Program areas at WHM
Exhibits - the Museum presented a full calendar of large and small exhibitions including: "we all got history," for Worcester 300 "representing Worcester: harriettte l. chandler" Worcester tornado - 70th anniversary john hancock's trunk paint & pencil: 170 years of c.c. Lowell each exhibit was accompanied by various programs-demonstrations, discussions, lectures, etc. In addition, intensive preparation (research, design, etc.) Was undertaken for the may 2024 exhibit "somos Worcester," the history of Worcester's latino community. On-line exhibits in Worcester's covid-19 chronicles and "for the record, the lgbtq+ history of worcester.the Museum was presented with a 2023 award of excellence from the american association for state and local history for the exhibit "pretty powerful: 100 years of voting & style"
Library - the Museum's library and archive continued to grow in content and expand relative to access, all while addressing an ever-increasing almost daily requests for student project assistance, inquires from scholarly researchers, and photograph and other illustration support for local governmental projects, commercial enterprises (restaurant walls and corporate office, as examples). Sixty-three library volunteers offered 2,586 hours of work, 276 email requests were received, 240 in-person research visitors came to the library and an additional 218 inquiries were received via telephone. Incoming collections varied from single photographs, to collections of women's history books, to boxes of manuscripts and printed works from the earliest years of Worcester's polish community-just one example.
Collections - the Museum's collection of more than 30,000 physical objects expanded during the year to include a royal Worcester, ca. 1920, worcester-made corset, a lego model of salisbury mansion, coghlin's company's centennial history painting by a regional artist, a moschino safety pin dress, thirteen period oil on canvas portraits of individuals who served as presidents of the Worcester county horticultural society, the 2010 miss gay Worcester pageant tiara, women's garments by five present-day Worcester clothing designers, and scores of objects associated with harriette chandler's long career at the Worcester statehouse. A new curator joined the staff and plans were being made for a comprehensive collections care survey funded bv the national endowment for the humanities.
On-site visitors totaled 8,860 with an additional 1,813 from in-community projects/presentations. Social media and digital impacts: 11,073 unique facebook followers, 5057 instagram followers, 113,393 website pages views, and 88,793 unique website visitors. Every public school 5th grader visited during the year to participate in a two-hour culture leap-funded project, as well as visits to exhibits and the library from other public school and local college groups.