How Far Have We Come: 1992 Worcester
Official City Website
Arts District Master Plan
Tom Collins:
City of Worcester Pictorial
Worcester,
central Massachusetts' urban center, is a mixture of small town friendliness
with some of the finest elements of urban life, including:
Worcester's
Hiking, Biking, Snowshoeing and Open Space Worcester
- Precursor of the Revolution
Worcester
Postcards of Old Worcester 1673-1908
Worcester 1911-Current
Who Was Worcester's
Major Taylor and What
Events Celebrate Him?
Worcester
WORCESTER CENTER FOR CRAFTS [I-5]
25 Sagamore Road, Worcester, MA 01609 508-753-8183
fax: 508-797-5626
Contact: Amy Black Email address: wcc@worcestercraftcenter.org
Website:
www.worcestercraftcenter.org
The Worcester Center for Crafts is New England’s center for craft
education. Established in 1856 as the Worcester Employment Society, the Center
forged a tradition for economic empowerment by teaching immigrants the skills
needed to create and sell crafts. Visit the great Gallery Gift Shop.
WORCESTER HISTORICAL MUSEUM [I-6]
30 Elm Street, Worcester, MA 01609 508-753-8278
fax: 508-753-9070
Contact: Bill Wallace Email address: info@worcesterhistory.org
Website: www.worcesterhistory.org
Founded in 1875, Worcester Historical Museum is a unique organization
dedicated to collecting, preserving, and interpreting Worcester's history in all
time periods and subject areas. The holdings of WHM encompass thousands of
unique documents and artifacts vital to the study of Worcester history.
CHILDHOOD HOME OF U.S. POET LAUREATE
STANLEY KUNITZ
4 Woodford Street, Worcester MA 01607 508-797-4770
Contact: Greg and Carol Stockmal Email address: cajohnsonj@aol.com
Website:
www.wcpa.homestead.com
Poet, editor, essayist, translator, who became America’s 10th poet laureate
at the age of 95, succeeding Robert Pinsky. First published in 1930. He has
written in conversational tone of such complex themes as the work of a poet,
loss, time, and the chaos of inner life. Private
home, not open to public except rare occasions.
HIGGINS ARMORY MUSEUM
100 Barber Avenue, Worcester, MA 01606 508-853-6015
Contact: Tara Young Email address: higgins@higgins.org
Website:
www.higgins.org
Enjoy the distinction of the only museum in the Western Hemisphere entirely
devoted to the study and display of arms and armor. Discover the vaulted
Medieval Great Hall. Artifacts ranging from Corinthian helmets of ancient Greece
to ornate suits of armor from the height of the Renaissance give our visitors an
exciting glimpse into the past.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT AMERICAN MUSEUM, UNION STATION
2 Washington Sq, Union Station, Worcester, MA 508-770-1515
fax: 508-526-8787
Contact: Cyrus D. Lipsitt Email address: events@fdrheritage.org
Website:
www.fdrheritage.org
Newly opened museum!! Dr. Joseph Plaud, FDR collector and Museum president.
BROAD MEADOW BROOK CONSERVATION CENTER AND WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
414 Massasoit Road, Worcester, MA 01604
508-753-6087
The Massachusetts Audubon Society. Explore over 400 acres of woods, fields,
streams, and marsh. Look for 78 different species of butterflies, prowl for
owls, or learn to snowshoe. Enjoy interpretive exhibits including a large 3-D
model of the entire sanctuary and a wall-to-ceiling map of the Blackstone River
watershed. Trails are open everyday dawn to dust. Call for registration.
American
Antiquarian Society: A renown national research
facility of American history and culture.
Mechanics
Hall: Recognized as the finest pre-Civil War
concert hall in the nation. This fine hall hosts free Wednesday noon brown bag
lunch concert series as well as the finest of globally respected artists and performances.
Higgins
Armory: Over 70 suits of armor within a Gothic
arch environment bring you back centuries to another world.
Worcester
Art Museum: One of the finest art museums in New England with over 35,000 pieces covering 5000 years of art and antiquities. Free
Sat admission 10-4pm.
The Worcester Art Museum, which opened to the public in 1898, is
world-renowned for its 35,000-piece collection of paintings, sculpture,
decorative arts, photography, prints, drawings and new media. The works span
5,000 years of art and culture, ranging from ancient Roman mosaics to Colonial
silver, Impressionist paintings and contemporary art. Dedicated to the promotion
of art and art education, the Museum offers a year-round studio art and art
appreciation program that enrolls over 6,000 adult and youth students each year.
Public tours are offered Saturdays at 11 a.m. and Sundays at 1 p.m., September
through May. Audio tours are also available in English and Spanish.
Museum hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Thursday, 11
a.m.-8 p.m. (evening hours sponsored by Commerce Bank), and Saturday, 10 a.m.-5
p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and full-time college students
with current ID, and FREE for Members and all youth 17 and under. Admission is
also FREE for everyone on Saturday mornings, 10 a.m.-noon. The Museum is located
at 55 Salisbury St., Worcester, Mass., easily accessible from the Massachusetts
Turnpike (I-90), Route 290 and Route 9. Free parking is available near entrances
on Salisbury, Lancaster and Tuckerman streets. For more information, call (508)
799-4406 or visit the Museum web site at www.worcesterart.org
Ecotarium:
The natural world with over 200 animals, trails, canopy
walk, planetarium, train ride and activities.
Worcester
Historical Museum: Various presentations and
exhibits of Worcester's history and beyond.
Foothills
Theatre: A full-time professional theatre group
producing eight shows each season from dramas to comedies to musicals.
Arts
Worcester: A non-profit organization hosting
satellite galleries, a newsletter and other supportive advocacy roles for
Worcester area artists.
Music
Worcester: 141 year old presenter of performances
of renowned symphonies, world music, jazz, chorus and chamber ensembles.
Worcester
Center for Crafts: A regional visual arts gallery
for tourist or native offering a gift store, classes and studios for various
crafts of ceramics, pottery, photography, textiles and more.
The
Centrum: Worcester's entertainment center hosting concerts, shows, etc.
and Convention Center.
City
Hall: A link to city government
Worcester College Consortium:
A link to all the colleges in and around
Worcester
Other significant Worcester
organizations or sites: Tuckerman Hall designed in 1902 by Josephine Wright
Chapman and used for concerts, lectures, other events; the Salisbury Mansion
built in 1772 by Stephen Salisbury and restored as historical home; Preservation
Worcester; Performing Arts
School of Worcester; American Sanitary Plumbing Museum which preserves the
history of American Plumbing industry.
Also, African Heritage Institute
(508-757-2222), American Guild of Organists (508-791-2893), Audio Journal
(508-797-1117), Central Mass Symphony Orchestra (617) 439-8900 x 6614, Centro
Las Americas (508-798-1900), Daughters of American Revolution (508-797-3530),
First Night Worcester (508-799-4909), Forum Theatre (508-799-9166), Henry Lee
Willis Community Center (508-799-0702), Heywood Gallery, Italian-American
Cultural Center ( 508-754-7100).
And, Joy of Music Program
(508-792-5667), Master Singers of Worcester (508-791-2893), Opera Worcester
(508-753-0666), Salisbury Lyric Opera Guild (508-752-2077), Salisbury Singers
(508-799-3848), Very Special Arts Worcester (508-350-7713), WCUW (508-753-1012),
WICN Public Radio (508-752-0700), Worcester County Poetry Assoc (508-797-4770),
Worcester Cultural Commission (508-799-1400) and the Worcester Women's History
Project (508-767-1852).
Beyond Worcester:
Tower
Hill Botanical Garden: 132 acres of formal and
casual gardens , trails and meadows with an Educational and visitors center and
classrooms, shop, cafe and subtropical plants. Home of Worcester County
Horticultural Society.
Wachusett
Mountain: Skiing nearby and other activities throughout the year.
Worcester Women's History Project
A booklet has recently been printed by the Worcester Women's History project
that wonderfully describes the role that Worcester and central Massachusetts
played in the historic struggle for women as well as racial equality. It
highlights the bold initiatives and the people behind them, who were not always
very popular or easily received, whose courage led to the changes that finally
resulted in voting rights for women and free men (former slaves).
Worcester's role in history is often ignored, yet its part in the American
Revolution, in the printing industry with Isaiah Thomas and its role for equal
rights is nearly unparalleled. This 46 page booklet describes historic places,
both intact and long gone, the leaders who boldly led the charge in the national
struggle for equal rights as well as the "foot soldiers" who added
strength to the vision to bring it to fruition.
Although the booklet is not available on their website, events and some
history are available as well as contact names.
