Biography
Sarah Alden Derby Gannett, daughter of Ethel Carow Roosevelt and granddaughter of Theodore Roosevelt, moved to Brattleboro in 1946 after marrying Robert Gannett, who was a lawyer and eventually a well known Vermont State Senator. Together, they had three children.
Sarah was warmly known by all as "Aldie". Throughout her life, she contributed immensely to both Brattleboro area institutions and Vermont organizations, including the Vermont Folklife Center.
Her "great pleasure and great interest" was the Winston Prouty Center for Preschool Handicapped Children in Brattleboro, which provides early training for disabled children. She also worked with Planned Parenthood and the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center. She helped found the Brattleboro Music Center in the 1940's.
"Aldie" Gannett led the effort to save portions of Vermont's Long Trail by creating an awareness of the importance of preserving the land around it and by raising thousands of dollars to buy the abutting land of approximately 60 miles of its length. She personally hiked its entire 265 mile length.
She was appointed to the Governor's Conference on the Future of Vermont's Heritage in 1982.
On Monday, September 22, 2003, a reception was held at the Theodore Roosevelt Gallery in the Pusey Library at Harvard to mark the donation, by the family of the late Sarah Alden Derby Gannett, of Theodore Roosevelt's famous "Pigskin Library" to the Theodore Roosevelt Collection at Harvard.Education
Honorary JD, University of VermontOccupation
Community Organizer