Hampden Garden Club seeks $50K to finish restoring hall where Susan B. Anthony spoke

HAMPDEN, Maine (WABI) - The Hampden Garden Club needs to raise $50,000 to finish restoring Harmony Hall, where Susan B. Anthony spoke to the Maine Woman Suffrage Association in 1898.

Anthony played a role in women’s suffrage that led to the 19th Amendment. More than a century has passed since women were granted the right to vote. According to the most recent census data, women make up more than half of all registered voters in Maine.

A church, then a suffrage meeting place

Harmony Hall was built as a Universalist church and dedicated in 1828. It remained a church for about 60 years before the Maine Woman Suffrage Association took it over.

In 1898, the group welcomed Anthony to the hall.

“The famous suffragette Susan B. Anthony spoke here,” said Valerie Emerson, team leader for the Hampden Garden Club.

According to local history, the crowd overflowed.

“There was one note that we have from a gentleman who listened to her talk,” says Emerson. “He said that she was a tiny old lady who probably shouldn’t be traveling by herself, but she was a fiery speaker.”

Garden club takes over the hall

Harmoney Hall sat empty for a time after that. In the late 1930s, it was donated to the Hampden Garden Club, which began hosting flower shows there.

“Their first big flower show had 500 people,” says Emerson. “People walked to the flower show, they came by horse and buggy. It was absolutely the in thing to do.”

The Hampden Garden Club took ownership of the hall in 1966.

“There’s a beautiful bell tower up there with a Paul Revere marked bell in our foundry,” notes Emerson. “And the bell does ring.”

The hall has a performance stage with dressing rooms on either side. There is a painted mural that covers the back wall of the stage. It is believed to have been painted in the 1930s.

“And legend says that after the play was chosen and the mural was done, some of the ladies complained because the play was too risque, so they didn’t do it,” says Emerson, smiling.

Restoration work and fundraising

The nearly 200-year-old building requires ongoing maintenance.

“A couple of years ago, part of our ceiling fell in. So last year we had the roof repaired. This year we’ve had attic work, we’ve had sub-flooring work, we’ve had electrical work,” said Emerson. “The painters just finished up.”

The club launched a capital campaign for the final phase of restoration.

“Right now, we need to raise another $50,000,” says Emerson.

The club wants to complete the restoration in time for the hall’s 200th celebration in 2028. And they’d like to see Harmony Hall become a community hub once again.

There is a small kitchen and a working bathroom in the hall. They also have banquet tables, tablecloths and chairs.

“It could be used for a game day, for a movie night, for yoga classes, for craft classes, for just about anything you can think of, ” says Emerson.

How to donate

Donations can be made at hampdengardenclub.org. The club also can be found on Facebook as Hampden Garden Club at Harmony Hall.