Transgender Flag To Fly Over City Hall Next Week
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Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Patrick Sargent, GoLocal Worcester Contributor
To observe the Transgender Day of Remembrance, Worcester's City Hall will fly the Transgender Flag from November 18th to 20th. The Day of Remembrance, an annual observance, is on November 20th and will honor the memory of those whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence.
The Transgender Day of Remembrance is observed in late November in recognition of the 1998 murder of Rita Hester. Hester, from Boston, was stabbed 20 times in her apartment on November 28, 1998. To this date, police have still not found Rita’s murderer. One year after Hester's murder, writer Gwendolyn Ann Smith coordinated a vigil to pay respect to Hester and Hester's work educating others on transgender issues. With the vigil, Smith created the Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Worcester to Hold Events in Remembrance
At the Worcester City Council meeting on November 18th, Mayor Joe Petty will open the meeting with a Mayoral Proclamation dedicated to the Transgender Day of Remembrance.
On Sunday, November 23 at 3:00pm, Worcester will hold a Transgender Day of Remembrance Memorial Service at the Worcester Public Library.
Worcester: A Progressive City
Worcester has always been at the forefront of progressive human rights movements. The Worcester Pride Organization is celebrating its 40th year this month. In fact, for 44 years, Worcester has held a Gay Rights Parade and Festival. This past September at the Worcester Pride Festival, newly elected Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey was a guest speaker. Healey is the first ever openly gay state Attorney General in the United States.
Related Slideshow: 10 Ways Massachusetts Changed America
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Space Exploration
Robert H. Goddard of Worcester, Massachusetts and a graduate of both WPI and Clark University, built the world's first liquid-fueled rocket.
Goddard's rocket launching site was in Auburn.
Goddard's work anticipated many of the developments that ushered in the space age.
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Independence
The Battles of Lexington and Concord marked the first military engagements of the Revolutionary War.
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Pop Culture
Harvey Ball, born and raised in Worcester, invented the Smiley Face in 1963.
A graduate of the Worcester Art Museum School, Ball designed the Smiley Face to boost company morale during the merger of State Mutual Life Assurance Company (now known as Hanover Insurance) and Guarantee Mutual Company.
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Politics
Massachusetts is home to many famous politicians who influenced the trajectory of America.
One such politician is John Adams. Adams was an early advocate for independence and served as the second President of the United States.
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Sports
Basketball was invented at Springfield College in Massachusetts by physical education teacher Dr. James Naismith.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is located in Springfield.
Massachusetts also has some of the best sports teams in the world: the Red Sox, the New England Patriots, the Celtics, and the Bruins.
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Medicine
Research at Clark University done by Dr. Gregory Goodwin Pincus led to the development of the birth control pill.
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Philosophy
Concord was the heart of the transcendentalism movement in the United States.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, a leader in the transcendentalism movement, was a also a pillar of the school of American Romanticism.
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Education
Massachusetts has had many innovative education reforms over the years.
Horace Mann of Franklin, Massachusetts was an advocate of public school reform.
Mann's main principles were: (1) the public should no longer remain ignorant; (2) that such education should be paid for, controlled, and sustained by an interested public; (3) that this education will be best provided in schools that embrace children from a variety of backgrounds; (4) that this education must be non-sectarian; (5) that this education must be taught by the spirit, methods, and discipline of a free society; and (6) that education should be provided by well-trained, professional teachers.
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Music
One of the earliest influential composers was Lowell Mason of Boston.
Mason transformed American church music from a practice of having professional choirs and accompaniment to congregational singing accompanied by organ music.
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Art
The town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts greatly influenced Norman Rockwell's art.
Rockwell spent the last twenty-five years of his life in Stockbridge and many of the residents and locales of the small town were woven into his paintings depicting rural American life.
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