Polly Hincks transformed a vision of how people with severe physical disabilities could live freely into a reality: New Horizons Village, an apartment complex in Farmington where residents can live independently.
Marie Hincks, known as “Polly,” died Jan. 23. She was a longtime resident of Farmington who moved to West Hartford a decade ago. Today would have been her 90th birthday.
Known equally for a concern for others and for her unrelenting energy when focused on a goal, Hincks raised money, lobbied the state and federal governments, and served as chair of the board New Horizons Village, which opened in September1986
“If it weren’t for Polly, we probably wouldn’t be sitting here today,” said Gary Gross, who moved into New Horizons Village when it opened.
Gross was among the residents of New Britain Memorial Hospital (now the Hospital for Special Care) who chafed at restrictions there. There was no accessible transportation for work or recreation and no sitting in the garden; there was a strict curfew; and residents wore bathrobes instead of street clothes, he said. Intellectually able patients were housed in wards with elderly demented patients, he said.
Some residents had lived in an institution since birth, and independence was illusory, but 65 years ago, the idea of handicapped accessibility was foreign, and it was decades before the federal Americans with Disabilities Act began to require universal access to public buildings.
At New Britain Memorial, Joan Herman, who contracted polio at 21, was eager to change the conditions under which she lived. After arriving at the hospital in 1952, she began to advocate for a different way of living. Other patients agreed, and slowly, they persuaded the hospital to provide more outings, a place for meetings, and a less institutional atmosphere.
By 1955, Herman and a few others had incorporated New Horizons, which was “dedicated to adventuresome living for the handicapped,” according to Hincks ‘history, “YES! We Made It! The Story of New Horizons,” published in 2001. Word spread, and hundreds of volunteers and disabled people joined the organization.
The ultimate goal of New Horizons was to build a home where people in wheelchairs could live independently. Over the next 25 years, the group raised money and bought 26 wooded acres in the Unionville section of Farmington.
Hincks had been seven and a half months pregnant when she was diagnosed with polio, and she spent six months in Grace-New Haven (now Yale New Haven) Hospital after her daughter was born. She recovered, but retained a limp that lasted the rest of her life. She began volunteering at New Britain Memorial in 1965 with a Junior League group, and offered to help Herman achieve her goal.
The New Horizons volunteers raised money at strawberry festivals, raffles, car washes and dances, but by 1977, when Hincks joined the board, plans had stalled, and no real progress had been made toward building a facility. With the help of Aetna Life and Casualty Insurance Co., New Horizons developed a plan, and Hincks was elected chair of the board in 1980. “She was very instrumental in seeing things got done,” said Pat Robotham, a former member of the board. “She was a spokesperson for the physically disabled.”
When New Horizons presented its proposal to the Farmington Plan and Zoning Commission, “some people [in town] had deep concerns,” said George Reider, a former council president. “It was new, and people weren’t certain what it meant.”
The plan eventually was approved, and Hincks and others lobbied the General Assembly to pass an enabling law, and tirelessly applied for grants and donations. Finally, nearly 35 years after Herman voiced her desire to live more independently, New Horizons Village opened in 1986.
“Her style was uncommon,” said Executive Director Robert Maher. “It was a great combination of being polite and strong. … She had a confidence she was going to make things happen in her quiet, persistent manner.”
Hincks did more than work as board chair. She became friends with the New Horizon residents, and frequently invited them to her home in Farmington. “She always took an incredible amount of interest in people,” said her son Andy.
When her limp worsened and she had to use a scooter, she was known as “Flash” because of the speed at which she traveled. In her 70s, she would put her wheelchair in the back of her van, slip into the driver’s seat, and drive, with a block on the pedal for her weaker leg. “She did most everything,” said her son Dan.
She was born on Oct. 8, 1927, to Eleanor and Robert I. Powell, and grew up in Stamford, Yonkers, N.Y., and New York City. When the Depression wiped out her father’s business, she went to live with her grandparents. An older brother died at age 7, and she had a sister, Leslie, who was 12 years younger. She graduated from Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, was a debutante, and attended Parsons School of Design in New York. In 1948, Polly married Robert Hincks, whose parents had known her parents. He founded an innovative financial record-keeping system, Data Management Inc.
Hincks worked for the fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar before her son Rob was born. Two years later, she contracted polio; grandparents cared for the baby and Rob until Hincks was able to come home. She later had two more sons, Dan and Andrew.
“Polio changed her life,” said Dan, “but she would say it changed it for the better. It made her realize what she could give to the world.” Her perspective broadened. “She understood people’s plights and it made it very easy and very natural for her to go to people.” Although she could be forceful, she spent most of her time listening to others.
Hincks took her art seriously — but the art itself was whimsical and personal. She used to buy cheap, white canvas sneakers and personalize them with felt-tip markers for her friends. On a pair for a daughter-in-law, she painted the alphabet, with an illustration for every letter.
“She wouldn’t call herself a serious artist, but she was,” Dan said. In her later years, she developed post-polio syndrome, characterized by progressive muscle weakness and pain. Though dressing took a half hour, she resisted help. “I never heard her complain,” said Dan.
At First Church in Farmington, where she was a member, Hincks was active in the group that raised money to build a school in Sierra Leone. When she was 85, she joined the West Hartford Rotary Club to support their efforts to eradicate polio worldwide. “She loved a mission of service,” said Dan.
About eight years after her husband died in 1999, she moved into the McCauley, a retirement community in West Hartford, where she became head of the residents’ committee and advocated for the workers, with whom she became friends.
About 35 years ago, Polly and Rob Hincks expressed their love of music with a chamber festival known as the Hincks Music House Party. Over the Memorial Day weekend, friends and friends-of-friends would gather at their house to play informal trios or quartets. “It is very informal and a lot of fun,” said Bill Forsyth, who now organizes the festival.
Hincks is survived by four children: Rob, Dan and Andrew Hincks and a daughter, Birch Burghardt, as well as nine grandchildren, four great-grandsons, and a sister, Leslie Siggs. Her husband died in 1999.
“She was Mrs. New Horizons, right in the corner for people with disabilities because she had one herself,” Robotham said.
