This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
07/06/2022 08:30 AMThe Chester Historical Society is rolling out plans for its new Delaney Series, which will consist of programs dedicated in honor of Connecticut Historical Society founders and patrons Barbara and Edmund Delaney.
The series kicked-off on May 22 at the Chester Meeting House with a screening of the film The Trials of Constance Baker Motley, a mini-documentary spanning the life and legacy of former federal judge and Chester resident Constance Baker Motley, the first African-American woman to serve as a federal judge. The event was hosted by Motley’s son, Joel Motley III, and Marta Daniels, the curator of the Constance Baker Motley Special Collection Archive. Motley and her family were friends with the Delaneys.
Given the contributions the Delaneys made to the town of Chester, Society members wanted to honor them with programs related to their life’s work and interests, according to Sandy Senior-Dauer, one of the Society’s vice presidents.
“We thought about what we can do to honor them with all this money they’ve left us, and we thought maybe something interesting to the community, but also what they would’ve supported and cared about,” said Senior-Dauer.
Edmund passed away in 2000, while Barbara, the Society’s first president, died in 2018. Senior-Dauer remembers the couple as the town’s chief historians, who also possessed a deep interest in arts and culture.
“They were Renaissance people and just so interested in everything and just so curious about people,” she said.
Senior-Dauer is considering creating a committee to flesh out ideas for additional programs in the series. Senior-Dauer said with appropriate topics, up to two programs a year could be presented as part of the series, and that the screening of the documentary on Motley was a great start.
Future programs in their honor could include their role in civil rights and social justice, environmental affairs, and their love of classical music and art, as well as, according to Senior-Dauer.
“She was instrumental in forming the Robbie Collomore Series we have every fall. I don’t think Chester would be the arts community it is today without Barbara,” she said. “She started the first art gallery in Chester, so just so many things that were important to them and that made Chester what it is today.”
Another program the Society may hold is one dedicated to Edmund’s book The Connecticut River: New England’s Historic Waterway, a history of the Connecticut River Valley region from its earliest settlements to the late 20th century, according to Cary Hull, president of the Society. Hull said that any other ideas for programs would not exclusively come from a committee, but from those who knew the Delaneys as friends.
“We are soliciting ideas from close friends of theirs just in case anyone else has any specific interests, thoughts, etc. We haven’t come up with anything at the moment. There’s a vast array of things we could do in their name, just because they were incredible,” she said.