A Place in Naugatuck History: Who Was Theodate Pope Riddle?

Effie Brooks Pope, the only child of Alfred and Ada Pope, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on Feb 2, 1867.

Her quick wit and strong will quickly set her apart. Early in her schooling, she could be counted on to argue with the material presented and persistently disagree with her teachers.

At the same time, she sought their attention and approval, hoping to fill a void left unintentionally by her parents.

Her father Alfred Pope was busy building his career at Cleveland Malleable Iron Co., a company John Howard Whittemore, a famous Naugatuck philanthropist, had helped fuel with his investment and know how. This is where the two families became acquainted and continued a close friendship for the rest of there lives.

Theodate stated in her memoirs some 70 years later the following,

“I was born at midnight of February 2nd and 3rd - arriving before I was needed and greatly to my mother's resentment. In the two years following, mother deliberately brought on two miscarriages and as a very small child, one of my earliest memories is hearing her tell my father that she would not bear a child for him every year.”

She went on to say,

“I have no memory at all of ever sitting in my mother's lap. My father was so occupied with affairs that I was fifteen years old before he realized he was losing his child.”

At age 19, Effie took the name of her grandmother Theodate, meaning “Gods Gift.”

She stated that they shared the same drive to “see clearer into the invisible, spiritual part of this life," and "wanted to satisfy herself in regard to the hereafter."

It was at this time that her father suggested she take up architecture, given the significant talent she seemed to possess for art and design.

When their search for the proper school brought them to Miss Porter's School for Young Ladies in Farmington, Conn., Theodate was smitten with the architecture of the buildings that lined Main Street. She looked forward to attending a school with such tasteful surroundings. She had always had an aversion to the industrial and urban settings that were quickly transforming cities.

She dreamed of having a farmhouse in the country and nurturing orphaned children in need of the love that perhaps she felt was denied her.

Her time at Miss Porter’s was well spent and the personnel there would remain a special part of Theodate’s life, especially a woman by the name of Mary Hillard.

Mary was just 5 years older than Theo but mentored her in matters of reading and moral issues, giving her the individual attention she longed for.

In Oct. of 1888, the Pope family joined by Howard Whittemore’s son Harris and others embarked on a yearlong tour of Europe. It was on the early part of this trip that Harris tried to woo Theodate into marriage. Theo saw marriage as an end to her dreams, desires and felt she was at a crossroad where she must decide what her life’s work would be.

She had battled depression most of her young life but this event caused her such trauma, she was prescribed a medicinal tonic and electric shock treatment by a Paris doctor.

Harris however, continued to be a valued part of the Pope family and Theo would go on to cherish their friendship until his death.

Theo and her father drew quite close on this trip and spent countless hours visiting salons and galleries in search for paintings and art pieces to bring home.

They visited John Kavanaugh at a Paris salon who was working on a portrait of the deceased Howard Whittemore, Harris’ younger brother. John had given Theo painting lessons back in the states and the group, including Harris, gleaned wisdom from John as Harris choose paintings for the Whittemore’s Church Street home in Naugatuck.

Theo and her Dad shared a love for Monet and bought two of his paintings Haystacks, White Frost and Rochers a Belle-Ile.

This trip also heightened her desire to design her own farmhouse. During their visits to England, she sketched her ideas and inspirations from the countryside, a window here, a fireplace there.

As her trip winded down she wrote, “Hope is very lovely in its place but if I do not also act I shall wake some morning to find myself middle aged and sorrowing because I have not tried to make the world I touch a little better.”

When the family returned to their home on the wealthy Euclid Street in Cleveland, Theo’s thoughts returned to Farmington, Conn. and dreams of her farmhouse.

In September 1890, with her parents financial backing and blessing, Theo set out to find a home there. With the help of Mary Hillard, she choose what was know as the Daniel Judd House on High Street in Farmington, just down the road from Miss Porters.

Built around 1725, it was in need of the work and updating that Theo was only so happy to give. She named it the O’Rourkery after her landlord Jimmie O’Rourke who had a penchant for drinking.

She continued to expand the property, adding a second house for her parents and servants. By the late 1900’s Theo had convinced her parents, perhaps with some help from John Whittemore, to retire in Farmington and secured a site for them behind her house. She drew up designs and with the assistance of McKim, Mead & White, Hill-Stead was born. She designed the interior around their extensive painting collection. Whistler, Monet, Degas and Manet still grace the walls to this day.

The outside was done in Colonial Revival with whispers of southern charm and complete with a Guernsey herd which produced the highest quality of milk and butterfat.

This self-taught architect had found her calling but suffered from exhaustion at the end of her projects. In her diary she writes:

“For years I have been keen on architecture and felt that the ugliness of our buildings actually menaced my happiness and felt breathlessly that I must help in the cause of good architecture. But I have wrung my soul dry in that direction over father's house (Hill-Stead).... And now I find that my material world is losing its power to please or harm me.”

She eventually found her strength and went on to design Westover School in Middlebury for which her dear friend Mary Hillard would be the Headmistress. It was influenced one again by her trips abroad and praised several years after it had opened for being the best girl’s school in America from an architectural point of view.

Locally some of her other designs include Highfield in Middlebury, Conn., now the Highfield Golf Course, Avon Old Farms School for boys which was her pride and joy and Hop Brook School to name a few.

Harris Whittemore commissioned Hop Brook School for the children of foreign laborers in the Union City section of Naugatuck. This appealed to Theo’s desire to help the less fortunate creating a warm and loving environment for the children to learn.

She added a fireplace to create a cozy atmosphere and a separate entrance for the kindergartners with the letters ABC over the entrance.

It seemed it was the death of her father in 1913 that fueled her desire to live her life with an intensified purpose.

She jumped into her professional world more aggressively and in 1914, adopted a two-year-old boy named Gorden Brockaway. She hired a couple to care for him, sharing time with him as she could teaching him drawing and enjoying his playful character.

She was devastated when two years later, the boy died of polio.

Her continued interest since her youth in physic phenomena led her to a trip on the Lusitania joined by her maid and Edwin Friend, who wrote articles about séances in Farmington and along with his wife, was helping Theo form a new psychical organization.

On the day of sailing, warnings were posted that the Germans had warned ships near the British Isles would be considered targets. As the ship entered the war zone near southern Ireland, a torpedo made a direct hit. Theo and her companions put on life belts and jumped into the icy waters. In 18 minutes the ship had disappeared into the water, her companions did not survive.

Theo was struck in the head, at times coming in and out of consciousness as she floated among the wreckage.

Her body was the last to be pulled from the water with the use of boat hooks and she was presumed dead. She was described as a sack of cement, stiff with salt water. A fellow passenger on the rescue boat, Belle Naish, thought she saw Theo’s eyelids move and pleaded with the crew to try to resituate her. Their efforts worked though she remained unconscious.

One thousand, one hundred ninety eight passengers drowned that day, leaving Theo wondering later why she survived. She was quoted as saying, “I truly believe there was no one on the ship who valued life as little as I do.”

When Theodate returned to Farmington after her ordeal, she had thrown herself into her dream of building a boy’s school. Every aspect of her design was meticulous from the building itself to the type of education she would provide. This building was to be a memorial to her father and anything less than perfection in her eyes was not acceptable.

She described her creative process once in this way, “I saw buildings completely surround the Village Green at Avon - none of which existed at the time. They began moving, coming forward and receding, shifting slightly and finally one of them backed off. I eventually omitted that building in my drawings. Of course there is great joy in this which can never be brought out by any effort.”

She also surprised everyone by marrying John Wallance Riddle. He was a gentleman in every way, displaying great intelligence and supportive of her many projects.

The spring of 1920, Theo received word that her mother, visiting California at the time, was ill. Theo and John left to be by her side but she had a heart attack and died before they reached her on their fourth wedding anniversary.

Work continued on the boy’s school and on September 27, 1927 after a massive building project and copious amounts of red tape from all sides, Avon Old Farms was ready to welcome the first students.

Theo and John continued to travel extensively touring Korea, Japan and China. Sandra Katz mentions in her book about the life of Theodate that they were trusted confidants, John referring to Theo as "Dearest of Geniuses” and referring to himself as “Your devoted Old Faithful.”

On December 7, 1941 , the day President Roosevelt declared war on Japan, John collapsed at Hill-Stead from sudden heart failure and died. He was 77 years old.

By May of 1943, with a financial deficit and dissention among the staff, Avon Old Farms School for boys closed.

In June of 1944, Theo turned the building over to the army and the school was converted into the Old Farms Convalescent Hospital for blinded veterans. Theo was thrilled with the activity at the school, which received national attention but she always vowed to see it return to its original intention. In 1948 the school re-opened again.

In 1946, Theo’s health began to decline with cystitis and a kidney problem. At 3 am on August 1946, Theodate Pope Riddle took her last breath.

In the end it was her charitable deeds that out weighted her architectural career, at least in her eyes. Raising two more foster boys after the death of Gordon, her fight for woman’s rights by example, and spending her inheritance and a third of her life creating and maintaining Avon Old Farms School for Boys.

She fought through endless bouts of depression and hopelessness to achieve her dreams.

She noted in her diary the first summer spent in Hill-Stead the following,

“I can now say we are leading the life I have meant we should if it was ever possible. A large simple home to receive our guests in - and the right kind of guests and leisure to live in, I want my head in the spiritual world and my hands in this one to help others."

Until next week when we find another place in history, why not take a journey into Theodate's world with a visit to Hill-Stead Museum. You will experience the breathtaking impressionist paintings first hand and even see Theo's favorite parakeet, still on its perch in the kitchen.

Credits: Dearest of Geniuses A life of Theodate Pope Riddle by Sandra L. Katz ; Theodate Pope Riddle, Her Life and Architecture by Sharon Dunlap Smith, Hill-Stead Museum