Julia Cox Bryant
Julia Cox Bryant | |
|---|---|
 Julia Cox Bryant, from the 1917 yearbook of Vassar College | |
| Born | June 25, 1893 Cohasset, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | May 21, 1967 (age 73) Durham, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Educator, philanthropist, musician |
Julia Cox Bryant (June 25, 1893 – May 21, 1967) was an American educator, musician, philanthropist, and "eccentric". She was from a prominent New England family and an alumna of Vassar College, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and Radcliffe College. She was a preschool teacher in Durham, Connecticut, for many years before her murder in 1967. A memorial fund in her name supports musical events and education in Durham.
Early life and education
[edit]Bryant was born in Cohasset, Massachusetts, the daughter of William Sohier Bryant and Martha Lyman Cox Bryant. Her father was a Harvard-trained surgeon and ear specialist, who was a veteran of the Spanish–American War and World War I.[1][2] Her brother-in-law Fessenden Blanchard was a noted platform tennis player.[3][4]
She graduated from Vassar College in 1917.[5] She earned a degree in music from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1920,[6] and earned a master's degree at Radcliffe College in 1924.[7] She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.[8]
Career
[edit]Bryant taught music at Denison University in 1921 and 1922, after completing her Oberlin Conservatory degree.[9] She commuted by horseback when she taught school in Kentucky.[10] She taught school in Concord, Massachusetts, and was the first teacher at the Durham Co-operative Nursery School in Connecticut.[11][12] She encouraged nature study in her students, taking children for long walks or driving them on field trips to study plants and wildlife.[13] As a tribute in 1965, the Durham Cooperative Nursery-Kindergarten Association held a tea in Bryant's honor, and presented her with a typewriter and "a scholarship which she may personally award to a child entering kindergarten."[12]
Bryant was a skilled musician and a member of the American Guild of Organists.[14] She played piano at a meeting at Harvard University in 1924.[15]
Personal life
[edit]Bryant supported several foster sons, and took some of them on a 900-mile bicycle trip in Europe. She took a teenaged niece on a cross-country road trip.[10]
Bryant was attacked and killed in her bed in 1967, at the age of 73, in her Durham, Connecticut, home.[8][16] One of her foster sons was charged but acquitted in the case, which remained unsolved as of 2025. Bryant's grand-niece Leslie Ware wrote a biography of her, Dear Miss Bryant: The Life and Murder of a Remarkable Eccentric (2021).[10] The Julia C. Bryant Memorial Fund sponsored local concerts,[13] and supported Coginchaug Regional High School music students with scholarships and instrument purchases, into the 21st century.[11][17]
References
[edit]- ^ "William Sohier Bryant papers, 1861-1957". R Stanton Avery Special Collections Department, New England Historic Genealogical Society. Retrieved 2025-05-02.
- ^ "Dr. William Sohier Bryant Dies at 95; Ear Specialist Practiced Here 38 Years". The New York Times. 1956-06-27. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-02.
- ^ "Blanchard, Fessenden S." Platform Tennis Museum and Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2025-05-02.
- ^ "Fessenden Blanchard Is Dead; Industrial Consultant Was 75; Leader in Textile Field Also Wrote on Yachting Helped to Invent Paddle Tennis". The New York Times. 1963-11-11. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-02.
- ^ Vassar College, Vassarion (1917 yearbook); via Internet Archive.
- ^ Oberlin College (1927). Bulletin. p. 386.
- ^ Radcliffe College (1924). Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer. p. 31.
- ^ a b "Funeral Planned for Victim of Durham Slaying". Hartford Courant. 1967-05-22. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-05-02 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Denison University, "The Faculty of Instruction" Annual Catalogue (1921–1922): 10.
- ^ a b c Valluzzo, Andrea. "From free-spirited teacher to unsolved mystery: Durham celebrates Julia C. Bryant's legacy" Middletown Press (October 14, 2024).
- ^ a b "Miss Bryant: A Woman Way Ahead of her Time". Hartford Courant. 2001-05-28. Retrieved 2025-05-02.
- ^ a b "Teacher Gets to Award New Scholarship". Hartford Courant. 1965-06-29. p. 58. Retrieved 2025-05-03 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Snow, John B. (1992-07-08). "Jazz concert may bring some haunting melodies". Hartford Courant. p. 28. Retrieved 2025-05-02 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Organists, American Guild of (1915). Year Book. The Guild.
- ^ "Professor Hocking to Talk at P. B. H." The Harvard Crimson. March 8, 1924. Retrieved 2025-05-03.
- ^ "Connecticut Hunts Teacher Strangler". The Boston Globe. 1967-05-23. p. 14. Retrieved 2025-05-02 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Hayes, Michael (2012-06-14). "Coginchaug High School Scholarship Recipients". Durham-Middlefield, CT Patch. Retrieved 2025-05-03.