Dr. Ann Garbett came to Danville the way many of us did: by chance.

Born and raised in Iowa, her family moved to Indiana when she was a young woman. It was there she attended college for her undergrad work. After graduation, she decided to go to grad school at the University of Arkansas, and it was this move that introduced her to the South. While pursuing her Master’s in English, Ann met her husband, Coy. Having graduated once more, she found work in Alabama at what would become Jacksonville State University. Life there was not exactly to her liking, however. These were the days of integration, and Jacksonville was resisting the new laws. Ann and her husband had no desire to remain there for long.

Life in Arkansas had treated them much better, and so they returned there to pursue doctorates. Ann had been sold on the claims that the need for English teachers was inexhaustible- a claim that later turned out to be false. They remained there for some time, each studying and looking for jobs. Ann found a temporary position as a visiting assistant professor at the University of Texas in Arlington, but she wasn’t happy there either, so they returned once more to Arkansas where she could work as a teaching assistant. While in Arkansas, she taught English to Vietnamese refugees during the years following the fall of Saigon and the end of the Viet Nam war. She loved that work, but the days were long as she had to commute an hour and a half, and the pay was not very good. With one car between them, it was a challenge, but despite the obstacles, she loved the work. School, however, was not done with her, and so she returned to pursue an advanced teaching degree in Philosophy so that she could teach undergrad classes.

Ann and Coy had an agreement that wherever one of them found employment, that’s where they would go, and so, in their search for a new home, they tried to choose places that had more than one school. Ann applied to multiple colleges and universities and was at last offered a job at Averett University. And so, the Garbetts moved to Danville.

Both Ann and Coy had come from families who had owned post war homes of no particular character. Perhaps it was that absence of character and uniqueness that persuaded Ann to fall in love with Victorian architecture. As a hobby, Coy loved to restore antique furniture and possessed an eye for items of value and quality.

As grad students house shopping from another state, it was hard to find a place to live in Danville. There wasn’t much to rent, and they moved into a small house in North Danville having been warned in advance that the home was small. It was only upon arriving that they realized it was too small. The second story, which contained two shag-carpeted bedrooms, was not really suitable for living. They almost immediately began looking for historic homes of a size more suitable to their growing needs, and which might suit them for years to come. Their search led them to the Ayres-Perkinson House at 931 Green Street, and though they had been warned of the dangers of living in that part of town, the house felt right. The home had been on the market for some time, and they were consequently able to negotiate a good price for it. And so, in the fall of 1978, just months after arriving in Danville, they established themselves in the Old West End.

The rumors of the dangers of living on Green Street proved to be false, though even today, one can still hear people speak of the Old West End as if it were crime ridden. If it was ever true, it has not been the case for the past forty-five years, at least.

Of course a lot has changed in Danville, and especially in the Old West End, since the arrival of the Drs. Garbett. Ann has had the privilege of watching many of her neighbors’ homes be rescued and restored.

Sadly, Dr. Coy Garbett Died in 1984. During his residence here he was also employed by Averett and was involved with the Danville Historical Society. He also served for some time on the Commission for Architectural Review. After Coy’s death, Ann decided to remain in Danville. She didn’t have much family left in Iowa and Indiana, and there was nowhere in particular she felt she would rather be. By then she had grown to love Danville and felt it was a community that had welcomed her and in which she had a place. Since arriving here, she has become a fixture in the neighborhood and a well-respected neighbor and educator. After 32 years teaching at Averett, where she led classes in Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Creative Writing, she retired in 2010.

During her professional career, Ann didn’t have a lot of time to pursue her own interests, namely those of poetry and fiction writing. She hoped, and still does hope, that her retirement will allow her the time and opportunity to see more of her own work into print.

In recent years, Ann has come to the realization that her Green Street home is too large and that she has too many belongings. Having worked with Laura Meder at Averett, and having travelled with the Meders, too, she knew them quite well. She knew that Fred, Laura’s husband, was working on restoring a cottage on Chestnut Street. They discussed the possibility of her moving into it. Fred assured her that her furniture would fit, and while the house is much smaller than her Green Street home, she has been able to bring her favorite pieces along with her.

Living in a house that doesn’t take as much of her time means she has more time to do the things that she likes. For seven or eight years, she taught a creative writing course through Duke’s continuing education program. As an extension of her involvement there, and following Duke’s abandonment of that program, a poetry writer’s group was established called the Poet Fools. The group used to meet in Chapel Hill, but since Covid they have switched to Zoom meetings.

Ann can’t picture herself leaving Danville at this point. She’s spent too much time here and has become woven into the community’s fabric—and vice versa.

“One of the things that I think is lovely about the OWE”, she says, “is that it has a lot of diversity. A lot of people have come from a lot of different places, and so we aren’t just Danville natives. There’s a lot of economic diversity and middle-class solidity. There are people who are renting here who seem to like living here. It’s racially diverse as well, which seems to be a great plus.”

After forty years in Danville and in the Old West End, Dr. Ann Garbett is certainly a fixture here. Her recent move from 931 Green Street to 154 Chestnut Street is proof of her commitment and loyalty to the neighborhood and reminds us how important she is to us in turn.

*See the companion post on the history and restoration of 154 Chestnut Street, the Morris J. Fox Cottage.

Photos by Fred Meder and Dr. Ann Garbett.