Kappa Sig member returns to Avery-Downer House

We always say if the walls could talk, what stories they would tell. 

Whispers of the past slip out when walls are opened up to reveal a glass, a bottle, a wadded  up newspaper, or a scrap of fabric. Joined with artifacts --- letters, diaries, photographs --- these clues stitch together stories and stories make history.

And then sometimes, someone comes along to speak first hand and give testament to that history.

A few weeks ago, 88-year-old Irvin Harlamert and his wife, Barbara, walked through the front door of the Avery-Downer House, nearly 70 years after Irvin lived there as a fraternity brother when the house was owned by Denison University’s Kappa Sigma Fraternity.

Top photo: Don Bren, Zeke Ellis and Irvin Harlamert pose in their athletic sweaters with their graduation year, 1952. Bottom photo: Harlamert, Zeke and Don. --- photo courtesy of Harlamert

These were the years when fraternities owned houses in town, scattered here and there. “Students were living all over the Village, in fraternity houses and in rented rooms,” Harlamert said. “I lived in a room in a house on Elm and Pearl for a while before moving into the fraternity house.”

Kappa Sigma bought the house from Phi Gamma Delta, another Denison fraternity in 1930, for $6,000. The Phi Gammas owned the house for 27 years. The Kappa Sigs were proud of the house and their tenure there. “We were aware of the history of the house and tried to maintain it responsibly,” he said, “but I’m certainly more aware now.”  They were also proud of their country. Harlamert was among those fraternity members to enlist in the military when Korean War broke out. He served in a fighter squadron for the Navy for five years.

“When the fraternity bought the house, they hired an interior decorator to bring the furnishings up to the latest style.  They hired an architect to construct a “Chapter Room” below grade and enlarged the dining room over that area to make what we call the Long Room,” said Ann Lowder, director. This room became the fraternity’s dining room.

An exhibit of the Kappa Sig years at RHM shows photographs of fraternity members scrubbing and painting to maintain the house under their care. Shortly after renovations were completed, the house was voted the most beautiful fraternity house in America and published in the national fraternal magazine in the 1930’s.

Harlamert also carved out fond personal memories of his time at the Kappa Sigma House and they spilled out to Lowder, who encountered Irvin and his wife and took them on a tour. “The gift shop room was our dorm and we all slept there every night,” he said as they peered into the room originally built as a woodshed. Long ago completely restored, the space has been home to several shops and  is currently leased to the Just Write stationery shop.

“There could be 30 of us at any one time sleeping in bunk beds,” he said.  “We also had rooms in the house with our clothes and desk and I shared a room upstairs with three other guys.”

“The kitchen was ancient,” he remembers. “But Mrs. Philbrook managed to do all the cooking, three meals a day and all the shopping for the 45 – 50 of us who ate there in the dining room.”

Kappa Sigma owned the house until 1956 when Denison called all fraternities to campus. The Kappa Sigs and other fraternities built houses to create fraternity row. 

During the time Harlamert lived in the Avery- Downer House as a fraternity brother, the house sported a second floor porch. “Some of us would sleep out there in all sorts of weather, rain, snow, noise,” he said. “We didn’t care. It was fun.”

A large Christmas wreath mounted on what was once the second story porch was the brainchild of Harlamert to send holiday greetings to the community. His wife, Barbara, later depicted it in a painting. --- photo courtesy of Harlamert

One day, Irvin decided to reach out to the community from that porch. He oversaw the construction and installation of a two-story Christmas wreath, which his wife, an oil on canvas artist, later depicted. “I’d like to see the museum do that wreath again,” he said wistfully. Irvin met his wife, Barbara, also a Denison graduate, at the house when she was dating a fellow fraternity brother. They didn’t date then, he said, but they later reunited and married just six years ago.           

While the porch brought pleasure to the Kappa Sigs, historical record shows the porch was not original to the house, but added later, around 1870.  It was removed about 20 years ago, Lowder said, as its condition deteriorated.           

After his graduation from Denison in 1952 and law school at Ohio State in 1955, Irvin spent a career in law as a judge for the Oakwood Municipal Court in Dayton He was appointed by the Ohio Supreme Court to serve as bar examiner to test the legal knowledge of incoming law school graduates. He also served as Special Council to the Ohio Attorney General.  He founded a real estate investment business in 1959 with 30 partners that he continues to oversee today.           

As he strolled around the house, he saw the beauty and permanence of its presence. “We took reasonably good care of it in our days, but our fraternity abused the house some I suppose.” Time has brought perspective though, and appreciation.  Irvin says he’ll be back.

What's Blooming?

Volunteers on the move

A group of RHM volunteers traveled together to the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio in Lancaster on June 19 and in return, those at the DACO visited our museum on July 9 to both learn about each other’s passions and to foster mutual relations.

Each year the RHM board sponsors a trip for volunteers, including lunch, said Ann Lowder, director. In the recent past, volunteers have toured Zoar village, Dawes Arboretum and enjoyed tea at the Kelton House in Columbus.

“It’s a great way to show our appreciation for all that they give and to inspire them with the importance of a well-versed docent,” she added.

Shown here from left, Dorothy Garrett, Sharon Bafford, Suzanne Kennedy, Teri Niedermeyer, Rebecca Dungan, Tracey Fleitz, Director Ann Lowder, and Cheryl Moore.

Miller joins RHM Board

The Robbins Hunter Museum welcomes long time Granville resident, Leigh Ann Miller, to its Board of Trustees. Miller is Director of Development at The Dawes Arboretum in Newark.

Leigh Ann values the presence of the museum in the community and wants to assist in its promotion. “Robbins Hunter is an example of beautiful architecture and its history is significant,” she said. “Museums like this add value to a community and enrich the lives of those who visit.”

Miller currently is a member of the Communications Committee for Granville Schools, a board member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Central Ohio Chapter, an alternative for the Licking County Senior Levy, and a member of Newark Rotary.

She is married to Eric Miller and has two sons, Kevin and Ryan.

Pennies add up for RHM

Pennies turn into dollars and dollars turn into financial support for the Robbins Hunter Museum. That’s the goal for the collaboration between RHM and its tenant, Just WRITE, a stationery store committed to preserving the art of correspondence.

The store is located in the room attached to the west side of the Avery-Downer House, a space well known historically as the woodshed, a fraternity dormitory, an antique shop, and then eventually a fully renovated retail space.

The collaborative program began in April and to date, $134.25 has been earned in the Round Up partnership. The program is simple. Make a purchase and when asked if you would like to round up your purchase to the next dollar to benefit the museum, say “YES!” The round up donation goes directly to the Robbins Hunter Museum, says Stefanie Lauvray, owner.

“The museum has been an amazing advocate of the retail store by hosting calligraphy classes once a month in the long room of the museum for Just WRITE customers to attend,” she said. “Coming soon, cursive classes for third and fourth graders.”

In addition to the partnership to revive letter writing, Lauvray notes that Just WRITE features a daffodil collection inspired by local artist Jess Dandurand in honor of the museum's gardens and also carries the Original Girl Boss collection highlighting Victoria Woodhull.  A percentage of the proceeds from both of these collections are also donated to the museum.

“Those pennies really do add up,” says Ann Lowder, director. “Just WRITE is bringing an air of excitement to the museum.”

From the Director...

“….to tell the stories of the people who lived here.”  The mission statement of the Robbins Hunter Museum, adopted five years ago, continues to inspire and enlighten what we do here.  We knew that in 1860, Sylvester Spelman lived here with his middle-aged daughter Charlotte who had been left deaf from a childhood illness. It seemed to us like a rather quiet house with just two adults in residence. A simple trip to the census records for 1860 revealed a much different scenario.  Spelman had married Mary after the death of his first wife. 

Another big surprise was that Reverend Burton, his wife Sarah, and their four children were boarders in the home.  Also we learned that Adeline, a domestic helper, aged 22, from Wales and her three-year-old child, Olive, were residing in the big house on East Broadway. So now we know that these rooms were home to eleven people ranging in age from three years to mid-sixties. That changed how we thought about the way people lived here.  We had confirmation of the help that contributed to the running of the house.

This summer, if you come for a visit, you will see evidence of Adeline’s work.  In the main parlor, one of the gold leaf mirrors is covered in netting to prevent fly specks from attacking the gold leaf. Muslin covers one of the blue velvet loveseats.  Walking into Charlotte’s bedroom, you’ll see a stack of bed linens and nightgowns, all freshly laundered, ironed, and ready to be put away.  A copper bath tub allows docents to interpret the bathing ritual in a day when water had to be pumped from the well, heated on the wood stove, carried to the bathing area, and then the domestic would have helped rinse the bather.

Being able to verify that the Spelmans actually did have help, that the help lived in the house, where they came from and how old they were brings factual information to help interpret the work of running a large home in the Village of Granville in the mid-nineteenth century.

Plan a visit soon to see for yourself how the tour interpretation continues to grow and be enriched by new information.  We are open all summer, Wednesday-Saturday, 1-4 p.m.  Admission is free.