New Century Club (Wilmington, Delaware)
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The Delaware Children's Theatre (DCT) is a community theatre in
Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
, United States. The theatre company occupies the historic New Century Club building.


Theatre company

Originally named the Children's Repertory Theatre of Wilmington, the organization began in 1973 with their first production of ''
Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...
''. The organization relies on volunteers for all acting and nearly all support positions as a community theater. To cover operating expenses, DCT sells tickets and receives state support through the Delaware Division of the Arts.
Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...
winner
John Gallagher, Jr. John Howard Gallagher Jr. (born June 17, 1984) is an American actor and musician best known for originating the role of Moritz Stiefel in the 2006 rock musical ''Spring Awakening (musical), Spring Awakening'', which earned him a Tony Award for Be ...
initially played Tom Sawyer as a child actor at the theatre before going on to
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
.


New Century Club

The Theatre occupies the historic New Century Club building. The organization constructed the building in 1893 and occupied it until 1975. The Delaware Dinner Theatre and Delaware Ballet Company then used the building until 1982 when DCT moved in.
Minerva Parker Nichols Minerva Parker Nichols (May 14, 1863 – 1949) was an architect from the United States who in 1889 became the first woman to operate an independent architectural practice in the United States. She designed at least eighty known buildings, which ...
of Philadelphia, an early female architect, designed the
Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...
building with
Palladian window Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
s and a
gambrel A gambrel or gambrel roof is a usually symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side. (The usual architectural term in eighteenth-century England and North America was "Dutch roof".) The upper slope is positioned at a shallow angle, w ...
roof. While serving partly as a clubhouse, it also held a theatre which was used for traveling shows as well as civic speakers, including future president
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
and birth control advocate
Margaret Sanger Margaret Higgins Sanger (born Margaret Louise Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966), also known as Margaret Sanger Slee, was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. Sanger popularized the term "birth control ...
. The structure is listed as 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 ...
and recognized as being an active place for the women's rights movement. The New Century Club was a
progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...
upper class women's group dedicated to social improvement and charity as well as
women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
. Notable members of the Club included Emily P. Bissell, a Red Cross campaigner against tuberculosis who has a state hospital named after her, and Emalea Pusey Warner, who successfully campaigned for public vocational education and has a local elementary school named in her honor. Other New Century women's clubs formed nearby in
Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...
and
Newark, Delaware Newark ( )Not as in Newark, New Jersey. is a small city in New Castle County, Delaware, New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It is located west-southwest of Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington. According to the 2010 United States Census, ...
, as well as in Kennett Square, West Chester, and Chester, Pennsylvania.


See also

*
New Century Club (Utica, New York) The New Century Club is located at 253 Genesee Street in Utica, New York. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in September, 1985. It is architecturally significant for its Greek Revival architecture, once characteristic of thi ...
*
Grand Opera House (Wilmington, Delaware) The Grand Opera House, also known as The Grand or Masonic Hall and Grand Theater, is a 1,208-seat theater for the performing arts in Wilmington, Delaware, United States. The four-story building was built in 1871 by the Delaware Grand Lodge of Mason ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Wilmington, Delaware This is a list of properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Wilmington, Delaware: For reasons of size, the listings in New Castle County are divided into three lists: those in Wilmington, other listings in northern New Cas ...


References


External links


Official Delaware Children's Theatre Website

NRHP Site Listing with Photo
{{authority control Arts organizations established in 1973 Buildings and structures in Wilmington, Delaware Children's theatre Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Delaware Colonial Revival architecture in Delaware Cultural infrastructure completed in 1893 National Register of Historic Places in Wilmington, Delaware Theatre companies in Delaware Theatres in Delaware Tourist attractions in Wilmington, Delaware Women in Delaware Women's clubhouses in the United States