Danbury Museum and Historical Society

Last updated
Danbury Museum and Historical Society
Danbury Museum Logo.png
Danbury Museum and Historical Society
Established1947
Location43 Main Street, Danbury, Connecticut, United States
Type Historical society
Website danburymuseum.org
The John Rider House, part of the main campus of the DMHS Danbury Museum Streetside New.jpg
The John Rider House, part of the main campus of the DMHS

The Danbury Museum and Historical Society is a museum located in Danbury, Connecticut, the purpose of which is to acquire, preserve, exhibit, and interpret the heritage of the Greater Danbury area for education, information, and research. The main campus of the museum is located on 43 Main Street. It is home to five historic buildings: Huntington Hall, the 1785 Rider House, the 1790 John Dodd Hat Shop, the Little Red Schoolhouse, and the Marian Anderson Studio. The Museum also operates a sixth building: the Charles Ives Birthplace, located on Mountainville Avenue.

Contents

History

The Danbury Museum and Historical Society was formed in 1947 as the result of a merger between the Scott Fanton Museum and the Danbury Historical and Arts Center. [1] During the late 19th and 20th centuries, John Fanton, a Danbury industrialist and prominent citizen, and his second wife, Laura Scott, traveled extensively through Europe, Asia, and the Americas and collected artifacts from each country they visited. In 1921, after their deaths, a museum was opened in the Fanton home on Deer Hill Avenue for the purpose of exhibiting these collections.

Twenty years later, in 1941, it was announced that a gas station was to be built on the site of the Rider home, which was built in 1785 and by that time had fallen into disrepair. A group of concerned Danbury citizens, which included the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, raised the money to purchase the homestead and founded the Danbury Historical Society and Arts Center. The purpose of the organization, for which the Rider house functioned as a meeting place, was to foster appreciation in art, science, history, music, and other public activities.

In 1947 a proposal was made that the Scott-Fanton Museum and the Danbury Historical Society and Arts Center merge. The collections of the Scott-Fanton Museum were moved to the Main Street site, and the Danbury Museum and Historical Society was born. During the 1950s and 1960s, the museum acquired the John Dodd Hat Shop, the Charles Ives House and erected Huntington Hall where many of its exhibits have been displayed. The most recent acquisition is the Marian Anderson Studio, which was officially restored and opened by the Museum in 2004. [2]

Huntington Hall

Huntington Hall was built in 1963. It holds the main offices, the gift shop, and the Museum's research library. It is also where many displays are exhibited.

John Rider House

The historic John Rider House was built in 1785, by a Danbury carpenter John Rider, who also served as a captain in the Connecticut militia during the Revolutionary War, and his wife Mary. The house remained in the family, until 1925. The Rider House was saved in 1941 from destruction and has been restored and is open for tours by appointment year-round.

John Dodd Hat Shop

The John Dodd Hat Shop was built in 1790 by Danbury lawyer John Dodd. It was originally used as a legal office, however, rather than a hat shop, and was converted by the Museum into a hat shop exhibit. It contains many different styles of hats, as well as hatting machines and materials, in addition to many other historical artifacts and exhibits chronicling the history of hatting in Danbury, also known as Hat City. [3] The Museum acquired it in 1957 when it was moved from lower Main Street to the museum grounds. Tours of the John Dodd Hat Shop are offered by the Museum by appointment year-round.

Little Red Schoolhouse

The Little Red Schoolhouse is a reproduction of a typical one-room schoolhouse in the greater Danbury area from the late 18th century through the mid-19th century. It was built with bricks from the Balmforth Avenue School, which was torn down in the 1960s. It is open and available for touring by appointment year-round.

Marian Anderson Studio

The Marian Anderson Studio is the studio which was owned by famed opera singer Marian Anderson, who lived in Danbury for more than fifty years. It was located on her estate Marianna Farms, on Joe's Hill Road, until it was acquired by the Museum in 1999 and moved to the main site at 43 Main Street. After extensive restoration, including a new roof, the studio was officially opened in 2004. The Museum offers tours of the Marian Anderson Studio by appointment year-round.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marian Anderson</span> African-American contralto (1897–1993)

Marian Anderson was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to spirituals. Anderson performed with renowned orchestras in major concert and recital venues throughout the United States and Europe between 1925 and 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Connecticut State University</span> Public university in Danbury, Connecticut, U.S.

Western Connecticut State University is a public university in Danbury, Connecticut. It was founded in 1903 as a teacher's college and is part of the Connecticut State University System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redding, Connecticut</span> Town in Connecticut, United States

Redding is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,765 at the 2020 census. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danbury, Connecticut</span> City in Connecticut, United States

Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, located approximately 50 miles (80 km) northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2020 was 86,518. It is the third-largest city in Western Connecticut, and the seventh-largest city in Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ridgefield, Connecticut</span> Town in Connecticut, United States

Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, Ridgefield has a population of 25,033 as of the 2020 census. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region. The town center, which was formerly a borough, is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place. The town was settled then quickly incorporated by 1709.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danbury Fair</span>

The Danbury Fair was a yearly exhibition in Danbury, Connecticut. It was begun in 1821 as an agricultural fair, but did not have a regular schedule until 1869 when hat manufacturers Rundle and White helped form the Danbury Farmers and Manufacturers Society. From then until its closing, the fair was open for ten days every October.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danbury Railway Museum</span> United States historic place

The Danbury Railway Museum is a railway museum housed in the former Union Station on the east end of downtown Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It was established in the mid-1990s following the closure of the station by the Metro-North Railroad in favor of a new station nearby, and primarily focuses on the history of railroading in southern New England and neighboring New York. In addition to the former station building, the museum has a collection of heritage railcars in the neighboring rail yard it shares with Metro-North.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Hyatt Huntington</span> American sculptor (1876–1973)

Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington was an American sculptor who was among New York City's most prominent sculptors in the early 20th century. At a time when very few women were successful artists, she had a thriving career. Hyatt Huntington exhibited often, traveled widely, received critical acclaim at home and abroad, and won multiple awards and commissions.

The year 1790 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannondale, Connecticut</span> Census-designated place in Connecticut, United States

Cannondale is a census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Wilton in Fairfield County, Connecticut. It had a population of 141 at the 2010 census. The neighborhood consists of many old homes on large, almost rural lots now largely wooded. The English first settled the land in the 17th century. At the center of Cannondale is Cannon Crossing, a small shopping village of boutiques and restaurants made up of 19th-century buildings restored by actress June Havoc in the late 1970s on the east side of Cannondale Railroad Station. Both are part of Cannondale Historic District, which encompasses the central part of Cannondale and most of its significant historical buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Main Street Historic District (Danbury, Connecticut)</span> Historic district in Connecticut, United States

The Main Street Historic District in Danbury, Connecticut, United States, is the oldest section of that city, at its geographical center. It has long been the city's commercial core and downtown. Its 132 buildings, 97 of which are considered contributing properties, include government buildings, churches, commercial establishments and residences, all in a variety of architectural styles from the late 18th century to the early 20th. It is the only major industrial downtown of its size in Connecticut not to have developed around either port facilities or a water power site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Rider House</span> Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The John Rider House is located on Main Street in Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It is a wooden frame house dating to the late 18th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norwichtown</span> United States historic place

Norwichtown is a historic neighborhood in the city of Norwich, Connecticut. It is generally the area immediately north of the Yantic River between I-395 and Route 169.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smith Tavern</span> Historic commercial building in New York, United States

The former Smith Tavern is located on Bedford Road in the hamlet of Armonk, New York, United States. It is a red frame building dating to the late 18th century, one of the few left in a region that has rapidly suburbanized over the past century. The Smith family, for whom it is named, did not build it but owned it for most of the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Ives House</span> Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The Charles Ives House, also known as Charles Ives Birthplace, is located on Mountainville Avenue in Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It is a wooden frame structure built in 1780 and expanded on since. Over the course of the 19th century, it was the residence of several generations of Iveses, a family important in the city's history. In 1874, it was the birthplace of Charles Ives, who became an internationally recognized composer in the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marian Anderson House</span> Historic house in Pennsylvania, United States

The Marian Anderson House is a historic home located in the Southwest Center City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built circa 1870 in the same neighborhood where opera singer and civil rights advocate Marian Anderson was born 27 years later, this two-story, brick rowhouse dwelling was designed in the Italianate style. Purchased by Anderson in 1924, the same year she became the first African-American concert artist to record spirituals for a major American recording company, she continued to reside here until 1943. The house is currently home to the Marian Anderson Museum and Historical Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mill Plain, Danbury, Connecticut</span> Locality in Danbury, Connecticut, United States

Mill Plain is an unincorporated area in the City of Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It is located in the westernmost part of the city, bordering the town of Southeast, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Plain, Danbury, Connecticut</span> Former farming community in Danbury, Connecticut, United States

Great Plain is an unincorporated area in the City of Danbury, Fairfield County, Connecticut. A former farming community, only remnants exist of this once thriving agricultural hub. It is located in the northeast section of the city, sharing a border with the Beaverbrook area of Danbury and Brookfield, CT.

References

  1. Blau, Sybil (July 12, 2014). "Peek right into Danbury's unique past". The News-Times . Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  2. Schuman, Michael (June 6, 2010). "Singer Marian Anderson, who overcame racism, graced Danbury, Conn". Times Union . Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  3. Campbell, Susan; Bendici, Ray; Heald, Bill (2010). Connecticut Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff p. 135. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN   978-0-7627-7492-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

41°23′19″N73°26′48″W / 41.3886°N 73.4467°W / 41.3886; -73.4467