Sometimes there’s a silver lining to the dark cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic: One is the recent award of a Connecticut Humanities Quick Grant of $3,200 to The Kate that will help fund an upcoming online exhibition tentatively called Katharine Hepburn: Unintentional Trailblazer. The exhibition will likely go live in January 2021 on The Kate’s website as well as on YouTube, according to Robin Andreoli, The Kate’s director of development and community relations.

Downtime caused by the pandemic, which forced The Kate to postpone live programs, has provided a window of opportunity to examine the collection of Hepburn-related items in its collection. The primary inspiration for the exhibition was a set of letters donated early this year by the Grant family, descendants of Hepburn’s sister, Marion. The letters were written by Hepburn to her mother at the beginning of her career, said Andreoli.

“Moving through her career, she’s taking quite an independent and self-interested role...not letting the studios dictate how her career path is going to go forward,” Andreoli said. “She’s making choices and doesn’t seem to be completely conscious of the fact that once she opens these doors for herself other women will follow.

“She wants things to be just so,” but while she’s focused on her own success and fame, as well as her desire “to make wonderful movies, she’s also opening the door to let other women follow her,” she continued.

Even Hepburn’s wearing trousers on movie sets, rather than dresses, as the male directors and producers would have preferred, was iconoclastic, Andreoli noted.

“Clothing and fashion were so important to her,” she said. Her letters describe “costumes that will be part of productions that she’s in.”

She also discusses clothing she’d like for her family members.

For instance, “So-and-so might need a new coat,” Andreoli explained. “She’s offering to have something hand tailored for them.”

Or she’s purchased a “new pair of shoes and wants to make sure her sister has the same,” she said. “It’s really fun to read through these [letters] and see her voice coming through,” she continued, adding that having the opportunity to read Katharine Hepburn’s original letters is “an absolute privilege.”

The exhibition will take the form of a short film, with narration straight from the letters as well as other writings, according to Andreoli.

A Growing Collection

Even before The Kate opened its doors, it was receiving donated items from the public. The items on display in the lobby, such as a “beige trouser and blouse ensemble and a red housedress with robe,” as Andreoli described them, are only a few samples of a larger collection.

A fundraising auction allowed the organization to “purchase items of clothing from her personal wardrobe and movie and theatrical releases,” Andreoli explained. The collection also includes “one of her passports, an autographed cast album from On Golden Pond, some hats...and a script or two from various productions that she was a part of.”

“We are taking advantage of this time when we’re not able to have as many programs,” Andreoli said. “Physical space [in the building] is very limited and this is one way to show a broader portion of our collection.”

Archivist Patrick Ford is helping with curation and evaluation of the items in the organization’s collection.

“He’ll help us move through and document materials that we have here and eventually help us to curate the exhibition,” Andreoli said.

The exhibition will be accompanied by several live programs, which will likely be Zoom lectures.

University of Massachusetts Professor Stephen Gencarella will speak about Hepburn as an American heroine. There will also be a discussion of Hepburn’s role in fashion by Judy Samelson, a former Playbill editor, Hepburn historian, and member of The Kate’s advisory board, together with Jean Druesedow, former director of the Kent State University Museum, for which she curated a permanent exhibit of Hepburn’s movie and theater costumes. The exhibition travelled to various venues across the country, including the Connecticut Historical Society, according to Andreoli.

The Kate hopes to add one or two additional programs.

The announcement of the exhibition launch will be sent first to Kate members, who will have access to a premiere. It will then be available to the general public.

To sign up for email announcements, visit katharinehepburntheater.org and click on “email signup” in the upper right corner of the screen.