Tributes have been pouring in for E. Henry Twiggs, a legendary civil rights figure and public servant from Springfield, Massachusetts. He died Thursday at the age of 80.
Massachusetts Congressman Richard Neal said Twiggs was a man of “dignity, compassion, and conviction.”
Twiggs marched on several occasions in the 1960s with Martin Luther King Jr.
For decades, Twiggs was active in Democratic Party politics, serving on the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee and was a former chairman of the Springfield City Democratic Committee.
Springfield City Councilor Jesse Lederman, who considered Twiggs a mentor, said he was a true public servant who worked to uplift the Springfield community.
Since 2009, he represented Ward Four on the Springfield City Council. With his health failing, Twiggs announced last April that he would not seek another term on the council. WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill spoke with Twiggs at the time.
