Why Worcester?
Worcester played an innovative leadership role in the Age of Reform. Because of its central location in the Northeast, Worcester was a hub of numerous railroad and stage lines. This made Worcester relatively easy to get to, and its many hotels and meeting halls could accommodate large groups.

As a result, it was a routine stop on lecture circuits and hosted a steady stream of conventions. Noted abolitionist Thomas Wentworth Higginson, who resided in Worcester in the 1850s, enthusiastically described Worcester as a "seething centre of all the reforms."

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