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Elizabeth Park rose garden named for Helen S Kaman

Mrs. Kaman served as the first president of the newly formed organization that today operates and manages all the gardens and the greenhouses at the Park.
Credit: FOX61

HARTFORD, Conn — The Elizabeth Park Conservancy in Hartford announced Monday that the rose garden in the park will be named for Helen S Kaman. 

The Conservancy was formed in 1977 as the Friends of Elizabeth Park, to save the historic rose garden from almost certain demolition. The Conservancy says that Mrs. Kaman served as the first president of the newly formed organization that today operates and manages all the gardens and the greenhouses at the Park. 

Christine Doty, the current President & CEO of the Conservancy, said, “The Conservancy is thrilled to be able to honor Helen S Kaman, an extraordinary individual who was instrumental in saving our famous and beloved rose garden. We are grateful to the Kaman Foundation for this generous gift in her honor.”

According to the Conservancy, in 1894, Charles Pond donated his estate to the City of Hartford to be named a public park in honor of his wife, Elizabeth. 

In 1897, the City of Hartford hired Theodore Wirth as the Park’s first superintendent who designed the overall park and installed the roses garden in 1904. It is the first public rose garden in the country, according to the Conservancy. 

By the mid-1970s, the Conservancy was formed and led by Helen S Kaman, who the Conservancy says found the resources necessary to “save” the park.

 Today, the rose garden is over two and a half acres and has over 15,000 rose bushes and arches. It is the third-largest public rose garden in the country and is a top tourist attraction in the state of Connecticut.

According to the Conservancy, Helen was an artist, engineer, and community leader of many talents and interests. She received her BFA at Edinboro College and became a certified aeronautical engineer at Penn State University in 1944. 

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She came to Hartford to work for United Technologies, doing design work on a new helicopter for Sikorsky Aircraft. It was there that she met Charles Kaman. 

After the war, they quit their jobs and began the new company, Kaman Aircraft, and were pioneers in the helicopter industry. She served on the boards of Watkinson School and the Hartford Art School. 

Helen reportedly had a keen interest in horticulture. The Conservancy says she understood the importance of urban public parks as a place for people of all backgrounds to gather, to get away from life’s problems, and to enjoy nature and outdoor beauty. 

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