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A recent transfer of Art Department materials to the WCSU Archives contained 8 pieces by Connecticut-artist, R. Allen Hermes.  These pieces are on long-term display in the Gallery directly below the Haas Library atrium.

R. Allen Hermes (1913 – 2004) was born in England and came to the United States at 16.  He attended school in Buffalo where he won a national poster which entitled him to a four-year scholarship at Syracuse University.  He graduated with honors with a degree in fine arts and the Hazard Fellowship, which afforded him a year to study art and architecture in Germany.  In 1942 Hermes married Helen Davis, daughter of Dwight Davis who served as Secretary of War in the Coolidge administration and founded the Davis Cup tennis tournament.  During World War II, Hermes served in Europe with the Corps of Engineers, during which he spent time painting his fellow peers and officers.  After the war, Hermes and his wife Helen settled in Redding, CT where he continued to paint and teach, displaying his art in Silvermine, New York and the Wooster Gallery in Danbury.  Hermes’ style encompassed a variety of subjects ranging from still life and landscapers to mythology and religious themes.  Stylistically, he described his own paintings as being “closest to Baroque.”

Click to view pieces.

For more info…

Drs. Leslie Lindenauer and Jennifer Duffy of WCSU’s Department of History have both recently published works relating to stereotypes and society.

I Could Not Call Her Mother: The Stepmother in American Popular Culture, 1750-1960

Who’s Your Paddy?: Racial Expectations and the Struggle for Irish American Identity

DANBURY, CONN. — The Western Connecticut State University Department of Art will present a group exhibition, “It’s only Rock & Roll: A Behind the Scenes Look at the Artists Who Capture its Spirit and Culture” fromThursday, Feb. 6, through Thursday, March 6, 2014, at The Gallery at Higgins Hall on the university’s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. An opening reception will be from 5 to 7 p.m. on Feb. 6 in the gallery. The reception and exhibit are free and open to the public.  Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday from noon to 4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.

http://www.wcsu.edu/newsevents/WCSUtohostRockRollExhibition.asp

November 23 at 2PM. Free & Open to the public.

Sheldon’s Horse: The History of the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons presented by Eric Chandler.
“Sheldon’s Horse” is credited with having played a significant part in the winning of the War of Independence. They were the first commissioned United States cavalry; executed the first cavalry charge by United States cavalry on American soil; operated the first “pony express” as military couriers; participated in America’s first organized espionage ring; achieved victories on foot, horseback and by boat.

See http://danburymuseum.org/danburymuseum/Home.html for details

On November 12, 2010, the CAO went live. In the beginning, it searched across around 300 archival collection; now it searches some 6500 and is always growing. If your historical society, library, archive, museum or school would like to participate, contact Brian Stevens (stevensb[at]wcsu.edu) for more information or go to the CAO About pages.

If you already participate in the CAO, THANKS!

TEDxWCSU started as an idea after an Honors Program gathering in the fall of 2012. It was that fall His Holiness the Dalai Lama visited Western for two consecutive days to present talks on Creativity and Compassion. Since then, the University has been awash in events themed with Creativity and Compassion, culminating in Western becoming a Univeristy of Compassion and Danbury becoming a City of Compassion.

We hope through the TEDxWCSU event to continue to remind students of the daily lifestyle of compassion, and to spark discussion about creativity amoung the Western Connecticut State University community.

WCSU Science Center
​181 White Street
Danbury , CT, 06810
United States

November 16, 2013 2PM-6PM

Watch the video

Exhibit in the Haas Library through fall 2013 (at the main entrance to the library)

Danbury, Connecticut in January 1891 had endured most of the preceding three years plagued by arson. Some person or persons determined that setting fires, among the largest the area had seen up to that point, would influence the course of the City. Blame for the fires was pinned on a person or persons the Press referred to as the “Firebug,” but after three years and seemingly no closer to catching the “Firebug,” in 1891, authorities resorted to hiring at great expense an operative from the Pinkerton National Detective Agency to help.

The compelling “Firebug” story percolated throughout area newspapers, including the New York Times; even a young Charles Ives wrote to his father: “We are all talking about the fires in Danbury” and seemed to have written the beginnings of a “Firebug” limerick on the same letter. However, the episode was essentially forgotten in subsequent years. This may be due in large part to the fact that James Bailey’s 1894 History of Danbury makes no mention of firebugs or any of the turmoil during this period. Likely the story would have remained forgotten were it not for a small collection in the WCSU Archives of the reports made by the Pinkerton operative that the City had hired, which somehow survived the last 122 years.

Archivist Brian Stevens will give a brief talk on the Danbury “Firebug”.

Danbury, Connecticut in January 1891 had endured most of the preceding three years plagued by arson. Some person or persons determined that setting fires, among the largest the area had seen up to that point, would influence the course of the City. Blame for the fires was pinned on a person or persons the Press referred to as the “Firebug,” but after three years and seemingly no closer to catching the “Firebug,” in 1891, authorities resorted to hiring at great expense an operative from the Pinkerton National Detective Agency to help.

The compelling “Firebug” story percolated throughout area newspapers, including the New York Times; even a young Charles Ives wrote to his father: “We are all talking about the fires in Danbury” and seemed to have written the beginnings of a “Firebug” limerick on the same letter. However, the episode was essentially forgotten in subsequent years. This may be due in large part to the fact that James Bailey’s 1894 History of Danbury makes no mention of firebugs or any of the turmoil during this period. Likely the story would have remained forgotten were it not for a small collection in the WCSU Archives of the reports made by the Pinkerton operative that the City had hired, which somehow survived the last 122 years.

The long-awaited and anticipated book by Herb Janick and Bill Devlin, Danbury’s Third Century: From Urban Status to Tri-Centennial, is now available for sale at the Danbury Historical Society.  Janick and Devlin pick-up where James Bailey left off and tell the story of Danbury from 1889 to 1985.   Their especially readable narrative animates the historical microcosm of the City and illuminates industrial New England’s sometimes-rocky transition to more diversified populations and business communities. This volume is destined to be the chief reference work on twentieth century Danbury.