Illustrated in the American Architect and Building News in 1902,
Tuckerman Hall (formerly The Worcester Woman's Club) is listed in the
National Register of Historic Places and is located in a National
Historic District in Worcester, MA. In 2000, Tuckerman Hall was designated an
official project of Save America's Treasures, a partnership between
the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The compact masonry structure is noted for its triangular plan and its design by woman pioneer architect Josephine Wright Chapman. Tuckerman Hall's unique form, architectural detail, superior acoustics, prominent downtown location, and its attribution to one of the United States' earliest woman architects make it a highly significant structure, both architecturally and historically.
Born in 1867, architect Josephine Wright Chapman began her career
as an apprentice in the office of Clarence Blackall, one of Boston's
premier architects. The first recipient of the Rotch Travelling Fellowship,
Blackall and his architectural firm designed a number of important stuctures
in downtown Boston including the first building of all-steel construction,
14 theatres including the Colonial, Wilbur, and Metropolitan (now known as
The Wang Center), as well as Boston's stately Copley Plaza Hotel.
By the late 1890's, Ms. Chapman had established her own firm. Her designs
include important structures from Cambridge, MA to Washington, D.C.
including Craigie Arms (now known as Chapman Arms, in tribute to her),
a dormitory in Cambridge for Harvard College students built in 1897 and
on the National Register, as well as Hillandale, a 34-room Italianate
villa estate built in 1923 on approximately 70 acres in Washington, D.C.
for Standard Oil heiress Anne Archbold.
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