Massachusetts

==Arts, culture, and recreation==

[[File:Site of Thoreau's cabin.JPG|thumb|left|The site of [[Henry David Thoreau]]'s cabin at [[Walden Pond]] in [[Concord, Massachusetts|Concord]]]]
[[File:The Clark Art Institute - Tadao Ando.jpg|thumb|278x278px|Massachusetts is home to many of the worlds' most prestigious art museums, such as the [[Clark Art Institute]] (pictured above)]]
Massachusetts has contributed to American arts and culture. Drawing from its [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] and [[Yankee]] roots, along with later immigrant groups, Massachusetts has produced several writers, artists, and musicians. Some major museums and important historical sites are also located there, and events and festivals throughout the year celebrate the state's history and heritage.<ref>{{cite web |title=History Museums |date=June 3, 2013 |url=http://www.massvacation.com/explore/history/history-museums/ |publisher=Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism |access-date=May 6, 2015}}</ref>

Massachusetts was an early center of the [[Transcendentalism|Transcendentalist]] movement, which emphasized intuition, emotion, human individuality and a deeper connection with nature.{{sfn|Goldfield|Abbott|Anderson|Argersinger|1998|p=254}} [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], who was born in Boston but spent much of his later life in [[Concord, Massachusetts|Concord]], largely created the philosophy with his 1836 work [[Nature (essay)|''Nature'']], and continued to be a key figure in the movement for the remainder of his life. Emerson's friend, [[Henry David Thoreau]], who was also involved in Transcendentalism, recorded his year spent alone in a small cabin at nearby [[Walden Pond]] in the 1854 work ''[[Walden; or, Life in the Woods]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Walden Pond State Reservation |url=http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-north/walden-pond-state-reservation.html |publisher=[[Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs]] |access-date=May 6, 2015}}</ref>

Other famous authors and poets born or strongly associated with Massachusetts include [[Anne Bradstreet]], [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]], [[Louisa May Alcott]], [[Robert Frost]], [[Emily Dickinson]], [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]], [[Edith Wharton]], [[e.e. cummings]], [[Herman Melville]], [[W.E.B. Du Bois]], [[Sylvia Plath]], [[Elizabeth Bishop]], [[John Updike]], [[Anne Sexton]], [[H.P. Lovecraft]], [[Edgar Allan Poe]], [[Helen Hunt Jackson]], [[Khalil Gibran]], [[Mary Higgins Clark]], [[Amelia Atwater-Rhodes]], [[Jack Kerouac]] and [[Dr. Seuss|Theodor Seuss Geisel]], better known as "Dr. Seuss".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/long/historyculture/henry-wadsworth-longfellow.htm |title=Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |access-date=May 30, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Details—Sunday—Massachusetts |publisher=[[Academy of American Poets]] |access-date=May 29, 2010 |url=http://www.poets.org/state.php/varState/MA}}</ref><ref name=MassMisc>{{cite web |url=http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cismaf/mf4.htm |title=Miscellaneous Massachusetts Facts |publisher=[[Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth]] |access-date=May 30, 2010}}</ref> Famous painters from Massachusetts include [[Winslow Homer]] and [[Norman Rockwell]];<ref name=MassMisc/> many of the latter's works are on display at the [[Norman Rockwell Museum]] in [[Stockbridge, Massachusetts|Stockbridge]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Norman Rockewell Museum of Vermont |url=http://www.normanrockwellvt.com/ |publisher=Norman Rockwell Museum of Vermont |access-date=May 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503193330/http://normanrockwellvt.com/ |archive-date=May 3, 2015 }}</ref>
[[File:InsideOutStage.jpg|thumb|An outdoor dance performance at [[Jacob's Pillow Dance|Jacob's Pillow]] in [[Becket, Massachusetts|Becket]]]]

Massachusetts is also an important center for the performing arts. Both the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]] and [[Boston Pops Orchestra]] are based in Massachusetts.<ref name=BostonArts1>{{cite web |url=http://www.massvacation.com/arts/music.php |title=Music |publisher=Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism |access-date=May 29, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010133331/http://massvacation.com/arts/music.php |archive-date=October 10, 2010 }}</ref> Other orchestras in Massachusetts include the [[Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra]] in [[Barnstable, Massachusetts|Barnstable]], the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbsymphony.org/mission-history|title=Mission &#124; History|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207072244/https://www.nbsymphony.org/mission-history|archive-date=February 7, 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and the [[Springfield Symphony Orchestra]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.capesymphony.org/cape-symphony-orchestra-the-ccso.asp |title=About the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra |publisher=[[Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra]] |access-date=June 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203011311/http://www.capesymphony.org/cape-symphony-orchestra-the-ccso.asp |archive-date=December 3, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.springfieldsymphony.org/about/history.shtml |title=Our History |publisher=[[Springfield Symphony Orchestra]] |access-date=June 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418215808/http://www.springfieldsymphony.org/about/history.shtml |archive-date=April 18, 2010 }}</ref> [[Tanglewood]], in western Massachusetts, is a music venue that is home to both the [[Tanglewood Music Festival]] and [[Tanglewood Jazz Festival]], as well as the summer host for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.massvacation.com/westernMass/arts.php |title=Arts |location=MA, US |publisher=Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism |access-date=May 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103194144/http://massvacation.com/westernMass/arts.php |archive-date=January 3, 2010 }}</ref>

Other performing arts and theater organizations in Massachusetts include the [[Boston Ballet]], the [[Boston Lyric Opera]],<ref name=BostonArts1/> and the [[Lenox, Massachusetts|Lenox]]-based [[Shakespeare & Company (Massachusetts)|Shakespeare & Company]]. In addition to classical and folk music, Massachusetts has produced musicians and bands spanning a number of contemporary genres, such as the [[classic rock]] bands [[Aerosmith]] and [[Boston (band)|Boston]], the proto-punk band [[the Modern Lovers]], the [[New wave music|new wave]] band [[the Cars]], and the [[alternative rock]] band [[Pixies (band)|Pixies]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Leddy |first=Charles 'Chuck' |title=Rocking history lesson shows city was in a class by itself |url=http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2008/01/10/rocking_history_lesson_shows_city_was_in_a_class_by_itself/ |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] |date=January 10, 2008 |access-date=May 29, 2010}}</ref> The state has also been the birthplace of the rock bands [[Staind]], [[Godsmack]], and [[Highly Suspect]], since these bands all were formed in Massachusetts cities such [[Springfield (Massachusetts)|Springfield]], [[Lawrence, Massachusetts|Lawrence]], and [[Cape Cod]] respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/staind-mn0000178799/biography|title=Staind &#124; Biography & History|website=AllMusic}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Godsmack {{!}} Biography & History|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/godsmack-mn0000665860/biography|access-date=January 14, 2021|website=AllMusic}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Race |first=Victoria |date=September 30, 2015 |title=Interview – Highly Suspect |url=https://kryptonitemusic.com/2015/09/30/interview-highly-suspect/ |access-date=July 20, 2022 |website=Kryptonite Music Magazine |language=en}}</ref> Film events in the state include the [[Boston Film Festival]], the [[Boston International Film Festival]], and a number of smaller film festivals in various cities throughout Massachusetts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.massvacation.com/arts/filmfestivals.php |title=Film Festivals |location=MA, US |publisher=Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism |access-date=May 29, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010112315/http://massvacation.com/arts/filmfestivals.php |archive-date=October 10, 2010 }}</ref>
[[File:USS Constitution salutes Bataan 2005.jpg|thumb|left|USS ''[[USS Constitution|Constitution]]'' fires a salute during its annual Fourth of July turnaround cruise]]

[[File:OldShipEntrance.jpg|thumb|Built in 1681, the [[Old Ship Church]] in [[Hingham, Massachusetts|Hingham]] is the oldest church in America in continuous ecclesiastical use.<ref>{{cite news |last=Butterfield |first=Fox |title=The Perfect New England Town |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/14/travel/the-perfect-new-england-village.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 14, 1989 |access-date=May 30, 2010}}</ref> Massachusetts has since become one of the most [[irreligion|irreligious]] states in the U.S.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/02/29/how-religious-is-your-state/?state=alabama|title=How religious is your state?|author= Michael Lipka and Benjamin Wormald|publisher=Pew research center|date=February 29, 2016|access-date=May 5, 2018}}</ref>]]

Massachusetts is home to a large number of museums and historical sites. The [[Clark Art Institute]], the [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]], the [[Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston]], and the [[DeCordova Museum|DeCordova]] contemporary art and sculpture museum in [[Lincoln, Massachusetts|Lincoln]] are all located within Massachusetts,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cityofboston.gov/visitors/museums.asp |title=Museums |publisher=City of [[Boston]] |access-date=May 29, 2010}}</ref> and the [[Maria Mitchell Association]] in [[Nantucket]] includes several observatories, museums, and an aquarium.<ref>{{cite web |title=Art Museums |publisher=Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism |access-date=May 29, 2010 |url=http://www.massvacation.com/arts/art-museums.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010124413/http://massvacation.com/arts/art-museums.php |archive-date=October 10, 2010 }}</ref> Historically themed museums and sites such as the [[Springfield Armory National Historic Site]] in [[Springfield, Massachusetts|Springfield]],<ref name=NPS1/> Boston's [[Freedom Trail]] and nearby [[Minute Man National Historical Park]], both of which preserve a number of sites important during the [[American Revolution]],<ref name=NPS1/><ref>{{cite web |title=Places To Go |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |access-date=December 30, 2009 |url=http://www.nps.gov/bost/planyourvisit/placestogo.htm}}</ref> the [[Lowell National Historical Park]], which focuses on some of the earliest mills and canals of the [[industrial revolution]] in the US,<ref name=NPS1/> the [[Black Heritage Trail]] in Boston, which includes important African-American and abolitionist sites in Boston,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afroammuseum.org/trail.htm |title=Black Heritage Trail |publisher=[[African Meeting House|Museum of African American History]] |access-date=May 29, 2010 |archive-date=July 2, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100702194503/http://www.afroammuseum.org/trail.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the [[New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park]]<ref name=NPS1/> all showcase various periods of Massachusetts's history. [[Plymouth Rock]], marks the disembarkation site of the ''[[Mayflower]]'' [[Pilgrim (Plymouth Colony)|Pilgrims]] who founded [[Plymouth Colony]] in December 1620.

[[Plimoth Plantation]] and [[Old Sturbridge Village]] are two [[open-air museum|open-air]] or "living" museums in Massachusetts, recreating life as it was in the 17th and early 19th centuries, respectively.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Plimoth Plantation |publisher=[[Plimoth Plantation]] |access-date=May 29, 2010 |url=http://www.plimoth.org/about/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526084752/http://www.plimoth.org/about/ |archive-date=May 26, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Old Sturbridge Village |url=https://www.osv.org/ |publisher=[[Old Sturbridge Village]] |access-date=May 7, 2015}}</ref>
[[File:NE Flag red.jpg|thumb|Massachusetts has the largest population of the [[New England]] states. New Englander culture and identity remains strong in Massachusetts ([[Flag of New England]] pictured above).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.uconn.edu/2004/May/rel04062.htm|title=UConn Poll: New Englanders & Regional Identity|website=news.uconn.edu|access-date=July 25, 2019|archive-date=June 13, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613221628/http://news.uconn.edu/2004/May/rel04062.htm}}</ref>]]
Boston's annual [[St. Patrick's Day]] parade and "Harborfest", a week-long [[Fourth of July]] celebration featuring a fireworks display and concert by the Boston Pops as well as a turnaround cruise in Boston Harbor by the [[USS Constitution|USS ''Constitution'']], are popular events.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Siddiqui |first1=Faiz |last2=Ellement |first2=John R. |last3=Finucane |first3=Martin |title=Boston plans to hold Fourth of July celebrations Thursday |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/07/02/organizers-meet-today-decide-whether-hold-rehearsal-concert-esplanade/hAEMRvOxUOfuSGYQPNkqYO/story.html |access-date=May 7, 2015 |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |date=July 2, 2014}}</ref> The [[New England Summer Nationals]], an [[auto show]] in Worcester, draws tens of thousands of attendees every year.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kush |first=Bronislaus B |url=http://www.telegram.com/article/20100703/NEWS/7030347/1003/NEWS03 |title=Summer Nationals Weekend Revs Up |access-date=March 15, 2011 |website=[[Telegram & Gazette|Worcester Telegram]] |archive-date=July 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716205618/http://www.telegram.com/article/20100703/NEWS/7030347/1003/NEWS03 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Boston Marathon]] is also a popular event in the state drawing more than 30,000 runners and tens of thousands of spectators annually.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Spectator's Guide To The 2015 Boston Marathon |date=April 20, 2015 |url=http://www.wbur.org/2015/04/18/spectators-guide-boston-marathon |publisher=[[WBUR-FM]] |access-date=May 8, 2015}}</ref>

Long-distance hiking trails in Massachusetts include the [[Appalachian Trail]], the [[New England National Scenic Trail]], the [[Metacomet-Monadnock Trail]], the [[Midstate Trail (Massachusetts)|Midstate Trail]], and the Bay Circuit Trail.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.outdoors.org/conservation/wherewework/southernnewengland/index.cfm |title=Southern New England |publisher=[[Appalachian Mountain Club]] |access-date=June 2, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100803013221/http://www.outdoors.org/conservation/wherewework/southernnewengland/index.cfm |archive-date=August 3, 2010 }}</ref> Other outdoor recreational activities in Massachusetts include sailing and yachting, freshwater and deep-sea fishing,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.massvacation.com/outdoor/fishing.php |title=Fishing & charters |publisher=Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism |access-date=June 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101006100627/http://massvacation.com/outdoor/fishing.php |archive-date=October 6, 2010 }}</ref> [[whale watching]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.massvacation.com/outdoor/whale-watching.php |title=Whale watching |publisher=Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism |access-date=June 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101006105604/http://massvacation.com/outdoor/whale-watching.php |archive-date=October 6, 2010 }}</ref> downhill and cross-country skiing,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.massvacation.com/outdoor/skiing-snowboarding.php |title=Skiing/snowboarding |publisher=Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism |access-date=June 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100308101738/http://massvacation.com/outdoor/skiing-snowboarding.php |archive-date=March 8, 2010 }}</ref> and hunting.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hunting |url=http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/recreational-activities/hunting.html |publisher=[[Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs]] |access-date=May 7, 2015}}</ref>

Massachusetts is one of the states with the largest percentage of [[Catholic]]s. It has many sanctuaries such as the [[National Shrine of The Divine Mercy (Stockbridge, Massachusetts)]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://religioustravelplanningguide.com/10-top-catholic-shrines-in-the-u-s/|title=10 Top Catholic Shrines in the U.S.|date=February 15, 2012|access-date=January 1, 2020|archive-date=October 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018134422/https://religioustravelplanningguide.com/10-top-catholic-shrines-in-the-u-s/|url-status=dead}}</ref>