Photographs: Meghan Murphy Gould
The New Canaan Museum & Historical Society recently made history of its own with the opening of the Jim and Dede Bartlett Center for New Canaan History. This exhibit space is part of an overall “Campus Reimagined” project that started four years ago and is now in its final stages.
The new Bartlett Center focuses on “Making a Difference in New Canaan”—celebrating the people, businesses, art and architecture that have made their mark over the years.
While the museum has always chronicled New Canaan’s journey from its colonial roots to the present day, it is now more visitor-friendly than ever. “This is the first time there has been a self-guided place to learn about the town’s history,” explained Nancy Geary, the museum’s executive director. “We wanted to create a vibrant space where visitors could learn about the evolution of New Canaan through its 223 years.”
One highlight is “Changemakers,” an interactive exhibit that tells stories of 50 visionaries and leaders who have made a difference in New Canaan. They include artists, architects, captains of industry and community leaders.
One display shows how the town’s perception has changed over time. While New Canaan is now proud to be nationally recognized for its midcentury modern architecture, and as the home of the Harvard 5, a collection of letters from the 1940s and ’50s show residents at the time were upset by the radically different style—a reminder that change is not always warmly embraced.
The town’s transformation is also evident in a short film that chronicles downtown’s evolution comparing past structures and maps to today.
In addition to the Bartlett Center, there are several other additions to the museum grounds. The largest is the Jim Bach Special Collections Museum, where an entire wall of windows dramatically displays a restored 1825 Demarest Carriage.
Recently, the museum partnered with New Canaan Library on an art installation in the windows of their original 1913 building. Librarians chose six “Changemakers” from the museum’s original group of 50.
“I was looking for people who had a connection to the library,” said Ellen Crovatto, VP of philanthropy and external affairs for New Canaan Library. Those include Philip Johnson and Eliot Noyes, whose architecture inspired the new building’s design, and Ruth Lapham Lloyd, benefactor of the original building’s Lapham Wing.
Visitors can scan a QR code near the exhibit to view source materials from the library’s archives about these New Canaanites.
The installation holds special significance as the 1913 building was the Historical Society’s first home before it relocated to Oenoke Ridge in the 1960s.“In a way, we are like brother and sister,” said Crovatto, who was inspired by “the ability to serve our joint missions and the opportunity for there to be great learning in the community.”
This community learning is what drives the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society to not only preserve stories of the town’s past, but craft its own future. And if history is any indication, the next generation of “Changemakers” will carry on a long tradition of “Making a Difference in New Canaan.”