City of Worcester: 300 Years 25
Groundbreakers
t Frances Perkins (1880-1965) served as U.S. Secretary of Labor
in the Roosevelt Administration and was one of two in the
administration to serve the longest. She was the driving force
behind both the Fair Labor Savings Act and Social Security.
Isaiah Thomas
(1749-1831) published
the Massachusetts
Spy, printed the
first American
dictionary and the
third English Bible,
and possibly the
first American novel
authored by a first-
time author.
s Major Taylor (1878-1932) He is the first African-American
athletic superstar to set seven records as the world's
fastest cyclist. He is celebrated in Worcester with a statue
and a major thoroughfare named after him.
s Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945) successfully launched
the world's first liquid-propulsion rocket in 1926.
His technology would send men to the moon and
a lander to Mars.
Source: Worcester Historical Museum
source: Worcester Historical Museum
source: Nasa
source: Worcester Historical Museum
Buzz Aldrin carried this book with him when
he went to the moon in 1969.
source: Clark University
