Arthur I. Darman
Living the American Dream
Born in 1889 in Kurelvitz, Russia, Arthur I. Darman and his family arrived in the US in 1894 and settled in Woonsocket. As the eldest child he only received a few years of schooling. In 1903, at the age of 14 he ran away from home to join the circus as a peanut vendor and eventually playing major roles. At the age of 20 he returned to Woonsocket where he worked in his father’s waste management business.
In 1917, Darman launched his own wool and waste fiber business, he purchased land at the corner of Railroad and Arnold Streets and erected the four-story 40,000 square foot Darman Building. Soon he became a highly successful businessman and the town’s leading Jewish citizen. In 1940 Darman expanded his business with the purchase of the Rathbun Knitting Mill on North Main Street.
Darman had a successful second career as a real estate developer. He never lost his love for the theatre and in 1926 at the cost of $750,000 erected the Stadium Building, a four-story office building on Main Street at Monument Square. Next door Darman built an impressive structure, the 1,500 seat Stadium Theatre. A silent movie palace, the theater also presented concerts, vaudeville and stage plays.
He also developed the Woonsocket Opera House originally built in 1888, which had fallen on hard times. It was a six-story giant that was one of New England’s finest theaters, which will probably always lay claim to being the largest stage ever in the state. After purchasing it in 1942, Darman invested more than $150,000 in extensive refurbishing of the theater.
Darman was lifetime honorary president of B’nai Israel and served as president from 1916 to 1946. An immigrant with little schooling, he became one of Woonsocket’s most successful textile and real estate magnates. Arthur Darman died on May 31, 1978 and is buried in B’nai Israel Cemetery in Woonsocket.
