In 1979, as a member of the seminar Remarkable City, Industrial New Haven and the Nation, 1800-1900, I developed a unit entitled,
New Haven and The Nation, 1886-1900: A Social History—Labor, Immigration, Reform.
This unit dealt with the “other side ” of life in the City—the poor, slums, tenements, and problems of the laboring class. This year’s unit covers the life style of the middle and upper class of New Haven. The attitudes, values and beliefs of these people of
The Victorian Age—A People in Search of Themselves as Seen Through Their Architecture.
Today, the Northeast has developed into a heavily populated industrial region with large cities that have become major centers of manufacturing and service related businesses. How and why this region of the United States developed into what it is today is an important idea for students to comprehend.
Between 1820 and 1870 the Northeast region of the United States was transformed from agrarian to industrial. This change profoundly affected all aspects of life in the region. Industrialization developed an unshakable faith in free enterprise, rugged individualism and material progress. In this new industrial age there emerged, in American society, a broad middle class. If one word can be used to express this age it would be MONEY. The new patrons of art and architecture took progress as their creed and architecture as not only the symbol of progress but, a reflection of their status in the social order.
Many in this newly developing middle class had strong feelings about what was “appropriate” architecture. When speaking of home nineteenth century American Victorians were referring to a social institution, a testimony to material progress and family stability. Home, a “House Beautiful”, was considered the foundation of moral development and social values that set the standards for a civilized world. The American dream had become an individually owned home on a nicely landscaped lot. The idea set forth by many was that a home should reflect, not the current status of its inhabitants, but what they hoped to be like in the not to distant future. Tradesmen, clerks, factory workers set aside money for the day when they could move their family into a house in a respectable part of town.
The Victorian Age ( Reign of Queen Victoria of England, 1837-1901 ) does not really refer to a chronological period in history as much as a characteristic that penetrated all of society. The age was called Victorian, what was produced was termed Victorian and the people called themselves Victorians.
When viewing the architecture of the period the term that can best describe the age is “eclecticism”, the liberty to choose from many styles. Victorians felt that they were heirs to all that was beautiful in past styles, therefore they adopted the style or styles they believed best fitted their new economic status in society. As a result of this eclecticism the following styles came and went, overlapping and flowing one into another during the period we call the Victorian Age.
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1820-1860
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1860-1900
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Greek Revival
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Italianate
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Egyptian Revieal
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Second Empire
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Early Gothic Revival
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Victorian Gothic
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Romanesque Revival
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Stick Style
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Italian Villa
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Shingle Style
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Renaissance Revival
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Queen Anne
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Octagon Style
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Richardsonian Romanesque
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Chateauesque
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Beaux Arts
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The New Haven area is rich in Victorian architecture, designed by some of the most renowned architects of the age. The homes of the area reflect the images of the past, giving a distinct character of “place”. “Seeing” architecture in our city for the first time, students can learn to develop an understanding of how architecture reflects the hopes and dreams of the people who lived in the area, making New Haven, and our region, what it is today.
This unit is designed to show the richness of the area’s Victorian past by using the varied styles of architecture as a way of understanding the culture—life style—of the age. By using two types of visual aids, slides of various styles of architecture and a walking tour, I hope students will be stimulated and gain an understanding of the Victorian Age.
