Events/Exhibits/Collaborations

2005

January 5, 2005 - WAHEC graduate course, “Cultural Institutions as Educational Resources - WWHP members Linda Rosenlund and Karen Board Moran shared their thoughts of Worcester in the 19th century and why it was a hotbed of reform, with public school teachers. Lynne McKenney Lydick performed “Yours for Humanity—Abby.”
January 20, 2005 - Expressions in Art: Women at the Worcester Art Museum - WWHP’s first “members only” event. WWHP members Linda Miller and Marilyn Quigley presented an illustrated talk at the Worcester Art Museum (WAM) on women founders, donors and staff of WAM
January 26, 2005 - WWHP member Karen Board Moran shared her expertise of Worcester women’s history with Worcester State College students who are working on an exhibit at Worcester Historical Museum to commemorate the college’s 130th anniversary.
February 24, 2005 - Women in Print: Worcester County Authors - Cosponsored with Worcester Historical Museum - Authors reading from their own works: Elizabeth Boosahda, Rachel Kenary Egan, Sou MacMillan, Olive Higgins Prouty by Rosamond L. Bennett, Dianne Williamson held at Worcester Historical Museum.
March 2005 - Woman’s Suffrage exhibit for National Women’s History Month at Worcester Public Library created by WWHP members Ellen Laverdure, Nancy Avila, Laura Howie, Dorista Goldsberry. Cosponsored with League of Women Voters, Worcester Chapter, during National Women’s History Month.
March 15 and 16, 2005 - Northeast Regional Conference (NERC) - President Linda Rosenlund and Lynne McKenney Lydick, portraying Abby Kelley Foster, presented “Using Creative Collaborations to Promote History,” with Elizabeth Bacon of Preservation Worcester.
March 16 and 17, 2005 - Diagnoses Against the Decades: An Historical Perspective on Women and Medicine - Presented by WWHP member Ellen More, Ph.D., Visiting Professor, Department of Psychiatry, UMMS and WWHP steering committee member Heather-Lyn Haley, Ph.D., Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, UMMS and Cosponsored by WWHP and UMMS Women's Faculty Committee.
March 30, 2005 - Votes for Women! Yes or No? A 1915 Debate cosponsored with League of Women Voters, Worcester Chapter, at Worcester Public Library. Lisa Connelly Cook, co-founder and first president of WWHP, spoke on the political climate of Worcester in the era of the suffrage movement. Moderator: Leanore F. Bona, Esq. (LWV) Panelists: Mrs. Roger Kohin (LWV & WWHP), Melanie Demarais (LWV & WWHP), Sally Levinson (LWV), Mrs. Barry Rotman (LWV).
June 8 - Explore and Tour of Abby Kelley Foster’s Home at Liberty Farm - Guided tours and activities on the property, including a talk on the Underground Railroad by Blackstone Ranger Chuck Arning, interactive stations featuring 19th century toys, quill pen writing, and sewing activities. A special viewing of abolitionist quilt presented to Abby Kelley Foster; loaned by Worcester Historical Museum. Collaboration with John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, Worcester Public Schools, the Worcester Senior Center, and Stitches in Time.
June 9 - Meetings of the Mind: Lyceum Movement and Reform Meeting - Historians shared their knowledge of the Lyceum Movement & its Worcester County connections. Panelists: Local historians Kent Ljungquist (WPI) and John McClymer (Assumption College), and visiting professor Thomas Augst (University of Minnesota). Moderator: Edmund Schofield (Tower Hill Botanic Garden). Special presentations by actors portraying John B. Gough (temperance leader) & Abby Kelley Foster (abolitionist & woman's rights activist). Collaboration with the Hillside Restoration effort, the Boylston Historical Society and Worcester Historical Museum.
June 12 - Gough House Civil War Re-enactment - Abby Kelley Foster presentation on the grounds of Hillside, the John B. Gough residence. Collaboration with the Hillside Restoration effort.

2004

January 17, 2004 - "Yours for Humanity - Abby" public premiere. The one-woman play, a program of the Worcester Women's History Project, was written by Carolyn Howe and Karen Board Moran. Creative consultants were Lynne McKenney Lydick and James David Moran. Directed by Douglass Ingalls. Performed by Lynne McKenney Lydick. Based on letters and speeches of Abby Kelley Foster. Held at Worcester Public Library to a standing room only audience.
January 18, 2004 - The Uppity Women Singers performed at the Westborough Unitarian Universalist Church service. Theme for the morning was "19th Century UU Women Reformers" and highlighted Lucy Stone, Clara Barton and Dorothea Dix. Participating were Betty Hoskins, Elise Kreiger, Wendy Driscoll and Nancy Avila.
January 2004 - Filming at each of the seven Heritage Markers related to the Blackstone Canal with Lynne McKenney Lydick in 19th century costume. Video shown at the annual Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor meeting (Feb. 6th). The video credits WWHP, along with Worcester Historical Museum and the Canal District Commission.
March 2004 - National Women's History Month. Exhibit at Frances Perkins Library.
March 18, 2004 - "Tea with a Twist" co-sponsored by WWHP and Worcester Historical Museum at the Salisbury Mansion, 40 Highland Street, Worcester. While Mrs. Salisbury did not engage in the reform movements of her time, Worcester throbbed with activists for many causes, including woman's rights. Heard were the thoughts and concerns of 19th century women who mobilized to hold a national woman's rights convention in Worcester in 1850. Nancy Austin portrayed Abby Price on 1850 Woman's Rights Convention issues. Angela Penny portrayed Lucy Stone on dress reform. Lynne McKenney Lydick portrayed Abby Kelley Foster on no taxation without representation. Karen Board Moran demanded the vote as Sarah F. Earle.
March 25, 2004 - "Women in Print: Readings from Worcester County Authors" co-sponsored by WWHP and Worcester Historical Museum. Laura Menides read from Elizabeth Bishop's poetry; Adria Bernardi read from "A Day Laid on the Altar"; Thomas Doughton reading from Bethany Veney's slave narrative; and Maria Flores read her poetry. The evening also included a guided tour of the exhibit, "Merrifield at 23 Trowbridge Road, 1856-2002," led by Curator Holly V. Izard. Exhibit featured three generations of female authors--Harriette Merrifield Forbes, her award-winning daughter Esther Forbes, and Esther's niece, Peggy Erskine, all of whom lived at 23 Trowbridge Road. Location: Worcester Historical Museum.
April 23, 2004 - Sutton's 300th Reenactors Carolyn Amaral, Peg Salvas, and Elizabeth Kotzen in 19th century costume discussed the video, "Along the Blackstone, Episode #57: Developing the Woman's Political Voice." A Production of The John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley NHC National Park Service. WWHP members in the video: Carolyn Howe, Karen Board Moran, Lynne McKenney Lydick, Sharon Smith Viles, Jeanne Kissane, Heather-Lyn Haley, Wendy Driscoll, Laura Howie, Betty Kotzen, Margaret Salvas, and Emily Thomas. Locations: Sutton Public Library and Sutton Senior Center
May 5, 2004 - "In Her Footsteps" slide presentation by Sharon Smith Viles for the Rape Crisis Center of Central Mass. annual meeting.
May 16, 2004 - "Yours for Humanity - Abby" performed at First Unitarian Church, Worcester. Free and open to the public. See January 2004 above.
May 17, 2004 - Readings of the letters of Abby Kelley Foster and other abolitionists at Leicester Historical Society Annual Dinner with Carolyn Howe, narrator, and Karen Board Moran playing all female parts, Tom Lydick playing all male parts, and Lynne McKenney Lydick as Abby Kelley Foster.
May 24, 2004 - Historical slideshow "In Her Footsteps: Worcester in the Struggle for Equality in the Mid-Nineteenth Century: A Blueprint for the Future" presented by Sharon Smith Viles for the AAUW.
June 2, 2004 - "Rabble-Rousers and Reformers: A Showcase of Historic One-Person Shows for Schools" at American Antiquarian Society. Three one-person shows based on historic characters suitable for presentation for schools, historical societies, and professional organizations: Isaiah Thomas, Revolutionary printer and founder of the American Antiquarian Society, Abby Kelley Foster women's rights and anti-slavery advocate (portrayed by Lynne McKenney Lydick), and John B. Gough, temperance orator. Sponsored by American Antiquarian Society and New England History Teachers Association and Worcester Women's History Project.
June 6, 2004 - 150th Anniversary Celebration of Hope Cemetery. WWHP Reenactors presenting: Lynne McKenney Lydick, Sharon Smith Viles, Peter Viles, Katherine Kowaloff, Rebecca Kowaloff, Peg Salvas, Laura Howie, Betty Kotzen and Karen Board Moran.
June 9, 2004 - Presentation to educators at Bancroft School, Worcester, by WWHP members Linda Rosenlund, Sharon Smith Viles and Lynne McKenney Lydick. Sharon portrayed Sarah Russell May and detailed Worcester as the center of reform during the mid-19th century. Lynne performed a ten-minute excerpt from "Yours for Humanity - Abby"
June 12, 2004 - "A Woman's View of Providence - A Walking Tour of Downtown Providence, Where the History of Enterprising Providence Women was Made and Highlighting the Contributions of Worcester Women" - with tour guides from the Rhode Island Historical Society. 9am-5pm event enjoyed by 48 women. Lunch at Providence Place. Guided tour of Rhode Island School of Design Museum. By bus Worcester to Providence.
August 26, 2004 - Focusing on the Right to Vote, Women’s Equality Day was celebrated at Abby’s House, 52 High Street, Worcester. After greetings from Annette Rafferty, a review of how the struggle to gain the Vote was accomplished was given by Betty Hoskins and Elise Krieger. They were supported in their endeavor by WWHP enactors from 1850 and 1920 who marched with placards and intoned slogans of the times.
September 10-11, 2004 - The Inaugural Conference of the National Women’s History Project Network at Smith College, Northampton, MA. Linda Rosenlund, Karen Board Moran and Lynne McKenney Lydick represented WWHP as panelists, “Celebrating Ten Years of Reviving Local Women’s History,” sharing WWHP’s successful strategies of documenting and celebrating local women’s history. In addition, “Yours for Humanity—Abby” was performed by Lynne McKenney Lydick.
September 22, 2004 - Diagnoses across the Decades: An Historical Perspective on Women and Medicine cosponsored by WWHP, Briarwood CCRC, and UMMS Women’s Faculty Committee at Briarwood Retirement Community answering the question: “How has women’s health care changed since the first National Woman’s Rights Convention in 1850?” Panel included WWHP members Heather-Lyn Haley, PhD and Ellen S. More, PhD, and Kerri E. Osterhaus, M.D.—University of Massachusetts Medical School faculty and members of the Worcester District Medical Society’s Women’s Caucus—represented physicians or midwives from 1850, 1900, 1950, and today. Faced with female “patients” exhibiting various symptoms, each expert diagnosed and prescribed treatment for a malady according to medical knowledge of the time.
October 3, 2004 - Karen Board Moran as Lucy Waters Phelps, Sutton’s first female voter in 1897, conducted an old-fashioned, suffragist-style Get Out the Vote rally on the Sutton Center Common.
October 5, 2004 - “Iron Jawed Angels” cosponsored by WWHP, HBO Films, League of Women Voters, and the Women’s Studies Departments of Colleges in the Worcester Consortium. Katja von Garnier’s acclaimed feature film about the fight for women’s suffrage focusing on two young suffragists (Alice Paul and Lucy Burns), it stars Oscar winners Hilary Swank and Anjelica Huston, among others. Panel discussion followed with WWHP member Lisa Connelly Cook moderating.
October 8 and 15, 2004 - Presentation to educators at Rice Square School, Worcester, by WWHP president Linda Rosenlund, as part of the “Inservice to Teachers” Worcester Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative (WAHEC). Linda spoke to primary and secondary teachers about WWHP and its educational offerings.
October 21, 2004 - wwhp@10 - Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of WWHP - annual meeting, dinner and program at Worcester State College Student Center. “WWHP Made History: A Look Back at the Last Ten Years with the Five Presidents” Lisa Connelly Cook, Peggy Kocoras, Carolyn Howe, Dorista Goldsberry, Linda Rosenlund. Also, Awards, Recognitions, Uppity Women Singers, Silent Auction, Ten-Year Exhibit.
October 17, 2004 - WWHP member Carolyn Howe, accompanied by Lynne Mckenney Lydick as Abby Kelley Foster, in a lay-led service on Abby Kelley Foster at the First Parish Church in Northboro.
October 26, 2004 - Women Linking Women networking and informational forum held at Worcester Public Library for those wishing to become involved in women’s issues and activities.
December 2004 and January 2005 - Abby Kelley Foster on Stage, on the Page, and Getting the Public Engaged - a three-session study group conducted by Beth Sweeney, Sharon Smith Viles, Carolyn Howe, Lynne McKenney Lydick and Karen Board Moran at Worcester Historical Museum.

2003

"Who Wants to Kill a Millionaire" by Cornely Productions, a mystery dinner theater fundraiser at Knights of Columbus Hall January 2003
"Women's Activism and Leadership, Yesterday and Today" with panel of Worcester women at Worcester Public Library, March 2003
"My Very Dear Friend: A Personal View of Abby Kelley Foster" with songs and readings at Salisbury Mansion April 2003 co-sponsored with Worcester Historical Museum
"Along the Blackstone, Episode #57: "Journey to Freedom - The Development of the Woman's Political Voice" videoed at Mechanics Hall with WWHP members participating, April 2003. Arranged by Ranger Chuck Arning of Blackstone Valley National Heritage Corridor.
"Step Right Up!" Exploring Women in Worcester, 1828-1848 guided walk led by Ranger Sue Andrews co-sponsored with Blackstone River Valley National Park Service Rangers, August 2003.
October 2003 - WWHP members appeared in a video, "Along the Blackstone, Episode #57: Developing the Woman's Political Voice." A Production of The John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley NHC National Park Service. Members participating: Carolyn Howe, Karen Board Moran, Lynne McKenney Lydick, Sharon Smith Viles, Jeanne Kissane, Heather-Lyn Haley, Wendy Driscoll, Laura Howie, Betty Kotzen, Margaret Salvas, and Emily Thomas.
October 4, 2003 - WWHP participated in the Blackstone Canal Community Celebration Day. Program "Women's Dress in the Canal Era." Members participating: Emily Thomas and Karen Board Moran. Location: Worcester Historical Museum.
October 7, 2003 - WWHP participated in the "Raise a Ruckus" commemorative event for 175th Anniversary of Blackstone Canal. The City of Worcester celebrated the canal anniversary with ringing of bells, booming of cannons, speeches, and a parade. WWHP members participating: Lynne McKenney Lydick, Laura Howie, Nancy Austin, and Angela Penny. Location: Downtown Worcester.
October 18, 2003 - WWHP participated in "Reform, Rally & Restore: A Civil War Event." Sponsored by the Hillside Restoration Project and the Boylston Historical Society & Museum. Sharon Smith Viles gave a short talk about abolition which was followed by a John Gough enactor who gave a temperance speech and added a bit about the horrors of slavery. WWHP 19th century costumed participants: Sharon Smith Viles, Katherine Kowaloff, Heather-Lyn Haley, Nancy Austin, and Kristina Allen. Location:The Gough House in Boylston.
October 18, 2003 - Spring 2004 - WWHP is represented at the new Women at Work Museum in Attleboro. Thanks to Carolyn Howe the traveling exhibit "Reclaiming Our Heritage" is the centerpiece of the Museum.
October 26, 2003 - WWHP sponsored "Nothing Can Be Considered Done: Abby Kelley Foster and the Struggle for Social Justice." Dramatic reading of letters, with a brief anti-slavery lecture as given by 19th century social reformer, Abby Kelley Foster of Worcester. Music by the Emmanuel Baptist Choir and the Uppity Women Singers of WWHP. Location: Emmanuel Baptist Church.
December 6, 2003 - "Yours for Humanity - Abby" performed for the first time at a Worcester Public School, Burncoat Middle School. A one-woman 30-minute play performed by Lynne McKenney Lydick, actress. Carolyn Howe and Karen Board Moran, playwrights. Based on letters and speeches of Abby Kelley Foster.

2002

Introduction to the teaching community of the "Women's History Heritage Trail" booklet in a workshop "In Her Footsteps: A Sneak Preview for Teachers" at Worcester Public Library, February 2002
"In Her Footsteps: Worcester in the Struggle for Equality in the Mid-Nineteenth Century" slide presentation and lecture at Worcester Public Library followed by walk to former site of Brinley Hall, the location of the first National Woman's Rights Convention (340 Main Street) to dedicate the Women's History Heritage Trail, March 2002
Participated in Tuckerman Hall Centennial. Tuckerman Hall was designed in 1902 by Josephine Wright Chapman. October 2002
"What Happened to the Women's Rights Movement after the Civil War" lecture by Lisa Connelly Cook, WWHP co-founder, at Worcester State College, October 2002

2001

"Reclaiming Our Heritage: Worcester Women's History, 1850" exhibit opening July 4, 2001, Women's Rights National Historic Park, Seneca Falls, New York.
Presented "The Rich Sisters of Worcester" costumed interpretation of nineteenth-century African American family at the Emmanuel Baptist Church, March, 2001.
Hosted lecture by Dr. Johnnetta Cole at the College of the Holy Cross and Worcester State College "Difficult Dialogues: Toward More Inclusive Movements for Race & Gender Equality" October 30, 2001

2000

"Women's Voices," a collaboration of the Worcester Women's History Project with the Master Singers of Worcester and Preservation Worcester; music program of choral compositions by women and lecture on Tuckerman Hall's female architect, Josephine Wright Chapman, March 4, 2000.
"Newspapers in Education" a collaboration with the Worcester Telegram & Gazette; featured profiles of fifteen notable Worcester county women from Women's History Heritage Trail booklet along with curriculum guides March 2000
"Reclaiming Our Heritage: Worcester Women's History, 1850," exhibit opening and press conference June 19, 2000. Exhibit sites YWCA-June-July, August-September 26, 2000;Tatnuck Bookseller-July-August, 2000; Worcester City Hall-September 26-27; Doherty Memorial High School September 27-October 5; Unitarian Universalist Church October 5-19; Mechanics Hall, October 19-22
"Women 2000", a celebration commemorating the 150th anniversary of the first National Woman's Rights Convention in 1850, held at Mechanics Hall and Centrum Centre October 20-22, 2000. Speakers, presentations, workshops, music, exhibits, road race, conference for teachers, dinner "Honoring Worcester's Best" and two performances of "Angels & Infidels"

1999

Hosted "Women's History 101" at Worcester Public Library, two films and John McClymer of Assumption College discussed new book "This High and Holy Moment: The First National Woman's Rights Convention, Worcester, 1850" in observance of Women's History Month, March 1999
Installed "Celebrate Women" month long exhibit at Worcester Public Library each March 1997-2002 emphasizing the history of women in Worcester County and the WWHP; in 2003, at Frances Perkins Library
Hosted Tea@Tatnuck, October 3, 1999 with the Post Show Road Chorus at Tatnuck Bookseller and Sons

1998

Hosted "Dinner With the Dead Ladies: Reviving Women's History in the Classroom" March 1998. Compiled educational binder of women's history resources for schools
Hosted "Dessert With the Dead Ladies" at Mechanics Hall, dramatization of women who attended 1850 Convention, followed by dessert buffet, October 1998
Published Women's History Month Calendar in March 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001

1997

"Washed-Up Middle-aged Women" Underground Railway Theater, co-sponsored and presented at Quinsigamond Community College, March 1997
"A Conversation with Susan B. Anthony and Eleanor Roosevelt" at Worcester Historical Museum, September 1997
"On the Road to 2000" commemorating the anniversary date of the first National Woman's Rights Convention, October 23, 1997

1996

"Having Their Say" dramatization of the words of three centuries of Worcester women at the Worcester Historical Museum, March 12, 1996
Presented "Sojourner Truth" a one-woman show at the Emmanuel Baptist Church, March 1996
"Reclaiming Our Heritage" Colloquium at American Antiquarian Society, August 1996
"Native Daughter" public presentation on Worcester poet Elizabeth Bishop at Worcester Public Library, October 1996