Interview with Rena Koopman
IntervieweeInterview with
Rena Beatrice Koopman
American, born 1945
InterviewerInterviewed by
Bruce M. Stave
American, 1937 - 2017
Date2007 June 7
Mediumdigitized audio cassette tape
DimensionsDuration: 1 Hour, 13 Minutes, 27 Seconds
ClassificationsInformation Artifacts
Credit LineConnecticut Museum of Culture and History collection
DescriptionAudio cassette tape of an interview with Rena Koopman. She was interviewed on June 7, 2007 by Bruce M. Stave at the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford, Connecticut.
Rena was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1945 while her father was stationed with the Air Force at Fort Indiantown Gap. Her parents are Georgette Fox Auerbach and Richard Koopman. Georgette is one of Beatrice Fox Auerbach's daughters. Rena has five siblings. In 1947, her family moved to Auerfarm in Bloomfield, Connecticut, where they lived for a short time. The family then moved to Brookside Boulevard in West Hartford. She attended the Lloyd H. Bugbee School and Oxford School for Girls in West Hartford. In 1963, she attended Vassar College.
She discusses how her father was the Farm Manager at Auerfarm when the family lived in Bloomfield. In the 1940s, her father was a Superintendent at Connecticut Valley Shade Tobacco. She describes her memories of her grandmother, Beatrice Fox Auerbach. She describes the weekly Sunday lunch the grandchilden had at her grandmother's house. She recalls her grandmother's household staff. She describes her travels to England and Ireland with her grandmother. She discusses BFA's friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt. She describes her memories of G. Fox & Co. Rena worked at G. Fox in various positions during the summers and on school breaks. She describes her memories of Hartford and the legacy of Beatrice Fox Auerbach. She ends the interview discussing her travels after college and her family, the importance of this oral history project, and the sale of G. Fox to the May Company.
Rena was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1945 while her father was stationed with the Air Force at Fort Indiantown Gap. Her parents are Georgette Fox Auerbach and Richard Koopman. Georgette is one of Beatrice Fox Auerbach's daughters. Rena has five siblings. In 1947, her family moved to Auerfarm in Bloomfield, Connecticut, where they lived for a short time. The family then moved to Brookside Boulevard in West Hartford. She attended the Lloyd H. Bugbee School and Oxford School for Girls in West Hartford. In 1963, she attended Vassar College.
She discusses how her father was the Farm Manager at Auerfarm when the family lived in Bloomfield. In the 1940s, her father was a Superintendent at Connecticut Valley Shade Tobacco. She describes her memories of her grandmother, Beatrice Fox Auerbach. She describes the weekly Sunday lunch the grandchilden had at her grandmother's house. She recalls her grandmother's household staff. She describes her travels to England and Ireland with her grandmother. She discusses BFA's friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt. She describes her memories of G. Fox & Co. Rena worked at G. Fox in various positions during the summers and on school breaks. She describes her memories of Hartford and the legacy of Beatrice Fox Auerbach. She ends the interview discussing her travels after college and her family, the importance of this oral history project, and the sale of G. Fox to the May Company.
Object number2009.85.25
NotesSubject Note: From 2006 to 2008, the Connecticut Historical Society carried out an oral history project to collect first-hand impressions of G. Fox & Co. and its long-time president, Beatrice Fox Auerbach. Over thirty former employees, as well as two of Mrs. Auerbach's grandchildren, Dorothy Brooks Koopman and Rena Koopman, contributed their memories in interviews conducted by the Stave Group, Oral History Consultants. Funding Note: In 2006, the Connecticut Historical Society received a grant from the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to support the collection of oral histories, the cataloging of G. Fox & Co. materials and Fox and Auerbach family materials, and the creation of web pages. Additional funding for the oral histories was provided by The Prospect Fund, The Brookside Fund, and The Maple Tree Fund. The Connecticut Historical Society gratefully acknowledges these generous supporters. Without such generosity, this project would not have been possible.
Subject Terms
- Hartford
- Hartford (Conn.)
- Department stores
- Employees
- G. Fox & Co.
- Oral history
- Interview transcripts
- Interviews
- Oral narratives
- Retail trade
- Hair
- Family
- Fox, Beatrice, 1887-1968
- Tobacco
- Tobacco farms
- Jewish women
- Jewish people
- Farms
- Dining rooms
- Travel
- Roosevelt, Eleanor 1884-1962
- Fox, Moses, 1850-1938
- Education
- Religion
- African Americans
- Black people
- People of color
- Labor unions
- Teachers
- Artists
- Interviews and Oral Histories
- G. Fox & Co. Collection
- Remembering G. Fox & Co.
Collections
- G. Fox & Co.
On View
Not on view