After 28 years of exemplary leadership at the Wilton Historical Society (WHS), Marilyn Gould stepped down as its director this past April 1. The board of trustees and friends honored her contributions with a gathering on March 29.
“It has been a wonderful and productive time at the society, but now I am moving on to other things,” said Gould, from an office she has rented at 414 Olmstead Hill Road and Route 7.
Gould and her family moved to Connecticut in 1976, and, as she later wrote, she found the Wilton of the 1970s a “comfortable small town with a good mix of economic diversity and housing types.”
Gould worked at WHS as a volunteer administrative board member beginning in 1976 and by 1985 had served as president and director. In 1985, Gould became a paid director at WHS and led a major expansion of the society facilities and promoted the WHS benefit antiques shows that became nationally recognized.
Gould has also volunteered her time as a member of the Wilton board of selectmen, serving from 1989 until 2007, and on the Planning and Zoning Commission from 1979 and 1989, serving as chairman for four years during that period. She is currently once again a member of the commission and is also serving on the Wilton Charter Revision Committee. A testament to her recognition and popularity comes via her campaign bumper stickers, that simply proclaimed “Marilyn” and the year of the election.
Early on in her involvement at WHS, Gould championed the expansion and improvement of the WHS headquarters, located at that time in the Sloan-Raymond-Fitch house at 249 Danbury Road. The historic preservation of Wilton’s unique character, developing WHS into one of the premier societies in the state, and conducting successful benefit antiques shows became a primary focus for her.
“In 1985, I decided to improve or get rid of our faltering antiques show,” she said of the small WHS benefit show that had struggled for many years. “I couldn’t get anybody to take it over and said ‘how hard could it be,’ so I went on the road to see what a good antiques show was and to meet the dealers.”
In 1986, the first of Gould’s antiques shows premiered, an event that she still takes pride in today. “Looking back at the pictures that we took that year, I am amazed at the quality of the show and impressed that there was so much great merchandise available. It just blossomed from there,” she said.
That same year, Gould started a crafts show, which struggled for several years until she incorporated reproduction craftsman furnishings into the mix and the show took off †surpassing the Wilton Antiques Show from an attendance standpoint in 1990.
Gould’s insights in historical matters and preservation have influenced many decisions by various town boards, building committees, preservationists and local citizenry.
During the 1980s, the WHS properties underwent major changes under Gould’s direction. The Lambert House complex at 150 Danbury Road was developed to include two historic barns, a Nineteenth Century general store, the former Wilton railroad station, a Lambert cottage and a privy. All of these historic buildings were not only moved onto the site to be preserved, but also became self-sustaining through “adaptive use.”
Gould’s concept of adaptive use, made popular in Wilton through her political sway, permits renovated historic properties to achieve self-sufficiency through income from rental tenants.
In 1989, through Gould’s initiative and guidance, the society received a grant from the Connecticut Historical Commission and engaged an architectural historian to survey and compile records of more than 300 Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Wilton homes, a resource that has since proven invaluable to many property owners and researchers.
During the early 1990s, it became evident that the proposed widening of Route 7 (Danbury Road) would take land directly through the middle of the Eighteenth Century Fitch House, which had been designated on the National Trust of Historic Properties.
Gould began several years of negotiations with the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT), during which she proved that the state was financially responsible for the relocation and full renovation of the historic house. The house was moved on a trailer to its new home at the WHS complex at 224 Danbury Road †with a bagpiper leading the procession, followed by Gould and other WHS members, and, then the historic house itself. Established on its new foundation, the Fitch House now anchors the WHS headquarters and museum complex.
Gould continued to lead the historical society, which further expanded, by adding the relocated Abbott Barn and Blacksmith Shop to the society’s museum. In 2005, she again successfully negotiated with the state, this time to acquire the property, which resulted in renovation of two barns and a blacksmith shop, making Cannon Corners the latest adaptive use site owned by WHS.
Gould also researched and developed a series of successful exhibits at the WHS museum, including comprehensive exhibitions on hooked rugs, quilts, toys, mocha ware, flags and “Lincoln and the Civil War,” currently on view at WHS.
Over the years, Gould has managed a plethora of antiques shows, including the DAR Wilton Antiques Show, the Wilton Outdoors Antiques Show, the Berkshire Gardens Show in Stockbridge, Mass., the Hancock Shaker Village Antiques Show, the Hancock Shaker Village Craft Show and craft shows conducted for Winterthur, the Delaware Historical Society and Strawbery Banke.
She will continue running the antiques shows and craftsman shows, for which she is well known. To date, four events are on her calendar, including the Wilton Summer Antiques Show, a Wilton Crafts Fair, the Delaware Antiques Show and the December Wilton Holiday Antiques Show.
Looking back on her career, Gould commented that her most satisfying accomplishment was “transforming a dull little country show with no amenities into a highly regarded quality event” and “moving the museum and establishing a handsome museum complex” that will be around to educate people interested in history for years to come.
For Antiques and The Arts Weekly, the most satisfying part of Marilyn Gould’s career has been the privilege of working with her for three-plus decades and watching her advance the antiques trade, not only in lower Fairfield County, but nationally.
Marilyn can be reached at her office at 203-834-9607 or at her home, 203-762-3525.
