Community Corner

Your Take: What Defines A New Englander?

When you think 'New Englander,' what comes to mind? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Reported and written by Senior Regional Editor Elissa Bass.

In the wake of the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing, much has been made in the media about Boston's 'personality' and the city's response in the face of catastrophe.

Recently, the Associated Press published an article, "New England keeps its stride after 2 tragedies" that sought to link the Dec. 14, 2012 Sandy Hook School massacre in Newtown and the marathon bombing, with what it described as "the old New England spirit and solidarity."

The authors write:
"New England's initial colonization was undertaken by the Puritans and others from Britain. Many of the region's cultural archetypes reflect this heritage — the quintessential imagery of white steepled churches overlooking village greens, the town meetings still held annually in many communities, the flinty Yankee farmers and stone walls evoked in Robert Frost's poetry.

"In his writing and speeches, Frost often captured the mix of individualism and community spirit that New Englanders like to think of as inherent traits."I hold it to be the inalienable right of anybody to go to hell in his own way," he said in an address in 1935.

"Yet he also wrote in one of his poems, "Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in."

You can read the full article here.

While I tend to disagree with the broad and somewhat bizarre generalizations made in this piece, it did get me thinking: What defines a New Englander? Please share your thoughts in the comments.


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