Notable Historical Figures in Worcester
- Harvey Ball, inventor of the smiley face
- George Bancroft, 17th U.S. Secretary of the Navy
- Timothy Bigelow, Revolutionary War Patriot
- Elizabeth Bishop, writer
- Elbridge Boyden, architect
- Loring Coes, inventor of the monkey wrench
- Dorothea Dix, mental health reformer
- Esther Forbes, writer
- Abby Kelley Foster, abolitionist and suffragist
- Robert Goddard, rocket engineer
- Emma Goldman, anarchist
- George Frisbie Hoar, lawyer and politician
- Thomas Wentworth Higginson, abolitionist and editor of the Atlantic Monthly
- Abbie Hoffman, civil rights activist
- Esther Howland, first American manufacturer of Valentine’s Day cards
- Levi Lincoln Jr., governor of Massachusetts
- Stephen Salisbury III, philanthropist and founder of the Worcester Art Museum
- Lucy Stone, abolitionist
- Major Taylor, track cycling champion
- Eli Thayer, abolitionist
- Isaiah Thomas, publisher of the Worcester Spy and founder of the American Antiquarian Society
- Bethany Veney, former slave and author
- Ichabod Washburn, industrialist and philanthropist
- Daniel B. Wesson, gunsmith and co-founder of Smith & Wesson
- Dr. Samuel B. Woodward, first superintendent of the Worcester State Hospital
Finding Aids
Personal Papers
- Edwin Aldrich Collection (lawyer)
- Isabel K. Arms Papers
- Thomas Lemuel Angell Collection
- Charles A. Ballou Collection
- Hubert “Rod” Barry Collection
- Wright Bottomly Collection
- Elbridge Boyden Papers (architect)
- John H. Brooks Jr. Records (farmer and blacksmith)
- Charles Bryant Ledger Collection (farmer)
- Martha Cushing Esty Papers
- Charles B. Campbell Papers
- Susan Ceccacci Collection
- Henry Chin Papers and Photograph Collection
- Silas Clapp Collection (sailor and police officer)
- George H. Clemence Papers (architect)
- Stanley Cook Collection (World War II)
- Ellery Bicknell Crane Papers (historian)
- John Curtis Collection (civic leader and trust officer at Worcester County National Bank)
- James F. Daley Collection (police officer)
- James Drennan Records (Civil War, Worcester city sheriff/police officer)
- James M. Drennan Papers (Civil War, Worcester city sheriff/police officer)
- Ethel (Turner) Edwards Collection
- Joseph Goldberg Collection (Zionist movement)
- John B. Gough Collection (bookbinder and temperance lecturer)
- Romeo Gravel Collection (World War I)
- Raymond P. Harold Collection (civic leader)
- Andrew Haswell Green Collection
- Helen Evangeline Greenwood Collection (teacher, botanist, curator)
- Frank L. Harrington Collection (lawyer)
- Alfred Jaynes Collection (porter and mechanical handyman)
- Alexander H. Johnson Papers (Civil War)
- Thomas A. Jolly Collection (community activist)
- Abby Kelley, Stephen and Alla Foster Letter Collection
- Koelsch Collection (professor/AIDS pastoral care worker)
- Edmund Kowalczyk Collection (World War II)
- Warren C. Lane Jr. Collection (US Navy)
- Chandler Smith Lee Collection (teacher)
- Jordan Levy Collection
- Livermore/Rice Gold Rush Collection
- Robert J. Loeffler Collection
- Nan Lyell Collection
- William J. Malley Letter Collection
- Sharyn McGuigan Collection
- George H. Merriam Jr. Photograph Collection (schoolteacher and principal)
- Philip Washburn Moen Papers (vice president, American Steel & Wire)
- Henry R. Noyes Collection (World War I)
- David F. O’Connell Letters (Worcester Mayor)
- Josiah Pickett Collection (Civil War commander and Post Master General)
- Alden Bradford Plimpton Collection
- H. Ladd Plumley Collection
- Fred Josiah Proctor Collection (Proctor Lumber Company)
- General Rufus Putnam Collection (French & Indian War)
- E. Howard Reed Collection
- Dr. Walter Richardson Collection (dentist)
- Alfred Seelye Roe Papers (Civil War veteran, state senator, and educator)
- Ellen “Nellie” Rogers-Kennedy Collection
- James S. Rogers Papers
- Charles H. Sawyer Papers (Salisbury Mansion)
- William H. Sawyer Papers (architect)
- Charles N. Scott Letters, 1883
- Daniel Seagrave Papers (printer)
- Victoria R. Siarkiewicz Papers (poet and scholar)
- Henry Dwight Simonds Papers (businessman and preacher)
- H. Arthur Smith Collection (World War II veteran and salesman)
- George H. Sibley Papers (business broker)
- J. Pearl Spears Collection (musician)
- Charles Pardon Stevens Collection (businessman)
- David O. Stonequist Collection (police officer)
- Erik Tamm Records (iron manufacturer)
- Henry W. Taylor Collection (sign painter)
- Marion Torrey Collection (school owner)
- Bedrich Vaska Collection (cellist)
- Mary A. Waite Photograph Collection (teacher)
- Wesby Collection (J. S. Wesby & Sons)
- John W. Wetherell Papers Collection (lawyer)
- William Wiley Photograph Collection (police chief)
- John Wilson Collection (blacksmith)
- Moses Wing Collection (silversmith)
Family Collections
- Adams Collection
- Berg Family Collection
- Bigelow-Barton Family Papers 1840-1911
- Bigelow/Stevens Family Photograph Collection
- Bloom Family Collection
- Cederlund Family Collection
- Chandler Family Papers
- Chase Family Papers and Collection
- Coes Family Papers
- Csaplar Family Collection
- Curtis Family Collection
- Earle Family Papers
- Ekstrom Family Papers
- Family Photograph Collection
- Gage Family Papers Collection (physicians)
- Gates Family Papers (lumber merchants)
- Gordon/Baker Families Photograph Collection
- Gould Family Papers
- Green Family Collection (2002.23)
- Green Family Collection (2010.40)
- Green Family Collection (2011.47)
- Green Family Collection (2012.FIA.02)
- Green Family Collection (2016.70)
- Hamilton Family Papers 1801-1908
- Harrington Family Collection
- Higgins Family Collection
- Higgins Family Letters Collection
- Hogg Family Papers Collection
- Inman Family Collection
- Alexander Howard Johnson Family Collection
- Kinsley Family Record Books
- Leavitt Family Papers
- Leland Family Collection
- Lincoln Family Photograph Collection
- Merriam Family Collection
- Merrifield Family Papers Collection
- Midgley Family Collection
- Morgan Family Collection
- Nevens Family Papers
- Norcross Family Collection
- Nichols Family Collection (Civil War)
- Abel and Minot Rice Family Papers (blacksmith)
- Salisbury Family Papers Collection
- Sawyer Family Collection
- Souther Family Collection
- Staples Family Collection
- Stewart Family Photograph Collection
- Stoddard Family Scrapbook Collection
- Supernor Family School Photograph Collection
- Tyler Family Collection
- Waldo Family Papers Collection
- Walker Family Collection
- Warren-Wesson Family Papers
- Washburn Family Papers Collection
- Reginald and Dorcas (Bradford) Washburn Album Collection
- Whipple Collection
- Zendzian Family Collection
Diaries and Journals
- George Barnard Diary Collection
- Ellen Tyler Cheever Diaries
- John Healy Diaries (1854 and 1860)
- William H. Inman Diary Collection
- George Maynard Collection (writer, diarist)
- John Nourse Diary Collection
- Mary Ryan Journal Collection
- Mary Salisbury Journal Collection
- Jenette Waite Diary Collection
- Bertha Walton Diary (nurse)
- Anne M. Ward Diary Collection
- Worcester Natural History Camp Diary Collection
Online Resources
- Early Massachusetts Marriages Prior to 1800
- Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts (1907)
- Men of Worcester in Caricature (1917)
Books
- Chase, Charles Augustus (1892). William Lincoln. Worcester, Mass.: C. Hamilton.
- Erskine, Margaret (1976). Esther Forbes. Worcester, Mass.: Worcester Bicentennial Commission.
- Kralyevich, Vincent (1994). “A moon man from Massachusetts: The Robert Goddard story.” VHS tape. Charles Grinker Productions.
- Kranish, Michael (2019). The World’s Fastest Man: The Extraordinary Life of Cyclist Major Taylor, America’s First Black Sports Hero. New York: Scribner.
- Menides, Laura Jehn and Angela G. Dorenkamp (1999). In Worcester, Massachusetts: Essays on Elizabeth Bishop, from the 1997 Elizabeth Bishop Conference. New York: P. Lang.
Biographies and Diaries
- Thomas, Isaiah (1909). The Diary of Isaiah Thomas, 1805-1828. Worcester, Mass.: The Society.
- Thompson, John (2011). The Life of John Thompson, A Fugitive Slave: Containing His History of 25 Years in Bondage, and His Providential Escape. London: Penguin.
- Washburn, Ichabod and Henry T. Cheever (1878). Autobiography and Memorials of Ichabod Washburn: Showing How a Great Business Was Developed and Large Wealth Acquired for the Uses of Benevolence. Boston: D. Lothrop and Co.
- Webber, Amos (1997). We All Got History: The Memory Books of Amos Webber. New York: Vintage Books.
We’re curious about the name Everett Gaylord. Any info is appreciated.
Everett Leroy Gaylord II was a black man, born in 1918, and he died in 1983, completed 8th grade and is buried in Paxton, MA.
He once lived on what was once Carroll St. and the city renamed the street for him, but no one knows why.
I do believe that his father and my grandfather Clarence were brothers.