Sidebar Exhibitions

An American Icon

An American Icon
October, 2006 - February, 2007 | Booth Gallery

Do you know who created the yellow Smiley Face? No, it wasn’t Forrest Gump. The exhibit, An American Icon, explored the origins of the iconic yellow Smile Face and its progression in American pop culture. In 1963, Worcester Mutual Fire Insurance Company, a subsidiary of State Mutual Life Assurance Company of America, purchased Guarantee Mutual Company of Ohio. To counteract low employee morale caused by corporate reorganization, the company launched a “friendship campaign.” Joy Young, assistant director of sales and marketing, contacted Harvey Ball, a local freelance commercial artist, and asked him to create a little smile that could be used

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To Abbie With Love
January, 2007 - February, 2007 | Booth Gallery

“Me and the birth control pill were just about the most celebrated things ever to come out of Worcester,” Abbie wrote in his autobiography. “At one time, most folks up there wished the pill had come first.” In the 1960s, Abbie Hoffman put Worcester on the map in a big way. After spearheading civil rights locally, he captured the national spotlight when he rallied thousands for a counterculture festival and protest outside the Democratic National Convention in 1968 and held it through the Chicago Seven trial that followed. Though only 5’8”, he was a larger-than-life revolutionary of the sixties. He

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Once Crowded Streets: Downtown Worcester
May, 2007 - September, 2007 | Booth Gallery

Worcester’s historic downtown is a “golden triangle” in the heart of the city, bounded east-west by Main and Summer streets, and north-south by Lincoln Square and Madison Street. The anchor landmarks are the Court House at upper Main and City Hall on the Common. For the first hundred years of Worcester’s existence, Main Street alone—from the Court House to the Common—actually defined downtown. But after the Blackstone Canal opened in 1828, commercial and institutional development pushed eastward to Summer Street. When the railroads came, beginning in 1835, the downtown business district extended further south of the Common. Today downtown is

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Got Food? Creating a Hunger Free Community
November, 2007 - April, 2008

The exhibit Got Food? Creating a Hunger Free Community was a partnership between Worcester Historical Museum, Worcester County Food Bank and Worcester State College. It chronicled the battle to combat hunger from the days in early Europe to today in Worcester. The exhibit also celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the Worcester County Food Bank and its on going efforts to make Worcester a hunger free community. As part of the exhibit Worcester State University in conjuction with Worcester Historical Museum presented a lecture series entitled  “Food for Thought.” This exhibit was made possible by the generosity of the Massachusetts Foundation for the

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Davey’s: Worcester Originals
May, 2008 - November, 2008

Davey’s: Worcester Originals will take a look at Davey’s, Inc., a major producer of handbags, belts, and other leather accessories in Worcester from 1954 to 1992. Davey’s handbags were sold to fine specialty shops and all major department stores across the country. Davey’s: Worcester Originals will tell the stories not only of the company, but also of the people who worked in the factory for Chester Herwitz, the creative businessman who started it all. Chic & Modern: The Designs of Jessie Randall will celebrate the award-winning, Worcester-born, Jessie Randall. Since the establishment of her company Loeffler Randall in 2004, Jessie Randall

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The Things We Carried: Guatemalan Stories
September, 2008 - March, 2009 | Rice Gallery

What would you bring if you were to leave your native country and emigrate to a new land? What things would you accumulate in your new home to remind you of your roots? Why? The exhibit, The Things We Carried, asked these questions of Worcester-area Guatemalans and exhibited the items they carried here with them, the things they have since collected to remind them of home, and the traditions they still honor as they became Americans.

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To Arms! Worcester County Answers the Call
April, 2011 - November, 2011 | Booth Gallery

To Arms! Worcester County Answers the Call is an exhibition commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War. For four years civil war tore the fabric of our nation, claiming thousands of lives and scarring the emotions of every American. This exhibit shares stories of Worcester County men who answered the call and explores home front responses in support of the troops and in defense of the Union, the North’s universal rallying cry.

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125 Fearless Years
June, 2011 - January, 2012 | Rockwell Gallery

Celebrate 125 years of the YWCA of Central Massachusetts. This organization has been key to emporwering women, and promoting peace, justice and freedom for over a century. Come learn about the members who have made it great and the women (and some men) who have shared these experiences and lessions.

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On the Rails

On the Rails
December, 2011 - February, 2012 | Booth Gallery

Relive the heyday of travel by train in Worcester. Watch model trains and trolleys as they travel across a charming recreation of Washington Square, Worcester, circa 1911. Sterling train enthusiast and artist Michael Lavin has created a 36-foot display featuring both the old and new Union Stations. Join us at Worcester Historical Museum to see this engaging work-in-progress, available to the public for the first time.

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Love & Lace: The Valentines of Ester Howland
February, 2012 - April, 2012 | Rockwell Gallery

This small and intimate exhibit features the work of the mother of the American valentine and Worcester, Esther Howland. In 1847, Howland received an English valentine, which inspired her to design her own. She sold her cards through her father’s stationery store and business flourished. After merging with Edward Taft in 1879, the New England Valentine Company became one of the largest greeting card companies in the world.

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Featured Exhibits

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