City councilors are asking the city clerk’s office to investigate whether a decades-old promise to honor Worcester resident Arries Ann Ward was never fully carried out.
The issue surfaced Tuesday night after members of Ward’s family petitioned the city council, claiming that Laurel Street had once been renamed Arries Ann Ward Way but no longer bears that name. Historical records also suggest a playground at Great Brook Valley Gardens may have been intended to honor Ward as well.
The discussion came during an abbreviated council meeting. After a lengthy executive session and an even lengthier Finance Committee meeting on the city’s proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget, councilors were able to address only a handful of agenda items before continuing the remaining business to a June 9 meeting that will begin at 5 p.m.
Ward was born into slavery in North Carolina in 1862 and later settled in Worcester, where she lived until her death in 1959 at age 97.
Councilor Khrystian King said the matter had been brought to his attention and asked the City Clerk’s Office to investigate the city’s past commitments involving Ward.
“In the research I have done, and the clerk has done,” King said, “we were able to determine that there was some action. We are trying to determine the extent of it.”
King noted that multiple residents had also told him that the playing field at Great Brook Valley Gardens has been known as Clemente Field for decades. The city is currently considering renaming the park in honor of baseball legend and humanitarian Roberto Clemente, though discussion has emerged about whether the field, park or playground should instead recognize Ward.
During the meeting, King played a 1957 clip from the television program “This Is Your Life,” in which host Ralph Edwards informed Ward that Laurel Street and the playground at Great Brook Valley Gardens would be named in her honor.
“The children of Worcester have always been your first and primary concern,” Edwards told Ward.
King said additional research is needed to determine exactly what commitments were made and why they may not have been carried out. He added that the issue is important to Black history and to Ward’s descendants.
“If there’s any ability to avoid any erasure of black history, that would be great,” he said. “I’d like to really do some research here, so we can verify and validate the concerns that have been brought forward.”
Councilor Luis Ojeda, who said his family has ties to Ward, expressed confidence that the matter could be resolved.
“We’ll figure this out,” Ojeda said. “I know a couple of weeks ago, I was excited because I have a lot of family history there. For me it’s a win-win. My niece and nephew are actually Wards as well. I hope we’ll let the families know we’ll do what’s right.”
“It’s unfortunate,” said Councilor Morris Bergman, who asked for coordination between the Department of Public Works and the city’s Records Department to determine how the discrepancy occurred.
“I’m not blaming anyone,” Bergman said. “Now, we see clearly that representations were made decades ago, to the Ward family and particularly Mrs. Ward, that the field would be named after her.”
“This is the importance of archiving,” King said, adding that additional information will likely come forward and that he hopes Clemente is still honored as well. “We can certainly re-establish that as a council if it comes to that.”
The council voted unanimously to have the City Clerk’s Office conduct further research into the matter.
