December 6, 2005
Goddard Memorial Dedication Dec. 16
WORCESTER, Mass. - A monument to the achievements of rocket pioneer and Worcester native Robert H. Goddard will be dedicated on
Friday, Dec. 16, at 2 p.m., at the corner of Goddard Memorial Drive and Apricot Street. The monument was developed by the Goddard Memorial Association (GMA) and designed by local artist Joseph Miglionico. Clark President John Bassett and Worcester Polytechnic Institute President Dennis Berkey will unveil the monument. The dedication ceremony is open to the public.
The Dr. Robert H. Goddard Collection and the Robert Goddard Exhibition Room are housed in the Archives and Special Collections area of Clark’s Robert H. Goddard Library .
Dr. Goddard graduated from South High School in Worcester in 1904 and earned his undergraduate degree from WPI in 1908. He received his Ph.D. at Clark in 1911, going on to head the physics department.
On March 16, 1926, Goddard launched the world’s first successful liquid-fueled rocket on a farm in nearby Auburn, an event as significant in the history of the Space Age as Wilbur and Orville Wright’s first powered flight at Kitty Hawk was to the history of aviation.
The monument features eight panels, made from porcelainized enamel on steel, on which are recorded highlights of Goddard's career. The panels surround a 10-foot-tall stylized stainless steel rocket and tower.
At the entrance to the memorial site are two informational kiosks that were donated by WPI and Clark University. The monument, which forms the centerpiece of the landscaped site, fulfills the GMA’s mission to “bring honor and recognition to Worcester native and rocket pioneer Robert H. Goddard, and to recognize Worcester as the ‘Birthplace of the Space Age.’ ”
For further information, contact the GMA at 508-799-0091.
Clark University is a private, co-educational liberal-arts research university with 2,000 undergraduate and 600 graduate students. Since its founding in 1887 as the first all-graduate school in New England, Clark has challenged convention with innovative programs such as the International Studies Stream, the Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the five-year BA/MA programs with the fifth year tuition-free for eligible students.
Angela M. Bazydlo
Associate Director of Media Relations
Clark University
Worcester, Mass.
phone: 508-793-7635
www.clarku.edu
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