Name/Title
Rosalind H. (Sturges) Allen CollectionEntry/Object ID
2022.2Description
“Upon occasion, at the dinner table, my father would rise and announce: “Children, your mother is a remarkable woman” - and indeed she was.
Born in 1907, Rosalind (Ros) was the daughter of an architect. She grew up in Bristol, RI, graduated from Vassar College, married Philemon Sturges, and they had 4 children. Hers was a full and very busy life.
My dad, an Episcopalian minister, inherited his father’s summer home at 46 Hubbardston Road in the early 40s and thereafter, each summer, we would return to this lovely town. How she managed to raise a family and be involved in Dad’s various parishes over the years, as well as produce a myriad of drawings and maps, is amazing. Yes, she was a remarkable woman.
Art was in her DNA. Her father was an architect, as was her brother and, eventually, her son, Phil. Her love of architecture is evident in many of the drawings exhibited here. She loved this town; it’s architecture and its natural beauty. Old barns and stately trees caught her attention. Two of the many maps she did over the years are of Princeton, one from 1940 and one from 1987. Much of her work is now in the collection of Vassar, her alma mater.
She loved this town, both as a summer resident and later full-time resident, when she and her husband retired. During those latter years she served the town through the Historical Society, Wachusett House (she was one of the founders) and even as one of the proprietors of The Princeton Pedlars.
After my father’s death in 1975, she moved to the little house at 34 Hubbardston Road. A few years later, she married Dana Allen. She came to love that house. One room was dedicated to her drawing table. Clearly, she never lost her love of drawing! In fact, she did a drawing on the last day of her life in February, 1999.”
Ronny Sturges Waters (daughter)
Charlottesville, VA