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Events / Exhibits / Collaborations

2018

  • January 15 - Celebrate Abby Kelley Foster – Observance of the Anniversary of her 207th Birthday at Liberty Farm. Reading of Mayor’s Proclamation by Councilor Matthew Wally, performance by Lynne McKenney Lydick, birthday cake and more.  Hosted by Judy Freedman Fask and WWHP.
  • March 22-31 – Blue Yonder by Kate Aspengren of 4th Wall State Company performance collaboration with Worcester Historical Museum.  Held at Worcester Historical Museum.
  • March 28 - 15th Annual WOMEN IN PRINT program with local authors Maria Salomão-Schmidt, a life coach, author, speaker, and visionary teacher; Maria M. Vazquez, an author, empowerment coach, keynote speaker, mentor, workshop facilitator and life coach; and Venice R. Garner-Moore, the founder and owner of Embracing Your Difference, LLC.  Salomao-Schmidt authored Finally Full of Yourself: Unlocking Your Spiritual DNA. Vazquez authored Super Sparkly Everything: How Connecting to God and Personal Responsibility Brought My Life from Struggle to Sparkle.  Garner-Moore authored Embracing My Difference. Held at Worcester Public Library.
  • May 10 - Barbara Berenson, author of Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage Movement: Revolutionary Reformers, speaker. Collaboration with Worcester Historical Museum.  Held at Worcester Historical Museum.
  • May 12 – High Tea Party with a talk on the history of serving tea by Holly Nylander.  Held at the YWCA of Central Massachusetts.
  • May 24 - Judith Wellman, Ph.D., author of The Road to Seneca Falls: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the First Woman's Rights Convention, speaker.  Collaboration with Worcester Historical Museum.  Held at Worcester Historical Museum.
  • June 23 - Tour of Fitchburg Art Museum
  • September 9 - "Emma Goldman, American Experience", film at Seelos Theater, College of the Holy Cross.
  • October 25 - 23rd Annual Meeting held at Boys & Girls Club. Program with Anh Vu Sawyer, Executive Director of Southeast Asian Coalition.

2017

  • January 15 - Abby & The Vote - Celebrated Abby Kelley Foster’s 206th birthday; heard Abby as portrayed by Lynne McKenney Lydick; and heard 2020 plans for celebrating the 100th anniversary of women receiving the right to vote.  Held at YWCA.

  • March 29 - 14th Annual WOMEN IN PRINT program with local authors Thea Aschkenase, author of Remembering: A Holocaust Survivor Shares Her Life; Sharon Healy-Yang, Ph.D., author of Bait and Switch (A Jessica Minton Mystery Book); Stacy Amaral, author of Sharing Voices: Getting from There to Here.  Held at Worcester Public Library.

  • October 26 – 22nd Annual Meeting held at Worcester Historical Museum with program following Women’s Leadership Forum 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.

  • December 5 - A standing-room-only audience appreciated the Immigrant and Refugee Stories of Worcester Women at the Worcester Public Library. This year Worcester Women’s Oral History Project collaborated with five Worcester organizations that work with immigrants and refugees in order to gather stories of women who have more recently emigrated from a variety of countries, including Colombia, Algeria, Brazil, China, and Burma. The organizations included Literacy Volunteers of Greater Worcester, Educational Bridge Program of Notre Dame Healthcare, Clemente Course in the Humanities, Refugee Artisans of Worcester, and Worcester Refugee Assistance Project. The oral histories of Monica Salazar Carmona, Kenza Dekar, Juliana De Boni, Yahui, Carmenza Ramirez, Edna Froio, Dar Ku, and Paw Wah were featured. The women read moving excerpts from their own stories of how they travelled to a new country leaving friends and family behind. A review of the event was published in the Worcester Telegram.

2016

  • January 16 – Performance of Yours for Humanity—Abby by actress Lynne McKenney Lydick. This one-woman play was written by WWHP members Carolyn Howe and Karen Board Moran and premiered on January 17, 2004, and has been performed for over 20,000 people at schools, senior centers, historical societies, etc.  This performance was at the Worcester Public Library in commemoration of Abby Kelley Foster’s 205th birthday.
  • March 30 - 13th Annual WOMEN IN PRINT program with local authors Jeannine Atkins, author of Little Woman in Blue, Susan McDaniel Ceccacci, author of Living at the City’s Green Edge: Bancroft Heights, and Lyn Lincourt, author of Mansions of Magnates: America in the Mad 20th Century.  Held at Worcester Public Library.
  • May 21 – Celebrate Abby Kelley Foster’s legacy and 40 years of Abby’s House at Liberty Farm, 116 Mower Street, Worcester, home of family of Abby Kelley Foster and Stephen Foster during the mid-19th century. Tour house and grounds; Meet historic Foster family as portrayed by the Lydick family; Learn about the Underground Railroad with Park Ranger Chuck Arning; Try writing with a quill pen, stitching a quilt square, quilling and using 19th century toys.
  • August 26 - Women's Equality Day - Countdown to 2020, the 100th Anniversary of Passing of the 19th Amendment giving Women the Right to Vote - with speakers City Councilor Kate Toomey and City Manager Edward M. Augustus, Jr., held on the City Hall Plaza, Worcester.
  • October 27 - 21st Annual Meeting with program following with Assistant Professor Christine M. DeLucia of Mount Holyoke College speaking on "The History and Culture of Native American Women."

  • December 7 - “Women Unheard…No Longer! Hearing the Voices of Deaf Women in the Community” presentation by Judy Freedman Fask.  This is an annual WWOHP event held at the Worcester Public Library.

2015

  • January 14 - Artist Charlotte Wharton, who painted the portrait of Abby Kelley Foster which hangs in the Great Hall of Mechanics Hall, gave a talk on her discoveries about Abby. This was in observance of the 204th birthday of Abby Kelley Foster and was held at the Worcester Public Library.
  • March 18 - 12th Annual WOMEN IN PRINT program with local authors Jennifer Davis Carey, author of Near the Hope; Allison Chisolm, author of The Inventive Life of Charles Hill Morgan: The Power of Improvement in Industry, Education and Civic Life; and Audrey Nicholson, author of Celtic Knots: The Ties That Bind. Held at Worcester Public Library.
  • May 13 – Worcester’s Frances Perkins: Public Figure, Private Faith. The Episcopal Church recognized Perkins as an Episcopal woman worthy of having her own Fest Day (May 13).  Celebration held at St. Michael’s-on-the-Heights Episcopal Church.
  • June 13 – 12th Annual WOMEN’S HISTORY TOUR: Experience Historic Amherst.  Emily Dickinson Museum, Amherst History Museum, Jones Library, and Renaissance Garden.
  • October 22 - 20th Annual Meeting & Anniversary Celebration: Mayor Petty's reading of Proclamation; presentation of first WOMEN MAKING HISTORY AWARD to Linda Cavaioli, Executive Director of YWCA of Central Massachusetts; program with author and historian  Bonnie Hurd Smith of Salem on "An Appreciation of Women's History and Worcester."  Tenth Anniversary of Worcester Women's History Project highlighted.  Held at Worcester Historical Museum.

  • December 1 – Launch of In Her Shoes: A Compilation of Inspiring Stories from the First Decade of the Worcester Women’s Oral History Project co-authored by Charlene L. Martin and Maureen Ryan Doyle, co-chairs of Worcester Women’s Oral History Project.  Held at Worcester Public Library.

2014

  • January 15 – Anniversary of Abby Kelley Foster’s Birthday observed with Abby’s House.  Luncheon followed by performance by Lynne McKenney Lydick of Yours for Humanity—Abby, it being the 10th anniversary of its premiere.
  • February 26 - An oral history tutorial for students of Dr. Anita Fabos of Clark University was conducted by WWOHP co-chairs Charlene Martin and Maureen Ryan Doyle
  • March 21 – An oral history workshop was conducted for Clark University students of Dr. Denise Bebbington by WWOHP co-chairs Charlene Martin and Maureen Ryan Doyle.
  • March 19 – 11th Annual WOMEN IN PRINT with authors C.J. Posk (“Worcester Stands Up”), Susan Elizabeth  (“Hand Me Down”), and Patricia A. Glodis (“Snooky”) at the Worcester Public Library.
  • March 27, 28, 29 – “Abby Goes Digital” collaboration with American Antiquarian Society, Mechanics Hall, and Worcester Historical Museum.  On the 27th, lecture at WHM by Dr. William Casey King entitled “Abby Kelley Foster: The Unsung Hero of Abolition”; on the 28th, “Accessing Abby” at MH launching and unveiling the online collection of letters by WHM and AAS; on the 29th, “Suffragists, Teetotalers, and Abolition: Social Reform in the Nineteenth Century”, at AAS, a hands-on history workshop for K-12 teachers, museum professionals, and general public.
  • April 3 – At the request of the International Center of Worcester, Lisa Connelly Cook, first president of WWHP, spoke to a delegation from the Ukraine at Clark University.
  • April 5 – An oral history workshop was conducted at Phillips Academy by WWOHP co-chairs Charlene Martin and Maureen Ryan Doyle.
  • May 11 – WalkBike Worcester tour stop at Liberty Farm with talk by Mary Plummer, present WWHP steering committee member.
  • May 12 – 20th anniversary celebration of the founding of WWHP hosted by Heather-Lyn Haley, former WWHP president.
  • June 2 – Following the Massachusetts History Conference theme of “Never Done: Interpreting the History of Women at Work in Massachusetts”, WWOHP co-chairs Charlene Martin and Maureen Ryan Doyle presented a session on oral history. Held at the College of the Holy Cross.
  • June 28 – 11th annual bus trip to Newport touring the Newport Art Museum and Rough Point (estate of Doris Duke) with lunch at LaForge Restaurant.

2013

  • January 15 – Abby Kelley Foster’s Birthday observed with book presentation by author C.J. Posk of "Worcester Stacks Up" and a birthday cake at the Worcester Public Library followed by attendance at City Council meeting at City Hall where Mayor Petty read a proclamation making January 15 Abby Kelley Foster Day.
  • March 6 – 10th Annual WOMEN IN PRINT with authors Elizabeth Fideler ("Women Still at Work—Professionals Over Sixty and On the Job");  Katherine Keenum ("Where the Light Falls");  Edna P. Spencer ("What Color is the Wind") at Worcester Public Library.
  • April 30 – Talk by Regina Edmonds to an international delegation hosted by the International Center on Worcester and women’s rights.
  • June 22 – 10th Annual Bus Trip.  Tour in Hartford area of Harriet Beecher Stowe Center; Mark Twain House and Museum; and The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.  Co-Chairs of Events Committee C.J. Posk and Hanna Solska.
  • October 24 – 18th Annual Meeting followed by Memorial Circle for charter member Angela Dorenkamp and program with author and member Karen Board Moran on "Gates Along My Path", at Worcester Historical Museum.

  • November 7 – "Someone Must Wash the Dishes: An Anti-Suffrage Debate" performed by actress Michele LaRue.  Pro-Suffragist Marie Jenney Howe wrote “Someone Must Wash the Dishes” in 1912. This production was directed by Warren Kliewer for New Jersey’s The East Lynne Company.  Followed by panel discussion on “the unfinished business of women’s rights” with panelists Chantel Bethea, Founder & President of Women in Action, Inc.; Lee Bona, President of Worcester League of Women Voters; and Parlee Jones, Shelter Advocate at Abby’s House. Collaboration with Intergenerational Urban Institute at Worcester State University.  Held at WSU Student Center Blue Lounge.

  • December 3 – Annual Oral History Program. "Telling Our Stories is What Saves Us: Why Autobiographies, Oral Histories, and Family Stories Matter" presented by Dr Lucia Knoles of Assumption College at Worcester Public Library.

2012

  • March 7 - Ninth Annual WOMEN IN PRINT with local authors Thea Aschkenase, Kristin B. Waters, Ph.D., and Kristen P.Williams, Ph.D.  Held at Worcester Public Library.
  • May 8 - WWHP member and Yours for Humanity-Abby actor Lynne McKenney Lydick received the YWCA's Katharine F. Erskine Award for Arts and Culture during the 19th annual Tribute to Women ceremonies held at Mechanics Hall.
  • May 9 - Oral History Community Workshop at Worcester Public Library conducted by Charlene L. Martin and Maureen Ryan Doyle, co-chairs of WWOHP.
  • May 19 - Meet Abby Kelley Foster's Family at Liberty Farm. The Foster family portrayed by the Lydick family. Celebration of Alla's 165th birthday. The story of the Underground Railroad told by National Park Ranger Chuck Arning. Mum Bett, a female slave portrayed by Tammy Denease Richardson, spoke about how she won her freedom. Tours of Liberty Farm, a National Historic Landmark. 19th century toys and quilling and quilting lessons.
  • May 24 - A Tempest in New England about the Dorr Rebellion, a talk by Professor Erik Chaput, which was in collaboration with the Worcester Historical Museum and League of Women Voters held at WHM.
  • June 9 - 9th annual bus trip. Tour of Adams National Park in Quincy and Jacqueline Kennedy's 1964 Oral History at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.
  • July 5 - The Meaning of the Fourth of July for the Negro. A Communal Reading of a Lecture by Frederick Douglass at Worcester City Hall Common. Collaborative with Worcester Historical Museum and many other organizations. Sponsored by the City of Worcester and the Worcester Cultural Coalition.
  • September 22 – Mary Cassatt: Thoroughly Modern Woman.  Lecture by Linda Miller, WWHP member and Worcester Art Museum docent, followed by tour, Woman as Artist, Woman as Subject, conducted by Victoria Aberhart and Linda Miller.
  • October 13 – The Past, the Present, the Future. 17th Annual Meeting of WWHP followed by presentation on The Oread Institute by Jan Parent and Preservation Worcester.
  • December 16 – 17 Women Who Shook the World by author Preethi Burkholder, at Worcester Public Library.

2011

  • January 15 - Celebrating the 200th Birthday of Abby Kelley Foster with a luncheon hosted by Abby’s House, followed by a lecture by William Casey King on “Abby Kelley Foster: The Unsung Hero of the Abolitionist Movement.” Held at Worcester Public Library.
  • February 15 - Madame Secretary, Frances Perkins performance by Ann Marie Shea in collaboration with the Women’s Initiative of United Way. Held at Notre Dame Academy.
  • March 9 - Eighth Annual WOMEN IN PRINT with local authors Eve Rifkah, Janette Greenwood and Jessica Bane Robert.  Held at Worcester Public Library.
  • March 8 – National Women’s Hall of Fame announced the 2011 inductees, one of eleven being Abby Kelley Foster, to be inducted in ceremonies on October 1, 2011.
  • March 27 - Visionary Women concert collaboration with Master Singers of Worcester directed by Malcolm Halliday to celebrate the remarkable achievements of New England women preceded by a lecture by Amy Belding Brown entitled “Emerson’s Oracles: Visionary Women in the Transcendental Circle” for the Worcester County Poetry Association.  More detail on concert:  Settings of text of Massachusetts poets, including Emily Dickinson, Mary Oliver and Worcester-born Elizabeth Bishop, were featured in choral compositions by Gwyneth Walker, Ronald Perera and other contemporary composers, as well as a performance of a new work by Martha Sullivan and William Cutter celebrating Abby Kelley Foster and Lucy Stone.  Held at Tuckerman Hall.
  • April 7 - National Abolition Hall of Fame announced the 2011 inductees, one of three being Abby Kelley Foster, to be inducted in ceremonies on October 22, 2011, in Peterboro, NY.
  • May 26 - Oral History Project Community Workshop at Worcester Historical Museum.
  • June 11 - Annual Bus Trip this year to Edith Wharton's The Mount and Ventfort Hall in Lenox.
  • October 1 - Abby Kelley Foster inducted into National Women's Hall of Fame, Seneca Falls, NY, with Lynne McKenney Lydick giving acceptance speech.  WWHP members attending: Kathleen Comer, Karen Folkes, Carolyn Howe, Barbara Kohin, Frances Langille, Mary Plummer, Carolyn J. Posk, Annette Rafferty, Doreen Velnich, Kara Wilson; and Abby's House attending: Alexandra Kartheiser, Elaine Lamoureaux, Tess Sneesby.
  • October 22 - Abby Kelley Foster inducted into National Abolition Hall of Fame, Peterboro, NY, with Carolyn Howe giving nomination speech and WWHP members Frances Langille, Lynne McKenney Lydick, Mary Plummer, Doreen Velnich supporting.  Yours for Humanity-Abby performed by Lynne McKenney Lydick.
  • November 3 - Salute by Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce to Abby Kelley Foster at a breakfast attended by 400 at the DCU.  Lynne McKenney Lydick spoke.  WWHP members supporting: Melanie Demarais, Louise Gleason, Heather-Lyn Haley, Linda Rosenlund, Doreen Velnich.
  • November 5 - 16th Annual Meeting of WWHP followed by program by Lynne McKenney Lydick entitled Abby Kelley Foster: The Infamous and Famous, including a video of her speech accepting the National Women's Hall of Fame award of Abby Kelley Foster's induction into the NWHF. Held at Worcester Historical Museum.
  • December 6 - Voices of Worcester Women: 160 Years after the First National Woman's Rights Convention, a new book by Maureen Ryan Doyle and Charlene L. Martin, co-chairs of Worcester Women's Oral History Project, with their giving highlights of their book. Held at Worcester Public Library.

2010

  • January 27 - Yours for Humanity–Abby performed at State House for Massachusetts Women’s Legislative Caucus by Lynne McKenney Lydick. She was introduced by Senator Harriette L. Chandler.
  • February 24 - 7th Annual Women in Print: Women Through Their Letters and Poems with local authors Rev. Catherine Reed, Karen Sasha Tipper, and Laura Jehn Menides held at Worcester Public Library.
  • March 28 - Dear Abby, a new dramatic presentation of the letters and conversations between Abby Kelley Foster, Stephen Foster and their daughter, Alla – written by Carolyn Howe and Lynne McKenney Lydick – performed by Lynne McKenney Lydick, Tom Lydick and Madeline McKenney-Lydick at Worcester Public Library.
  • Yours for Humanity–Abby has been performed by Lynne McKenney Lydick before over 12,000 people in Worcester County and beyond since its premiere January 17, 2004
  • May 17 - Oral History Workshop held for community with presenters being Linda Rosenlund (former WWHP president), Charlene Martin and Maureen Ryan Doyle (co-chairs of WWOHP) at Worcester Historical Museum.
  • June 5 - Discovering Plymouth through Women’s Stories – annual trip – led by Dr. Donna Curtin, Director of Plymouth Antiquarian Society
  • Out to Lunch Summer Concert Series put on by the Worcester Cultural Coalition – WWHPers participated with an informational table, quilling, paper rolling, and Cupcake the Clown at the Common behind City Hall
  • October - Liberty Farm notecards – one with a painting by Emily Boosahda and one with  a sketch by Hilary Fask available
  • November - Women in the Struggle for Equality - W.I.S.E Commemorates 160th Anniversary of first National Woman’s Rights Convention with a course coordinated by Lynne McKenney Lydick at Assumption College.
  • October 22, 23, 24 - Trailblazers by Timing, Activists by Choice - 15th Anniversary of Worcester Women’s History Project and 160th Anniversary of first National Woman’s Rights Convention. Co-founder and first president Lisa Connelly Cook spoke on WWHP and Community Memory. Madame Secretary, Frances Perkins was performed by Ann Marie Shea. Held at Worcester State University’s Blue Room. 
  • October 23 - 15th Annual Meeting followed by a viewing of Developing the Women’s Political Voice, a video production of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor focusing on the 1850 first National Woman’s Rights Convention presented by Ranger Chuck Arning of the National Park Service. Held at Worcester Public Library.
  • December 2 - ‘Dear Diary:’ 100+ Years of Women’s Private Writing presented by Kathryn Allamong Jacob, Curator of Manuscripts at Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America. Also student presentations of oral histories. Held at La Maison Francaise, Assumption College. 

2009

  • January 11 - A Celebration – Abby’s Legacy Lives On - Abby Kelley Foster’s 198th birthday, which coincided with the 5th anniversary of the premiere of Yours for Humanity–Abby, observed at the Worcester Public Library. A proclamation was read by Mayor Konstantina Lukes proclaiming the week of Jan. 11, 2009, as Abby Kelley Foster Week in Worcester
  • February 11 - 6th Annual Women in Print: Healing from Hardship at Worcester Public Library with Ruth Bass, author of “Sarah’s Daughter”; Emily Ferrara, poet; Donna Talman, psychotherapist and artist
  • Spring - Remembrance and Recollections: The Lives and Stories of Worcester Women article by Maureen Ryan Doyle, co-chair of OHP, in the Spring newsletter highlights interview with Dr. Betty Hoskins
  • May 3 – A Celebration of Women in Art at Worcester Art Museum – a program honoring the acquisition of a portrait of Mrs. Helen Bigelow Merriman by Cecelia Beaux
  • June 6 - Discovering Salem through Women’s Stories – Beyond Witchcraft was the annual trip led by docent Bonnie Hurd Smith
  • September 16 - Annual Meeting followed by a presentation by Brenda Sullivan from Worcester’s own The Gravestone Girls
  • October - Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute of Harvard University became the repository of over 200 oral histories by WWOHP
  • December 10 - “Reagan, Bush, and Clinton: An Oral History Perspective was the talk by Stephen Knott, Ph.D. at Assumption College arranged by WWOHP along with student presentations of oral histories conducted for WWOHP

2008

  • February 7 - 5th Annual Women in Print at Worcester Public Library with authors Elizabeth Bidinger, Prof. of Creative Writing & Journalism at WSC & ExecDir of Central MA Writing Project; Shiko Gathuro, Asst Prof. of Non-Profit Management at WSC; Leila Philip, Assoc. Prof. of Creative Writing & Literature at College of the Holy Cross; Virginia Vaughn, Shakespeare scholar and Chair of the English Dept. at Clark University
  • February - Letter to Editor from Maureen Ryan Doyle responding to Worcester Telegram article Women Before Liberation Have Inspiring Stories published on February 5 that there is “a very real and dynamic forum available to women in the area...Worcester Women’s Oral History Project”
  • March 24 -  Tribute to Konstantina Lukes, first popularly-elected woman mayor in Worcester’s history, held at D’Zian Gallery
  • Spring - Abby Kelley Foster - An endorsement brought to the floor of the City Council by Kate Toomey “that the City Council of the City of Worcester hereby endorses to yearly recognize Abby Kelley Foster on the anniversary of her birth, January 15, 1811.” – as a result of a letter written by student Aisling M. Novick to Mayor Lukes.
  • September 18 – Annual Meeting at Goddard-Daniels House followed by a presentation by Georgia B. Barnhill, the Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Graphic Arts at the AAS,  entitled Researching Women’s History and Art at the American Antiquarian Society
  • October 22 - Iron Jawed Angels movie starring Hilary Swank as Alice Paul presented at the Worcester Public Library in collaboration with the YWCA and League of Women Voters

2007

  • February 15 - 4th Annual Women in Print – Varied Perspectives: Women and the Written Word in collaboration with Worcester Historical Museum presented authors Suzy Becker, Amy Richter, Karen Woods Weierman, Shirley Carter, and Gertrude Halstead
  • WWOHP chair Linda Rosenlund announces 100 interviews collected
  • Signed History project conducted by Prof. Judy Freedman Fask at Holy Cross using WWOHP guidelines
  • Yours for Humanity—Abby receives funding from seven Local Cultural Councils for performances in Shrewsbury, Sturbridge, Millbury, Uxbridge, Leicester, Leominster and West Boylston
  • March 4-31 - Worcester Women’s Voices exhibit and public program with WWOHP and South High School students at Worcester Public Library
  • March 10 – Mercury 13: The Story of Thrteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight with Dr. Martha Ackmann at Worcester Public Library
  • June 2 – Women’s Literary and Historic Tour of Concord with Amy Belding Brown highlighting 19th century Concord women
  • September 26 - Bilingual Community Oral History Workshop featuring Spanish speaking interpreters at Worcester Public Library
  • October 4 – Yours for Humanity–Abby play performance with Lynne McKenney Lydick, actress at Beaman Memorial Library, West Boylston
  • November 15 - Annual Meeting at Worcester Public Library followed by a slide show presentation by Cynthia Dias-Reid, curator of the Clara Barton Birthplace Museum, and a program entitled Follow the Cannons: A Reading of Clara Barton’s Civil War Letters given by Lynne McKenney Lydick

2006

  • February 16 - 3rd Annual Women in Print: Shaping History in Our Own Words with five local authors at Worcester Historical Museum. Authors: Holly Izard, Karen Sharpe, Amy Belding Brown, Eleni Gage, Stephanie Yuhl
  • March 23 - Three Women: Three Pillars of Decency for Working People about Frances Perkins, Clara Lemlich and Florence Kelley by Prof. Robert J. Ross of Clark University held at Worcester Public Library
  • Liberty Farm painting by Emily Boosahda rendered to a notecard to be sold by WWHP with permission
  • June 3 - The Mill Girls of Lowell bus tour
  • May 5 to June 15 - Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America’s Women Doctors, a traveling multimedia exhibit co-sponsored with UMass Medical School’s Lamar Soutter Library at the LSL, including a story of Dr. Lucy Candib of Worcester.  Children’s essay contest
  • October 4 - A Celebration of Worcester Women in Politics co-sponsored with Worcester League of Women Voters in Council Chamber of City Hall with keynote speaker Sara Robertson, first woman to serve as mayor of Worcester (1982-84)
  • October 14 - Kick-off of Worcester Women’s Oral History Project with workshop led by Dr. Lisa Krissoff Boehm.  New logo designed by David Paradis.  Intern Erin Anderson, master’s candidate at Clark University, working with OHP
  • November 9 - Annual Meeting at the Birches at Briarwood followed by A Lady Alone, Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D., First Woman Doctor in America portrayed by Linda Gray Kelley

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.
  • October 18 - HerStory: Bloody Feet, Boardrooms & Beyond – 10th Anniversary Fundraising Celebration at Union Blues, Union Station. Moderator: Stacey Luster. Speakers: Nancy Sala, Dr. Ogretta McNeil, Dr. Lucy Candib, State Senator Harriette L. Chandler, and Abby Kelley Foster portrayed by Lynne McKenney Lydick
  • Worcester Women’s Oral History Project launched at 10th  Anniversary celebration

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