Who were the Mechanics?
Worcester County Mechanics Association
The first Mechanics organization was founded in Glasgow, Scotland in 1823. Called the Mechanics’ Institution, it was the precursor of a movement that spread across the world along with the Industrial Revolution. The Worcester (MA) County Mechanics Association (WCMA) was founded in 1842 as an educational and charitable organization to foster skills in the mechanical arts, to demonstrate technological innovation, and to introduce the community at large to cultural experience and social ideals. Self-improvement and a well-rounded education were fundamental values of the WCMA. Medieval guilds are the closest ancestral organizations to the Mechanics Institutes. In the 19th century, Mechanics organizations shared three common denominators: a technical lending library for the membership, trade education classes in industrial and mechanical skills, and lecture series on technological innovation, arts, sciences, and humanities. As early as the first week of opening in 1857, the WCMA hosted musical performances in Mechanics Hall.
WCMA and Social Reform
Three social reform issues were of important concern to the Worcester Mechanics: Abolition, Women’s Rights, and Temperance. As early as the 1840s, Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists were invited to speak to the membership and to the wider community. Advocates of women’s rights and temperance also used Mechanics Hall as their platform for social reform. These were not issues being discussed everywhere – the Mechanics Hall stage was one of the nation’s major social reform platforms.