The Marietta Canty House is a historic house at 61 Mahl Avenue in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

. Built about 1897, this Queen Anne style house is notable as the home of singer and

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

activist

Marietta Canty Marietta Canty (September 30, 1905 – July 9, 1986) was an American actress, community activist and recipient of numerous humanist awards. Personal life and social engagement Marietta Canty was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the daughter of M ...

(1905–1986). It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2000.

Description and history

The Marietta Canty House stands in a residential area in Hartford's Clay-Arsenal neighborhood, north of the downtown. It is on the south side of Mahl Avenue, just east of its junction with Bethel Avenue. It is one of a row of similar vernacular Queen Anne two-family houses built by developer Frederick Mahl between 1893 and 1897. It is a -story wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof and exterior clad in vinyl siding. It is two bays wide, with a formerly two-story (now single-story) porch sheltering the entrance on the right bay. Although the building is not architecturally distinguished, its interior retains original finishes and materials, including staircases, trim, gas lighting fixtures, and fireplaces. The house was purchased in 1930 by Mary and Henry Canty. Henry Canty, who worked as a janitor for the city, was a prominent member of Hartford's African American community, a devout Christian attending Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and an active canvasser for the Republican Party. He was also a prominent community activist, helping to organize community clubs for African Americans when the local

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

would not admit them, and helping to run Camp Bennett, a summer camp for urban youth in

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

. Canty's daughter Marietta appeared on stage on Broadway and elsewhere, and had more than 40 film roles, including parts in '' Rebel without a Cause'', '' The Bad and the Beautiful'' and '' Lady in the Dark''. Her typical film role was that of a domestic servant. She ended her acting career in 1951, and returned to Hartford, where she was active in community affairs and politics. She was twice a candidate for Hartford's city council. The house was added to the

in 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canty, Marietta, House Houses in Hartford, Connecticut Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Queen Anne architecture in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Hartford, Connecticut

Description and history

See also

References