolence.org/quaker/quaker_places.php A Guide to Quaker Websites and Blogs]
- [http://dmoz.org/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Christianity/Denominations/Religious_Society_of_Friends Open Directory Project: Religious Society of Friends]
- [http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/quak.html Quakers, University of Virginia Religious Movements Project]
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/quakers/ BBC's page on Quakers]
- [http://rps.gn.apc.org/leveson/resources/cadbury0503.htm Beliefs and Business: the experience of Quaker Companies]

Quaker organizations


- [http://www.fgcquaker.org Friends General Conference]
- [http://www.fum.org Friends United Meeting]
- [http://www.evangelical-friends.org Evangelical Friends International]
- [http://www.quaker.org.uk Religious Society of Friends in Britain]
- [http://www.fwccworld.org Friends World Committee for Consultation]
- [http://www.afsc.org American Friends Service Committee]
- [http://www.fcnl.org Friends Committee on National Legislation (US)]
- [http://www.nffuk.org/ New Foundation Fellowship (UK)]
- [http://www.friendscouncil.org Friends Council on Education (US)]
- [http://flgbtqc.quaker.org Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer Concerns (FLGBTQC)]
- [http://www.qug.org.uk/ Quaker Universalist Group]

Quaker study centres


- [http://www.woodbrooke.org.uk Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, UK]
- [http://www.pendlehill.org Pendle Hill Quaker Study Center, US]

Quaker links


- [http://worship.quaker.org/ Online Meeting for Worship]
- [http://www.quakerfinder.org Quakerfinder.org]: find unprogrammed Meetings in U.S. & Canada
- [http://www.quaker.org.uk/Templates/System/FindMeeting.asp?NodeID=89755 Find Meetings in Great Britain]
- [http://www.quakerinfo.com/qeu.shtml "Quaker E-mail lists"]

Quaker books and writings


- [http://worship.quaker.org/qfp Online Faith & Practice]
- [http://www.pym.org/publish/fnp/ Philadelphia Yearly Meeting: Faith & Practice]
- [http://www.quaker.org.uk/qfp/index.html Britain Yearly Meeting: Faith & Practice]
- [http://www.quakerbooks.org Quakerbooks]: Friends General Conference bookstore
- [http://www.barclaypress.com/ Barclay Press] (Evangelical Friends)
- [http://www.qis.net/~daruma/ Quaker Electronic Archive]
- [http://www.qhpress.org/texts/index.html Quaker Heritage Press Online Texts]
- [http://www.quaker.org.uk/qfp/chap1/index.html Advices and Queries] Category:Religious organizations
- ja:クエーカー simple:Religious Society of Friends

Boston, Massachusetts

:For other uses of Boston, see Boston (disambiguation) Boston is the capital and largest city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. It is the unofficial capital of the region known as New England, and one of the oldest, wealthiest, and most culturally significant large cities in the United States. Its economy is based on education, health care, finance, and technology. Boston has many nicknames. The City on a Hill came from the original Massachusetts Bay Colony's governor John Winthrop's goal to create the biblical "City on a Hill." It also refers to Boston's original three hills. Beantown refers to early Bostonian merchants' habit for making baked beans with imported molasses. The Hub is a shortened form of writer Oliver Wendell Holmes's phrase The Hub of the Solar System. William Tudor, co-founder of the North American Review, christened the city The Athens of America for its great cultural and intellectual influence. Boston is sometimes called Puritan City because its founders were Puritans. The city is also sometimes called The Cradle of Liberty for its role in instigating the American Revolution. Citizens of Boston are called Bostonians. The city lies at the center of the Boston CMSA (Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area), the seventh largest in the United States. The area encompasses parts of the states of New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The city also lies at the center of Greater Boston, which also includes the cities of Cambridge, Brookline, Quincy, Newton, and many suburban communities farther from Boston.

History

Newton Boston was founded on September 17, 1630, on a peninsula called Shawmut by its original Native American inhabitants. The peninsula was connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus, and surrounded by the waters of Massachusetts Bay and the marshes at the mouth of the Charles River. Boston's early European settlers first called the area Trimountain. They later renamed the town for Boston, England, in Lincolnshire, from which several prominent colonists emigrated. A majority of Boston's early citizens were Puritans. Massachusetts Bay Colony's original governor, John Winthrop, gave a famous sermon entitled "a City upon a Hill," which captured the idea that Boston had a special covenant with God. Puritan ethics molded an extremely stable and well-structured society in Boston. For example, shortly after Boston's settlement, Puritans founded America's first school, Boston Latin School (1635), and America's first college, Harvard College (1636). Hard work, moral uprightness, and an emphasis on education remain part of Boston's culture. During the early 1770s, British attempts to exert control on the thirteen colonies, primarily via taxation, prompted Bostonians to initiate the American Revolution. The Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and several early battles occurred in or near the city, including the Battle of Lexington and Concord, Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston. During this period, Paul Revere made his famous midnight ride. After the Revolution, Boston became one of the world's wealthiest international trading ports — major exports were rum, fish, salt, and tobacco. During this era, descendants of old Boston families became regarded, in the American popular mind, as the nation's social and cultural elites; they were later dubbed the Boston Brahmins. In 1822, Boston was chartered as a city. By the mid-1800s, the city's industrial manufacturing overtook international trade in economic importance. Until the early 1900s, Boston remained one of the nation's largest manufacturing centers, and was notable for its garment production, leather goods, and machinery industries. From the mid-to-late-nineteenth century, Boston flourished culturally — it became renowned for its rarefied literary culture and lavish artistic patronage. It also became a center of the abolitionist movement. In the 1820s, Boston's ethnic composition began to change dramatically; groups like the Irish and Italians moved into the city and brought with them Roman Catholicism. Currently, Catholics make up Boston's largest religious community. The Irish played a major role in Boston politics — prominent figures include the Kennedys and John F. Fitzgerald. The city increased its physical size by land reclamation, filling in marshes and mud flats on each side of the isthmus to create the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods, and by filling gaps between wharves along the waterfront. Boston also annexed nearby communities of East Boston, Dorchester and Charlestown. Charlestown From the late 1800s until the mid-1900s, Boston earned a reputation for intolerance, discipline, and prudishness. The phrase "Banned in Boston" was used to describe a literary work, motion picture, or play prohibited from distribution or exhibition. During this time, Boston city officials took it upon themselves to "ban" anything that they found to be salacious, immoral, or offensive. Boston's infamous "vice squad" found favor amongst the ruling-class Brahmins, and working-class Catholics. Consequently, Boston became perceived as less sophisticated than many cities without strict censorship practices. The phrase "banned in Boston" became associated in the popular mind with something sexy and lurid. By the early and mid-20th century, the city was in decline as factories became old and obsolete, and businesses moved out of the region for cheaper labor elsewhere. Boston responded by initiating various urban renewal projects, including the demolition of the old West End neighborhood and the construction of Government Center. In the 1970s, Boston boomed after thirty years of economic downturn, becoming a leader in the mutual fund industry. Boston already had a reputation for excellent healthcare services. Hospitals such as Massachusetts General Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Brigham and Women's Hospital led the nation in medical innovation and patient care. Universities such as Harvard, MIT, and Boston University attracted many students to the Boston area. Nevertheless, the city experienced conflict starting in 1974 over desegregation busing, which resulted in unrest and violence around public schools throughout the mid-1970s. The unrest served to highlight racial tensions in the city. Over the past several decades, Boston has experienced a dramatic loss of regional institutions and traditions, which once gave it a very distinct social character. Boston has begun to resemble other parts of the continuous string of Northeast seaboard cities dubbed the BosWash megalopolis. The city faces gentrification issues and exorbitant living costs. Conversely, Boston's streets currently bustle with a vitality not seen since the 1920s; crime and poverty remain very low for an American city. Once again Boston has become a hub of intellectual, technological, and political ideas.

Geography and climate

Geography

1920s.]] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 232.1 km² (89.6 mi²). 125.4 km² (48.4 mi²) of it is land and 106.7 km² (41.2 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 46.0% water. With an elevation of 19 feet (5.8 m) above sea level at Logan International Airport, Boston is bordered by the cities of Winthrop, Revere, Chelsea, Everett, Somerville, Cambridge, Watertown, Newton, Brookline, Needham, Dedham, Canton, Milton, and Quincy—often known as, and considered a part of, Greater Boston. Much of the Back Bay and South End are built on reclaimed land—two and a half of Boston's three original hills were used as a source of material for landfill. Only Beacon Hill, the smallest of the three original hills, remains partially intact. The downtown area and immediate surroundings consist mostly of low-rise brick or stone buildings, with many older buildings in the Federal style. Several of these buildings mix in with modern high-rises, notably in the Financial District, Government Center, Back Bay, and the South Boston waterfront. To this day, the South End Historical District remains the nation's largest surviving contiguous Victorian-era neighborhood. Smaller commercial areas are interspersed amongst single-family homes and wooden/brick multifamily row houses. The Charles River separates Boston proper from Cambridge, Watertown, and the neighborhood of Charlestown. To the east lies Boston Harbor and the Boston Harbor Islands, many of which are part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, operated by the National Park Service. The Neponset River forms the boundary between Boston's southern neighborhoods and the cities of Quincy and Milton. The Mystic River separates the neighborhoods of East Boston and Charlestown from Chelsea and Everett.

Climate

Boston experiences a continental climate that is very common in New England. The weather in Boston, like much of New England, changes rapidly. It is not uncommon for the city to experience temperature swings of 54 °F (30 °C) or more over the course of several days. The summers are typically warm and humid, while the winters are cold and windy. It has been known to snow in October and get quite warm in February. The hottest month is August, with an average high of 80 °F (27 °C) and a low of 64 °F (18 °C). The coldest month is January, with an average high of 36 °F (2.2 °C) and a low of 22 °F (−5.6 °C). Brief periods exceeding 100 °F in summer and below 0 °F in winter are not uncommon. The city averages 42 in (1,100 mm) of rainfall a year. It also coincidentally averages 42 in (110 cm) of snowfall a year, though this increases dramatically as one goes inland away from the city

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 589,141 people, 239,528 households, and 115,212 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,697/km² (12,166/mi²). There were 251,935 housing units at an average density of 2,009/km² (5,203/mi²). The Irish are the largest ethnic group in the city of Boston, and Boston is commonly considered the capital of "Irish America". The racial makeup of the city was 54.48% White, 25.33% Black or African American, 0.40% Native American, 7.52% Asian American, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 7.83% from other races, and 4.39% from two or more races. 14.44% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. These figures became less reliable because of the large, partly undocumented Brazilian population, estimated by some studies to approach 250,000 in Massachusetts. Census data did not account for this significant segment of the community because of confusing terminology, as Brazilians speak Portuguese and often do not consider themselves specifically Hispanic, Latino, White or African American. Portuguese There were 239,528 households out of which 22.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 27.4% were married couples living together, 16.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 51.9% were non-families. 37.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 3.17. In the city the population was spread out with 19.8% under the age of 18, 16.2% from 18 to 24, 35.8% from 25 to 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $39,629, and the median income for a family was $44,151. Males had a median income of $37,435 versus $32,421 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,353. 19.5% of the population and 15.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 25.6% of those under the age of 18 and 18.2% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Law and government

Boston has a "strong mayor" system in which the mayor is vested with extensive executive powers. The mayor is elected to a four-year term by plurality voting. The city council is elected every two years. There are nine wards or neighborhood seats, each elected by the residents of that ward through plurality voting, and four at-large seats. Each voter casts up to four votes for at-large councilors, no more than one vote per candidate. The candidates with the four highest vote totals are elected. The president of the city council is elected by the councilors from within themselves. The current city council president is Michael F. Flaherty. The school committee is appointed by the mayor, as are city department heads. On the federal level, the city is in the 8th and 9th Congressional districts. In addition to city government, numerous state authorities and commissions play a role in the life of Bostonians, including the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), which operates Logan International Airport. Since the city is the capital of Massachusetts, Boston plays a major role in state politics. Boston is also the United States federal government center for New England. Properties include the John F. Kennedy Federal Office Building and the Thomas P. O'Neil Federal Building. The city also serves as the home of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit as well as the headquarters of the 1st District of the Federal Reserve. Boston's low crime rate in the last years of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st has been credited to its police department's collaboration with neighborhood groups and church parishes to prevent youths from joining gangs, as well as heavy involvement from the District Attorney's office. The current DA for Suffolk County and Boston, Daniel F. Conley, spent nearly ten years working at reducing gang violence in the city. This helped lead in part to what has been touted as the "Boston Miracle," murders in the city dropped from 152 in 1990 (for a murder rate of 26.5 per 100,000 people) to just 31—not one of them a juvenile—in 1999 (for a murder rate of 5.26 per 100,000). In more recent years, however, the annual murder count has fluctuated by as much as 50% compared to the year before, with 60 murders in 2002, followed by just 39 in 2003 and 64 in 2004. Though the figures are nowhere near the high-water mark set in 1990, the aberrations in the murder rate have been unsettling for many Bostonians and have prompted discussion over whether the Boston Police Department should reevaluate its approach to fighting crime. Boston has eight sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International (SCI): Barcelona (Spain), Hangzhou (People's Republic of China), Kyoto (Japan), Melbourne (Australia), Padua (Italy), Strasbourg (France), Sekondi-Takoradi (Ghana), and Taipei (Taiwan). The city has thrice been a recipient of the All-America City Award, the oldest and most respected civic award in the U.S.

Economy

Boston's colleges and universities have a major impact on the city and region's economy. Not only are they major employers, but they also attract high-tech industries to the city and surrounding region, including computer hardware and software companies as well as biotechnology companies like Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Biogen Idec. Other important industries include financial services, especially mutual funds and insurance. Boston-based Fidelity Investments helped popularize the mutual fund in the 1980s, and has made Boston one of the top financial cities in the United States. The city is also the regional headquarters of major banks such as Bank of America and Sovereign Bank, and a center for venture capital. Boston is also a printing and publishing center. Textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin is headquartered within the city. The city is also a major convention destination with four major convention centers: the Hynes Convention Center in the Back Bay, the Bayside Expo Center in Dorchester, and the World Trade Center Boston and Boston Convention & Exhibition Center on the South Boston waterfront. Because of its status as a state capital and the regional home of federal agencies, law and government is another major component of the city's economy. Major companies headquartered within the city include Gillette, owned by Proctor & Gamble, and Teradyne, one of the world's leading manufacturers of semiconductors and other electronic equipment. New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. has its headquarters in the city. Other major companies are located outside the city, especially along Route 128. The Port of Boston is the largest and busiest seaport in Massachusetts. It is also a major seaport along the United States east coast as well as a major fishing port. :See also: Major companies in Greater Boston

Education

Major companies in Greater Boston Considered by ePodunk to be America's greatest college town amongst cities with 300,000 people or more, Boston's reputation as the Athens of America derives in large part from the teaching and research activities of over 100 colleges and universities located in its metropolitan area. Boston College was the first institution of higher education established in the city. It was originally located in the South End before moving to Chestnut Hill, on the city's western edge. Its campus, initially envisioned as an Oxford in America, subsequently expanded so that almost half of it is now within the city's political boundaries. Boston University, now the city's second largest employer and one of the largest private universities in the country, was originally established in Vermont before moving to Brookline and later to its present campus in Boston's Back Bay in the 1950s. Harvard University, the nation's oldest and perhaps the world's most prestigious university, is based across the Charles River in Cambridge; however, most of its current land holdings lie in Boston. These holdings include the Arnold Arboretum, and its business and medical schools. Harvard has also announced plans to expand its main campus across the Charles River into Boston's Allston neighborhood. Emerson College, a highly regarded arts university, maintains a campus near the Theatre District at the southwest corner of Boston Common. Northeastern University, a large private university with a distinctive work/study program, maintains a campus in the Fenway district. Suffolk University, a small private university known for its law school, maintains a campus on Beacon Hill. Boston Public Schools, the oldest public school system in the U.S., enrolls 58,600 students from kindergarten to grade 12. The system operates 145 schools, which includes Boston Latin School (the oldest public school, established in 1635), English High (the oldest public high school, established 1821), and Mather (the oldest public elementary school, established in 1639). The city also has private, parochial, and charter schools. 3000 students of racial minorities attend participating suburban schools through the Metropolitan Educational Opportunity Council, or METCO.

Culture

charter school Boston shares many cultural roots with greater New England, including a dialect of the Eastern New England accent popularly known as Boston English, and a regional cuisine with a large emphasis on seafood and dairy products. Irish Americans are a major influence on Boston's politics and religious institutions and consequently on the rest of Massachusetts. Italian, Chinese, and Hispanic groups also have major contributions to Boston's cultural composition. Boston has its own collection of neologisms known as Boston slang. Many consider Boston a highly cultured city, perhaps as a result of its intellectual reputation. Much of Boston's culture originates at its universities. The city also has a number of ornate theatres, including the Cutler Majestic Theatre and The Wang Center for the Performing Arts. Renowned performing arts groups include the Boston Ballet, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Boston Lyric Opera Company, and the Handel and Haydn Society (the oldest choral company in the United States). There are a number of major annual events such as First Night, which occurs during New Year's Eve, and several events during the Fourth of July. These events include the weeklong Harborfest festivities and a Boston Pops concert accompanied by fireworks on the banks of the Charles River. In contrast to what might be considered the more "refined" aspects of Boston's culture, the city is also one of the birthplaces of the hardcore punk genre of music. Boston musicians have contributed greatly to the hardcore scene over the years (see also Boston hardcore). Boston also had one of the leading local ska scenes in the ska revival of the mid-1990s with bands like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Allstonians, and Skavoovie and the Epitones.

Media

The Boston Globe, owned by the New York Times Company, and The Boston Herald are Boston's two major daily newspapers. The city is also served by a number of smaller publications such as The Boston Phoenix and The Improper Bostonian. Boston has the largest broadcasting market in New England, with the Boston radio market being the eleventh largest in the United States. Several major AM stations include talk radio WRKO 680 AM, sports/talk station WEEI 850 AM, and news radio WBZ 1030 AM. A variety of FM radio formats serve the area as well as NPR stations WBUR and WGBH. University radio stations include WZBC (Boston College), WERS (Emerson), and WUMB (UMass Boston). The Boston television DMA, which also includes Manchester, New Hampshire, is the fifth largest in the United States. The city is served by stations representing every major American network including WBZ 4 (CBS), WCVB 5 (ABC), WHDH 7 (NBC), WFXT 25 (FOX), WSBK 38 (UPN), and WLVI 56 (WB). Boston is also home to PBS station WGBH 2, which also operates WGBX 44. WGBH is a major producer of PBS programs. Most Boston television stations have their transmitters in nearby Needham and Newton.

Sites of interest

Newton Because of the city's prominent role in the American Revolution, several historic sites relating to that period are preserved as part of the Boston National Historical Park. Many are found along the Freedom Trail, which is marked by a red line or bricks embedded in the ground. Also along the Freedom Trail is Boston Common, with the Boston Public Garden being adjacent. Boston Common is part of the Emerald Necklace, a string of parks designed by Frederick Law Olmstead. In the winter, the Frog Pond at Boston Common doubles as a popular ice-skating rink. Another major park is the Esplanade located along the banks of the Charles River. A major recreation site for many Bostonians, it is also the site of the Hatch Shell. Other parks are scattered throughout the city, with the major parks located near Castle Island, Charlestown, the Dorchester shoreline, and East Boston. The Back Bay district includes many prominent landmarks such as the Christian Science Center, Boston Public Library, Copley Square, and Newbury Street. Back Bay is also the home of two of New England's tallest buildings: the John Hancock Tower and the Prudential Center. Near the John Hancock Tower is the old John Hancock Building with its prominent weather forecast beacon. Other notable districts/neighborhoods include Beacon Hill, Charlestown, Chinatown, Downtown Crossing, North End, and South Boston. Boston is home to several world-renowned museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Museum of Science. The University of Massachusetts campus at Columbia Point houses the John F. Kennedy Library. The New England Aquarium, Franklin Park Zoo, Boston Athenaeum (one of the oldest independent libraries in the United States), and the Boston Children's Museum are located within the city. There are also two self-guided walking tours: Harbor Walk, which is designed to allow people the walk the entire shore of Boston Harbor, and the Black Heritage Trail. A popular guided tour is the Boston Duck Tour, which uses World War II-era duck boats. The outer suburbs of Boston, which tend to be forested, have vibrantly colored foliage every autumn that attracts many tourists.

Sports

autumn The TD Banknorth Garden near North Station is the home of two major league teams: the Boston Bruins ice hockey team (National Hockey League) and the Boston Celtics basketball team (National Basketball Association). The Celtics have the distinction of having more World Championships than any other NBA team with 16 championships from 1957 to 1986. The baseball team Boston Red Sox is a member of the American League of Major League Baseball. Their home at Fenway Park, located near Kenmore Square, is the oldest ballpark in active use in the United States. Boston was once the home of the National League baseball team Boston Braves as well as the site of the first World Series in 1903. The game was played between the Boston Americans (currently the Boston Red Sox) and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Once the Boston Patriots, a charter team of the American Football League, the NFL's New England Patriots football team plays in nearby Foxboro. Boston fans travel there to see the Patriots and the New England Revolution soccer team of Major League Soccer. Both teams play at Gillette Stadium. Another major league team is the lacrosse team Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse. The team plays at Boston University's Nickerson Field. Boston's many colleges and universities field sports teams. The most prominent include Boston College (member of the Atlantic Coast Conference), Boston University (America East Conference), Northeastern University (Colonial Athletic Association), and Harvard University. The hockey teams of these four universities meet every year in an immensely popular four-team tournament known as the "Beanpot". The city is also the site of two other major annual sporting events: the Boston Marathon, the world-famous 26-mile run from Hopkinton to Copley Square in Boston, and the Head of the Charles Regatta rowing competition on the Charles River.

Infrastructure

Health and medicine

As the home to some of the world's most respected research hospitals, Boston enjoys an international reputation in the medical field. The Longwood Medical Area is a region of Boston with a concentration of medical and research facilities, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Children's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Harvard Medical School. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Brigham and Women's Hospital were both formed by mergers: the former between Beth Israel Hospital and New England Deaconess Hospital, and the latter by Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and the Boston Hospital for Women. Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) is located near the Beacon Hill neighborhood, with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital nearby. Boston also has VA medical centers in the Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury neighborhoods. Many of Boston's major medical facilities are associated with universities. The facilities in the Longwood Medical Area and MGH are world-renowned research medical centers affiliated with Harvard Medical School. New England Medical Center, located in the southern portions of the Chinatown neighborhood, is affiliated with Tufts University. Boston Medical Center, located in the South End neighborhood, is the primary teaching facility for the Boston University School of Medicine as well as the largest trauma center in the Boston area; it was formed by the merger of Boston University Hospital and Boston City Hospital.

Transportation

trauma center neighborhood is in the background.]] Logan International Airport, located in the East Boston neighborhood, is the major airport serving Boston. Another airport serving the city and surrounding areas is Hanscom Field in Lexington and Bedford. T. F. Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island, and Manchester Airport in Manchester, New Hampshire, are airports outside Massachusetts which serve as secondary facilities. Boston's streets appear as though they were not planned, evolving from centuries-old foot and cow paths. Except for the reclaimed Back Bay and part of South Boston, the city has no street grid. Boston has been described as a "City of Squares", referring to the tradition of naming the intersections of major thoroughfares after prominent city residents. Roads change names and lose and add lanes seemingly at random. The city also has a number of rotaries, which have confused many drivers. Boston is the eastern terminus of I-90, also known as the Mass Pike. I-95, which surrounds the city, is known as Route 128. US 1 and I-93 runs north to south through the city. The most infamous portion, the Central Artery, runs through downtown Boston and was constantly prone to heavy traffic. Through the Big Dig the elevated highway was replaced with an underground tunnel. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) operated the nation's first underground subway system, which has since been expanded to an extensive rapid transit system reaching as far north as Melrose, as far south as Braintree, and as far west as Waltham. Collectively known as the "T", the MBTA also operates an extensive network of bus lines and water shuttles, and a commuter rail network extending north to the Merrimack River valley, west to Worcester, and south to Providence, Rhode Island. Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and Chicago lines originate at South Station and stop at Back Bay. Fast Northeast Corridor trains, which service New York City, Washington, D.C., and points in between, also stop at Route 128 Station in the southwestern suburbs of Boston. Meanwhile, Amtrak's Downeaster service to Maine originates at North Station.

Utilities

Water supply and sewage-disposal services are provided by the Boston Water and Sewer Commission. The Commission in turn purchases wholesale water and sewage disposal from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). Established as a public authority in 1984, the MWRA pipes water from reservoirs in Western and Central Massachusetts, notably the Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs, for several communities within Greater Boston. The agency operates several facilities for sewage treatment, notably an effluent tunnel in Boston Harbor and the Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant near the mouth of Boston Harbor. NSTAR distributes electric power to the city. Natural gas is provided by KeySpan Corporation (the successor company to Boston Gas). Verizon, successor to New England Telephone, NYNEX, and Bell Atlantic, is the primary telephone service provider for the area. Cable television and cable broadband internet are provided by Comcast, RCN, and Verizon in select communities.

See also


- Notable Bostonians
- List of television shows set in Boston
- List of films, operas, and plays set in Boston
- Boston in fiction
- Fictional people from Boston

Notes

#[http://weather.yahoo.com/climo/USMA0046_c.html Records and Averages - Boston (2005)]. Yahoo! Weather. Accessed September 13, 2005. #[http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027.html Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990 (June 1998)]. U.S. Census Bureau. # Winship, Christopher (March 2002). [http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/soc/faculty/winship/End_of_a_Miracle.pdf End of a Miracle?] Harvard University. #[http://www.ci.boston.ma.us/police/ore.asp Boston Police Department's Monthly Crime Statistics (2005)]. CityOfBoston.gov. #[http://boston.areaconnect.com/crime1.htm Boston MA Crime Statistics (2004 - New Crime Data)]. areaConnect.com. #[http://www.epodunk.com/top10/colleges/index.html Great College Towns]. ePodunk. April, 2002. #[http://www.boston.k12.ma.us/bps/bpsglance.asp The Boston Public Schools at a Glance (2004)]. Boston Public School. Accessed October 5, 2005. #[http://www.arbitron.com/radio_stations/mm001050.asp Arbitron - Market Ranks and Schedule, 1-50 (Fall 2005)]. #[http://www.nielsenmedia.com/DMAs.html Nielsen Media - DMA Listing (September 24, 2005)]. #[http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/?id=101045 Boston Skyscrapers. Skyscrapers.com]. Accessed May 15, 2005. #[http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/history/postseason/mlb_ws_recaps.jsp?feature=1903 1903 World Series - Major League Baseball: World Series History. MLB.com].

References


- [http://www.tbf.org/indicatorsProject/ The Boston Indicators Project (2004)]. The Boston Foundation.
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External links


- [http://www.cityofboston.gov City's official website]
- [http://www.cityofboston.gov/bra/maps/mapsPDFs.asp Maps of Boston neighborhoods]
- [http://www.bostonsquares.com Boston guide organized by square]
- [http://yourtown.boston.com/town/boston/ City information]
- [http://boston.about.com About.com for Boston]
- [http://www.bostonusa.com/ Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau]
- [http://www.boston-online.com/glossary.html Guide to the local language]
- [http://www.terragalleria.com/america/north-east/massachusetts Photos of Boston - Terra Galleria]
- [http://www.bostonhistory.org/ The Boston Historical Society]
- [http://wikitravel.org/en/article/Boston Boston travel guide at Wikitravel] Category:All-America City Category:Coastal cities Category:Suffolk County, Massachusetts
- Category:Cities in Massachusetts ko:보스턴 ja:ボストン

North America

North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocean. It covers an area of 24,497,994 km² (9,458,728 sq mi), or about 4.8% of the Earth's surface. As of July 2002, its population was estimated at more than 514,600,000. It is the third largest continent in area, after Asia and Africa, and is fourth in population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. Both North and South America are named after Amerigo Vespucci, who was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a previously undiscovered (by Europeans) New World. North America occupies the northern portion of the landmass generally referred to as the New World, the Western Hemisphere, the Americas, or simply America. North America's only land connection is to South America at the narrow Isthmus of Panama. (For geopolitical reasons, all of Panama – including the segment east of the Panama Canal in the isthmus – is often considered a part of North America alone.) According to some authorities, North America begins not at the Isthmus of Panama but at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, with the intervening region called Central America and resting on the Caribbean Plate. Most, however, tend to see Central America as a region of North America, considering it too small to be a continent on its own. Greenland, although a part of North America geographically, is not considered to be part of the continent politically.

Physical features

Greenland, plutonic, metamorphic rock types of North America. ]] Plate tectonics recognizes the vast majority of North America as being the surface of the North American Plate. Parts of California and western Mexico are known for being the edge of the Pacific Plate, with the two plates meeting along the San Andreas fault. The continent can be divided into four great regions (each of which contains many sub-regions): the Great Plains stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian Arctic; the geologically young, mountainous west, including the Rocky Mountains, the Great Basin, California and Alaska; the raised but relatively flat plateau of the Canadian Shield in the northeast; and the varied eastern region, which includes the Appalachian Mountains, the coastal plain along the Atlantic seaboard, and the Florida peninsula. Mexico, with its long plateaus and cordilleras, falls largely in the western region, although the eastern coastal plain does extend south along the Gulf. The western mountains are split in the middle, into the main range of the Rockies and the coast ranges in California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia with the Great Basin – a lower area containing smaller ranges and low-lying deserts – in between. The highest peak is Denali in Alaska. Since 1931, Rugby, North Dakota, has officially been recognized as being at the geographic center of North America. The location is marked by a 4.5 metre (15 foot) field stone obelisk. Image:North america terrain 2003 map.jpg|North America bedrock and terrain. Image:North america basement rocks.png|North American cratons and basement rocks. Image:North America Tectonic Elements.jpg|Tectonic elements of North America Image:North america craton nps.gif|North American craton.

Territories and regions

craton On the main continent landmass, there are three large and relatively populous countries:
- Canada - many large islands off the shore of North America belong to Canada, including Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands on the west, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Ca