Malcolm Edwin Nichols (May 8, 1876 – February 7, 1951) was a journalist and Americanpolitician. Nichols served as the Mayor of Boston in the late 1920s. He came from a Boston Brahmin family and is the most recent Republican to serve in that post.
Early years
Nichols was the son of Edwin T. Nichols and Helen J. G. (Pingree) Nichols. He graduated from Harvard in 1899.[6] He was married on December 16, 1915, to Edith M. Williams (died 1925). They had three children, sons Clark S.[7] and Dexter, and daughter Marjorie.[8] In 1926 he married Edith's twin sister Carrie Marjorie Williams.[8] His son Clark acted as his best man and his son Dexter acted as the ring bearer.[7][9][10]
Early career
Journalism
Nichols was the Massachusetts State House reporter for The Boston Traveler,[11] covering both houses of the legislature, and later a political reporter for The Boston Post.[2]
Public service
In addition to his newspaper work, Nichols was a lawyer and Collector of Internal Revenue.[12] of Internal Revenue. He was elected to the Boston Common Council in 1905.[13] He was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives,1907–09, representing Ward 10 of Boston[14] (the Back Bay), where he was a member and clerk of the House Committee on Metropolitan affairs.[1] He served as a member of the Massachusetts Senate, 1914, 1917–19.
Mayoralty
Nichols was elected Mayor of Boston in November 1925,[15] serving from 1926 to 1930.
Nichols' mayoralty saw the creation of two dozen new schools, 197 new streets, and the start of construction on the Sumner Tunnel. He focused on increasing Boston's municipal services, providing $3 million in raises to city workers. In 1926 he raised taxes but every year after saw cuts. He relaxed zoning restrictions in his 1928 pyramidal building statute, allowing the construction of many skyscrapers, such as the United Shoe Machinery Corporation Building, and creating a boom in their construction. He established the Boston Port Authority and Boston Traffic Commission. He attempted to combat congestion in the city by proposing a $5 to $10 annual parking fee, claiming that "four out of every five cars" parking in downtown Boston were owned by nonresidents. He also attempted to lower telephone rates.[6][13]
Nichols was unable to run for reelection in November 1929 due to a ban on consecutive terms at the time. He was succeeded by his predecessor, James Michael Curley.
Nichols was a Swedenborgian and of English ancestry. He was a member of the Freemasons, Shriners, and Elks. Nichols died of a heart attack, in Jamaica Plain, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, on February 7, 1951. He was interred in Forest Hills Cemetery in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston.
^ abWho's who in State Politics, 1908, Boston, MA: Practical Politics, 1908, p. 265
^ abHarvard College Class of 1899 List of Addresses, Occupations, Marriages, Births, and Deaths, Cambridge, MA: Harvard College Class of 1899, June 1905, p. 21
^"BOSTON'S MAYOR WED; 9-YEAR SON BEST MAN; Mr. Nichols's Bride Twin Sister of Late Wife-Church Crowded at Ceremony", Amusements, The New York Times, p. 17, 27 November 1926
^Time, 27 November 1926 {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^Gifford, Stephen Nye (1904), A Manual for the Use of the General Court, Boston, MA: Massachusetts General Court, p. 473
^"Republican Wins Boston Mayoralty – Nichols Has 22,000 Lead Over Nearest Democrat, One of Seven Rivals – Klan Beaten in Detroit – Mayor Smith, Whom It Fought, Has 16,692 Lead in Half the City". The New York Times. 4 November 1925. p. 1.
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