Catharine Sargent Huntington (December 29, 1886 - February 27, 1987)
founded the Barn Experimental Theatre with
Prescott Townsend.Queer Places:
Harvard University (Ivy League), 2 Kirkland St, Cambridge, MA 02138
66 Pinckney St, Boston, MA 02114
Old Hadley Cemetery, 12 Cemetery Rd, Hadley, MA 01035
Catharine Sargent Huntington (December 29, 1886 - February 27, 1987)
founded the Barn Experimental Theatre with
Prescott Townsend.
Catharine Huntington was the only daughter of George and Lilly Huntington. She was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts on December 29, 1887. She grew up in Hanover, New Hampshire.
From 1904 to 1906 she lived at Cedar Square, Roxbury with her aunt Kate Sumner, and attended private school in the Boston area. From 1906 to 1907 she lived in London with brother Constant. In 1911 she graduated from Radcliffe College. Starting from 1911 she taught English at a boarding school in Connecticut. In 1914 she spent the summer in Europe. From 1915 to 1916 she lived in Middlebury, Connecticut. In 1919 she was in France, working with the YMCA. In 1922 she helped to found the Boston Stage Society. From the 1920s to the 1970s she lived at 66 Pinckney Street, Boston. In 1927 she was arrested at demonstration against Sacco and Vanzetti's execution. In 1938 she founded the New England Repertory Theater on Joy Street in Boston. In 1940 she founded the Provincetown Playhouse with Edwin Pettit and Virginia Thoms. In 1965 she won the Rodgers and Hammerstein award for "having done the most in the Boston area for the American theater." In 1977 the Provincetown Playhouse burned by arson.
Catharine Huntington was affiliated with other theaters, including the Peabody Playhouse, the Brattle Theater, the Tributary Theater, and the Poet's Theater. She also had a strong interest in gardening. Her Pinckney Street garden was included in a book on Beacon Hill gardens. She loved her garden in Hadley and kept it up for many years.
In the 1980s she lived at Sherrill House in Boston. In 1983 she was recognized, on her 97th birthday, by Gov. Michael Dukakis and the Massachusetts Legislature for her contributions to American theater.
She died on February 27, 1987, at the age of 99. Catharine donated the bulk of her papers to the Harvard Theater Collection and the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe.
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