List of people from Northampton, Massachusetts

The people listed below were all born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with the city of Northampton, Massachusetts.

Artists

 * Leonard Baskin, sculptor, illustrator, print-maker, writer, and teacher at local colleges

Economists

 * Herbert Gintis, economist
 * Andrew Zimbalist, prominent sports economist and father of Jeff and Michael Zimbalist

Educators

 * Carol T. Christ, former president of Smith College and Victorian Literature Scholar
 * Anna Cheney Edwards, 19th-century professor at Mount Holyoke College
 * Hannah Lyman (1816–1871), first lady principal of Vassar College

Film and television

 * Mary-Ellis Bunim, television producer and co-creator of MTV's The Real World and Road Rules
 * Michael Brooks, political commentator, author.
 * John Carpenter, first top-prize winner on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
 * Paul Johnson Calderon, socialite, heir, and television personality best known for co-starring on The CW's High Society
 * Galaxy Craze, actress and author known for bestselling novel By the Shore
 * Rachel Maddow, radio personality, MSNBC television host, and liberal political commentator
 * David Pakman, television and radio personality, nationally syndicated progressive talk show host, liberal political commentator
 * William Powell, actor
 * Liza Snyder, actress (Yes, Dear; Pay It Forward)
 * Talisa Soto, actress
 * Jeff Zimbalist, documentary filmmaker and Tribeca Film Festival award winner

Government and law

 * Ebenezer Allen, American soldier, pioneer, and member of the Vermont General Assembly; born in Northampton
 * Christine Chandler, attorney and member of the New Mexico House of Representatives
 * Calvin Coolidge, served as mayor of Northampton before becoming the 48th governor of Massachusetts and the 30th president of the United States
 * Nancy Flavin, American politician who represented the 2nd Hampshire District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives
 * Jonathan Hunt (1738–1808), early Vermont pioneer, landowner, officeholder, born Northampton
 * Bernie Juskiewicz, Businessman and Vermont state representative
 * Henry W. Lord, U.S. Congressman
 * Britt K. Slabinski, served as a SEAL with the United States Navy

Music industry

 * Chris Collingwood, lead singer of the band Fountains of Wayne
 * Kim Gordon, of the band Sonic Youth
 * Jason Loewenstein, singer and songwriter
 * Thurston Moore, of the band Sonic Youth
 * Nerissa Nields, folk musician, author, and member of the band The Nields
 * Zoel Parenteau, composer of Broadway musicals
 * Kim Rosen, Grammy nominated audio mastering engineer

Reformers

 * Sylvester Graham, advocate of vegetarianism and namesake of the graham cracker
 * Sojourner Truth, African American abolitionist and orator

Religion

 * Jonathan Edwards, 18th-century Congregational theologian, philosopher, leader of First Great Awakening and local pastor
 * Elder John Strong, 17th-century English-born New England colonist, politician, Puritan church leader; one of the founders of Windsor, Connecticut and Northampton, Massachusetts

Sports

 * Stu Miller, Major League Baseball pitcher
 * Tim Petrovic, professional golfer
 * Willy Workman (born 1990), American-Israeli basketball player for Hapoel Jerusalem in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
 * William Yorzyk, gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic swimmer

Writers

 * Robert Horace Baker (1883–1964), author of Astronomy, was born in Northampton.
 * Jeanne Birdsall, children's author, best known for her debut novel, The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy
 * William Cullen Bryant, 19th-century author and newspaper editor
 * Augusten Burroughs, author; his bestseller Running with Scissors describes his strange childhood in Northampton
 * George Washington Cable, author and reformer; lived in Northampton 1885–1915
 * Paul Johnson Calderon, journalist, best known for his work with Deuxmoi.com, The Pro 411
 * Eric Carle, children's book author and illustrator
 * Lydia Maria Child, author of the Thanksgiving poem "Over the River and through the Woods"
 * Kevin Eastman, comic book artist and writer, co-published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics with Peter Laird in their Northampton studio
 * Jonathan Harr, author of A Civil Action
 * Jeph Jacques, creator of the webcomic Questionable Content
 * Tracy Kidder, author (while he was not born in Northampton, his 1999 book "Home Town" is a profile of the city, and his 1993 "Old Friends" takes place at Linda Manor in Northampton)
 * Michael Klare, author, professor and defense correspondent for The Nation
 * Jarrett J. Krosoczka, children's book and graphic novel writer, published Hey, Kiddo and Sunshine, memoirs of his life growing up in Worcester, MA
 * Peter Laird, comic book artist and writer, co-published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics with Kevin Eastman in their Northampton studio
 * Elinor Lipman, author
 * Lesléa Newman, author of Heather Has Two Mommies
 * Cynthia Propper Seton, novelist
 * Kurt Vonnegut, satirist, novelist, known for works like Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat's Cradle
 * Ocean Vuong, poet, essayist, and author of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
 * Peter Wild, poet, author, and Professor of English at the University of Arizona
 * Mo Willems, popular children's book author

Others

 * Albert Francis Blakeslee (1874–1954), botanist, died in Northampton
 * Tom Friedman, conceptual sculptor
 * John Stoddard, president of the Georgia Historical Society
 * William Dwight Whitney, linguist