E. Henry Twiggs’ political education began at a young age. Raised in segregated South Carolina, E. Henry moved to Springfield in 1958, but returned to the South in the early days of the Civil Rights Movement. He worked with Dr. Martin Luther King and other prominent activists helping organize voter registration drives, sit-ins, marches (including the Selma to Montgomery march) and other actions throughout the region.

He participated in the historic1963 March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom and, in a continuing effort to realize Dr. King’s dream, E. Henry became Northeast Coordinator of The Poor People’s Campaign 1968 March on Washington. Protestors sought to dramatize the effects of poverty and racism by constructing shanty towns in the nation’s capital.

E. Henry also stepped up his activism within the Democratic Party, campaigning vigorously for Robert Kennedy, George McGovern, Shirley Chisholm, Ted Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale and Bill Clinton. A longtime supporter of Rev. Jesse Jackson, Twiggs served as Second Congressional District Coordinator for Jackson’s 1984 presidential run.

Unrivaled experience; frontline activism

For nearly a half-century, E. Henry has been involved in Democratic politics at every level: registering voters, engaging in visibility and door-to-door activities, raising funds and getting out the vote for our Party’s candidates, along with managing winning political campaigns. He served as State Representative Ben Swan's Chief of Staff at the State House. No job was too big or too small for E. Henry.

Twiggs is the Chairman of the Springfield Democratic City Committee (7 years), as well as the Ward 4 Democratic Committee (12 years), a member of the National African-American Steering Committee for Senator John Kerry and a member of the Democratic State Committee and Judicial Council of the State Democratic Party.

Twiggs was among the first people with whom Deval Patrick conferred before launching his gubernatorial campaign. E. Henry managed the campaign’s Western Mass. office. He also played an especially active role in the Obama campaign (generating local media coverage benefiting the cause), organizing standouts, phone banking, and rides to the polls in Springfield on primary day.