Derby’s Cohen Family has been selected to receive the 2012 Dr. John Ireland Howe Award by The Derby Historical Society’s Annual Appeal Reception on Nov 19 at Grassy Hill Lodge, Derby.
The Dr. John Ireland Howe Award is presented to an individual, group, firm, corporation, business or industry whose presence has consistently benefitted one or more communities in the Valley region in the spirit of its namesake.
Dr. John I. Howe, who resided on Caroline Street in Derby, was a founding father of the Industrial Revolution, inventing the mass production machine to make pins “common.”
Previous recipients of the Howe Award include: William Coffey, Charles Seccombe, John Walsh, William C. Bassett, John A. Frey, The Descendants of Adolph Rapp, Margaret Gibbs and Roseland Apizza.
From Meyer Cohen (1886 – 1968) — who was born in Yanasheck, in what is now Lithuania — arrived in Derby and opened The Fair, a ladies’ dress store in 1905, to his grandson, current Valley Community Foundation President James. E. Cohen, the Cohen Family has provided active leadership in the Valley community.
Meyer was a member and officer of the Derby-Shelton Board of Trade (later the Valley Chamber) and an organizer of Derby-Shelton’s own synagogue in 1919.
Meyer’s son David B. Cohen (1913 – 1991), lawyer, Derby City Court Judge and Corporation Counsel, was President of the Griffin Hospital Board of Trustees, and an organizer of the Valley’s Visiting Nurse Program, VARCA, and the predecessor of the Birmingham Group.
David’s wife, Jane Cotter Cohen (b.1921), chaired Valley Red Cross blood drives, served 25 years as a Director of the Derby Public Library, and was President of the Griffin Hospital Auxiliary.
Their son James E. Cohen (b. 1946), practiced law for 37 years in the firm his father established, before becoming the full-time President of the Valley Community Foundation (VCF). He also was Derby’s Corporation Counsel and a Director of the Derby Public Library. Wanting to express their appreciation and commitment to the Valley for future generations, the Cohen Family has established four endowed Funds at VCF, including one which provides the Derby Public Library with annual funding to purchase books it could not otherwise afford.
Keynote speaker for the reception is Glenn Cantwell, a longtime Early American History collector who has been researching all things Isaac Hull for the past 20 years and will soon publish his first book, “America’s Captain of 1812.”
Tickets to the annual appeal reception, featuring hors d’oeuvres, are $40 per person and can be obtained by visiting the Derby Historical Society office at 37 Elm St. Ansonia between 1 and 4PM, or by calling 203 – 735-1908.
Donors contributing $200 or more to the Derby Historical Society’s annual appeal will receive an authentic 1935 Commodore Isaac Hull medal.
For more information visit www.derbyhistorical.org.
