''The Great State of Massachusetts'', words by
George A. Wells, and music by
J. Earl Bley, is a song that was designated the state
glee club song of
on November 24, 1997.
Wells, a politician from
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...
, was a delegate to the
1960 Democratic National Convention
The 1960 Democratic National Convention was held in Los Angeles, California, on July 11–15, 1960. It nominated Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts for president and Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas for vice president.
In ...
, which nominated Massachusetts'
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
as president. The convention band was unable to find a song that identified Kennedy with his home state and on his way home, Wells wrote ''The Great State of Massachusetts''. J. Earl Bley, a musician friend of Wells, wrote the music. On November 24, 1997, ''The Great State of Massachusetts'' was designated the state glee club song of Massachusetts by the
Massachusetts General Court
The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...
.
References
Symbols of Massachusetts
Music of Massachusetts
1960 songs
Songs about Massachusetts
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