David Hale Fanning Girls Trade School (24 Chatham Street)

The large building at 24 Chatham St. was once home to the David Hale Fanning Girls Trade School which opened at the time of the first World War. Worcester's young women could receive a free trade school education which included hands-on courses featuring machines used in corset manufacturing.

Note; If you're on the walking tour with the historical museum behind you, you will look across Pleasant Street to see the back of the Fanning building.

From the year 1911, Worcester's young female population could attend a trade school which was then located downtown at 2 State Street, also known as the Wetherell House. From a news article published on Christmas Day 1919 about a fire in that building, we learn that 350 girls were then attending Girls' Trade, although luckily none were inside when the fire broke out. Young women were seeking technical training for the various jobs available to them in the city, further encouraged by a 1917 announcement in that founder and long-term owner of Royal Worcester Corset company, David Hale Fanning, was contributing $100,000, which is around $2.4 million in 2024. This donation went toward construction of a larger, better outfitted space. Fanning's gift came with a stipulation that the building must bear his name over its main entrance.

Upon completion, David Hale Fanning Girls Trade School at High & Chatham was the first new trade school in Massachusetts built specifically for women and only the second in America. Estimated cost of the new building was $500,000, or $12.2 million if built in 2024. Worcester's big employers were involved in the development of designs for the school; the city had waited to proceed with building plans "until the wish of Mr. Fanning might be consulted." Representatives from local corset factories met to consult on plans for the power operating department in the new building.

Today, the 24 Chatham Street building houses alternative and adult education programs of the city's school department.

WHM clippings files , Telegram . December 25th, 1919. Accessed March 24th, 2024.

O'Connell, Scott. Worcester schools, city explore acquisition of former Becker property, Telegram & Gazette . June 5th, 2021. Accessed March 24th, 2024.

A Proper Fit (working title), Anne Marie Murphy, TidePool Press 2025. www.cityofcorsets.com