Abigail Kelley Foster: Raised in Worcester city, this schoolteacher went on to become one of the foremost champions of women’s rights in America. She was one of the first women to speak in public. Her speech at the first National Women’s Convention held in 1850 in Worcester city drew much criticism. As a consequence organizers of the second National Convention in 1851 considered banning her but she eventually spoke at this meeting too saying, “Bloody feet, sisters, have worn smooth the path by which you have come up hither.”
Albert A. Michelson: The honor of being the first American Nobel Prize winner goes to Albert A. Michelson. This Prussian-born physicist had a distinguished career that included being Chairman of Clark University’s Physics Department. He excelled in optics and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1902 for his work concerning the measurement of light. He invented the echelon spectroscope and other devices for use in the navy. Michelson started off working in the navy and taught physics and chemistry at the Naval Academy. After a European sojourn in 1880 he resigned from the Navy and took up appointment as Professor of Physics in the Case School of Applied Science, Cleveland, Ohio. In 1890 he accepted a similar position at Clark University, Worcester city. Michelson went on to become first Head of the Department of Physics at Chicago University in 1892. He rejoined the Navy during World War I. In 1920, using light interference and a highly developed version of his interferometer (which he invented in 1881), he measured the diameter of the star Betelgeuse. This was the first accurate determination of the size of a star.
Albert Tolman: He invented the “man-drawn lorry” or rickshaw in 1846 in Worcester city for a missionary heading to South America. This vehicle then went on to become the most popular means of transport in Asia in the early 20th century. He was a distinguished resident of Worcester city for most of his life and served the city in many capacities. Tolman was a carriage maker by profession.
Bob Cousy: A Worcester city resident, Bob Cousy was known for his dazzling all-round performance as a major league basketball player. This earned him the nickname "Houdini of the Hardwood." Cousy began his career with the Tri-Cities Blackhawks in 1950. His stint with the Boston Celtics saw them winning six championships. Cousy played in thirteen straight NBA All-Star Games, stacking up a career total of 16,960 points by the time he retired in 1963. After retirement he took to coaching Boston College. At the age of 41 he played once again for the Kansas City Royals, making him the oldest performer in NBA history.
Charles Thurber: Inventor of the chirographer, the prototype of the typewriter, in 1840 in Worcester city. On this machine which was patented in 1843, the type was mounted on a rotating cylindrical drum. Though it produced a neat print, it was far too slow. Thurber started off his career manufacturing firearms.
Clara Barton: Founder of the American Red Cross, she was born in Oxford in 1821. She began her career as a schoolteacher at the age of 15. Her tryst with medical service began in 1861 when she was living in Washington D .C where she became the first woman to work at the Patent Office. It was while she was here that she took the initiative of organizing a relief program for soldiers of the 6th Massachusetts Regiment which had arrived in the city after dealing with riots in Baltimore. After 0this experience Clara Barton went wherever she was required to nurse the sick and wounded during the Civil War. In 1865 she also organized a program to locate men missing in action. She was head of the American Red Cross till 1904, when she resigned from her post to live a retired life outside Washington D. C.
David Clark: Inventor of the famous “Anti-G” suit in 1941 in Worcester city. It became very popular with pilots during WWII as it prevented blackouts during maneuvers. It was later preferred by astronauts. His company manufactured all of NASA’s Gemini space suits.
Ebenezer Butterick: A Sterling native, he invented standardized paper patterns for clothing in 1859. He established a pattern factory in Fitchburg and founded a fashion magazine, Metropolitan, in 1869, to promote pattern sales.
Elias Howe: Born in Spencer, he invented the sewing machine in 1846. It was called the lockstitch sewing machine and became the prototype for advanced versions that came later. Howe got the idea of inventing a mechanical sewing machine when he was working in Boston. He fought hard to safeguard the patent rights of his invention. He eventually teamed up with Isaac Singer and Allen Wilson to form the Sewing Machine Combination, under which sewing machines were sold. Between 1854 and 1867, Howe earned close to two million dollars from his invention.
Erastus Bigelow: One of the founders of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Erastus Bingham Bigelow was a successful inventor and industrialist. Born in West Boylston, he set out to work at the tender age of ten. By the time he was 18, Bigelow had developed a handloom for suspender webbing and also a machine for making piping cord. He is best known for his power loom for weaving Brussels and Wilton carpets which was developed between 1845 and 1851. His carpet empire was illustrated by the catchy slogan “A title on the door rates a Bigelow on the floor.” The town of Clinton grew around his plant. He also published a short manual on shorthand and prepared a scheme of uniform taxation by means of stamps.
Esther Howland: "The Mother of the American Valentine", she has been credited with mass-producing Valentine Day cards of quality and refinement. A Worcester city resident, she turned a hobby into a flourishing business worth $100,000 a year. She never married herself and finally sold her company in 1881 in order to be able to care for her ailing father.
Henry Perky: Invented shredded wheat when he was in Denver, Colorado. When the idea took hold, he then retuned to Massachusetts in 1895 and set up bakeries in Boston and Worcester City. He continued to expand his company, The Shredded Wheat Company, to other centers. It was sold to The National Biscuit Company in 1928.
Isaiah Thomas: A leading citizen and publisher of his time. Born in Boston, he moved to Worcester city during the Revolutionary War. It was here in 1776 that he read out the Declaration of Independence from the porch of his home. His Massachusetts Spy was the first New England newspaper to print it. Thomas was also active as a “minuteman” in Lexington and as one of Paul Revere’s riders. During his printing career he published more than 400 titles in thousands of copies. His famous treatise on printing in America was published in 1810. Thomas also founded and endowed the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester city.
John Lee Richmond: Pitched baseball’s first perfect game for the Worcester Brown Stockings on June 12, 1880 in Worcester city. This left-hand curve ball artist first won fame pitching for Brown University in 1879. He retired from baseball at the age of 26 to become a doctor. However, he picked up the baseball once more in 1886 to play a few games.
John Chapman: A native of Leominster, he was nicknamed “Johnny Appleseed” for planting apple orchards from western Pennsylvania through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois while roaming the new territories all alone for half a century. The orchards varied in size from an acre to hundreds of acres. They proved to be a bounty for the settlers who followed. Johnny Appleseed gave apple seeds and saplings to all he met. He was friendly with the Native Americans. The winter plague claimed him one day in the spring of 1845.
Joshua Stoddard: Invented the steam calliope that is synonymous with the sounds of the circus in 1855. The instrument has a keyboard connected by wires to valves that contain whistles. Stoddard ‘s invention became a favorite during circus parades, political rallies, at carnivals and on riverboats.
Joseph E. Murray: A Milford native who was awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1990 for his work in organ transplantation. This Harvard Medical School graduate’s interest in organ transplantation was kindled while caring for burn victims at the plastic unit at the Valley Forge General Hospital. In 1954, he presented techniques to the Boston Surgical Society concerning reconstruction after surgery for head and neck cancer. In the mid- 1960s, Dr. Murray developed new techniques for craniofacial reconstruction. He is well known for his pioneering work on kidney transplants and immunosuppression too. He has served as the chief plastic surgeon at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. He retired as Professor of Surgery Emeritus in 1986 from Harvard Medical School.
Lucy Stone: A prominent women’s rights advocate, she was born in West Brookfield. She also championed the anti-slavery cause. Rare for the women of her time, she stuck to her maiden name after marriage. She, along with Julia Ward Howe and Josephine Ruffin, founded the American Woman Suffrage Association in Boston in 1869.
Marshall “Major” Taylor: A champion cyclist who was the first black athlete to win an international competition. From 1898 to 1904 he was fastest bicycle rider in the world. The “Wocester Whirlwind” sets even world records in 1899 and raced to glory in Europe and Australia too. However, he had to suffer from race prejudice throughout his cycling career. He died poor and forgotten in 1932.
Paul A. Siple: He coined the term “windchill” to define the combined effects of temperature and wind velocity on the loss of heat by human skin. Along with Charles Passel he devised the equation, today known as the Siple-Passel equation, to calculate the rate of heat loss from the human body in freezing temperatures. This renowned Clark University research scientist was also an author and explorer. An expert on Antarctica, he was a member of Admiral Richard Byrd's first Antarctic expedition in 1928. In all, he spent more than six years on the icy continent. Siple Island (73o 39'S, 125o 00'W) was named after him in recognition of his achievements. He was awarded the National Geographic Society's prestigious Hubbard Medal for his work on Antarctica.
Rich Gedman: Born and raised in Worcester city, Richard Gedman was a star catcher with the Boston Red Sox with whom he debuted in 1980. In 1985 he became the 16th Red Sox player (and only the 6th catcher since 1900) to hit for the cycle. In 1986 he set an AL record for put-outs when he caught Roger Clemens 20-strikeout game against Seattle. Gedman retired from baseball in 1993 at the age of 34.
Robert B. Thomas: This West Boylston schoolteacher published the first Farmer’s Almana in 1792. Farmers considered it second in importance only to the Bible. It is a compendium of wisdom, facts and lore and discusses such issues as weather predictions.
Robert Benchley: One of the best-known humorists and comedians of his time, Robert Benchley was a native of Worcester city. He presented his first comic act as a Harvard undergraduate. This act which mimics a befuddled after-dinner speaker remained in his repertoire for the rest of his career. He also made his mark as a theater critic and as writer of whimsical musings on the vagaries of modern life. Benchley was one of he first contributors to the New Yorker. He also had a brief stint as managing editor of Vanity Fair.
Robert H. Goddard: A Worcester city native, Robert Goddard is considered the father of modern rocketry. He was the first to launch a liquid propulsion rocket on March 16, 1926 at Auburn. On launch, the 10-foot rocket climbed to an altitude of 41 feet at a speed of 60 mph in a flight lasting 2 ˝ seconds. In spite of the skepticism about space flight in his time, he persevered with building rockets that steadily grew bigger and climbed higher into the atmosphere at Roswell, New Mexico to which place he had moved to pursue his experiments away from the eyes of the press. By 1945, the year he died, he had filed more than 200 rocket patents.
Rufus Putnam: Soldier, surveyor and pioneer who was born in Sutton. He charted lands in West Florida. In 1778 he laid out fortifications at West Point and was surveyor-general of the United States in 1796-1803. He served as brigadier-general and was also judge and member of the Ohio state constitutional convention. Called the “Father of Ohio” for his contribution to the region.
W. A. “Candy” Cummings: An Athol businessman after his baseball career, Cummings is credited with inventing the curveball in 1867 when playing for the Brooklyn Stars. He is supposed to have got the idea while tossing clamshells on the beach. A plaque at the Baseball Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown credits Cummings with turning the baseball into a science, transforming the sport
William Cullen Bryant: Celebrated for his poems that so richly evoke the splendid New England Countryside, William Cullen Bryant prepared for college in North Brookfield where his uncle was the minister for 64 years.
William T. G. Morton: This Charlton dentist was the first to use ether as an anesthetic in 1846. His discovery was vital to the progress of modern day surgery. Dr Morton later demonstrated its use at Mass General Hospital in Boston in an amphitheater known today as the “Ether Dome” where he removed a tumor from the neck of a patient.
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