Rosalind Duncan Collection
Title
Rosalind Duncan Collection
Subject
Stamford (Conn.: Town)
Thruway Relocation Council
Description
Documents and photographs from Rosalind A. Duncan about the Thruway Relocation Council fighting against the construction of an interstate thruway through Stamford, Connecticut in the early 1950s.
Rosalind (Roz) Duncan was the indefatigable resident manager of the Fairlawn Apartments from 1947 to 1954. Fairlawn was the largest garden apartment complex in Stamford at the time. Managing 456 tenants and the physical plant was a yeoman's job and Roz was a crackerjack at that job. At that time, it was not common for a woman to be given so much responsibility but she succeeded in spite of the prevailing attitudes.
Despite her demanding schedule, she devoted a great deal of time and effort to the Republican party in Stamford and to the community battle (and it was that!) to stop the construction of the "Thruway". She passionately believed that the Thruway would negatively impact Stamford and history has partially borne this out.
Not surprisingly, Roz eventually hit the glass ceiling at Fairlawn and moved to Hollywood, Florida where her parents had relocated. She and her daughter, Linda both loved living in Stamford, with its proximity to NYC, Jones Beach, Candlewood Lake, Old Greenwich, and Playland in Rye, which was a yearly pilgrimage. She also hated to leave her many dedicated friends but new horizons beckoned. In Florida she worked in real estate, and subsequently started an employment agency. She continued her activism through the Broward County Republican Party until she became a Democrat at the age of 76.
-Written by her daughter, Linda Duncan, of Washington D.C.
Rosalind (Roz) Duncan was the indefatigable resident manager of the Fairlawn Apartments from 1947 to 1954. Fairlawn was the largest garden apartment complex in Stamford at the time. Managing 456 tenants and the physical plant was a yeoman's job and Roz was a crackerjack at that job. At that time, it was not common for a woman to be given so much responsibility but she succeeded in spite of the prevailing attitudes.
Despite her demanding schedule, she devoted a great deal of time and effort to the Republican party in Stamford and to the community battle (and it was that!) to stop the construction of the "Thruway". She passionately believed that the Thruway would negatively impact Stamford and history has partially borne this out.
Not surprisingly, Roz eventually hit the glass ceiling at Fairlawn and moved to Hollywood, Florida where her parents had relocated. She and her daughter, Linda both loved living in Stamford, with its proximity to NYC, Jones Beach, Candlewood Lake, Old Greenwich, and Playland in Rye, which was a yearly pilgrimage. She also hated to leave her many dedicated friends but new horizons beckoned. In Florida she worked in real estate, and subsequently started an employment agency. She continued her activism through the Broward County Republican Party until she became a Democrat at the age of 76.
-Written by her daughter, Linda Duncan, of Washington D.C.
Publisher
The Ferguson Library
Date
1952-1954
Contributor
Rosalind A. Duncan
Language
English
Type
collection
Identifier
FL.rduncan
Coverage
Stamford, Connecticut
1950s
Collection Items
Letter from Governor John Lodge to Rosalind Duncan
Typewritten letter from John Lodge, Governor of Connecticut to Rosalind Duncan in response to her request for copies of the engineering studies on the relocation of Route 1. Original envelope included with notes, likely by Rosalind Duncan, on the…
Thruway Relocation Council, Inc. Town Meeting Program
Typewritten list of presenters at a town meeting held by the Thruway Relocation Council, Inc. at Power Auditorium in Stamford, Connecticut. Numbered notations in the left margins possibly depict speaking order for the meeting.
Stamford Thruway Relocation Council (1952)
Black and white photograph of the Stamford Relocation Council that organized resistance to the construction of the I-95 interstate thruway through Stamford, Connecticut. Rosalind Duncan, council secretary, is seated in the front right.
Letter from Thruway Relocation Council to Mayor Thomas F. J. Quigley
Typewritten letter from the Thruway Relocation Council to Thomas F. J. Quigley, Mayor of Stamford, inviting him to the Council's next public meeting. Handwritten note in margin notes that a previous commitment prevented Mayor Quigley from attending,…
Letter from Thruway Relocation Council to J. Platt Okie
Typewritten letter from the Thruway Relocation Council to J. Platt Okie, President of the Stamford Good Government Association, inviting him to the Council's next public meeting. Handwritten note in margin notes that Mr. Okie submitted his regrets…
Letter from Governor John Lodge to Rosalind Duncan
Typewritten letter from John Lodge, Governor of Connecticut, to Rosalind Duncan explaining the reasoning and process behind the planning for the Throughway in Fairfield County, Connecticut.
Collection Tree
- Rosalind Duncan Collection