Adelaide Hoyt Interview (Oral History)

Adelaide Hoyt Interview

16:15

Adelaide Hoyt as a native Danbury resident recollects changes within her neighborhood of 17 Montgomery Street. Casual interview which briefly discusses the different nationalities that emerged after 1960 downtown. Interviewer's name is unknown. According to a 1930 census, Mr. Hoyt was born in Old Lyme, CT (2 Jan 1895) to Franklin Taylor Manent and Julia Augusta Manent. She married Gerald Frederick Hoyt in 1914 at the age of 18, and had three sons together. Mrs. A. Hoyt was a homemaker and then widow. One of her neighbors was Joseph E. Canale, who sat on the Danbury Redevelopment/Danbury Housing Commission/National Association of Housing.

Hoyt, Adelaide, 1895-1989.

Western Connecticut State University

Adelaide Hoyt

0:00-10:00
Highland Ave; Montgomery St.; Name change to road: New St.; Mixture of all types at Mrs. Hoyt’s church at the corner of West St. (First Congregational Church?); Some troubles at St. Joseph’s Church too; Hoyt and Danbury Mayor talk over phone about neighbors-New St. property; Called before to Board of Health; Landlord’s responsibility; Junk out on lawns; Not well kept people; Welfare; Pets uncared for; Hoyt made formal complaint about loud noise; People have changed specially towards the end of the road by West St.; Mrs. Talarico moved; Vas (new neighbors- Portuguese family); Canale; Wilson; Hoyt mentions distinct buildings that are no longer on Highland St./Montgomery St./West St.: corner store, other small house, and a church torn down; New kind-of neighborhood; Not as well-kept; Interact with women who threw cigarette butt waste in front Hoyt's house; Poor land maintenance; All kinds of people; More rental properties; Larger homes made into smaller apartments; Car traffic noise.

10:01-16:15
Mainly small families who lived in neighborhood previously; Discussion on neighborhood family- Robert Talbot; Hoyt used to have nice friends on the street; Close-knit; Nationalities were “old fashioned American people”; Thoughtful and well-mannered; No better than anyone else; But good people; Enjoyed taking care of their homes and had shared ideas and values; Hoyt used to drive up from Brooklyn; Female neighbor worked up until her death at 88 years old at Mallory Hat Factory (Rose Hill Rd.); Would walk back and forth every single morning; Rose and Beaver St.; She was a hat trimmer; Fell down and hospitalized; No other hat factory workers on Montgomery St.; Mr. Talarico; Son owned a car body garage at the corner; Nice neighbors; Nationalities have changed though; Still good people at the end of the Montgomery St.; The street itself is nice.