With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Hannah Dodge
Education/Curation
1877 – 1963
Hannah Dodge became Director of the Slater Memorial Museum following the death of her husband, Ozias Dodge who himself had earlier held the post. As the museum’s first serious director and curator from 1926 to 1963, she is credited with revitalizing the museum and making it an integral part of the art education provided by the Norwich Free Academy.
- Biography/Description of Work
Hannah Sprague grew up in Yonkers, NY and met Ozias Dodge when she was sitting for a portrait by Charles Dana Gibson. A family friend of the Spragues, Robert Porter Keep, the superintendent of the Norwich Free Academy, was a guest at their wedding. It was he who invited the Dodges to Norwich, where he was looking for a new director of the Norwich Art School, a division of the Free Academy. Ozias became that director in 1897. The Dodges moved into a house on Mediterranean Lane, where other Academy faculty lived, and had a son, John. They entertained often, creating themed, costumed dinner events to which they invited new friends and colleagues. Shortly after the death of her husband, Hannah Sprague Dodge joined the staff of the Slater Memorial Museum and served as its director for more than three decades, from 1926 to her death.
- Sources view
- Interview by C. Hitchcock with Vivan Zoe 10//2/4/2014 at Slater Mem Museum.
NYTimes obituary notice, 1963. - Associated Resource(s)