Worcester State University is a public university in Worcester, Massachusetts. One of 9 state universities in Massachusetts, Worcester State offers a liberal arts and sciences curriculum and enrolls nearly 5500 undergraduates and more than 900 graduate students.
Founded in 1874 as the Massachusetts State Normal School at Worcester, WSU was the fifth of nine teachers training colleges in the state. Spurred by the success of a city-run normal school founded in 1872, the Worcester School Committee successfully petitioned the Massachusetts General Court for a state-sponsored institution in the city.
The original campus was located in a Second Empire style stone building on St. Ann’s Hill near Worcester’s downtown. By 1900, the campus included a president’s house, the “Stoddard Terrace” residence hall and a distinctive turreted gymnasium annex. This campus would serve WSU for nearly sixty years until the current Chandler Street campus opened in 1932.
These beautiful photos from Worcester State University Archives show activities of students of Worcester State University in 1969.
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| Students in library, December 1969 |
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| Students in library, December 1969 |
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| Student and staff member meeting, December 1969 |
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| Students in class, December 1969 |
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| Students in class, December 1969 |
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| Students in lounge, December 1969 |
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| Students in lounge, December 1969 |
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| Students in lounge, December 1969 |
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| Students in lounge, December 1969 |
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| Students, 1969 |
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| Students, December 1969 |
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| Students, December 1969 |
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| Students, December 1969 |
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| Students, December 1969 |
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| Students, December 1969 |
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| Worcester State, December 1969 |
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| Worcester State, December 1969 |
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| Worcester State, December 1969 |
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| Instructor, December 1969 |
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| Library Director, William Joyce, examining floor plans for the planned LRC building (opened 1971), December 1969 |