It Takes A Village: Community and Culture

By the onset of hostilities, Quinsigamond's political landscape had been shaped by years of Swedish American identity politics. Worcester's Swedish Americans had become an integral part of Worcester's political life and a force to be reckoned with. Almost immediately after the immigrant Swedes' arrival in the late 1800's, the Anglo establishment embraced the newcomers observing a mutual identity: Swedes' Protestant pietism, Northern European identity, strong work ethic, and willingness to learn English made them the model immigrants in the eyes of Worcester's Republican elite. Political assimilation was so rapid that by 1915, the Swedish American Republican Club of Massachusetts, with its 20,000 members, represented the largest of any single ethnic group in the state party (12). Facing off against their Democratic adversaries, who largely represented the interests of the Irish and immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, the Swedes would help send their own Pehr Holmes to the mayor's office for three consecutive terms starting in 1914 (13). As evidenced by the large number of Swedish Aldermen and Councilmen that would serve the city government through the war, Swedish Republicanism was alive and well come war time.

Wartime Quinsigamond residents attest to the conservative political tendencies of their community. Edward Steele notes how as a child the political ideologies of his elders influenced his party affiliation: "Well, we had an Axel Sternlof, he was an alderman, in the City of Worcester, of course he was my Sunday School teacher. So that's how I got interested in politics. Of course he was a Republican and I was made a Republican at that time." Eleanor Rudge explains her wartime political bearing as a function of her household: "Well, to me, the first time we got involved in politics was, was World War II […] I remember I was a Republican because my parents were."


Sure enough, Quinsigamond's residents voted with the GOP in the local 1942 elections. In the alderman's race for Ward Six, Republican Edwin Lofgren trounced his Democratic contender, William Grady, winning 3,216 votes to 2,071. For the Common Council, villagers could choose to elect three of seven contenders from Ward Six including Republicans Walter Bergstrom, George Cross, and John McCullough as well as Democrats John Deedy, Frank Calcagni and Stanley Kamyck. Gustaf Bergstrom ran independently. In Quinsigamond's precinct four, the three Republicans were the top three vote-getters whereas all three Democrats occupied the bottom slots. Bergstrom, Cross and McCullough earned 626, 339, and 363 votes respectively. Only Deedy amassed more than 100 votes from those running on the Democratic ticket. In the Ward as a whole, voters elected W. Bergstrom, Cross and the widely popular Deedy to office (14).

But interestingly, Quinsigamond's Republican residents were exceptionally receptive to President Franklin Roosevelt's Democratic policy initiatives, both relating to foreign and domestic matters. One extols the president for his social policy: "I thought Mr. Roosevelt was a fine man: He did a lot for Social Security" (Olaf Rydstrom). Others supported the Democratic administration for its execution of the war, insisting that the administration "was leading" and that it was not wise to "change leadership," especially that which is effective, during such turmoil (Wesley Holm). FDR's tremendous popularity among the Quinsigamond Swedes cultivated a new outlook on partisan politics which persisted throughout the war. Vernon "Bud" Rudge, a Quinsig veteran, echoes his peers sentiments when stating, "…[focusing on] the difference between Republicans and Democrats- I don't think that feeling was that way then. It wasn't the party. It was a country." In Quinsigamond, community political interests would lie subordinate to those of the nation for the duration of the war.

It may have been the same impulse to retain leadership that led Worcester voters, as a whole, to return then Worcester mayor, Republican William A. Bennett to office for a fourth consecutive two-year term. By the 1930's, campaigns for the mayors office in Worcester had become remarkably contentious. The office of Mayor, unlike the City Manager's position today, was a strong position through which the party in power could exert a large degree of influence over city operations. In the 1937 election, Bennet won with 35,864 votes over Democrat John Sullivan's 35,768- not even by 100 votes. The close election was eventually settled in the Massachusetts Supreme Court in favor of Bennett. He went on to win in 1939, again in 1941, and finally in 1943 with a 14 percent lead -one of his largest yet (15). Worcester's major news publication, the Telegram and Gazette published in its February 14th 1943 Sunday Telegram issue an article extolling the wartime mayor in handling the mounting demands on his time: "The Mayor, who takes every duty connected with his job in stride meets the public graciously at all occasions" (16).

Nationally, support of FDR and his administration was not universal. Many Americans were frustrated by what appeared to be a poorly orchestrated war effort both at home and abroad. On the homefront, the imposition of a wartime command economy caused production bottlenecks, shortages and price inflation. The Office of Price Administration was the target of much criticism for its price-control and rationing initiatives. Many citizens began to resent what seemed to be a bureaucracy mired in confusion and red-tape. Abroad, the United States momentum towards achieving victory had not yet been established until the very end of 1942 with the news of US gains in North Africa and Guadalcanal. Americans could not see the war's end, and thus questioned our leadership. It is widely agreed that these two streams of discontent allowed the Republicans to gain almost four dozen seats in the House of Representatives as well as nine Senate seats at the expense of the Democrats (17). Additional support to the increasingly anti-New Deal Congress was offered by politcal conservatives who decried the expansionist - as well as expensive- tendencies of FDR's New Deal bureaucracy.

Even in Quinsigamond, while support of FDR's administration was strong, there were some who began to doubt the president's own ability to fulfill the duties of his office. One village resident remarks, "…I still say the best president we ever had was FDR, without a doubt. Except the third term [actually his fourth]. I don't think he should have run, because of his health…" (Florence Ingman). Indeed, many Americans were concerned by Roosevelt's ability to carry on. The president was found to have cardiac disease and chronic hypertension in early 1944 (18). Others saw a fourth term as a confirmation of FDR's often dictatorial reign over the New Deal bureaucracy. A general opinion poll conducted after the 1944 Republican Convention by Elmo Roper confirmed that only 28 percent of the US population was staunchly behind Roosevelt for a fourth term. Thirty percent claimed that they would vote for the Republican challenger Thomas Dewey (19). Still, FDR proved that he had the support of the American people. Though by lesser margins than in the past, FDR defeated Dewey by 5.6 million popular votes and 333 votes in the electoral college (20). While Dewey harped on the insufficiencies of the Roosevelt administration, Roosevelt captured the hearts and minds of the public offering up an "economic bill of rights" promising the rights to jobs, adequate income, education, and social insurance for all after the war.

Following President Roosevelt's death in office in April 1945, village residents continued to support our nation's commander-in-chief, now Harry Truman. Village residents admired his courage in handling military affairs, notably his decision to drop the atomic bomb on two Japanese cities and his later firing of General MacArthur for insubordination regarding US military policy in the Far East. The villagers' support of the United States' atomic bombing of Japan represented the opinion of the mainstream at the end of World War II- that use of the weapons was justified given the certain high death toll a land invasion of Japan would incur. Until the end, Quinsigamond politics during World War II were the politics of unity and collective action.