08/19/2026
July 4, 1976, was the largest nationwide celebration of Independence Day. Several countries overseas joined in and wished us well. Anyone living today from their mid-fifties and older will have some memory of the Bicentennial. People who were schoolchildren then will likely have the most profound memories as the Revolution was part of our curriculum, field trips, and play, and seemed to permeate every facet of daily life. There was a resurgence of folk art and literature, and pop culture got on board in television and novels. Remember all that colonial-style furniture? The eagles, flags, and the Liberty Bell stamped on wall plaques, plates, and all manner of memorabilia? Perhaps you still have your two-dollar bill?
And pasted in most store advertising in newspapers as well, with images of Ben Franklin and George Washington promising honest savings on everything from tires to mayonnaise.
More than a single event, it was an enthusiastic experience that unified all ages, all manner of diversity in our extremely diverse culture, because we could all share it on some level. We will remember, especially, that it was not confined to the single day of July 4th, but seemed to begin at least a year or more earlier, and its effects lasted for several years post-1976.
The Bicentennial was like a mini-era. Bicentennial committees in towns and cities were formed well before 1976. It was as if we were willing ourselves to move past the tumult of the 1960s and early 1970s, from assassinations and the Vietnam War, from Watergate to inflation and oil crises to a temporary landing spot, a safe zone to regroup and find strength and renewed purpose based on the colonial tribulations of our American ancestors.
We had 50 states now. Our President was Gerald R. Ford, and it was an election year. His Vice President was Nelson Rockefeller, who was appointed, just as Ford had been appointed to fill the vacancy left originally by the resignation of Spiro T. Agnew who faced criminal investigations of extortion, bribery and tax fraud.
In Chicopee, our mayor was Howard W. Redfern. The Bicentennial era found us with our suburbia almost stretched out to our boundaries, a second high school and new middle school necessitated by the Baby Boom, our city bisected now by the Massachusetts Turnpike. The most notable change was the deactivation of Westover Air Force Base in 1973.
We did have a new addition that made a substantial commercial impact: the Fairfield Mall. It began with anchor stores Forbes and Wallace, and Two Guys both opening in August 1969 on either ends of the mall that wasn’t built yet. Construction progressed through the early ‘70s and the mall opened officially on October 28, 1974.
“The Bicentennial Begins Here,” was the Massachusetts state slogan, and it may as well have, for we began the party in 1975 with the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. There was the recreation of the dragging of cannon over the Knox Trail to Boston. Funds and grants were made available to establish or renovate parks, and historic markers reminded us of significant events as we sped past them.
In 1976, the Chicopee Bicentennial Committee planned concerts, the movie musical 1776 was shown in the Bellamy Middle School Auditorium for free. Maybe you went to the block party dance in the Ferris Department Store parking lot? Or attended the burial of the time capsule by City Hall.
A Bicentennial Ball was held at the Highpoint Motor Inn on Memorial Drive, and the city turned out for a parade from the Center to St. Stanislaus Church where the church hosted a picnic with hamburgers and hot dogs…and golumbki, pierogi, kielbasa, and kapusta. Tadeusz Kościuszko and Casimir Pulaski, two military commanders who came from Poland to volunteer in the American cause during the Revolutionary War, might have been pleased.
This was followed by a Polka Mass. July 4th fell on a Sunday that year.
But we were now in an era where television brought national events to every living room; and conversely, the public began to attend fewer local activities in preference to staying at home and watching TV. It was the sign of things to come, where in 50 years, we’d be more focused on our little screens than on each other.
That day, July 4th, 1976, we watched a day-long program on CBS (Channel 3 from Hartford – no cable TV or satellite dish then), called In Celebration of Us hosted by Walter Cronkite, featuring Charles Kuralt, scientist Margaret Mead, opera star Beverly Sills, home-run king Hank Aaron, and historians and reflections from everyday folks all over the U.S.
NBC – Channel 22 (Still broadcasting from Provin Mountain in Agawam – they had not yet moved here to Chicopee), had a similar day-long program called The Glorious Fourth with David Brinkley, John Chancelor, Betty Furness, Edwin Newman, and a similar nationwide scope of features.
The evening brought a Bob Hope special for the occasion.
Other events continued throughout the year. Perhaps the most profound effect on the public was a rejuvenated interest in American history. Locally, that took the form of rescuing two historic sites: the Edward Bellamy house, and the Little Red Schoolhouse.
The Bellamy House, on Church Street, home of world-famous 19th century author Edward Bellamy, was part of a string of historic homes on the southern side of the street that were saved -- only just -- from the wrecking ball that destroyed the entire other side of the street and almost all of Chicopee Falls during the Urban Renewal project of the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was only the day before, July 3rd, that Mayor Redfern greenlighted the proposal to establish a study committee to create a Church Street Historic District, the city’s first historic district. The Bellamy House had been designated a National Historic Landmark in November 1971. The Edward Bellamy Memorial Association had been formed in 1972 and purchased the Bellamy House. Restoration was planned for the next year, and free special tours were conducted that October of 1976.
The Little Red Schoolhouse on lower Chicopee Street, a two-story brick structure, had been built in 1846. The lower floor was used as a schoolroom for many grades – typical of a “one-room schoolhouse,” and the upper floor was used for storage at that time. In later years, the upper floor was also used as a second classroom, and this building remained a school until 1971. Afterwards, the School Department used the building for special classes, but then it was briefly put in use by a drug-prevention program run by the Chicopee Clergy Association until 1972.
A special committee of the School Committee was formed to restore the Little Red Schoolhouse for use as an educational museum. Partially funded by a state grant, a professional company was engaged to clean the brickwork, while vocational students were put to work making old-fashioned desks and chairs, a well, and, of course…a two-seat outhouse.
Chicopee Street, the oldest settled section of the city, had lost several historic homes over the years (and would continue), so saving the Little Red Schoolhouse and turning it into a museum was a hopeful project to preserve local history. Completed in 1976, it was proposed in 1978 that the building be turned over to the auspices of the Chicopee Historical Commission. However, in 1982, the building was put in use again as a daycare center for about 20 preschoolers. Ultimately, empty for many years, it was sold by the City of Chicopee in 2007 for $1,000 to developers, and is now a private home.
In the wake of the Bicentennial, two other efforts of cataloguing Chicopee history, if not always able to save pieces of it, were a monthly magazine, and the establishment of the Chicopee Historical Society.
The magazine, many of you will fondly remember was Chickuppy Magazine, founded by editor and publisher Sharon M. McConnell, which was published from 1981 to 1987. The popular monthly was free and available at local stores and the library.
The Chicopee Historical Society formed in 1986. This year marks its 40th anniversary.
The Historical Society, and the Edward Bellamy Memorial Association – two separate organizations, continue to commemorate and celebrate people, events, artifacts, and sites of Chicopee history, and both are always looking for new members and support. Currently, just as in 1976, the Bellamy House is taking steps for needed restoration.
Consider becoming part of the city’s history, rather than being a bystander.
And come back next week for our final July 4th anniversary, the 225th – in the year 2001, a new century, and a new millennium.
Jacqueline T. Lynch,
vice president,
Chicopee Historical Society
Sources include:
Springfield Daily News, July 8th, 1969; August 7th, 18th, 1969; May 14, 1976; June 30, 1976; July 3rd, 7th 1976
Springfield Republican, February 14th, November 18th, 2007;
Springfield Union, July 5, 1974; September 13th, 15th, 1976; October 7th, 1975; December 22, 1975; April 20th, May 5th, 29th, 1976; August 24th, 1976; October 1, 9, 1976; April 1, 1978; July 7th, 1982
TV Guide, Vol 24, No. 27, July 3, 1976
