[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 91 (Wednesday, June 25, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1327-E1328]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HAPPY 150TH BIRTHDAY TO THE CITY OF NEW BEDFORD

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BARNEY FRANK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 25, 1997

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker. One of the legislative 
accomplishments of which I am most proud is my role, along with others 
in the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, in securing passage last 
year of the legislation which created a national park in the City of 
New Bedford, commemorating the City's crucial role as a world whaling 
center. The fact that New Bedford played a leading role in the history 
of whaling is of course chronicled most famously in Herman Melville's 
Moby-Dick, but, although the whaling industry has long since moved 
elsewhere and now largely come to an end, the city is still a 
remarkable storehouse of information on the history of whaling, and the 
establishment of the national park will bring that story to millions of 
visitors in the coming years.
  While the people of New Bedford are looking forward to sharing that 
history--and the many other important contributions their city has made 
to American culture--they have been celebrating their history on their 
own for decades. In fact, I was honored to have had the chance to 
participate in a parade in April in honor of the 150th anniversary of 
New Bedford's incorporation as a city, an event attended by more than 
50,000 people. Of course New Bedford as a community has existed much 
longer than 150 years, but it is surely no accident that its 
incorporation as a city dates to the heyday of the whaling industry 
there. Since 1847, New Bedford, like so many other American cities, has 
gone through many changes and many stages of economic development, but 
its residents have continued to work to make the city a better place to 
live, while still preserving its wonderful history.
  And New Bedford has been an extraordinary city indeed. Beyond its 
role in the whaling industry, New Bedford has been the home of many 
``firsts'' and other important events in American history, and I would 
like to take note of several. It is no surprise that the city was 
involved in a number of key maritime events, including, in the 1770s, 
the construction of Old Ironsides by George Claghorn, a New Bedford 
resident and ship builder. Also, in 1783, the American Ship Bedford, 
owned by William Rotch, Jr. of New Bedford, became the first vessel to 
display the American flag in English waters. And, it was in 1896 that 
the city's Joshua Slocum competed the first solo trip around the world 
in his sloop ``Spray.''
  The city also played a key role in the fight for an end to slavery, 
and for fair treatment generally of African Americans. It was an 
important site on the Underground Railroad, and in 1838, a fugitive 
slave and his wife traveled to New Bedford from Newport, Rhode Island

[[Page E1328]]

at the invitation of two quakers who invited him to share their 
carriage. Upon arriving in New Bedford, where he lived for several 
years and played an active role in the Underground Railroad, this 
former slave took the name of Frederick Douglass, and, under that name, 
became one of the best known African American authors and activists in 
our nation's history. In 1848, Lewis Temple, an African American 
blacksmith invented the Temple Toggle Harpoon, which revolutionized the 
whaling industry. And, in 1863, Sgt. William Carney of New Bedford 
saved the American flag in a Civil War battle at Fort Wagner, where he 
fought with members of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, made up of 
black soldiers (a battle depicted in the film ``Glory''). Sgt. Carney 
was later the first black recipient of the Congressional Medal of 
Honor.

  Other New Bedford historical events of note include the 1853 opening 
of the city's Free Public Library (this was the nation's second free 
library, opening its doors just weeks after the first opened in 
Boston); the 1871 founding of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, the 
first Portuguese Catholic Church in North America; and the 1874 writing 
of ``Robert's Rules of Order'' by Captain Henry Robert, then stationed 
at the city's Fort Taber (which was designed by Robert E. Lee).
  Beyond these specific events, the history of New Bedford illustrates 
the strengths and challenges of older industrial area in our country 
from the latter half of the nineteenth century through the end of the 
twentieth. Most important, it demonstrates the importance of the 
commitment and character of a city's residents in creating a vibrant 
community.
  The whaling industry which was so essential to New Bedford has of 
course ended as an ongoing commercial activity. But, the city remains 
one of the centers of fishing in the world, and one example of the 
creative spirit of the people of New Bedford is the extent to which 
they have blended the maritime history of the city into its ongoing 
economic life. Too often in America respect for history and tradition 
is somehow considered to be a detraction from a concern with current 
economic activity. Indeed, many urban areas in this country during the 
middle part of this century, began, in one way or another, to separate 
their waterfronts from their main commercial centers. In New Bedford, 
however, the waterfront has always had an important place of pride in 
the economic life and culture of the city, and this experience is a 
graphic repudiation of the idea that tradition and economic activity 
must perpetually be in conflict. Rather, as shown so clearly in New 
Bedford, they can be mutually reinforcing to everyone's benefit.
  New Bedford also has a proud history as one of the industrial centers 
of this country, serving as an important hub of the garment and textile 
industry. While this has meant that the city--and the region--has also 
become an example of the shortsightedness of national trade and 
industrial policies which often promote the interests of some at the 
expense of others, once again, the spirit of the people of New Bedford 
has been strengthened by these adverse trends. And, now in its 151st 
year, New Bedford continues to strive for economic expansion that takes 
full advantage of twenty-first century norms. The city is striving hard 
for a number of improvements in the transportation grid which serves 
the region, and which, when brought to fruition, hold great promise for 
significant economic expansion.
  Another area where New Bedford has an important lesson for the rest 
of the country is in dealing with the consequences of past 
environmental damage. Until fairly recently in our nation's history we 
paid very little attention to the negative effects of air and water 
pollution. For the past twenty-five years we have worked hard to 
address the environmental problems that have arisen in cities and towns 
throughout the country. New Bedford, as one of the older industrial 
areas of the country, was not immune from the effects of the pre-
environmental regime in which so little attention was paid to the 
cleanliness of our air and water. But, today, in cooperation with the 
Environmental Protection Agency, which has shown a great deal of 
responsiveness to the City's needs, New Bedford is an example of how to 
proceed in a constructive fashion to address past environmental 
difficulties while maximizing current economic potential. With the 
ongoing work to restore the city's harbor, ensure the protection of 
Buzzards Bay's waters, convert abandoned manufacturing sites into 
opportunities for new economic growth, explore the potential of 
aquaculture, and in so many other ways, the people of New Bedford 
continue to strive for an appropriate balance between sensitivity to 
the environment and economic growth.

  Finally, New Bedford reminds America of a lesson which, sadly, the 
country appears to be very much in need of remembering: the importance 
of immigration in building this great country, culturally, socially and 
economically. As a port, New Bedford has long been a center of 
immigration. Today, people continue to immigrate in large numbers to 
the area from Portugal, the Azores, Madeira and the Republic of Cape 
Verde. All continue to be a source of vitality for the city, and those 
of us who point to the industrious and valued work force that 
constitutes one of the city's great assets know that immigration is a 
major factor in the composition of the work force. Furthermore, the 
city's example is an excellent argument in favor of a continuation of 
the generous attitude toward immigration that the United States has 
traditionally held, but which, unfortunately, is now being questioned 
in some quarters.
  Mr. Speaker, in the years ahead at the appropriate anniversaries on 
which people take stock of the city's condition, I believe we will be 
able to look back to today as a period when the people of New Bedford, 
working together as they have so often in the past, continued to make 
important strides in both transforming the city's economy to prepare it 
for the twenty-first century and in preserving its incredibly rich 
legacy. I have represented New Bedford in the United States House of 
Representatives since January of 1993, and in that capacity it is a 
great honor as well as a distinct pleasure for me to join in 
celebrating with the people of the city on this glorious 150th 
birthday.

                          ____________________