February is Black History Month! At 61 F.D. Oates (formerly Mahl) Avenue in Hartford is a house constructed about 1897. It is one among the many two-family houses on the street constructed by developer Frederick Mahl between 1893 and 1898. The house at No. 61 is notable because it was the home of Marietta Canty (1905–1986), an African American actress who appeared in theater, radio, motion pictures and television from the 1930s to the 1950s. She is best remembered for her roles in such films as Father of the Bride (1950) and Rebel Without a Cause (1955). The house was purchased by her father, Henry Canty, in 1930. Marietta Canty lived in the house after her retirement from acting in 1955 to care for her father. She also continued her social and political activism, for which she received many awards.
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