I talk about Abby all the time. In discussions of any topic, I can and do relate it back to     Abby. It is easy to do as some things haven’t changed all that much. When female legislators make speeches while male colleagues try to shout them down or shut them up, I think about Abby (and Elizabeth Warren....“she was told and yet she (they) persisted”). When female candidates make speeches, the commentary includes her hairstyle, her clothing, the tone of her voice, her unlikability but not necessarily, the substance of her speech, I think of Abby (and Hillary Clinton).

While we “hygge” down under the restrictions of a Central Massachusetts winter, our thoughts may stray to a place where we might travel once the warm weather comes.  May I suggest a venture into Frances Perkins’ other home town?

Frances Perkins, born in Boston (at Worcester Square of all places!), was raised in Worcester and educated in Worcester public schools. She served in the Cabinet of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as Secretary of Labor, the first female ever to sit in a presidential Cabinet.

March 28 Wednesday 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Worcester Public Library, Saxe Room, 3 Salem Square, Worcester, MA 01608

Free and open to the public - Light refreshments

Finally Full of Yourself Unlocking Your Spiritual DNA

by Maria Salomao-Schmidt

A day-long strategic planning workshop facilitated by Dodi Swope, M.Ed. for members was held on September 30 at Brigham Hill Community Barn, Grafton.  Many good ideas came out of this gathering.

A capacity crowd filled the Saxe Room of the Worcester Public Library on December 5 to hear Immigrant and Refugee Stories of Worcester Women, this year’s annual event of the Worcester Women’s Oral History Project (WWOHP). Stories of loss, gain, challenge, success, death, and new life were read.  These oral histories were compelling, complex, and extraordinarily personal.

An information and quilling table was once again set up at stART on the Street September 17,  a day-long event sponsored by the Worcester Cultural Coalition. In the photo are Mary Oroszko, Louise Gleason, Heather-Lyn Haley, and Glen Harris.  Margaret Watson, Judy Freedman Fask, Kathy Comer and Ann Marie Shea participated as well.

The 22nd Annual Meeting of WWHP was held October 26, 2017, at the Worcester Historical Museum.  Reports were given and elections were held.  Steering Committee members now serving are listed below.  A program followed with panelists State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump, Women In Action, Inc. President Chantel Bethea, and Central MA YWCA's Director for Gender & Racial Equity Maritza Cruz.  Moderator was Attorney Fredie Kay, President of Women's Suffrage Celebration Coalition of MA.

Dear Members and Friends of WWHP,

2018 brings change, new faces and challenges to WWHP and our members. As President, I am looking forward to building on the accomplishments of our past Presidents Ann Marie Shea, Heather-Lyn Haley, Fran Langille and others who have given so much of their time and energy to “the project.”