Actress Frances Sternhagen, Mayor Bramson Celebrate Shakespeare at Historic New Rochelle Church

Written By: Robert Cox

Shakespeare Festival 2010.jpg

Actress Frances Sternhagen and Mayor Noam Bramson will read selected Sonnets of William Shakespeare at St John’s Wilmot Episcopal Church on North Avenue at Wilmot Road in New Rochelle on Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 3 PM.

There will be a reception afterwards of Shakespearean Sweets and a tour of the historic site.

Seating is limited so if you would like to attend you should RSVP to info@newrochellearts.org or by calling 914-235-9027.

From Wikipedia:

St.John’s Wilmot Church in New Rochelle, New York, is an Episcopal parish serving the ‘Sound Shore’ communities of southern Westchester County. It is located in the northern end of the city at the intersection of North Avenue and Wilmot Road, formerly referred to as “Cooper’s Corner”. It was built as a chapel of ease for those who found the five-mile trip to Trinity Church on the southern end of town too difficult, especially in bad weather. Officially founded on May 1, 1858, the church was built in 1859 in the Carpenter Gothic style. St. John’s Wilmot Church was incorporated under the laws of New York State December 8, 1860.

St. John’s was the location of the first public school in New Rochelle. It was established under the provisions of the Act of April 9, 1795, the first public school law passed by the State of New York. The school house was built between 1830 and 1840, replacing an original single room school built in 1795. In 1922, the New Rochelle School Board transferred its students to the Roosevelt School. The Church purchased the property in 1943 for use as a Sunday school and clergy offices.

Artist Norman Rockwell, who lived nearby, was a member of the congregation and had his children baptized here.