Wells Memorial Institute Explained

Wells Memorial Institute was a workingman's club in Boston meant to promote social interaction, mutual help, recreation, and training for working people.[1] It was organized in 1879 by Robert Treat Paine, who was inspired by the English working men's clubs, and named after Rev. E. M. P. Wells of the Episcopal City Mission of Boston.[2]

It offered courses on mechanical drawing, civil service, automobile construction, English, public speaking, cooking, household economics, embroidery, and millinery.[3] It was located at 987 Washington Street.

The Lowell Institute lectures on "mechanics" were given at the Wells in the 19th century.[4]

Notes

  1. Dudley . Helena S. . 1894 . Relief Work Carried on in the Wells Memorial Institute . The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science . 5 . 61–81 . 0002-7162.
  2. James F. O'Gorman, The Makers of Trinity Church in Boston, p. 46
  3. Handbook of Opportunities for Vocational Training in Boston, Women's Municipal League of Boston, 1913, p. 214
  4. Handy guide to Boston and environs, Rand-McNally, 1907, p. 98