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Danbury’s preservation of Octagon House inspires WCSU library exhibit
When:
September 4, 2015 all-day
2015-09-04T00:00:00-04:00
2015-09-05T00:00:00-04:00
Where:
Western CT State University Ruth Haas Library
181 White Street
Danbury, CT 06810
USA
181 White Street
Danbury, CT 06810
USA
Cost:
Free
Contact:
Office of University Relations
203-837-8486
The city of Danbury’s quest to preserve a singular architectural landmark of the city’s mid-19th century history will be celebrated when Western Connecticut State University presents a special exhibit highlighting the 160-year-old Octagon House and Orson Squire Fowler, whose 1848 book inspired its construction.
The Archives and Special Collections department at WCSU will organize a public exhibit featuring the university’s holdings of rare historical materials related to the Octagon House on Spring Street in central Danbury and to the nationwide fad during the 19th century in construction of eight-sided dwellings inspired by Fowler’s work, “The Octagon House: A Home for All.” Archivist and Special Collections Librarian Brian Stevens said the display will include original editions of “The Octagon House” and “Self-Instruction in Phrenology and Physiology,” a Fowler work that reflected his international prominence in the mid-1800s as one of America’s foremost practitioners of the pseudo-science known as phrenology. The exhibit is scheduled to open on Friday, Sept. 4, and continue through Dec. 1, 2015, during library hours on the first floor of the Ruth Haas Library on the university’s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury.