In 1979, when Robbins Hunter, Jr. died, he left his splendid Greek Revival home and its contents to be a museum. As an antique collector and dealer, Hunter’s home was literally packed to the ceiling with items he had spent a lifetime collecting. To establish an endowment for the museum’s future, he also directed that properties he owned in Granville and elsewhere in Licking County be sold.
John David Jones, executor of Hunter’s estate, would spend the next ten years of his life fulfilling Hunter’s wishes. He began by gathering his friends and fellow businessmen in Granville into a committee that would become the Board of Governors. One of these, Buck Sargent, was a master at talking his friends, family, and co-workers into volunteering their help. One of the first tasks at hand was to clean out the contents of the museum, determine what should be kept and what should be sold, and then to begin renovating and repairing the building.
By 1982, the Robbins Hunter Museum began giving tours. The very first docent to lead one was Dorothy Garrett. A retired teacher, Dorothy had learned about the collections and house by serving on the committee that Sargent had formed. A historian first and foremost, Dorothy loved telling the stories of the house through time. “I believe telling people about their heritage and past enhances my own life,” she said recently. “When you are a docent, you can have a conversation about the past but you can also bring that conversation forward. You can find out about what people like and their own past experiences and build.”
In the mid-1980s, Dorothy took a break from Robbins Hunter Museum and began training to be a docent at the Columbus Museum of Art. She discovered that the Columbus institution wasn’t too concerned about what she knew about art, they were more interested in her ability to communicate well with people. “They train you about the collections – weekly classes for a year! But they wanted their docents to be able to tell the story of the art and engage visitors in the experience. I learned a lot from that.”
In 2006, Dorothy moved to Kendal and began volunteering again at the Robbins Hunter Museum. She no longer leads tours, but she remains an active presence at events. “The Robbins Hunter Museum is a neat place,” she said. “I believe in the importance of art. Just as music is best appreciated live, so is art.”
Visit the Robbins Hunter Museum Wed-Sat from 1pm-4pm through Dec 28, and during special holiday events. Who knows…you may be lucky enough to find Dorothy here too!