Belden Gerald Bly Jr. (September 29, 1914 in

Everett, Massachusetts Everett is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, directly north of Boston, bordering the neighborhood of Charlestown. The population was 49,075 at the time of the 2020 United States census. Everett was the last city in the ...

– November 3, 2006 in

Wakefield, Massachusetts Wakefield is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston, greater Boston metropolitan area, municipal corporation, incorporated in 1812 in the United States, 1812 and located about north-nor ...

) was an American

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

for 16 terms from 1949 to 1980, representing

Saugus, Massachusetts Saugus is a New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. The population was 28,619 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Saugus is known as the site of the first integrated iron work ...

. Bly was born in Everett and grew up in

Revere, Massachusetts Revere (, ) is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Located approximately northeast of Downtown Boston, Revere is the terminus of the Blue Line (MBTA), MBTA Blue Line, with three stations located within the city: Wonderland station, Wonderla ...

. He graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

in 1938. He received a master's degree in education from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

in 1941 and a law degree from

Suffolk University Suffolk University is a private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. With 7,560 students on all campuses, it is the List of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston, tenth-largest university ...

in 1955. Bly was a

Rockefeller Republican The Rockefeller Republicans were members of the United States Republican Party (GOP) in the 1930s–1970s who held moderate-to- liberal views on domestic issues, similar to those of Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York (1959–1973) and Vi ...

; a

social liberal Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

, but conservative on matters such as the

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

and

national defense National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived ...

. In 1974, he championed the creation of a non-smoking section of the House. Bly served on the Ways and Means Committee and the Committee on Aging. Bly also was a biology and practical law teacher, as well as a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

for the

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and track teams at Saugus High School. Bly taught at the

New England School of Law New England Law Boston (formerly New England School of Law, and styled as New England Law Boston) is a private law school in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded as Portia School of Law in 1908 and is located in downtown Boston near the Massa ...

until his retirement in 1979. The Belden Bly Bridge, the oldest

cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beam (structure), beams; however, large cantilever ...

in the nation, which carries Route 107 over the

Saugus River The Saugus River is a river in Massachusetts. The river is long, drains a watershed of approximately , and passes through Wakefield, Lynnfield, Saugus, and Lynn as it meanders east and south from its source in Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefiel ...

was renamed after him in 1985. Bly kept a law office in Saugus and handled cases until his death in 2006. 1968 General Election for the Massachusetts House of Representatives, 11th Essex District *Belden Bly (R) - 6,059 (53.9%) *

Maurice Cunningham Maurice F. Cunningham was an American attorney, educator, and political figure who served as Town Manager of Saugus, Massachusetts from 1974 to 1976. Early life The son of Judge C. Carol Cunningham and Theresa I. (Conner) Cunningham, Cunningham g ...

(D) - 5,188 (46.1%) 1972 General Election for the Massachusetts House of Representatives, 11th Essex District *Belden Bly (R) - 5,686 (48.0%) *James F. Reynolds, Jr. (D) - 3,819 (32.4%) *David A. Dwyer (I) - 2,319 (19.6%) 1974 General Election for the Massachusetts House of Representatives, 11th Essex District *Belden Bly (R) - 5,131 (55.8%) *John Gould (D) - 4,062 (44.2%) 1976 General Election for the Massachusetts House of Representatives, 11th Essex District *Belden Bly (R) - 6,644 (54.1%) *John Gould (D) - 5,129 (41.7%) *Pasquale Pignato (I) - 517 (4.2%) 1978 General Election for the Massachusetts House of Representatives, 9th Essex District *Belden Bly (R) - 6,961 (51.1%) *

Steven Angelo Steven V. Angelo (born June 8, 1952) is a former state representative and Town Manager. Early life Angelo was elected to Town Meeting in 1971 while he was still in college. Following his graduation, Angelo worked as a teacher in the Saugus, Mass ...

(D) - 6,643 (48.8%)

References

External links

WHDH Obituary Boston Globe Obituary
1914 births 2006 deaths Politicians from Everett, Massachusetts People from Saugus, Massachusetts People from Revere, Massachusetts Dartmouth College alumni Boston University School of Education alumni Suffolk University Law School alumni Massachusetts lawyers 20th-century American educators Republican Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court {{Massachusetts-MARepresentative-stub

See also

References

External links