Augusta Kressler, one of the first women physicians in Worcester, died on July 1, 2015. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1936 and her medical degree at Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1941. She moved to Worcester in 1943 and began practicing medicine, one of only four women physicians in the city. Over the next forty years she continued to work as a full-time physician, primarily focused on women’s health issues. In the 1960s, she was appointed by the governor to serve on the first Massachusetts commission on the status of women. In retirement, Augusta turned her attention to Worcester’s cultural institutions, volunteering at the Worcester Art Museum and serving as a docent at the Salisbury Mansion for the Worcester Historical Museum. At AAS, she volunteered for nearly twenty-five years in the conservation lab, where, among other projects, she assisted with the housing of numerous large graphic arts collections, most notably the bookplate collection, which contains close to fifty thousand objects. She also fabricated hundreds of folders for the sheet music collection and rehoused thousands of trade and calling cards.
Worcester, MA
United States