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Mount Holyoke College

Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of historically female colleges in the Northeastern United States. The college was founded in 1837 as the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary by Mary Lyon, a pioneer in education for women. Mount Holyoke is part of the Five College Consortium in Western Massachusetts.

Undergraduate admissions are restricted to female, transgender, and nonbinary students. In 2014, it became the first member of the Seven Sisters (not counting the coeducational Vassar College) to introduce an admissions policy that was inclusive of transgender students. Graduate programs are open to applicants regardless of gender.

The college's 800-acre (3.2 km2) campus includes the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, the John Payson Williston Observatory, and a botanic garden. The college awards the Glascock Prize annually.

History

Mount Holyoke was founded in 1837 by Mary Lyon as Mount Holyoke Female Seminary.   Lyon developed her ideas on how to educate women when she was assistant principal at Ipswich Female Seminary in Massachusetts. By 1837 she had convinced multiple sponsors to support her ideals and the nation's first real college for women. Mount Holyoke Female Seminary opened on November 8, 1837 in South Hadley, Massachusetts. The town had donated the land and main building. Lyon's layout of the campus provided a widely imitated model for the higher education of women by providing a physical environment that supported a rigorous and comprehensive curriculum equivalent to that of men's colleges. Lyon's innovative goals set her Seminary apart from other female seminaries of the period, offering a curriculum equivalent to those at men's colleges. All the students worked in one building with little privacy. There was close contact with the all-female faculty, and daily self reports on their personal strengths and weaknesses. The college cut staff to the minimum as the 100 or so students each performed one hour of work a day, handling most of the routine chores like cooking and cleaning and maintaining the grounds. Lyon rejected the goal of the men's colleges to promote individualism and independence and instead fostered the collective ideal of a united team of women could match the success of nearby men's colleges like Amherst and Williams. The curriculum allowed women to study subjects like geometry, calculus, Latin, Greek, science, philosophy, and history, which were not typically taught at other female seminaries in the 19th century. Lyon's efforts in founding an institution of higher education for women, despite the economic challenges of the time, paved the way for more women to have the same opportunities for higher education as their brothers.

Mount Holyoke Female Seminary was one of several Christian institutions of higher education for young women established during the first half of the 19th century. Prior to founding Mount Holyoke, Lyon contributed to the development of both Hartford Female Seminary and Ipswich Female Seminary. She was also involved in the creation of Wheaton Female Seminary (now Wheaton College) in 1834. Mount Holyoke Female Seminary was chartered as a teaching seminary in 1836 and opened its doors to students on 8 November 1837. Both Vassar College and Wellesley College were patterned after Mount Holyoke.

According to historian Amanda Porterfield, Lyon created Mount Holyoke to be "a religious institution that offered a model of Christian society for all to see." Students "were required to attend church services, chapel talks, prayer meetings, and Bible study groups. Twice a day teachers and students spent time in private devotions. Every dorm room had two large lighted closets to give roommates privacy during their devotions". Mount Holyoke Female Seminary was the sister school to Andover Seminary. By 1859 there were more than 60 missionary alumnae; by 1887 the school's alumnae comprised one-fifth of all female American missionaries for the ABCFM; and by the end of the century, 248 of its alumnae had entered the mission field.

Collegiate charter
Mount Holyoke Female Seminary received its collegiate charter in 1888, becoming Mount Holyoke Seminary and College. The change in admission from Seminary to College included fundraising by the trustees, an overhaul of the entrance requirements, and course catalog. Entrance exams were introduced at this time, scheduled in June or September at the college. In 1889, students traveling from the midwest could take these examinations in Freeport, Illinois, and within a few years, this was expanded to other cities. Many additions were made to the course catalog, and starting in the 1889 academic year, students could choose to pursue degrees of Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science. Within 4 years, the seminary enrollment dropped from 269 to 8. In 1893, the seminary course was discontinued, and the new title Mount Holyoke College was authorized.

Cottage-style living
A movement towards what was referred to as cottage-style living started in 1889 by the New York Association after the change to Mount Holyoke Seminary and College. $15,000 was raised, and plans were put in place for Mary Brigham Cottage, with accommodations for the president and thirty students, with priority given to those in the collegiate course. At the time, two South Hadley families agreed to host boarders. President Elizabeth Mead deemed these options unsatisfactory and pushed the trustees to build yet another cottage. Mrs. Mead was ready to relieve the students of a large share of the drudgery of domestic work that had made up a good portion of their studies since Mary Lyon's conception of the seminary. From 1895 to 1996 the trustees allotted funds for the employment of four women to wash the dinner dishes that had formerly constituted the task of eight or ten students.

On February 28, 1987, the United States Postal Service's Great Americans series issued a postage stamp featuring Mary Lyon, in honor of Mount Holyoke's Sesquicentennial (Mount Holyoke's 150th anniversary).

Debate on becoming co-educational
In the early 1970s, Mount Holyoke had a long debate under the presidency of David Truman over the issue of coeducation. On 6 November 1971, the board of trustees voted to remain a women's college.

Admission of transgender students
At Convocation on September 2, 2014, President Lynn Pasquerella announced a new policy allowing the admission of transgender individuals of both sexes to the college, as well as the admission of students whose gender identities are non-binary. Of the Seven Sisters that had remained women's colleges, Mount Holyoke was the first to implement such policy.

Admissions
The 2020 annual ranking by U.S. News & World Report categorizes Mount Holyoke as "more selective".

For the Class of 2027 (enrolling fall 2023), Mount Holyoke received 5,030 applications, accepted 1,926 (38.3%), and enrolled 587. The middle 50% range of SAT scores for enrolled students was 1360–1470 for the composite, 690–750 for evidence-based reading and writing, and 660–750 for math, while the middle 50% range for the ACT composite score was 31–33.

Rankings
U.S. News & World Report's 2023 rankings ranked Mount Holyoke the 36th-best liberal arts college in the nation, and tied for 30th for "Best Undergraduate Teaching." In 2023, according to a ranking by the Princeton Review which assessed students' perceptions of their faculty, Mount Holyoke's faculty was ranked #9 in the nation. The ranking was based on students' level of agreement or disagreement with the statement, "Professors are interesting and bring their material to life." As of 2023, Mount Holyoke was ranked #6 in the Princeton Review's ranking of the "Top 20 Best Schools for Making an Impact."

Mount Holyoke College is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.

Undergraduate programs
Mount Holyoke offers 50 departmental and interdepartmental majors, including the option to design a special major. The most popular undergraduate majors, based on 2021 graduates, were:
 * Experimental Psychology (45)
 * Biology/Biological Sciences (44)
 * Econometrics & Quantitative Econometrics (34)
 * English Language & Literature (33)
 * Computer Science (26)
 * Neuroscience (21)
 * International Relations & Affairs (20)

The primary degree conferred is the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, for which students complete 128-semester credits (one standard course equals 4 credits). At least 68 credits must be earned from coursework outside the major department, across the three curricular divisions: humanities, science and mathematics, and social sciences. Study of a foreign language and completion of a multicultural perspectives course is also required.

Mount Holyoke's membership in the Five College Consortium allows students to enroll in courses at nearby Amherst College, Smith College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. They may also complete one of 12 Five College Certificates—among them African studies, Buddhist studies, coastal and marine sciences, cognitive neuroscience, international relations, and Middle Eastern studies—in lieu of a minor.

Graduate programs
In addition to the BA, Mount Holyoke offers three master's degrees: a coed Master of Arts in Teaching, a Master of Arts in mathematics teaching, and a master's in psychology. Other programs include dual-degree programs in engineering with the California Institute of Technology, the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst; the Frances Perkins Program, for women over the age of 24 who wish to complete the requirements for a Bachelor of Arts degree; and the Postbaccalaureate Studies Program, for students who have already earned an undergraduate degree and wish to complete additional course work in preparation for graduate work in medicine, nursing, veterinary medicine, dentistry, or physical therapy science.

Academic centers and programs
Three academic centers—the Weissman Center for Leadership, the McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives, the Miller Worley Center for the Environment —support the academic program through public lectures by visiting scholars, conferences on issues of pressing concern, mentoring and internship opportunities, and hands-on learning experiences. The Weissman Center's Speaking, Arguing, and Writing (SAW) Program provides opportunities for developing leadership and communication skills, including the ability to effectively frame, articulate, and advocate positions. The Community-Based Learning Program links students with community-based organizations in courses that combine analysis and action.

Study abroad
Mount Holyoke has study abroad programs and exchanges for full-year or semester study in France, Senegal, Costa Rica, Chile, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, as well as a summer program in China and January term programs in Georgia and South Africa. The college is also affiliated with more than 150 study abroad programs in more than 50 colleges and students have the opportunity to petition any programs with which the college is not already affiliated. The college also encourages international internships and research for the semester, year, summer, or January terms. Each year more than 200 Mount Holyoke students, representing approximately 40 percent of the junior class, study for a semester or academic year at universities and programs abroad.

Twelve College Exchange
Through the school's membership in the Twelve College Exchange program, Mount Holyoke students can study at one of the following 12 other schools for one semester or a full year:
 * Amherst College
 * Bowdoin College
 * Connecticut College
 * Dartmouth College
 * National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center
 * Smith College
 * Trinity College
 * Vassar College
 * Wellesley College
 * Wesleyan University
 * Wheaton College
 * Williams/Mystic Seaport Program in Maritime Studies

Faculty
A number of faculty are nationally and internationally recognized for their research and writing achievements, including Christopher Benfey (literary scholar), Joseph Ellis (historian), Susan Barry (neurobiologist), Mark McMenamin (geologist and paleontologist) and Becky Wai-Ling Packard (psychologist). Mark McMenamin's Hypertopia Option has been called one of only two methods "by which planetary temperature can be stabilized."

Attempted murder of faculty member
Mount Holyoke administrator and art professor Rie Hachiyanagi made international headlines when she was charged with the attempted murder of a regular member of the faculty on 23 December 2019. Hachiyanagi used a fire poker, large rock, and a gardening shears to attempt to beat and kill her victim. Hachiyanagi's alleged victim survived the attack. Hachiyanagi pled guilty to the charges and on October 20, 2021, was sentenced to a term of 10 to 12 years in prison.

Campus
The 800 acre campus was designed and landscaped between 1896 and 1922 by the landscape architecture firm of Olmsted and Sons. The campus includes a botanic garden, two lakes, several waterfalls, tennis courts, stables, and woodland riding trails. It is also home to the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum which is part of the Five College Museums/Historic Deerfield and the Museums10. An independent bookstore, The Odyssey Bookshop, is located directly across from the campus in the college-owned Village Commons. Mount Holyoke has instituted "The Big Turn Off" energy conservation campaign. It also focuses on "green" building with five LEED certified buildings on campus. It has reduced its environmental impact by recycling 40% of waste and composting as well as using produce grown in the student-run organic garden in dining halls.

The Seminary Building (1837) contained classrooms, parlors and rooms for students and faculty, the original library, and a periodical reading room. A south wing was added in 1841, a north wing in 1853, and a gymnasium and laundry in 1865. All were destroyed by fire in 1896. Upon the burning of the college building in September 1896, Treasurer Williston announced the pressing need for a new chapel building, a new gymnasium, and a series of cottage dormitories in the modern style. This style of separated buildings allowed for flexibility in fundraising that was attractive to the trustees, while still providing the students with the resources and accommodations they needed. In 1897, Mary Lyon Hall and Mary Lyon Chapel were built, as well as dormitories Brigham, Safford, Porter, and Pearsons. Blanchard Gymnasium was completed in 1899.

John Payson Williston Observatory, completed in 1881, was given in memory of the Willistons' eldest son and built to be ready for the rare transit of Venus in 1882. It is the oldest academic building on campus.

Mount Holyoke has been recognized for its campus beauty by Huffington Post, The Princeton Review, and Architectural Digest. Its oldest building dated back to the school's opening in 1837, but it burned down in 1896 and was replaced by buildings that opened the following year. Additional buildings were constructed, remodeled, torn down, and expanded at various points from the 1870s to the 2010s, most recently with a new residence hall in 2008 and the construction of a centralized dining hall in 2018. The school owns an 18-hole golf course, The Orchards, which was designed by Donald Ross and which hosted the U.S. Women's Open in 2004.

Library
Mount Holyoke's library includes more than 740,000 print volumes, 1,600 periodicals, and more than 140,000 electronic resources. Its first librarian was an alumna Mary Nutting. Through the Five College Consortium, students have access to more than 9 million volumes. Computer support is provided. The MEWS (Mediated Educational Work Space) supports collaborative multimedia learning with group project rooms, wall-mounted plasma displays, a digitization center, and a faculty development area. In 2013, "Clear and Gold Tower," a glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly, was installed in the Williston Library's atrium.

Dormitories
The college has 21 residence halls as well as apartments and "annex" spaces in which to house students, and an overwhelming majority of students live on campus (98%). Each residence hall reserves a quarter of its rooms for housing first-year students with the exception of Pearsons Annex, which is reserved for living learning communities, and Dickinson House, which is reserved for Frances Perkins Scholars. Most residence halls house students from all four class years at any given time. In January 2018, Mount Holyoke opened a new centralized dining commons within the previously existing Blanchard Community Center. Previously, six dormitories on campus had dining areas inside of them, but the plan to consolidate these into one dining hall was made so that the college could shift to accept an unlimited meal plan and offer extended hours.

Memberships
Mount Holyoke is a member of the Pioneer Valley's Five College Consortium, the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges, the Annapolis Group, the Oberlin Group, and the Consortium on Financing Higher Education.

Student Demographics
In 2023, Mount Holyoke's undegraduate student body was 50% white, 22% international, 7% Asian, 9% Hispanic, 5% black, and 5% multiracial.

Student groups
Mount Holyoke offers a number of student groups and organizations. Themes include Art, Academics, Club Sports, Entertainment & the Performing Arts, Politics & Activism, Governing Organizations and Religious organizations.

Among these student groups is the Mount Holyoke News, the college's independent, student-run organization which has been in print since 1917. Mount Holyoke News or MHN publishes on a weekly basis throughout the academic year with new issues going out in print form each Friday. A digital edition of each issue is also made available online each week through Issuu.

WMHC (91.5 FM) is a radio station licensed to serve South Hadley, Massachusetts. The station is owned by Mount Holyoke College and is one of the oldest stations run by women.

Mount Holyoke class colors
Mount Holyoke classes have been voting on class colors and mascots since the late 1800s, but the colors currently in use were not adopted until 1901. The class of 1901 chose hunter green, and the classes of 1902, ’03, ’04 voted for crimson, golden yellow, and royal blue, respectively. In 1909, the students voted for lion, griffin, sphinx, and pegasus as their class symbols. They also decided that even-year classes would use pegasus and lion and their colors would be red and blue, and odd years would use griffin and sphinx, with green and yellow as their colors. This system has persisted to this day. Each class proudly displays their class color at class-related activities such as Convocation.

Events

 * The Kathryn Irene Glascock Awards grants The Glascock Prize to the winner of this annual event (which has been held at Mount Holyoke since 1924).
 * The Faculty Show takes place once every four years, around 1 April; faculty members create a show which parodies themselves and their students.
 * The Junior Show (also known as J-Show) refers to a show created by Juniors (and a few professors) who parody life at Mount Holyoke. A common feature is a sketch mocking the president and dean of the college, along with well-known professors.
 * Mountain Day begins with the sound of ringing bells from Abbey Chapel on a beautiful autumn morning secretly chosen by the president of the college, all classes are canceled for the day and many students hike to the summit of nearby Mount Holyoke.
 * Holiday Vespers is an annual Christmas concert that has been held each year since 1899. In addition to the free performance held on campus in Abbey Chapel, each year the students perform in either Boston or New York City.
 * M&Cs, originally called Milk & Crackers, is now referred to as Milk & Cookies. M&Cs are a nightly snack provided by dormitory dining halls, but also refer to a student a cappella group, The M&Cs (Milk and Cookies).
 * Big/Little Sibling is a reference to the pairing of juniors and "firsties" (or first-years) who are paired up to take part in organized events together. Coordinated by the junior class board.
 * Pangy Day, originally called Pangynaskeia, has been a springtime tradition at Mount Holyoke for decades, but its origin is not totally clear. It's about celebrating spring after a long winter, and festivities including music, games, face-painting, ice cream, and more take place.
 * Elfing is a tradition shared between sophomores and first-years. Secret sophomore "elves" leave presents and treats for their first years throughout the week-long event. On the final day, the first-years get to meet their elves in person at a special M&Cs.
 * Founder's Day is held on the Sunday closest to 8 November (the date of the opening of Mount Holyoke in 1837). It was begun by Elizabeth Storrs Mead in 1891. The current version of the tradition includes ice cream being served early in the morning near Mary Lyon's grave. The current president of the college and select faculty are invited to scoop ice cream for the senior class who dons their gowns.
 * Convocation is a spirited celebration of community marking the beginning of the academic year. All students attend wearing their class colors, and seniors wear their graduation gowns to celebrate the start of their final year.
 * Canoe Sing is an event that takes place prior to commencement in which canoes are decorated with lanterns and paddled by seniors singing Mount Holyoke songs. They are joined by fellow graduating seniors on shore.
 * Baccalaureate is held in Abbey Chapel; the medieval German ode to Academe, "Gaudeamus Igitur" is sung by berobed Seniors and Faculty during the procession. Following convocation, Faculty line the path to Mary Lyon's grave. Seniors walk through this throng, to the grave (to place a wreath). The Baccalaureate Ceremony is a celebration that honors members of the graduating class. This traditional ceremony is for seniors only and holds a deep meaning: students are given a final charge and hear from their selected faculty and classmates. Academic regalia and a cap is worn.
 * The Laurel Parade takes place the day before commencement. Graduating seniors wear white and carry laurel garlands, in a parade to Mary Lyon's grave. They are escorted by approximately 3,000 alumnae, also in white, who thereby welcome them into the Alumnae Association. Once at Mary Lyon's grave, the garland is wound around the cast-iron fence, and the Mimi Fariña song "Bread and Roses" is sung by all in attendance. White is a tribute to those who fought for women's suffrage. In 1970 students voted to replace the laurel with signs protesting the Vietnam War.

Athletics
Mount Holyoke offers 13 varsity sports programs and six competitive club sports teams. The college is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III and the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) as well as the New England Rowing Conference (NERC). Facilities include a lighted synthetic multipurpose turf field surrounded by an eight-lane track with a nine-lane straightaway; Kendall Sports and Dance Complex housing a swimming pool and separate diving well; gymnasium with basketball, volleyball, and badminton courts; weight room; cardiovascular area; 1 acre field house with indoor track and tennis courts; squash courts; racquetball courts; and three studios for dance, aerobics, yoga, and other activities; The Orchards, an 18-hole golf course (home to the 2004 U.S. Women's Open) designed by Donald Ross; and a 60-stall equestrian center with two indoor arenas (100' × 256' and 70' × 130'), an outdoor show ring, permanent fibar dressage arena, outdoor cross-country courses, and a boathouse finished for Spring 2010.

Literature

 * Wendy Wasserstein's 1977 play, Uncommon Women and Others, is based upon Wasserstein's experiences at Mount Holyoke of the early 1970s. The play explores the lives of the fictional characters Carter, Holly, Kate, Leilah, Rita, Muffet, Samantha, and Susie as they gather for lunch five years after graduation and reminisce about their collegiate days. The play was adapted into a television movie starring a then-unknown Meryl Streep.
 * In Tayari Jones’s 2011 novel, Silver Sparrow, the two protagonists, Dana and Chaurisse, apply to Mount Holyoke College.

Film
Several feature films reference Mount Holyoke. Prominent among them are:
 * Dirty Dancing (1987), which is set at a summer resort in the Catskills in the summer of 1963. The protagonist, Frances "Baby" Houseman (named after Mount Holyoke graduate Frances Perkins), plans to attend Mount Holyoke in the fall to study the economics of underdeveloped countries and then later to enter the Peace Corps. The film is screened annually for first-year students.
 * National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), which is set in 1962. It satirizes a common practice up until the mid-1970s when women attending Seven Sister colleges were connected with, or to, students at Ivy League schools. In the film, fraternity brothers from Delta house of the fictional Faber College (based on Dartmouth College ) take a road trip to the fictional Emily Dickinson College (Mount Holyoke College).

Television
An urban legend says that the characters of the hit 1960s cartoon Scooby Doo Where Are You! are said to be modeled after the Five College Consortium. Scooby Doo is meant to be University of Massachusetts Amherst, Shaggy is Hampshire, Fred is Amherst, Daphne is Mount Holyoke and Velma is Smith. These characterizations are made under the assumptions of stereotypes of the students from the Five Colleges.

Humor

 * A 1968 article in the Columbia University student newspaper Columbia Daily Spectator repeated a line from the 1964 movie Sex and the College Girl: "Smith to bed, Mount Holyoke to wed". This referred to the reputation of students from the two Seven Sisters Colleges. In the 1980s, Mount Holyoke students launched a campaign against a dating book and article written by two Princeton graduates that tell men how to pick up female students at women's colleges. Under the "Pickup Strategy" category, the article states: '"Low Key. Recall the Smith saying, 'Holyoke to bed; Smith to wed. ''
 * The Mount Holyoke song, "We're Saving Ourselves For Yale", alludes to the Ivy League-Seven Sisters relationship, which amusingly relates tales of women who hold onto their virginity long enough to catch a Yale graduate to marry. The song features prominently in Wendy Wasserstein's "Uncommon Women and Others."

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Mount Holyoke

Mount Holyoke, a traprock mountain, elevation 935 ft, is the westernmost peak of the Holyoke Range and part of the 100-mile (160 km) Metacomet Ridge. The mountain is located in the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts, and is the namesake of nearby Mount Holyoke College. The mountain is located in the towns of Hadley and South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is known for its historic summit house, auto road, scenic vistas, and biodiversity. The mountain is crossed by the 110 mi Metacomet-Monadnock Trail and numerous shorter trails. Mount Holyoke is the home of J.A. Skinner State Park which is accessible from Route 47 in Hadley, Massachusetts.

Origin of name
The mountain was named after Elizur Holyoke, an early resident of Springfield, Massachusetts and immigrant from Tamworth, England, who was the first European to explore the mountainous region that came to bear his name. The city of Holyoke, Massachusetts, the Holyoke Range, and the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College) were all named after this mountain, Mount Holyoke, and not directly after Elizur Holyoke. However, Elizur Holyoke's name is still invoked in many references to the mountain.

The Mount Holyoke Summit House
In 1821, an 18 by guest cabin was built on Mount Holyoke by a local committee—one of the first New England summit houses. The property changed hands several times between 1821 and 1851 when it was bought and rebuilt as a two-story, eight-room hotel. Local entrepreneurs John and Frances French were the primary owners; between 1851 and 1900, the hotel and property were subject to a number of upgrades and related construction projects including a covered tramway to the summit of the mountain (first drawn by horse, then mechanized), a railroad from the base of the mountain to a steamboat dock on the Connecticut River, and the construction of a number of outbuildings and trails. With passenger steamship to the connecting summit railway established, the Mount Holyoke "Prospect House" became a popular tourist destination. The steamship would pick up guests at the Smiths Ferry railroad station across the Connecticut River in what was then Northampton, ferry them to a tramway leading to the Half Way House. From there guests could take a steep (600 feet long, rising 365 feet) covered inclined tram to the summit (shown in drawing at right ). The track for this tram was first laid in 1867 and the system electrified in 1926. Competing establishments were soon built on Mount Tom and Mount Nonotuck across the Connecticut River, and on Sugarloaf Mountain and Mount Toby to the north. The Prospect House property passed hands again in the early 1900s, to chain hotelier Joseph Allen Skinner, who eventually donated the hotel and property to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for a state park in 1939 on the condition that the park be named after him (now the J.A. Skinner State Park).

The summit house's 1894 annex had suffered from storm damage during the Great Hurricane of 1938 and had been demolished; in 1942 the enclosed tramway to the summit house broke down. A heavy snow storm in 1948 collapsed sections of the roof. Despite proposals to repair the tram it never ran again. The tram was finally demolished in 1965. State funds for maintenance of the summit house during the 1950s and 1960s were never adequate and by the mid-1970s there were proposals to condemn and demolish the summit house. This led to a public outcry and in the mid-1980s the summit house, consisting of the original 1851 structure and the 1861 addition, was restored by the state and through the efforts of local volunteers.

Geology and ecology
Mount Holyoke, like much of the Metacomet Ridge, is composed of basalt, also called trap rock, a volcanic rock. The mountain formed near the end of the Triassic Period with the rifting apart of the North American continent from Africa and Eurasia. Lava welled up from the rift and solidified into sheets of strata hundreds of feet thick. Subsequent faulting and earthquake activity tilted the strata, creating the dramatic cliffs and ridges of Mount Holyoke. Hot, dry upper slopes, cool, moist ravines, and mineral-rich ledges of basalt talus produce a combination of microclimate ecosystems on the mountain that support plant and animal species uncommon in greater Massachusetts. (The Metacomet Ridge article has more information on the geology and ecosystem of Mount Holyoke).

Recreation
The summit automobile road is open for driving from April through November, and the hiking trails year-round. The Summit House is open weekends and holidays from Memorial Day through Columbus Day. A number of hiking trails also cross the mountain, most notably the 110 mile (180k) Metacomet-Monadnock Trail and the 47 mi Robert Frost Trail.

Every year in early fall, since 1838, students from nearby Mount Holyoke College participate in Mountain Day. On that day, at the sound of ringing bells from Abbey Chapel on a random Autumn morning, all classes are cancelled and students hike to the summit of Mount Holyoke.

The area around the summit house has many picnic tables. Also, there are trailheads and memorials. One notable memorial is that to the men aboard a transport plane that crashed into the flank of the mountain. On May 27, 1944, a B-24, flying a night training mission out of Westover Air Force Base in Chicopee, Massachusetts, crashed into a cliff on the side of the range, killing all ten crewmen. A memorial plaque on the summit of Mount Holyoke eulogizes the disaster. The crash site itself is a half mile away toward the southwest.

The views from the top of the mountain are some of the best in Massachusetts. They have inspired artists and poets. The nearby Connecticut River Oxbow (now a lake), immortalized by the famous landscape painter Thomas Cole just four years before natural flooding and erosion separated it from the Connecticut River, was composed from sketches the artist made from the summit of Mount Holyoke in 1836. To the south are the cities of Holyoke, Springfield, and Hartford. To the north are the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and mountains in Sunderland. To the east is the Holyoke Range and the town of South Hadley. To the west are the foothills of the Berkshires, the Connecticut River, and Northampton.

Conservation
Most of Mount Holyoke is located within the Skinner State Park. The Mount Holyoke Range State Park is a sister park occupying the east side of the Holyoke Range. Its visitor center is located at "the Notch", where Route 116 crosses the range in Amherst.

In 2000, Mount Holyoke was included in a study by the National Park Service for the designation of a new National Scenic Trail now tentatively called the New England National Scenic Trail, which would include the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail in Massachusetts and the Mattabesett Trail and Metacomet Trail trails in Connecticut.

Cultural references

 * Mount Holyoke is mentioned in Henry James's 1875 novel Roderick Hudson, in chapters II and IX.

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Talk:Garnishee order

Isn't the correct term "garnishment order"? -- Zoe

Check out the external links listed in the entry. David dePaoli

A Google search comes up with 1390 hits on "garnishee order" and 1960 for "garnishment order" -- Zoe

Did you follow any of them? My informal and very cursory check looked like the "ee" ones came from the UK and the "ment" ones from US and Canada. Maybe some lawyer- types will check in. Oh, wait. They're all too busy suing Mickey Dee's for force- feeding kids double cheeseburgers, super-size fries and orange drink and making them obese.

 * Well, the second one on the subject page is a US site, but it's true that the ones at garnishment look to be more US sites. -- Zoe

 * I'd say a new entry for "ment" with a redirect is in order. David "I was force- fed quarter pounders with cheese by McDee's" dePaoli

In the U.S. the term "garnishee" now means a person to whom an order of garnishment is issued (C in the article's example) -- any other use is out-dated and has been since at least 1968 when my 4th ed. Black's Law Dictionary was published. In common usage, at least (and maybe still in some laws and/or court rules written a century ago), the verb used to be "to garnishee" someone's wages (and some people still use it that way, but it's old-fashioned at best and pretentious at worst), but now it's "to garnish" them (by issuing "process of garnishment" to a garnishee, so in that sense it IS a "garnishee order"). (And it's just a "garnishment" that's issued, not necessarily "a garnishment order.") I don't know what the situation is in the U.K.  Garnishment is a sub-field of "attachment," by the way, which probably deserves an article or, at least, a disambiguation page of its own. -- isis 12:07 Dec 24, 2002 (UTC)

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Bobby Czyz

Robert Edward Czyz (born February 10, 1962) is an American retired boxer and commentator. Czyz was a two-division world title at light heavyweight and cruiserweight.

Czyz was born in Orange, New Jersey. He grew up in Wanaque, New Jersey and attended Lakeland Regional High School. He is three quarters Italian and one quarter Polish. His younger brother is avant-garde fiction writer Vincent Czyz.

Nicknamed "the Matinee Idol", Czyz was a member of the United States amateur boxing team whose other members died aboard LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007 when it crashed in 1980. Czyz did not make the trip, as he was recovering from injuries sustained in a car accident.

Amateur career
As an amateur, Czyz was doing his best to secure his spot at the U.S. Olympic team for the eventually missed 1980 Moscow Olympics. He was one of a few boxers (along with Sal Cenicola, Marvis Frazier and Tony Tucker) who survived the LOT Flight 7 crash by staying at home in the United States. He finished his amateur career having 26 fights under his belt, with a record of 24 wins, 2 losses.

Professional career
Czyz had a quick start to his professional boxing career in the early 1980s, and he was soon in line for a shot against world middleweight champion Marvin Hagler. He had to start from scratch, however, after suffering a one-sided, 10-round loss at the hands of veteran Mustafa Hamsho on November 20, 1982 in a bout that was nationally televised.

Czyz went up in weight, put another string of wins together, and in September 1986, he finally found himself in a ring with an undefeated world champion, IBF light heavyweight champion Slobodan Kačar (Olympic Gold medallist of 1980). Czyz beat him in five rounds.

Czyz made three defenses: a one-round defeat of David Sears, a see-saw second-round KO of Willie Edwards, and a fifth-round TKO of Jim McDonald - before taking on 'Prince' Charles Williams in October 1987. Czyz scored an early knockdown of Williams, yet the challenger not only stayed in the fight, but also hammered shut Czyz' left eye en route to scoring a TKO victory and thus seizing the title after eight rounds of boxing.

Czyz then lost a decision to Dennis Andries in May 1988, followed by a couple of victories, in turn followed by two cracks at the world title in 1989. Czyz, despite truly good efforts on his part in both challenges, lost both of them - a 12-round decision to Virgil Hill in North Dakota for the WBA version in March, and a 10th-round TKO loss to Williams in an IBF title rematch in June.

Czyz went on to stop then-undefeated Andrew Maynard in seven rounds (the second undefeated Gold medallist he KO'd) in June 1990, then jumped up to cruiserweight. He challenged Robert Daniels for Daniels' WBA world cruiserweight championship in March 1991, and won a unanimous decision. Two defenses, against Bash Ali and Donny Lalonde, were made (both by unanimous decision) before Czyz vacated the title.

In 1994, Czyz became a television boxing analyst working alongside Steve Albert and Ferdie Pacheco whilst continuing his boxing career. The trio covered fights in many locations worldwide. In December 1994, he covered the first world title fight ever held in Ecuador as a member of Showtime's crew.

In 1996, he stepped up to the heavyweight division, but lost by knockout in five rounds to Evander Holyfield and quickly retired. Czyz fought one last time in 1998, losing by second-round TKO to South African Corrie Sanders. Czyz continued doing color commentary for Showtime, but was let go after pleading guilty to his fourth drunken-driving offense in six years after being caught speeding in Readington Township, New Jersey. Czyz's case received a lot of attention as he was a multiple repeat DUI case, and was a driver behind the NJ Assembly revisiting its legislation. Czyz, who was a Raritan Township, New Jersey resident at the time, was given a six-month license suspension for each of his three drunken driving convictions in 1998, 1999 and 2000. It was discovered that he was sentenced improperly as a first-time offender after his fourth arrest, which occurred in February 2003 in Readington Township, where he was caught driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.14 percent. The state limit at that time was 0.10 percent.

Outside the ring
Czyz married actress and photographer Kimberly Ross (October 8, 1959 – December 19, 2006) on October 27, 1992. Their daughter, Mercedes Czyz, was born September 27, 1993. They were divorced by the time Kimberly died, after a long battle with breast cancer, aged 47.

He has since been inducted into the Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.

Czyz is a member of Mensa, the organization for people who have scored in the highest 2% of takers in an IQ test. He even wore a shirt with "MENSA" on it while walking to the ring to fight Evander Holyfield.

title: Bobby Czyz


text:
Talk:Bobby Czyz

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John Abbott

Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott (March 12, 1821 – October 30, 1893) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the third prime minister of Canada from 1891 to 1892. He held office as the leader of the Conservative Party.

Abbott was born in what is now Saint-André-d'Argenteuil, Quebec. He studied law at McGill University and became one of Montreal's best-known lawyers, later returning to McGill as a professor of law and earning a Doctor of Civil Law degree. He was perhaps best known for his successful defence of the perpetrators of the St. Albans Raid. Abbott involved himself in politics from a young age, signing the Montreal Annexation Manifesto in 1849 – which he later regretted – and winning election to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada in 1860. In the lead-up to Confederation he was a prominent advocate for the rights of English-speaking Quebecers.

In the 1867 federal election, Abbott was elected to the new House of Commons of Canada as a member of the Conservative Party. A telegram leaked from his office played a key part in the Pacific Scandal of 1873, which led to the downfall of John A. Macdonald's first government. Abbott was appointed to the Senate in 1887, in order to become leader of the Government in the Senate. He became prime minister in June 1891 following Macdonald's death in office. He was the first native-born Canadian prime minister, both Macdonald and Alexander Mackenzie having been born in Scotland. Abbott was 70 years old at the time, and served only until November 1892 when he retired due to ill health. He died the following year.

Early life
Abbott was born in St. Andrews, Lower Canada (now Saint-André-d'Argenteuil, Quebec), to Harriet (née Bradford) and the Rev. Joseph Abbott, an Anglican missionary from Little Strickland, England. In 1849, Abbott married Mary Martha Bethune (1823–1898), a relative of Dr. Norman Bethune, a daughter of Anglican clergyman and McGill acting president John Bethune, and a granddaughter of the Presbyterian minister John Bethune. The couple had four sons and four daughters, many of whom died without descendants. Their eldest surviving son, William Abbott, married the daughter of Colonel John Hamilton Gray, a Father of Confederation and premier of Prince Edward Island. Abbott was also the great-grandfather of Canadian actor Christopher Plummer and the first cousin (once removed) of Maude Abbott, one of Canada's earliest female medical graduates and an expert on congenital heart disease.

Abbott was an Orangeman and Freemason.

Military service
Abbott had served in the local militia “since boyhood”, being appointed an Ensign in the 2nd Montreal Militia Battalion in 1847. In 1849 he was a signatory to the Montreal Annexation Manifesto, calling for union of the Canadas with the United States, resulting in the withdrawal of his commission in the militia. By 1850 however, he was reinstated and appointed a Captain in the 4th Montreal Militia Battalion.

His recruitment of a battalion of 300 men, known as the 11th Argenteuil Rangers, during the Trent Affair of 1861 may have been designed to atone for what he later described as the “sins of youth” and to enhance his political credentials, as much as to express his concern for his country's safety. On March 14, 1862, he was appointed Major in the 11th (Argenteuil Rifles) Volunteer Militia, being promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel on March 21.

He commanded the regiment on the border multiple times throughout the Fenian Raids, on March 8, 1866, they were called out for active service and were stationed in various villages throughout Argenteuil. On June 11, 1866, the Rangers were called out to serve at Cornwall, and then Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and a reporter from Montreal stated: "'I learned on Sunday afternoon that troops were to be sent to St. Johns [Saint-Jean] by special train; and managed to procure permission to come out with them. The troops sent forward were a part of the force recently garrisoning Cornwall, a portion of the 25th Regt. under Col. Fan, and the Argenteuil Rangers under Lieut. Col. The Hon. J.J.C. Abbott.'"

Abbott retired from the militia as a Lieutenant Colonel, commanding the 11th Battalion, on June 22, 1883.

Taunted by his political opponents in March 1889 for his “disloyalty” in 1849, he explained that he considered his military service, and his commission as an officer and later commanding officer of the 11th Argenteuil Battalion of militia, to be evidence that his youthful error had been forgiven.

Legal career
Abbott graduated as a Bachelor of Civil Law from McGill College (now McGill University) in Montreal in 1847, and in the same year was initiated in the St. Paul's Masonic Lodge, No. 374, E.R., in Montreal. In 1867, he graduated as a Doctor of Civil Law (DCL). Most of his legal practice was in corporate law; however, his most celebrated court case was the defence of at first fourteen, then upon release and recapture, four of those fourteen Confederate agents who had raided St. Albans, Vermont, from Canadian soil during the American Civil War. Abbott successfully argued that the Confederates were belligerents rather than criminals and therefore should not be extradited. He began lecturing in commercial and criminal law at McGill in 1853, and in 1855 he became a professor and dean of its Faculty of Law, where Wilfrid Laurier, a future prime minister of Canada, was among his students. He continued in this position until 1880. In 1862, he was made Queen's Counsel. Upon his retirement, McGill named him emeritus professor, and in 1881 appointed him to its Board of Governors.

Early involvement
In 1849, he signed the Montreal Annexation Manifesto calling for Canada to join the United States, an action which he regretted later as a youthful error. He eventually joined the Loyal Orange Lodge of British North America, well known as a pro-British organization. Abbott first ran for Canada's Legislative Assembly in 1857 in the Argenteuil district, northwest of Montreal. Defeated, he challenged the election results on the grounds of voting list irregularities and was eventually awarded the seat in 1860. He served as solicitor general for Lower Canada (Quebec) representing the liberal administration of John Sandfield Macdonald and Louis Sicotte, from 1862 until 1863. He reluctantly supported Canada's confederation, fearing the reduction of the political power of Lower Canada's English-speaking minority. In 1865, he converted to a conservative. His proposal to protect the electoral borders of 12 English Quebec constituencies was eventually incorporated into the British North America Act, 1867.

National politics
Abbott was elected to the House of Commons in 1867 as member for Argenteuil. He was removed from his seat by petition in 1874 following his involvement in the Pacific Scandal. He narrowly lost the 1878 election, then won in February 1880, only to have his victory declared void because of bribery allegations. He was, however, subsequently elected in a by-election in August 1881. In 1887, Macdonald appointed him to the Senate. He served as Leader of the Government in the Senate from May 12, 1887, to October 30, 1893 (including his term as Prime Minister) and as Minister without Portfolio in Macdonald's cabinet. He also served two one-year terms as mayor of Montreal from 1887 to 1889.

Abbott was involved in the promotion of several railway projects, including the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) (of which he served as president). He worked to incorporate and arrange financing for the first CPR syndicate. As legal advisor to its main financier, Sir Hugh Allan, Abbott was the recipient of the infamous telegram from Prime Minister Macdonald during the 1872 Canadian federal election campaign which read "I must have another ten thousand; will be the last time of calling; do not fail me; answer today." This telegram was stolen from Abbott's office and published, breaking the 1873 Pacific Scandal which brought down Macdonald's government. Abbott was subsequently a key organizer of a second syndicate which eventually completed the construction of Canada's first transcontinental railway in 1885, serving as its solicitor from 1880 to 1887 and as a director from 1885 to 1891.

Prime minister
When Prime Minister Macdonald died in office, Abbott supported John Thompson to succeed him, but reluctantly accepted the plea of the divided Conservative party that he should lead the government, though he considered himself a caretaker prime minister for his seventeen months in office. He was one of just two Canadian Prime Ministers, the other being Mackenzie Bowell, to have held the office while serving in the Senate rather than the House of Commons.

Soon after Abbott assumed office in 1891, Canada was plunged into an economic recession; later that same year he faced another challenge as the McGreevy-Langevin scandal came to light, revealing that Hector-Louis Langevin, former Minister of Public Works in the Conservative government, had conspired with contractor Thomas McGreevy to defraud the government.

Despite the political toll on his party, Abbott dealt with the backlog of government business awaiting him after Macdonald's death, including reform of the civil service and revisions of the criminal code. He attempted in 1892 to negotiate a new treaty of reciprocity with the United States, but failed to reach an agreement.

During his term, there were 52 by-elections, 42 of which were won by the Conservatives, increasing their majority by 13 seats—evidence of Abbott's effectiveness as prime minister. One year into his time as prime minister, Abbott attempted to turn the office over to Thompson, but this was rejected due to anti-Catholic sentiment in the Tory caucus.

Later life
Suffering from the early stages of cancer of the brain, Abbott's health failed in 1892 and he retired to private life, whereupon Sir John Thompson finally became Prime Minister. Abbott died less than a year later at the age of 72.

Sir John Abbott is buried in the Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal, Quebec.

Legacy
John Abbott College in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, near Abbott's 300 acre country estate (Boisbriant), is named after him.

He was named a Person of National Historic Significance by the Government of Canada in 1938.

His "most memorable" political comment is "I hate politics." The full quote was "I hate politics and what are considered their appropriate measures. I hate notoriety, public meetings, public speeches, caucuses and everything that I know of which is apparently the necessary incident of politics—except doing public work to the best of my ability."

In their 1999 look at the Canadian prime ministers through Jean Chrétien, J.L. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer included a survey of Canadian historians ranking the prime ministers. Abbott's term of service was considered below par and was ranked #17 out of 20 (up to then). When the survey was repeated in 2016, Abbott was ranked 7th out of ten "short-term" prime ministers with a score of 1.8 out of 5.

title: John Abbott


text:
Rocky Mount, North Carolina

Rocky Mount is a city in Nash and Edgecombe counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The city's population was 54,341 as of the 2020 census, making it the 20th-most populous city in North Carolina. The city is 45 mi east of Raleigh, the state capital.

It is the principal city of the Rocky Mount metropolitan area, often called the "Twin Counties"; which had an estimated population of 145,383 in 2023. Rocky Mount is also an anchor city of the Rocky Mount-Wilson-Roanoke Rapids, NC Combined Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 288,366 in 2023.

English and Scots traders encountered the indigenous people in this area of the falls of the Tar River beginning in the mid-1700s. Incorporated in 1867, the community continued to develop through the 19th century based on agriculture (cotton and tobacco), manufacturing of textiles (made possible by the water power of the falls), and development of rail transportation to link the town to major markets.

Since the late 20th century, the economy of Rocky Mount has diversified into biomedical pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and logistics. Rocky Mount has twice received the All-America City Award from the National Civic League: in 1969 and 1999.

Beginnings
The region around the Tar River was continuously inhabited by various cultures of indigenous people for 12,000 years. It had long been home to the historic Tuscarora people, who spoke an Iroquoian language. After English colonists and indigenous allies waged the Tuscarora War in the early 1700s; most survivors migrated to the North. The main party of the Tuscarora settled by 1722 with other Iroquoian peoples of the Five Nations, south of the Great Lakes in what became central and western New York. They became the Sixth Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy.

More English speakers began to settle the area along the Tar River. They settled along the fall line between the Piedmont and coastal plain, below which the rivers were navigable to the coast. The difference in height meant that the downstream waters could power mills.

The Falls of the Tar River Primitive Baptist Church was established in 1757. As the church was the center of community life, its records were the first civil and vital records of the developing village. Its congregation effectively administered law enforcement, with officers issuing citations for crimes.

19th century
A post office was established at the falls of the Tar River on March 22, 1816. At this point, the name "Rocky Mount" officially appears in documented history, referring to the rocky mound at the falls of the Tar River. Rocky Mount Mills, the second cotton mill in the state of North Carolina, was built there soon after in 1818. Its proprietors were two entrepreneurs and Joel Battle, grandson of an original colonial settler here. Battle bought out the other proprietors before turning over the enterprise to his cousin James Smith Battle. Until the 1850s, the mill operated with the labor of enslaved African Americans. They also comprised most of the labor on the cotton plantations.

Beginning then, the mill owners hired exclusively white women and girls as mill workers for the rest of the century.

The Battle family was also involved in the construction of the longest continuous railroad in the world up to that time, the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, which ran about 2 mi east of the mill. It connected the area to major ports in Virginia to the north and the port of Wilmington, North Carolina to the south. The tracks first reached Rocky Mount on Christmas Eve in 1839. In 1840, a train of cars en route to Wilmington stopped in Rocky Mount to import some "Old Nash" for special toasts at opening festivities. The fame of Nash County apple brandy spread from there.

The railroad stimulated development of the town. In 1871, the county line was moved from the Tar River to its present location in the center of the tracks. The Raleigh-Tarboro stage route also passed just south of Rocky Mount (roughly where I-95 and U.S. 64 run today), and for a time was the logical debarking point for railroad travelers wishing to proceed east or west.

During the Civil War, the surrounding region was raided in 1863 by Union troops under the command of Brigadier General Edward E. Potter. They burned down the mill, which supplied Confederate yarn and cloth. After the war ended, the owners rebuilt the mill. On February 19, 1867, the village outside the mill, which was largely devoted to worker housing, was incorporated as a town.

In the latter half of the 19th century, the tobacco industry became established in the state. Adjacent to the sandy coastal plain, Rocky Mount was well situated to take advantage of the rapidly rising demand for brightleaf tobacco that grew best in the sandy soil. Tobacco also shaped the city's social life. Warehouses where tobacco was stored and marketed began hosting balls for the community in the 1880s; these became known as "june germans" for the time of year and style of dance. June Germans eventually transformed into all-night dance parties and attracted musicians and socialites from miles around well into the 1900s. By the end of the 19th century, tobacco had surpassed King Cotton as the town's primary agricultural product.

20th century
At the turn of the 20th century, Rocky Mount became the northern headquarters of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, which located its major repair shops and yard facilities in the town. With it came an influx of railroad workers. In 1900, Rocky Mount's population was around 3,000.

On February 28, 1907, with a population around 7,500, Rocky Mount was officially incorporated as a city. A main railroad line, a well-established cotton mill, and productive farmland for brightleaf tobacco were major contributors to the area's growth and prosperity over the next decades. A vibrant central business district arose.

As in the rest of the South, North Carolina had imposed legal racial segregation, including restrictions and discrimination in housing. White suburbs developed largely on the west side of town, such as Villa Place and West Haven. Black neighborhoods, such as Crosstown and Around the "Y", where jazz musician Thelonious Monk was born, were concentrated on the east side of town.

Several notable Civil Rights events occurred in Rocky Mount. In 1946, African-American tobacco warehouse workers voted to organize in Rocky Mount as part of a broader nationwide movement known as Operation Dixie. It included voter registration to fight against the disenfranchisement of blacks and to take other political action against segregation. On November 27, 1962, Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech at Booker T. Washington High School; he used his refrain "I have a dream" a year before his better known delivery at the March on Washington, which became famous.

Sanitation workers went on strike in 1978 when government sanitation workers protested their black co-worker being wrongfully arrested. He was acquitted in court on the charges. In 2018 the city council officially apologized to him for the case.

After WWII, the city continued to grow. In the 1950s and 1960s the city's economy diversified to include banking, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and the headquarters of a fast food chain known as Hardee's.

New higher education facilities were founded, including North Carolina Wesleyan College in 1956 and Nash Community College and Edgecombe Community College in 1968. In 1970, Rocky Mount received an All-America City Award. In the 1970s the city's hospitals were consolidated under Nash General Hospital. That was also the period of completion of Rocky Mount–Wilson Regional Airport.

From the 1980s, the inner city suffered urban decay, as businesses had moved out to suburban highway locations. Rocky Mount's downtown deteriorated as new neighborhoods and shopping malls were built, such as Golden East Crossing. The city expanded its boundaries by annexation; for instance, in 1996, annexing the town of Battleboro to the north of the city. In 1999, the city won its second All-America City Award.

In the fall of 1999 two hurricanes made landfall in eastern North Carolina. Both passed over Rocky Mount: Hurricane Dennis as a tropical storm in August with 20 in of rain and Hurricane Floyd in September with nearly 17 in of rain. Floyd is especially memorable because most localized flooding happened quickly overnight. Many residents were not aware of the flooding until the water came into their homes, and many required rescue. The hurricane resulted in the worst flooding in history of the Tar River, which had become saturated in August. It exceeded 500-year flood levels along its lower stretches, and many homes and businesses were destroyed.

21st century
During the first decades of the 21st century, the city has encouraged efforts to revitalize the historic downtown. It has supported projects to renovate buildings such as the train station and Douglas Block, or repurpose them, such as the Imperial Centre for Arts and Sciences.

In 2007, Capitol Broadcasting Company bought Rocky Mount Mills. It is adapting it as a mixed-use campus of breweries, restaurants, residential lofts, and event space. Major new community projects include the 143 acre sports complex and 165,000 sqft downtown event center. In 2019, CSX, the successor company of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, broke ground on a new intermodal cargo terminal that is expected to stimulate the local economy in the next decade.

Geography
Rocky Mount is located in northeastern North Carolina, at the fall line between the Atlantic Coastal Plain to the east and the Piedmont region to the west. The city is 58 mi east of Raleigh, the state capital, 91 mi northeast of Fayetteville, 144 mi north of Wilmington, 19 mi north of Wilson, 42 mi south of Roanoke Rapids, and 127 mi south of Richmond, Virginia.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 44.89 sqmi, of which 44.68 sqmi is land and 0.21 sqmi (0.47%) is water. The Tar River passes through the city from west to east, crossing the fall line at Upper Falls and Little Falls and descending 25 ft within the city limits. The city boundaries straddle the line between Edgecombe and Nash counties, which follows the railroad tracks through the center of the city running north to south.

Historic Rocky Mount Mills Village
Situated near the Tar River, the Rocky Mount Mills Village grew in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a small community of tenants working for the mill. Built between 1885 and 1940, each house in the historic district is recognized by the National Register of Historic Places.

Changes in industrialization eventually forced the closing of the mill. The workers had to find other housing. However, when the mill closed, the property remained intact. Though the property has been a rental for its entire existence, covenants are placed on the property to assure home ownership and owner occupancy and protect the historical integrity.

Climate
Rocky Mount has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by cool, sometimes moderately cold winters, and hot, humid summers. The average high temperatures range from 51 °F in the winter to around 90 °F in the summer. The average low temperatures range from 31 °F in the winter to around 69 °F in the summer.

2020 census
As of the 2020 census, there were 54,341 people, 22,260 households, and 14,334 families residing in the city.

2010 census
At the 2010 census, there were 57,477 people, 23,097 households, and 14,639 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,312.6 /mi2. The city had 26,953 housing units. The racial makeup of the city was 61.3% African American, 32.4% White, 0.6% Native American, 1.0% Asian, and 1.6% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 3.7% of the population.

Of the 23,097 households, 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.7% were married couples living together, 22.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.6% were not families. About 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals living alone, and 26.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the city, the population was distributed as 27.5% between the ages of 1 and 19, 6.4% from 20 to 24, 24% from 25 to 44, 27.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age is 38.7 years. 45.8% of the population are males compared to 54.2% for females.

The median income for a household in the city was $37,059, and for a family was $39,929. The per capita income for the city was $21,779. About 19.0% of the population is below the poverty line.

Religion
Rocky Mount's population is 40.3% religiously affiliated, below the state average of 48.9%. Christianity is the largest religion, with Baptists (13.3%) making up the largest religious group, followed by Pentecostals (4.5%) and Methodists (3.5%). Presbyterians (1.5%), Episcopalians (0.9%), and Catholics (0.8%) make up a significant amount of the Christian population as well. The remaining Christian population (15.2%) is affiliated with other churches. Islam (0.5%) has the second-largest percentage of adherents after the total for Christian sects.

Economy

The economy of the Rocky Mount metropolitan area, historically dependent on agriculture and textile manufacturing, has diversified into pharmaceuticals and manufacturing. As the city is located near the juncture of a number of highways and railway, distribution and logistics are important to local businesses. The area has a strong service sector and a number of financial and customer support centers are located here.

Rocky Mount is located 45 mi from the state capital Raleigh and the associated Research Triangle. This has helped attract new companies to Rocky Mount seeking skilled labor and a lower costs of living and doing business.

The metropolitan area was named in a 2020 study as the third-highest in the United States where manufacturing is thriving, with a manufacturing output of $6.2 billion, or $42,270 per capita. Between 2014 and 2018, manufacturing grew in the Rocky Mount area by 11.8%, and there were 108% more manufacturing jobs than the national average.

In 2019, CSX Transportation began construction of a $200 million cargo terminal in Rocky Mount.

Largest employers
Below is a list of some of the largest employers in the metropolitan area as of 2018.

Shopping
Rocky Mount is a regional shopping destination with many big-box retailers and specialty shops located in the city. Rocky Mount's shopping centers are generally congregated along and around US 301 (Wesleyan Boulevard). Two examples are Golden East Crossing and Englewood Square.

In the downtown, the Douglas Block is a commercial area that was a former African-American business district. Station Square is a shopping area located next to city hall and the train station.

Arts and culture

The city is home to multiple venues for the performing arts. The Imperial Centre for the Arts and Sciences hosts the Maria V. Howard Arts Center, a Children's Museum and Science Center, and a community theater. The Dunn Center for the Performing Arts at Wesleyan College regularly has college arts performances and touring acts, and is also the home of the Tar River Orchestra and Chorus. Most recently, the Rocky Mount Event Center opened in downtown with space for up to 5,000 seats for entertainment and sporting events.

Rocky Mount Mills is a craft brewery incubator, the first of its kind on North Carolina. It now holds many up-and-coming breweries and restaurants. In addition, the mill hosts summer music festivals and other events throughout the year. Since 2014 it has been in redevelopment by Capitol Broadcasting Company, which also owns the popular American Tobacco campus in downtown Durham, North Carolina. Nearby are dozens of historical homes for rent in the Rocky Mount Mills Village. The next phase of development is Goat Island on the Tar River, which will offer public access to hiking trails, sandy beaches, and rafting/canoeing.

A Rocky Mount Railroad Museum has been in the planning stages for a number of years. The railroad was basic to the city's development: in the early to mid-1900s the Emerson Shops of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad employed more than 2,000 people. The museum organizers are seeking a suitable facility. It has been proposed for location inside the train station.

National Register of Historic Places
The area includes individually recognized properties, such as the Bellamy-Philips House, Bellemonte, Benvenue, Machaven, The Meadows, Rocky Mount Electric Power Plant, Rocky Mount Mills, and Stonewall.

It also has numerous recognized districts: Edgemont Historic District, Falls Road Historic District, Lincoln Park Historic District, Rocky Mount Central City Historic District, Rocky Mount Mills Village Historic District, Villa Place Historic District, and West Haven Historic District; all are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Parks and recreation
Rocky Mount is a major center for youth sports tourism, as it is a midpoint between New York and Florida along I-95. The Rocky Mount Sports Complex, maintained by the Parks and Recreation department, includes seven outdoor baseball fields, four softball fields, eight soccer fields, a professional disc golf course, basketball courts, and volleyball courts. The complex is used for numerous statewide and interstate baseball and soccer tournaments.

It also has a football stadium, home to the NCWC Battling Bishops football team and Elizabeth City State University's annual Down East Viking Classic. The Rocky Mount Event Center administered by the city has added eight indoor basketball courts, sixteen volleyball courts, a ropes course, a climbing wall, and a family entertainment center, with plans to host indoor basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics competitions.

Tar River Trail is a 7 mile greenway running east to west along the namesake river that connects with multiple parks, city landmarks, and the sports complex. There are designated boat ramps for access to recreational paddling trips on the river. Notable among the connected parks is City Lake Park, built in 1937 during the Great Depression by the Works Progress Administration, and the 57 acre biodiverse Battle Park centered on the falls of the Tar River. The trail also includes a 220 feet long, clear-span, wooden bridge, believed to be the longest such wooden bridge in the United States.

Government
The city of Rocky Mount has a council-manager form of government. The city is divided into seven wards with a total of seven council members elected to the city council, one from each ward. Members of the city council serve four-year terms with staggered elections every two years, while the mayor is elected at-large by citizens and serves a four-year term. The mayor is ex officio chair of the city council and votes only in case of a tie. The council appoints a city manager to serve as chief administrative officer of day-to-day affairs of government. As of 2022, the current city manager is Peter Varney.

Since the city straddles the Nash County-Edgecombe County border, the commissions of both counties are also involved in governance of the city.

City council

 * Sandy Roberson (Mayor)
 * Andre Knight (Ward 1)
 * Reuben C. Blackwell, IV (Ward 2)
 * Richard Joyner (Ward 3)
 * T. J. Walker (Ward 4)
 * Lige Daughtridge (Ward 5)
 * Tom Harris (Ward 6)
 * Jabaris Walker (Ward 7)

Education
North Carolina Wesleyan University is a four-year private liberal arts college located in Rocky Mount and home to the Eastern North Carolina Center for Business and Entrepreneurship. The center's programs are free, open to the public, and focus on business development, entrepreneurship, and community engagement.

The city is also served by Nash Community College, which has a brewing, distillation, and fermentation program in partnership with the Mills. Edgecombe Community College has a downtown campus specializing in biotechnology and medical simulation, one of only two such centers in the state. Shaw University's College of Adult and Professional Education (C.A.P.E.) has a satellite campus in Mills Village.

The city of Rocky Mount is primarily served by the Nash-Rocky Mount Public School System, which as a whole has 15,000 students in 28 schools. Parts of the city in Edgecombe County are also served by the Edgecombe County Public Schools system. Public high schools include Nash Central High School, Northern Nash High School, Rocky Mount High School, Southwest Edgecombe High School and Southern Nash High School.

Three non-traditional public schools are Tar River Academy, The Center for Industry Technology and Innovation and its sister school, the Nash Rocky Mount Early College. The one local charter school is Rocky Mount Preparatory School. There are also a number of private schools in the area.

Braswell Memorial Library serves the community as its major public library with affiliated libraries throughout the Twin Counties. It recently became part of the State Library's NC Cardinal consortium of public libraries. These share an integrated system allowing books and other materials to be checked out from other libraries across the state.

Media
Rocky Mount is considered part of the Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville television and radio media market, the 25th largest in the United States. However, multiple broadcast stations in the Greenville-New Bern-Washington market also cover the city.

Locally, WHIG-TV, founded in 1997 and now hosted at Wesleyan College, and WNCR-LD, founded in 2002 and located in downtown, are Rocky Mount's community television stations. WRQM 90.9 FM is the repeater station of public radio station WUNC, the local NPR affiliate. In the 1990s, it was known as "Down East Radio" and also hosted at Wesleyan College.

The Rocky Mount Telegram serves as the main daily newspaper for the city of Rocky Mount and surrounding areas.

Roads and highways
The city is served by three major highways:
 * to its west.
 * (Future I-87) as its main east–west corridor.
 * (Wesleyan Boulevard) as its main north–south corridor.

In the downtown area, both US 64 Bus. (Sunset Avenue / Thomas Street) and US 301 Bus. (Church Street) serve as major thoroughfares. State highways NC 4, NC 43, NC 48 and NC 97 serve the city by connecting to nearby towns.

Airports
The Rocky Mount–Wilson Regional Airport serves the general aviation needs of the surrounding counties. It is on NC 97, 9 mi southwest of downtown Rocky Mount. The closest airport with scheduled commercial service is Pitt–Greenville Airport (PGV), 40 mi to the southeast. Cargo and charter flights in the area also use the Kinston Regional Jetport (ISO), 50 mi to the south. Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU), is 74 mi to the west.

Rail
Amtrak provides three north and three southbound trains per day at the Rocky Mount station located in downtown. Service is to Washington, D.C., New York City, Miami and Philadelphia. Freight service is provided by CSX. Trains travel to destinations in eastern North Carolina and also to points west and south of the city.

Public transit
Tar River Transit provides public transportation in and around the city of Rocky Mount, and operates 10 fixed bus routes throughout the city.

Health care
Nash UNC Health Care is a non-profit hospital affiliated with UNC Health Care, which it joined in 2014. It has 345 beds at four different locations. Its flagship facility is Nash General Hospital. When Nash General opened in 1971, it consolidated four different hospitals in the Rocky Mount area, and was the first all-private-room hospital in North Carolina. Other hospitals operated are Nash Day Hospital, Bryant T. Aldridge Rehabilitation Center, and Coastal Plain Hospital. Nash UNC has added more facilities in recent years: a Surgery Pavilion in 2004, a renovated Emergency Department and Nash Heart Center in 2014, and Nash Women's Center in 2016. In 2018, the Danny Talbott Cancer Center facility opened, named in honor of a Rocky Mount athletic legend and cancer survivor.

Notable people

 * Andrew B. Anderson Jr., U.S. Air Force lieutenant general and chief of staff, born in Rocky Mount
 * Lloyd W. Bailey, faithless elector in the 1968 Presidential election
 * Thurbert Baker, the first African-American Attorney General in the State of Georgia born in Rocky Mount
 * F. C. Barnes, gospel musician born in Rocky Mount
 * Luther Barnes, gospel music producer born in Rocky Mount
 * Gardner Bishop, barber and civil rights activist, born in Rocky Mount
 * Herman Boone, coach depicted by Denzel Washington in Remember the Titans, born in Rocky Mount
 * Benjamin Bunn, former U.S. congressman and first mayor of Rocky Mount, lived in historic Benvenue
 * Jim Clack, NFL football player who won two Super Bowl championships with the Pittsburgh Steelers, born in Rocky Mount
 * Jeff Collins, former member of the North Carolina General Assembly
 * Roy Cooper, governor of North Carolina
 * Elijah L. Daughtridge, 12th lieutenant governor of North Carolina, born in Rocky Mount
 * Harold Denton, nuclear physicist, born in Rocky Mount, who advised the President during the Three Mile Island accident
 * Harold Bascom Durham Jr., recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Vietnam War
 * Mike Easley, former governor of North Carolina and state attorney general, born in Rocky Mount
 * Phil Ford, UNC and NBA basketball player, born in Rocky Mount
 * Jim Gardner, businessman and politician, former U.S. congressman and lieutenant governor, who co-founded Hardee's in the city
 * Maureen Garrett, soap opera actress born in Rocky Mount
 * Alberta Gay, mother of Marvin Gaye, born in Rocky Mount
 * Kaye Gibbons, novelist who attended Rocky Mount Senior High School and wrote Ellen Foster
 * Billy Godwin, former head baseball coach for East Carolina University born in Rocky Mount
 * Brian Goodwin, MLB baseball player for the Pittsburgh Pirates
 * Allan Gurganus, author who wrote Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All born in Rocky Mount
 * Bill Harrison, former CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase born in Rocky Mount
 * Damariscotta Helm, international whistling champion
 * Matt Hill, electric blues musician born in Rocky Mount
 * Chuck Hinton, MLB baseball player born in Rocky Mount
 * Earle Hyman, actor born in Rocky Mount who portrayed Cliff's father on The Cosby Show
 * Terrence J, actor and co-anchor of E! News lived in Rocky Mount and attended nearby Northern Nash High School
 * Jack Kerouac, father of the Beat Generation who resided with family off and on and referred to city as "Testament, Virginia" in On the Road
 * Kay Kyser, big band musician, radio and film personality born in Rocky Mount
 * Buck Leonard, Negro league baseball player; member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame
 * Westray Battle Long, second director of Women's Army Corps under Dwight D. Eisenhower during World War II born in Rocky Mount
 * Bill Mathis, American Football League football player who was a running back for the New York Jets
 * Mae Mercer, Blues singer, actress and producer born in annexed former town of Battleboro
 * Thelonious Monk, jazz pianist born in Rocky Mount
 * William Murray, former football player and head coach at Duke University born in Rocky Mount
 * Vann R. Newkirk II, journalist and staff writer for The Atlantic born in Rocky Mount
 * Thomas J. Pearsall, attorney, politician, and philanthropist. He was the main instigator of the Pearsall Plan and was a co-founder of North Carolina Wesleyan College.
 * Charles Pittman, NBA basketball player born in Rocky Mount
 * Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco Systems who attended Rocky Mount High School
 * Etaf Rum, The New York Times best-selling author of A Woman is No Man who lives in Rocky Mount
 * Susie Sharp, first female North Carolina Supreme Court justice born in Rocky Mount
 * Don Stallings, NFL football player who played for the Washington Redskins and for the University of North Carolina in college
 * Danny Talbott,UNC and NFL quarterback who led Rocky Mount High School to state championships in football, basketball, and baseball
 * Ken Thompson, former CEO and chairman of Wachovia born in Rocky Mount
 * Jim Thorpe, Olympic gold medalist who played minor league baseball for the Rocky Mount Railroaders
 * Mike Tyson, MLB baseball player born in Rocky Mount
 * Phil Valentine, talk show radio host was born in Rocky Mount but grew up in nearby Nashville
 * Tim Valentine, former U.S. congressman born in Rocky Mount
 * Harold Vick, jazz musician known for his work in the film School Daze (1988) born in Rocky Mount
 * Buck Williams, NBA basketball player born in Rocky Mount
 * Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Emmy Award winning actress born in Rocky Mount
 * Adrian H. Wood, educator and blogger who was born and raised in Rocky Mount

title: Rocky Mount, North Carolina


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Asphyxia

Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects all the tissues and organs, some more rapidly than others. There are many circumstances that can induce asphyxia, all of which are characterized by the inability of a person to acquire sufficient oxygen through breathing for an extended period of time. Asphyxia can cause coma or death.

In 2015, about 9.8 million cases of unintentional suffocation occurred which resulted in 35,600 deaths. The word asphyxia is from Ancient Greek α- "without" and σφύξις sphyxis, "squeeze" (throb of heart).

Causes
Situations that can cause asphyxia include but are not limited to: airway obstruction, the constriction or obstruction of airways, such as from asthma, laryngospasm, or simple blockage from the presence of foreign materials; from being in environments where oxygen is not readily accessible: such as underwater, in a low oxygen atmosphere, or in a vacuum; environments where sufficiently oxygenated air is present, but cannot be adequately breathed because of air contamination such as excessive smoke.

Other causes of oxygen deficiency include but are not limited to:
 * Acute respiratory distress syndrome
 * Carbon monoxide inhalation, such as that from a car exhaust and the smoke produced by a lit cigarette: carbon monoxide has a higher affinity than oxygen to the hemoglobin in the blood's red blood corpuscles, bonding with it tenaciously, and, in the process, displacing oxygen and preventing the blood from transporting oxygen around the body
 * Contact with certain chemicals, including pulmonary agents (such as phosgene) and blood agents (such as hydrogen cyanide)
 * Drowning
 * Drug overdose
 * Exposure to extreme low pressure or vacuum from spacesuit damage (see space exposure)
 * Hanging, whether suspension or short drop hanging
 * Self-induced hypocapnia by hyperventilation, as in shallow water or deep water blackout and the choking game
 * Inert gas asphyxiation
 * Congenital central hypoventilation syndrome, or primary alveolar hypoventilation, a disorder of the autonomic nervous system in which a patient must consciously breathe; although it is often said that people with this disease will die if they fall asleep, this is not usually the case.
 * Respiratory diseases
 * Sleep apnea
 * A seizure which stops breathing activity
 * Strangling
 * Breaking the wind pipe
 * Prolonged exposure to chlorine gas

Smothering
Smothering is a mechanical obstruction of the flow of air from the environment into the mouth and/or nostrils, for instance, by covering the mouth and nose with a hand, pillow, or a plastic bag. Smothering can be either partial or complete, where partial indicates that the person being smothered is able to inhale some air, although less than required. In a normal situation, smothering requires at least partial obstruction of both the nasal cavities and the mouth to lead to asphyxia. Smothering with the hands or chest is used in some combat sports to distract the opponent, and create openings for transitions, as the opponent is forced to react to the smothering.

In some cases, when performing certain routines, smothering is combined with simultaneous compressive asphyxia. One example is overlay, in which an adult accidentally rolls over onto an infant during co-sleeping, an accident that often goes unnoticed and is mistakenly thought to be sudden infant death syndrome. Other accidents involving a similar mechanism are cave-ins or when an individual is buried in sand or grain.

In homicidal cases, the term burking is often ascribed to a killing method that involves simultaneous smothering and compression of the torso. The term "burking" comes from the method William Burke and William Hare used to kill their victims during the West Port murders. They killed the usually intoxicated victims by sitting on their chests and suffocating them by putting a hand over their nose and mouth, while using the other hand to push the victim's jaw up. The corpses had no visible injuries, and were supplied to medical schools for money.

Compressive asphyxia
Compressive asphyxia (also called chest compression) is mechanically limiting expansion of the lungs by compressing the torso, preventing breathing. "Traumatic asphyxia" or "crush asphyxia" usually refers to compressive asphyxia resulting from being crushed or pinned under a large weight or force, or in a crowd crush. An example of traumatic asphyxia is a person who jacks up a car to work on it from below, and is crushed by the vehicle when the jack fails. Constrictor snakes such as boa constrictors kill through slow compressive asphyxia, tightening their coils every time the prey breathes out rather than squeezing forcefully. In cases of an adult co-sleeping with an infant ("overlay"), the heavy sleeping adult may move on top of the infant, causing compression asphyxia.

In fatal crowd disasters, compressive asphyxia from being crushed against the crowd causes all or nearly all deaths, rather than blunt trauma from trampling. This is what occurred at the Ibrox disaster in 1971, where 66 Rangers fans died; the 1979 The Who concert disaster where 11 died; the Luzhniki disaster in 1982, when 66 FC Spartak Moscow fans died; the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, where 97 Liverpool fans were crushed to death in an overcrowded terrace, 95 of the 97 from compressive asphyxia, 93 dying directly from it and 3 others from related complications; the 2021 Meron crowd crush where 45 died; the Astroworld Festival crowd crush in 2021, where 10 died; and the Seoul Halloween crowd crush in 2022, where at least 159 died during Halloween celebrations.

In confined spaces, people are forced to push against each other; evidence from bent steel railings in several fatal crowd accidents has shown horizontal forces over 4500 N (equivalent to a weight of approximately 450 kg or 1000 lbs). In cases where people have stacked up on each other in a human pile, it has been estimated that those at the bottom are subjected to around 380 kg (840 lbs) of compressive weight.

"Positional" or "restraint" asphyxia is when a person is restrained and left alone prone, such as in a police vehicle, and is unable to reposition themself in order to breathe. The death can be in the vehicle, or following loss of consciousness to be followed by death while in a coma, having presented with anoxic brain damage. The asphyxia can be caused by facial compression, neck compression, or chest compression. This occurs mostly during restraint and handcuffing situations by law enforcement, including psychiatric incidents. The weight of the restraint(s) doing the compression may contribute to what is attributed to positional asphyxia. Therefore, passive deaths following custody restraint that are presumed to be the result of positional asphyxia may actually be examples of asphyxia occurring during the restraint process.

Chest compression is a technique used in various grappling combat sports, where it is sometimes called wringing, either to tire the opponent or as complementary or distractive moves in combination with pinning holds, or sometimes even as submission holds. Examples of chest compression include the knee-on-stomach position; or techniques such as leg scissors (also referred to as body scissors and in budō referred to as do-jime; 胴絞, "trunk strangle" or "body triangle") where a participant wraps his or her legs around the opponent's midsection and squeezes them together.

Pressing is a form of torture or execution using compressive asphyxia.

Perinatal asphyxia
Perinatal asphyxia is the medical condition resulting from deprivation of oxygen (hypoxia) to a newborn infant long enough to cause apparent harm. It results most commonly from a drop in maternal blood pressure or interference during delivery with blood flow to the infant's brain. This can occur as a result of inadequate circulation or perfusion, impaired respiratory effort, or inadequate ventilation. There has long been a scientific debate over whether newborn infants with asphyxia should be resuscitated with 100% oxygen or normal air. It has been demonstrated that high concentrations of oxygen lead to generation of oxygen free radicals, which have a role in reperfusion injury after asphyxia. Research by Ola Didrik Saugstad and others led to new international guidelines on newborn resuscitation in 2010, recommending the use of normal air instead of 100% oxygen.

Mechanical asphyxia
Classifications of different forms of asphyxia vary among literature, with differences in defining the concept of mechanical asphyxia being the most obvious.

In DiMaio and DiMaio's 2001 textbook on forensic pathology, mechanical asphyxia is caused by pressure from outside the body restricting respiration. Similar narrow definitions of mechanical asphyxia have occurred in Azmak's 2006 literature review of asphyxial deaths and Oehmichen and Auer's 2005 book on forensic neuropathology. According to DiMaio and DiMaio, mechanical asphyxia encompasses positional asphyxia, traumatic asphyxia, and "human pile" deaths.

In Shkrum and Ramsay's 2007 textbook on forensic pathology, mechanical asphyxia occurs when any mechanical means cause interference with the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the body. Similar broad definitions of mechanical asphyxia have occurred in Saukko and Knight's 2004 book on asphyxia, and Dolinak and Matshes' 2005 book on forensic pathology. According to Shkrum and Ramsay, mechanical asphyxia encompasses smothering, choking, positional asphyxia, traumatic asphyxia, wedging, strangulation and drowning.

Sauvageau and Boghossian propose in 2010 that mechanical asphyxia should be officially defined as caused by "restriction of respiratory movements, either by the position of the body or by external chest compression", thus encompassing only positional asphyxia and traumatic asphyxia.

First aid
If there are symptoms of mechanical asphyxia, it is necessary to call the Emergency Medical Services. In some countries, such as the US, there may also be self-acting groups of voluntary first responders who have been trained in first aid. In case of mechanical asphyxia, first aid can be provided on your own. In such a situation, you need to do the following:

 * Stand behind the affected person and wrap your arms around him/her.
 * Push inwards and upwards under the ribs with a sudden movement by your second hand.
 * If the performed actions were not effective, repeat them until you free respiratory tract of the affected person from a foreign body.

title: Asphyxia