‘New Canaan There & Then’ is sponsored by Brown Harris Stevens Realtors Bettina Hegel, Joanne Santulli, Dawn Sterner and Pam Stutz.
While many knew Alice King (1890–1979) as an upstanding citizen, proponent of the arts, and talented vocalist, few realized she orchestrated one of New Canaan’s most significant social transformations.
Realizing the housing challenges for minorities and refugees, she welcomed them to stay with her family on their Silvermine property until they could find other opportunities. Most notably, in 1941, Alice bought 12 houses on East Avenue and Cherry Street (then known as Baldwin Avenue) and first rented and then sold homes to Black families. For those who had only a down payment, she provided the financing.
Her progressive vision gave hard-working Black families, who owned their own businesses and attended the Community Baptist Church, access to housing and thus the opportunity to send their children to New Canaan’s excellent public schools. Her efforts not only addressed people’s immediate needs but also laid the crucial groundwork for long-term community development, leaving an enduring legacy that continues to resonate.
King graduated from The Brearley School and the Art Students League in New York City, and moved to New Canaan in 1911 at age 21, upon marrying Clarence King, a professor at Columbia University. The Kings lived on a large property in Silvermine called “Still Pond” with their four children until they moved to Nantucket. They later donated their 21-acre Connecticut residence to the Natural Science for Youth Foundation.
Active on the Board of Public Welfare, vocal proponent of the NAACP, and President of the New Canaan Community Chorus, Alice voiced her support for the civil rights movement in various columns published in the New Canaan Advertiser’s People’s Forum.
King’s community contributions are particularly noteworthy given the era of social upheaval and heightened racial tension in which they occurred. Her first column, published on November 6, 1958, details the 13th annual NAACP tea. She concludes, “This is not an appeal for funds. The work will go on, I know. It is only the expression of an awareness of a great force in our American life, which, if we study it, is sure to widen our horizons.”
This endorsement held a particular significance following the Supreme Court’s decision in NAACP v. Alabama, which protected the organization’s right to operate following the Montgomery Bus Boycotts of 1955-56. King’s public support reminded New Canaanites of the importance of speaking out in defense of equal rights for all Americans.
Nine years later, in April 1967, just 12 months before the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., she published “Racial Crisis,” urging the people of New Canaan to educate themselves about the history of the NAACP, as its reputation faced criticism due to escalating civil unrest:
“I hope all who have heard these false reports about this oldest and most trusted organization for, and of, our colored citizens, will educate themselves in this most vital matter, and lend a helping hand — and pocketbook — in the Fight for Freedom.”
King’s unwavering support for the association and encouragement for her fellow residents to form their own opinions rather than “thoughtlessly repeating rumors,” exemplified her commitment to dignified public service.
In her final published piece three months later, “NAACP Big Here,” she praised the participation of New Canaanites in the organization, boasting the town’s high membership numbers throughout the second Regional District, excluding only major cities. She prompted residents to join, and members to actively engage in the organization’s operations to “work to make our New Canaan branch a year-round organization.”
King’s advocacy was inseparable from her artistic pursuits. A member of the Village Light Opera Company, based in the East Village, her singing voice was described as having “an emotional quality that stirs one profoundly” in a 1934 New Canaan Advertiser article. Her poetry was also recognized when she was elected as a member of the National Poetry Society in 1942.
Her innovative spirit provided a much-needed beacon of hope and stability during turbulent times. As she wisely noted in 1967: “That which benefits one group of our citizens benefits all.”
King’s quiet revolution in New Canaan reminds us of the profound impact one individual can have in shaping a more just and inclusive society. She is featured in the Museum’s “Making a Difference” exhibition in the Jim and Dede Bartlett Center for New Canaan History.
The history of Alice King’s efforts make me proud to be a New Canaanite.
Me too, Susan. Alice King set an example worth aspiring to.
Does anyone remember or can confirm that the great Jackie Robinson wanted to buy a residence on Sunset Hill Rd. next door to my family home, say, around 1956? I was about 11 and always wondered if it was true. I then caught against my boyhood idol in a father/son baseball game at NCCS in 1960.