{"id":474,"date":"2018-08-15T05:59:19","date_gmt":"2018-08-15T05:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardy-lavoie.com\/?p=474"},"modified":"2018-11-11T06:02:16","modified_gmt":"2018-11-11T06:02:16","slug":"worcester-is-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardy-lavoie.com\/?p=474","title":{"rendered":"Worcester is Important"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note<\/b>: I keep thinking about topics that sit on the fringe of arts\/cultural and how history is so relevant to all of this. Worcester MA is my home, not because I was born here and haven’t left, but because I choose to stay and help weave the tapestry in hopes that some day, someone includes my name in a blog post similar to this one.<\/p>\n

———————————–<\/p>\n

A few years ago I self-published a book of photography<\/a> in order to document Worcester and the changes it has gone through and continues to go through. It\u2019s not a pretty book. In fact, I was told many times through the editing process, that people like to warm sunsets and images that they yearn to find themselves in. My book is vacant and lonely. There are no neon lights and the streets aren\u2019t paved in gold. It\u2019s raw and its sore and its beautiful all at once. It\u2019s industrious. It\u2019s Worcester. And Worcester is important\u2026it always has been.<\/p>\n

The English settled in Worcester the first time in 1673 but the settlement was abandoned. People came back to try and settle again in 1701, but it was once again abandoned after a short time. But as they say – third times is a charm – and Worcester was settled again in 1713, incorporated as a town in 1722, and finally, a city in 1848. That’s just how we do things here…try, fail, try again, fail better. That is why it has taken up 170 years to develop a semi-interesting downtown scene.<\/p>\n

The Smiley Face was proudly invented in Worcester and the poor guy, Harvey Ball, didn\u2019t trademark it. I don\u2019t suggest you go out and trademark all of your doodles, but man, he must have kicked himself. Think about that the next time you\u2019re perusing emoji\u2019s to text to your friends. It wasn’t all bad news for Harvey Ball though. In 1999 he created the World Smile Day Corporation, which licensed his distinct rendering of the smiley face and created World Smile Day, which takes place on the first Friday of October and just simply encourages people to do good deeds.<\/p>\n

Worcester was home to a man named Isaiah Thomas, who owned a printing press in Worcester and printed the very first bound copies of the Bible as well as the dictionary. He was also the first person in the history of the United States to give a public reading of the Declaration of Independence. Why is a public reading so culturally significant? Because when you wanted to be a part of something, to witness to history, you couldn\u2019t stream it on Youtube from your couch. You had to be present \u2013 something that a think we could all agree, is lacking today.<\/p>\n

Isaiah Thomas was also the founder of the American Antiquarian Society, which according to their website \u201chouses the largest and most accessible collection of books, pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers, periodicals, music, and graphic arts material printed through 1876 in what is now the United States\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sigmund Freud\u2019s only visit to America in 1909 brought him to my alma mater, Clark University. Later he stated that he\u2019d never return to this country \u2013 you can draw your own conclusions about what his stay here was like from that…probably not enough picturesque sunsets.<\/p>\n

The first radio station in the country to introduce the Beatles to the airwaves, was WORC in Worcester. The Beatles were so grateful to have their music finally broadcast in the United States, that they presented the disk jockey with a gold album. I still like to pretend that I might stumble upon this while pursuing yard sales.<\/p>\n

The first documented, organized protest against the government took place on the front steps of the Worcester courthouse in the late 1700\u2019s \u2013 can anyone guess what they were protesting? Yeah. Taxes\u2026not much has changed\u2026<\/p>\n

Space exploration would not have gone very far if the first pressurized space suit hadn\u2019t been invented. For that, you can thank the David Clark Company of Worcester.<\/p>\n

Other fun facts I like to jam down peoples throats<\/b><\/i>:<\/p>\n

Shredded Wheat cereal was invented in Worcester – not the official breakfast of Champions, but still pretty notable.<\/p>\n

Susan B. Anthony attended the first National Women\u2019s Rights convention in Worcester<\/p>\n

Oral Contraceptives were first made right here in Worcester…<\/p>\n

…as well as the first federally-licensed AIDS test<\/p>\n

Mass-Produced Valentines were first made by Esther Howland (so popular that they even named the City Hall Chambers after her)<\/p>\n

Last but not least – The Monkey Wrench – we’re so proud of this one, you can even buy the t-shirt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Worcester has a rich history when it comes to innovation, social justice, and cultural significance. This is just a sampling of a long list of inventors, innovators, Nobel Prize winners, scientists, activists, artists and so on. Taking the time to integrate this type of knowledge into your understanding of culture makes it more relatable…art and culture is more than just paint and brushes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: I keep thinking about topics that sit on the fringe of arts\/cultural and how history is so relevant to all of this. Worcester MA is my home, not because I was born here and haven’t left, but because I choose to stay and help weave the tapestry in hopes that some day, someone includes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nWorcester is Important -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hardy-lavoie.com\/?p=474\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Worcester is Important -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Note: I keep thinking about topics that sit on the fringe of arts\/cultural and how history is so relevant to all of this. 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