Central Congregational Church is directly behind this building. I went to that church in the 50's and I remember the womans club being a cement gray color. If I remember correctly, the word CLUB was spelled with the old roman letter V in place of U so I saw WOMANS CLVB. I always thought that someone got punished for mispelling that word.

Perhaps the picture is more interesting because the building is triangular as opposed to being square or rectangular.

Formed in 1880, the Women's Clvb enlisted the design talent of one of the county's earliest women architects, Josephine Wright Chapman. The building was completed in 1902 on land donated by Stephen Salisbury. (Salisbury III donated the land of the neighboring Art Museum just 6 years earlier). Now, the building is headquarters for the Central Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra.

More recent arrivals in Worcester will recognize this building as Tuckerman Hall usually seen from the front as you head south on Grove Street. This photograph would have been taken from the old North High School.

In the 1940's, the Women's Club used to have special Christmas night dances for the daughters of members, who could invite a young man of their choice. Incidentally, North High School was right across Salisbury Street from the club.

The Worcester Women's History Project (WWHP), designed, installed and dedicated a plaque for Tuckerman Hall and its architect, Josephine Wright Chapman, one of the nation’s first female architects, for Women's History Heritage Trail, March 4, 2000.

Use to see this building every day from Boys Trade/Voc Tech. Okay, call me naive, but what was the purpose of the Women's Club? Was this club a group of elite/well-off/wealthy ladies that were involved in the Women's Sufferage movement of the 19th century? Can any of our historians shed some light on this? I can't find anything on the web, my main source of research.

Tuckerman Hall was the crowning glory of The Worcester Woman's Club, an organization that was formed in 1880 following a two-day observance of the thirtieth anniversary of the first National Woman's Rights Convention held in Worcester in 1850. In need of a permanent home and somewhat daunted by the cost of land acquisition, members of the organization were relieved and grateful in 1898 when Stephen Salisbury III, scion of Worcester's most prominent family and a founder of the Worcester Art Museum, donated a triangular parcel of land which became the site of Tuckerman Hall. For a significant portion of the twentieth century, Tuckerman Hall was the focal point of important cultural, educational, philanthropic, and social activity in downtown Worcester. Interests of The Worcester Woman's Club ranged from promoting educational reforms to fostering health improvements for the populace. Initiatives included supporting industrial training for public schools through the establishment of trade schools, championing public kindergardens, and encouraging the development of a hospital for contagious diseases. For many years, Tuckerman Hall functioned as the locale for lectures by leading speakers from across the country and around the world. Woodrow Wilson and John F. Kennedy were among the luminaries who spoke at Tuckerman Hall. In 1975, following a somewhat reluctant decision by Worcester Woman's Club Directors, the Worcester Woman's Club building was sold.

My brother and I deliverd the Worcester Telegram to the Womens Club (Tuckerman Hall) in the late 1940's. When collecting for the newspaper we went up a back entrance to be greeting by a lady living at this residence. Wondered if you might know who this lady was?