The 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote and the brave women – and men – who made it possible have inspired the Greenwich Historical Society’s “An Unfinished Revolution: The Woman’s Suffrage Centennial,” at the society’s impressive state-of-the-art new digs through Sept. 6.
They’re also spurring the choices for the society’s Landmarks Recognition Program this year. On April 26, four Greenwich structures owned, designed or dedicated to trailblazing women will receive plaques in recognition of their design excellence and value in preserving Greenwich’s unique architectural heritage. The stately fieldstone home that the late Mary Tyler Moore lived in with her husband, S. Robert Levine, M.D., up until her death in 2017, is among the four structures to be recognized. The other three honorees are the Innis Arden Cottage/Tod’s Point, designed by Katherine C. Budd, one of the first female architects in the United States; the Woolley-Huntzinger House, home of philanthropist Ada Huntzinger and her husband, Robert; and the YWCA, which is being recognized for its architectural distinctiveness and mission of empowering women and girls through leadership, innovative programming and services.
Moore was celebrated for many roles in her career – from the Jackie-style suburban homemaker, New Rochelle’s Laura Petrie, on “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” to the emotionally calcified mother of a suicidal son in Robert Redford’s “Ordinary People.” But it was her Mary Richards – a journalist and singleton trying to make it, “after all,” in a TV newsroom in Minneapolis – that resonated with audiences, particularly women, during the feminist wave of the 1970s.
“We’re privileged to acknowledge the contributions of enterprising women who inspired others in this year’s Landmarks program,” says Robin Kencel, chairman of the Landmarks Recognition Program. “The theme is timely and a natural extension to a dynamic exhibition at the historical society that showcases the role Greenwich women played on the national stage in achieving the passage of the 19th Amendment.”
The Landmarks Recognition Program has presented plaques to more than 300 structures since the program began 33 years ago, with a goal of promoting pride in ownership of distinctive properties and encouraging their preservation and adaptive use. This year’s recognition event on April 26 takes place from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Greenwich Country Club, 19 Doubling Road. A Champagne reception will precede a keynote address and the presentation of plaques.
For tickets and more, visit greenwichhistory.org or call 203/869-6899.
– Georgette Gouveia
