The story is that Elisabeth M. Bennet began wearing hats in 1913 after her hair was scorched in a fire as she saw all 900 of her school’s students safely out of the building.
Bennet (1881-1959) moved to Manchester in 1909 and became principal of Ninth District School. That school was destroyed in a fire on Oct. 23, 1913. Bennet made sure all 900 students got out before exiting the building herself, and is credited with saving their lives.
“She followed the fire drill procedure to the letter. Some people might panic when they see the smoke. She went through every room to see that all the kids got out. She burned some of her hair and always wore a hat after that,” said Lynn Sottile, of the Manchester Historical Society’s sculpture committee.
Bennet also was known as an innovator. “She had a lot of firsts that had never been done in the public school system. She created a school library using her own books and she begged all her friends to donate books. She held the first music-appreciation classes for elementary students. She was the first to use a movie projector in the classroom for educational films. And when she found out there were school dances but the kids didn’t know how to dance, she taught them to dance.”
A historic house tour in Manchester on Oct. 15 will raise money to erect a statue of Bennet in front of Elisabeth M. Bennet Academy on Main Street. The tour is presented by the Manchester Historical Society.
The Bennet statue will be the second of three planned life-sized bronze sculptures of notables from Manchester history. The sculptures will be installed in places that reflect their achievements. The sculptor is Michael Keropian, who grew up in Manchester.
“The people we memorialize had to be people who did something extraordinary that had never been done before,” said Lynn Sottile of the historical society’s sculpture committee. “They each are extraordinary in their own field. We chose the fields of athletics, education and the arts.”
Keropian’s first sculpture depicts four-time Manchester Road Race winner and 1932 Olympic bronze medalist Joe McCluskey (1911-2002). It was installed in November 2019 at a small park at the corner of Wyllys and Highland streets. That park is on the route of the Manchester Road Race.
“People have really taken to the statue. They dress him up in baseball caps, scarves, t-shirts. Someone put a mask on him during COVID,” Sottile said.
The third sculpture will be children’s book author Emily Cheney Neville.
“No one in Manchester can match Joe McCluskey’s record. It’s basically untouchable, the Olympics, 27 national titles. Elisabeth Bennet was an extraordinary teacher and she was a hero, saving all the kids. Emily Cheney Neville won a Newbery Award for her first book,” Sottile said.
Neville (1919-1997), a member of the town’s most prominent family, the Cheneys, is the author of children’s books and an autobiography, “Traveler From a Small Kingdom.” Her first book, “It’s Like This, Cat,” published in 1963, won the Newbery Medal. Another book, “Berries Goodman,” won a Jane Addams award.
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The historical society plans to install the Bennet sculpture during the town’s bicentennial next year. Sottile said the fundraising for the Neville statue will begin after that.
“We will put [Neville] in Center Memorial Park, which was originally Cheney Park. She will be depicted sitting on a bench. People can sit next to her and take selfies,” Sottile said.
Sottile estimated that the McCluskey sculpture cost a total of $80,000, the Bennet will cost around $100,000 and the Neville around $120,000. She said the committee hopes in the future to memorialize more town residents.
The Sculpture Project 2022 House Tour is a self-guided tour that will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The houses on the tour include:
- The Charles Cheney Mansion, 131 Hartford Road
- The Austin and Ruth Cheney Mansion / Wedgeway Bed and Breakfast, 99 Hartford Road
- The Clifford Cheney Mansion on Forest Street
- A Cheney Employee House
- A Victorian House
- A Federal Colonial
The tour also will include a silent auction, an artisan boutique at the Charles Cheney Mansion and live music by town troubadour Bill Ludwig, which will include a song he wrote in honor of Bennet. Keropian will present the working clay model of the Bennet statue.
Tickets for the tour can be bought at Woodland Gardens, 168 Woodland St.; Highland Park Market, 317 Highland St.; and Manchester Town Hall, 41 Center St. In advance, tickets are $35. Day-of, they can be bought starting at 10 a.m. at Charles Cheney Mansion, 131 Hartford Road, for $40. manchesterhistory.org.
Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.
