WPI Archives and Special Collections invites you to visit The First Century: Washburn Shops at the Horizon of America's Industrial Revolution & Beyond, 1868-1968, before August 1st, 2025, when the exhibit will be taken down in preparation of a new installation. Next academic year’s Gladwin Gallery exhibit will feature a continuation of this story with a closer look at WPI’s Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department, which evolved alongside America’s second industrial revolution. This second wave saw significant advancements in technology, especially in the electrical industry.
About the Washburn Shops exhibit:
It has been said that the character of Worcester Polytechnic Institute was established in Boynton Hall, the university’s first building atop the hill, but that WPI’s spirit was truly molded by its distinctive second structure. Of solid granite with a massive clocktower, Boynton Hall evoked the traditional character of higher education in 19th century America. The Washburn Shops, in contrast, was built of sturdy brick with a style all its own, and as such implied a very different function from its only neighbor.
The Shops served as the original hands-on learning laboratories for WPI’s earliest students. Topped by its distinctive weathervane, the building is named in honor of Worcester area deacon and WPI founder Ichabod Washburn. He dreamed of offering a place where the people of Central Massachusetts could learn the most modern vocational skills.
Explore the exhibit to learn more about how the Washburn Shops helped forge the region’s industrial economy and fostered innovations that have developed WPI’s modern campus and contributed to a better world.
The Gladwin Gallery, located on the ground floor of the Gordon Library, focuses on curated exhibits highlighting WPI history and other stories and materials from Archives & Special Collections.
If you are not able to visit the exhibit before August 1st, please check out Digital WPI Exhibits at https://exhibits.wpi.edu/. A digital version of the Washburn Shops Exhibit will be featured on the site later this summer!