Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
The National League of Cities distributed its new book, “NLC 100 Years, 1924-2024: A Century of Strengthening Cities,” to attendees of the NLC’s annual City Summit in Tampa, Florida, in November.
The National League of Cities celebrated its 100th anniversary throughout 2024, recognizing a century of municipal advocacy, education, and innovation at the national level.
As part of its celebration, the NLC organized a national roadshow, visiting more than 130 cities throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. The roadshow kicked off in February 2024 in Lawrence, Kansas, and made its way to Massachusetts in May, with stops in Cambridge, Mansfield, New Bedford and Revere. MMA President and Waltham City Councillor John McLaughlin and MMA Executive Director Adam Chapdelaine were on hand in Cambridge to welcome the roadshow.
The NLC invited municipalities to join the centennial celebration by issuing a proclamation in May during National Cities, Towns and Villages Month, signing the Recycle Right Pledge, and taking part in the Youth Create! Challenge.
The NLC recently published a book, “1924-2024: A Century of Strengthening Cities,” to chronicle the organization’s origins and history across each decade. The book was distributed to attendees at the NLC’s City Summit in Tampa, Florida, this past November. “A Century of Strengthening Cities” highlights how municipalities and the country have grown and changed over the past century.
Former MMA Executive Director Geoff Beckwith wrote an introduction, in which he discusses the critical role that municipal governance has played in the nation’s development, as well as the NLC’s role in aiding that progress.
“Local governments,” writes Beckwith, “are nothing less than the bedrock of American democracy, providing 341 million residents with the most accountable, responsive, inclusive, ethical, and transparent government on the planet.”
Beckwith also provides a sense of scale for what municipalities do, referencing data like miles of roads and pipes built and maintained, number of schools operated, and the municipal workforce employed.
“Municipal governments are magnets that draw us toward each other,” he writes, “creating shared experiences to let us know that we belong, and that our neighbors belong, too. These connections make us resilient, [and] allow us to navigate change and uncertainty with greater confidence and ability … even when we disagree on how to achieve our lofty aspirations.”
“Without strong municipalities,” he writes, “these achievements would have been slower and smaller, and America would be less than it is today. That is why NLC and our state leagues have been so vital to our nation’s progress.”
The full text of Beckwith’s article is available on the MMA website.
The NLC was founded in 1924 at the University of Kansas by representatives of 10 state leagues, and has grown to represent nearly 20,000 municipalities and 49 state municipal leagues.
The NLC’s book, “1924-2024: A Century of Strengthening Cities,” is available to all guests who visit the NLC’s office in Washington, D.C.