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The Complicated Realities of Connecticut and the Civil War
By Matthew Warshauer Connecticut has a remarkable Civil War history, and although it is a small state, it was in many ways instrumental to the Union’s survival. The history of…
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Hall of Flags: Memorial to Connecticut’s Civil War Colors
…flags of the state’s military from the Civil War to the War on Terror. A vast majority of the flags in the oak and glass cabinets come from the Civil…
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General Joseph R. Hawley Helps Commemorate Connecticut’s Civil War Soldiers
…dedications, and one of Connecticut’s most prominent Civil War veterans, General Joseph R. Hawley, took a leading role in fostering the war’s remembrance. After 1865, Civil War veterans attended Decoration…
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Connecticut’s Naval Contributions to the Civil War
…approaching Vicksburg from the north. The 445-ton Albatross was built three years before the war in Mystic, Connecticut, at the shipyard of George Greenman and Company. Before the war she…
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Remembering Civil War Prisoners of War
…and Photographs Division Andersonville was not the only Civil War prison that had a high mortality rate. Fifty-six thousand men died at different prisoner of war camps during the Civil…
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Death and Mourning in the Civil War Era
…to war. Troops from the state fought in almost every major and minor battle of the Civil War, and casualties numbered in the thousands. Many more died in confederate prisons…
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Civil War Monuments and Memorials in and Around the State Capitol
…all to learn from and enjoy. If you would like to learn more about Connecticut in the Civil War, please visit our Civil War topics page, pick up Dr. Warshauer’s…
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Pomp and Circumstance: Civil War Commemoration
…July 19, 2013 – Courtesy of Anthony Roy The Forlorn Soldier’s sordid story sustained until the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission took up the task to relocate the Civil War…
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The Civil War Commences: Connecticut’s Involvement in the Civil War
By John Potter for Your Public Media The American Civil War began in South Carolina on April 12, 1861, when Confederate batteries in Charleston Harbor opened fire on Fort Sumter;…
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Connecticut’s Black Civil War Regiment
…that black people had fought in, and made important contributions to, every previous American war, most notably the Revolutionary War. Prejudice Blocks Black Enlistment Until War’s Third Year In January…
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Crisis Management during the American Civil War: The Hartford Soldiers’ Aid Society
By Nick Streifel The American Civil War was one of the deadliest periods in American history. Over 600,000 Americans perished during the conflict, more than all other US wars combined….
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New Haven: What Was Everyday Life Like During the Civil War?
Questions? We get a lot of them and some of the most recent ones have revolved around life and work during the Civil War? So we decided to investigate a…
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William Eaton, a Peace Democrat and Civil War Opponent
…role he played as a leader of the loyal Democrat opposition throughout the Civil War. In that capacity, Eaton consistently articulated the Jeffersonian view of the respective roles of the…
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They Also Served: Chinese, Southeast Asians, and Hawaiians in the American Civil War
By Nancy Finlay While oversimplified narratives about the American Civil War often reduce it to a simple conflict involving the binary classifications of Black and white, not all the participants…
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Fighting Sons of Erin: Connecticut’s Irish Regiment in the Civil War
…militia, being “composed entirely of the foreign born,” would be “detrimental to the military interests of our state,” the governor claimed. By the time the Civil War erupted in April…
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Celebrating Civil War Men and Women – Today in History: April 9
Today marks the anniversary of not only one, but two Civil War anniversaries. On April 9th, 1927 the Woman’s Relief Corps (WRC) and Daughters of Union Veterans (DUV) joined together…
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A Civil War Soldier Engineers an Iconic Career
Horatio Wright was a Connecticut native who served with distinction during the Civil War. Rising rapidly through the ranks of the Union army, Wright commanded troops in battles fought all…
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Civil War Soldier Dies of Gangrene – Today in History: July 10
On July 10, 1864, Civil War soldier Curtis Bacon of Simsbury died of gangrene from injuries he suffered in combat nearly two months earlier. On May 15, 1864, Bacon’s regiment,…
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Civil War
Civil War (1861-1865) Some 55,000 Connecticut men served during the Civil War and, of those, roughly 10 percent lost their lives. On the home front, state industries gave the Union…
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William Edgar Simonds: A Schoolteacher Turned Civil War Hero
Born into a destitute family, William Edgar Simonds originally set his sights on a career as a school teacher. Service to his country during the Civil War, however, changed all…
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A Voice for Veterans: A Civil War era ‘Whistle-Blower’ – Who Knew?
By Diane Hassan for the CTPost.com Almira Ambler, Civil War Nurse – Danbury Museum & Historical Society …that Almira Ambler, wife of the anti-slavery Baptist minister Edward C. Ambler was…
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Civil War and Reconstruction 1850-1877
Civil War and Reconstruction (1850–1877) The mid-nineteenth century was a period of massive upheaval in America. The country’s battles over race, slavery, and state’s rights ultimately degenerated into Civil War….
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Gideon Welles’s Role in Lincoln’s Cabinet
…only members of Lincoln’s cabinet to serve for the entirety of the Civil War. Although the naval theater of the Civil War has often been portrayed as negligible in comparison…
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The 29th Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry Flag and Display
By Cornel Garfman Civil War Battle Flags During the American Civil War, battle flags were so important to soldiers, men would routinely risk their lives so that their unit banner…
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Connecticut’s War Governor, William A. Buckingham
…Connecticut’s War Governor Olin Levi Warner, ca. 1874 – Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Art The state honored Governor Buckingham 20 years after the Civil War ended. The state funded…
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Connecticut Arms the Union
By Dean E. Nelson for Connecticut Explored A year into the Civil War, the US War Department’s “Commission on Ordnance and Ordnance Stores” reported to Congress on the state of…
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Gun Wheel of the First Light Battery, Connecticut Volunteers
By Mike Blanker On May 15, 1864, during the Civil War Battle of Proctor’s Creek in Virginia, a Confederate artillery shot struck and damaged a gun wheel on one of…
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Charles Dudley Warner: 19th Century Writer and Social Commentator
…neighbors Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mark Twain. In this post-Civil War era of heated religious and reform movements, Warner chose to entertain readers with his usual commentary on nature, home…
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Connecticut’s Chickamauga Tree: An Investigation
By Christopher Frank Within the halls of the Connecticut State Capitol is the remnant of an oak tree containing pieces of artillery fire that were supposedly from the Civil War…
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Honor and Duty: The Life of Alfred Howe Terry
…the rank of colonel. He spent the summer of 1860 in Europe traveling and studying military fortification, ships of war, and any other military materials available for perusal. The Civil…
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Ebenezer Bassett’s Historic Journey
…struggled with revolt, civil war, and foreign invasion. Inspired by the American and French revolutions and led by Toussaint L’Overture, a formerly enslaved coachman and genius of guerrilla warfare, Haiti…
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James G. Batterson, Stone Contractor
…of the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission’s efforts to study and inspire awareness of the American Civil War and Connecticut’s involvement in it. << Previous – Home – Next >>…
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A Monument Memorializes the Fallen
…Civil War, Vol. V, 1911. The regiment performed garrison duty around the capital until May of 1864, when they were deployed south to Virginia. There, Major General Benjamin Butler had…
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Little Sorrel, Connecticut’s Confederate War Horse
…War Jackson rode his new horse into some of the most famous Civil War battles, including Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg, and it was Little Sorrel who carried Jackson on the fateful…
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An Overview of Connecticut’s Outdoor Sculpture
…– Connecticut Historical Society Civil War Memorials Nearly half of the 19th century’s public monuments were erected as war memorials, with examples found in nearly every Connecticut town. At…
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The Old Brownstone Soldier
…part of the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission’s efforts to study and inspire awareness of the American Civil War and Connecticut’s involvement in it. << Previous – Home – Next…
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Memorial Day 1920 Brings a Changing of the Guard
…of the Republic (GAR), an organization composed of Civil War veterans, took traditional place of pride alongside the Sons of Veterans, assemblies of men descended from individuals who had fought…
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The Gettysburg Address and Heroic Fathers Bronze Tablets at the State Capitol
…of the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. The first tablet lauded the dedication of “Our Heroic Fathers” who fought in the Civil War, and was designed, purchased, and erected by…
Read Connecticut’s Capitol Building – Inside and Out
…the Republican Party in Connecticut and was elected to be the chairman of the War Committee during the Civil War. Because of his role within the party, he is credited…
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Mystic-built USS Galena Part of Plan to Strengthen Union Navy
…midst of the Civil War (1861-1865) marked the emergence of a new type of naval architecture. It also heralded a shift in naval warfare that resulted from the ingenuity of…
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The Forlorn Soldier
…public history from Central Connecticut State University and as a part of the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission’s efforts to study and inspire awareness of the American Civil War and…
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The Ulysses S. Grant Memorial Tablet
…S. Grant was a general during the Civil War and the eighteenth president of the United States. The Connecticut Division of the Sons of Veterans, USA (an organization composed of…
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29th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers Fought More than One War
By Todd Jones Midway through the Civil War, Connecticut created the state’s first African American regiment, the 29th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers. Fighting bravely for the final year of the war,…
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A Memorial to General Hawley at the State Capitol
…at the paper that Hawley got word of Lincoln’s call to serve in the Union army at the onset of the Civil War. It has been reported that in April…
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John Rogers was a 19th-Century Sculptor for the Common Man
…enough success to give him the confidence to put his skills on display in New York City (just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War). Sculpting the Civil War…
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Gideon Welles, US Secretary of the Navy and Lincoln’s “Neptune”
…His development of the Navy into a force that could successfully execute blockades of Southern ports was a key factor in the North’s Civil War victory. Also, he was instrumental…
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Gideon Welles Appointed Lincoln’s Secretary of the Navy – Today in History: March 7
…the Civil War As Secretary, Welles would face numerous challenges during the Civil War. He was responsible for building the navy into an adequate fleet and enforcing the blockade on…
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The Peace Movement in Litchfield
…founding families of Litchfield. The Civil War Disrupts the Town’s Tranquility The peace of this historic community was shattered with the tumultuous start of the Civil War. Residents’ sentiments varied…
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Sloop-of-War Ship’s Figurehead Lands at State Capitol
…Hawley Side view of the USS Hartford figurehead, Connecticut State Capitol, Hartford – Courtesy of Stacey Renee To commemorate Admiral David G. Farragut’s extraordinary career throughout the American Civil War,…
Read The 29th Leaves for War – Today in History: March 19
On March 19, 1864, as the 29th (Colored) Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry was preparing for deployment to the South to fight in the Civil War, they were presented with their…
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A Special Place to Honor Military Veterans in Plainville
…as a way to commemorate the sacrifices of those who fought and died in American wars. Containing monuments to soldiers of two world wars, Korea, Vietnam, the Civil War, and…
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Cornelius Bushnell and His Ironclad Ship
…and 1862, the Monitor went on to defeat the Confederate frigate CSS Merrimac in perhaps the most famous naval battle of the Civil War. After the war, Bushnell looked to…
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The War Connecticut Hated
By Walter W. Woodward for Connecticut Explored For most Connecticans, the War of 1812 was as much a war mounted by the federal government against New England as it was…
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Nathaniel Lyon: Colorful Commander from Connecticut
…in the Seminole and Mexican Wars, against American Indians in various western posts, and against Missouri border “ruffians” in the Bleeding Kansas affair. On the eve of the Civil War,…
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Alfred Howe Terry Born in Hartford – Today in History: November 10
…and Photographs Division, Brady-Handy Photograph Collection At the outbreak of the Civil War, Terry was appointed Colonel of the 2nd Connecticut Infantry Regiment. He fought in the first battle of…
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The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, Hartford
…The terra cotta friezes, positioned 40 feet above the road, stand 7 feet high and tell the stories of conflict and peace. The northern frieze depicts the Civil War, while…
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Henry Ward Beecher, a Preacher with Political Clout
…commitment to the anti-slavery cause was recognized throughout the Civil War and the rifles purchased with the money he raised quickly became known as “Beecher’s Bibles.” Years later, when the…
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Christopher Miner Spencer, 19th-century Arms Manufacturer
…service. Post-War Innovations Boost Industrial Efficiency After the Civil War, Spencer remained active in manufacture and the development of new ideas. In 1869 he partnered with Charles E. Billings to…
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One of the Honored Dead: General J. K. F. Mansfield
…Civil War. In 1853, Mansfield received an appointment to the post of Inspector General, a job that required him to visit fortifications in all parts of the country, necessitating his…
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Bridgeport Women Answer the Call – Today in History: April 15
…Connecticut, and just as quickly, Connecticut’s women mobilized for war. The Ladies’ Soldiers’ Aid Society in Bridgeport initially supported the Sixth Connecticut Regiment, but the needs of the war effort…
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What’s in a Number? Connecticut’s Thirteenth Regiment Goes Off to War
…months in Louisiana a considerable number of recruits took ill and were discharged. New recruits, many of them German immigrants living in New Orleans, replenished the unit’s strength. Civil War…
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Fitch Soldiers’ Home Closes – Today in History: August 28
…new facility in Rocky Hill, residents included one Civil War veteran, one Indian wars veteran, 50 veterans of the Spanish War, and 499 from World War I. The men took…
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A Soldier’s Welcome
…the Civil War generation. The Forlorn Soldier, now protected from the elements, joined other relics commemorating the Civil War. These artifacts include a statue of Civil War Governor William Buckingham…
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The Forlorn Soldier Conservation Ceremony, July 2013
…War Commemoration Commission’s efforts to study and inspire awareness of the American Civil War and Connecticut’s involvement in it. Forlorn Soldier Conservation Ceremony Forlorn Soldier Time-Lapse Music Video Tom Callinan…
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Commemorating the USS Hartford at the Connecticut State Capitol
By Eric Cruanes The Connecticut State Capitol building is home to many artifacts of the Civil War, each one a reminder of the honor and sacrifice of those who fought….
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Collections: Battle Flags
…the Second Congress, First Session, they instructed all states to create a state and regimental flag as the “legislature of the respective states directed.” During the Civil War Connecticut units…
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Connecticut in the French and Indian War
…and Indian War, an arrogant British officer challenged him to a duel. Print ca. 1850-1869 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Illustrated Reinvigorated Efforts The fortunes of war turned…
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Middletown’s Beman Triangle: A Testament to Black Freedom and Resilience
…neighborhood. Although African Americans bought property and formed neighborhoods throughout the pre-Civil War North, some as close to Middletown as Little Liberia in Bridgeport and Jail Hill in Norwich, the…
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A Day of Celebration – Today in History: September 17
…of Connecticut’s Civil War veterans. In early 1879 officials decided that Connecticut’s Civil War battle flags would be transferred from the State Arsenal into cabinets in the new State Capitol…
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Apostle of Peace: Elihu Burritt’s Quest for Universal Brotherhood
…the Mexican War in the mid-1840s, the devastating crisis of the Civil War in the 1860s, and the Spanish-American War at the end of the 1890s. In between there was…
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Orville Platt Helps Define International Relations after the Spanish-American War
…Assembly where he played an instrumental part in passing a bill that provided voting rights to Connecticut soldiers serving out of state during the Civil War. A Powerful Member of…
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From Bombs to Bras: World War I Conservation Measures Transform the Lives of Women
…on Women’s Fashion With the decline of available corsets during the Great War era, the backless brassiere gained popularity. D. H. Warner, President of Warner Brothers Corset Company from 1894…
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From the State Historian: Connecticut’s Slow Steps Toward Emancipation
…was subsequently passed as much to address the actions of states like Connecticut as to address such actions in the South. While the Civil War that ended slavery did indeed…
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Kensington Soldiers Monument Dedicated – Today in History: July 28
…Civil War Monument in US As 2013 and the monument’s 150th anniversary approached, the Kensington Congregational Church, which owns and cares for the memorial, joined with the Connecticut Civil War…
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The Legend of Old Hayfoot, the Forlorn Soldier
…of the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission’s efforts to study and inspire awareness of the American Civil War and Connecticut’s involvement in it. << Previous – Home – Next >>…
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Hebron’s Josephine Sophia (White) Griffing and a Vision for Post-Emancipation America
…not end with emancipation. Even before the Civil War, a number of Northern female abolitionists formed aid societies to educate and provide personal support to formerly enslaved people. These organizations…
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The 29th First to Enter Confederate Capital When It Surrenders – Today in History: April 3
…as part of a semester-long graduate student project at Central Connecticut State University that examined Civil War monuments and their histories in and around the State Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut….
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The Gildersleeve Shipbuilding Legacy in Portland
…victims of Civil War hostilities was the 1,400-ton S. Gildersleeve. Built in 1854, the ship, while carrying coal on a voyage to China, fell prey to an attack by the…
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Hartford’s Nook Farm
…the winding Park River. The men built their homes and parceled out land to family members and friends. What evolved in the years after the Civil War was Nook Farm,…
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The Connecticut Town Green
…and provisions from the War Office located at the edge of the green. The War Office also served as the meeting place for the Council of Safety, a wartime group…
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An Orderly & Decent Government: Searching for the Common Good, 1819-1865
…the repression of immigrants. Repeatedly, the Assembly had to elect a governor by joint ballot when no candidate in the multi-party statewide election won a majority. Civil War soldiers mustering…
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Anna Elizabeth Dickinson at Touro Hall – Today in History: March 24
…voice to promote support for the Civil War and the end of slavery. In her famous speech, she cited the cause of abolition as the main argument for the continuance…
Read Unveiling of the Grant Memorial Tablet – Today in History: October 4
…Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox that ended the Civil War and the 18th president of the United States. The Division chose to honor Grant because his grandfather, Noah Grant,…
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The First Battle of Bull Run: Connecticut Troops Stand Firm When the Battle Turns Against Them
…American Civil War, involving over 50,000 participants on both sides, and was a military fiasco for the North. The State of Connecticut did not suffer terribly on this particular field,…
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Powder Hollow in Hazardville – Who Knew?
…that 40% of all the gunpowder consumed in the Civil War came from Powder Hollow in Hazardville (a part of Enfield, Connecticut). Not only that, but during the attack on…
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Laboring in the Shade
…moved to sorting sheds and warehouses, where processing continues throughout the rest of the year. World War I Diversifies Tobacco Workforce Until the advent of World War I, Hartford-area whites,…
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Saddles Fit For a Shah
…saddles for both the Union and Confederate armies during the American Civil War and secretly outfitted Cuban revolutionaries during an insurrection against Spain in 1895. But it was World War…
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The Hartford Convention – Today in History: December 15
…held more moderate views and feared that even talk of secession might lead to a civil war. The Federalists wanted to address the policies of two successive US presidents from…
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Women and Defense: World War II on the Connecticut Home Front
By Ben Gammell for Your Public Media Uniform of Virginia Grover Bulkeley, Greater Hartford Chairwoman of the Woman’s Organization for War Savings during World War II – Connecticut Historical Society,…
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Vietnam Protests in Connecticut
By Andy Piascik Connecticut opposition to the war in Vietnam paralleled that found in many other parts of America. When the movement against the war was in its early phase,…
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A New Source of Farm Labor Crops Up in Wartime
…the war but began anew with the coming of the Second World War. In 1942, Mrs. Joseph Alsop reorganized the WLA in Connecticut. After initially balking at the idea of…
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“A Noble and Precious Life”: Edgar M. Woodford, Civil Engineer, Abolitionist, and Soldier
…state by moving there in sufficient numbers to outvote the slaveholders. In 1857, he was back in Hartford to encourage other like-minded individuals to join them. When the Civil War…
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Reading, Writing, and the Great Outdoors: Frederick Gunn’s School Transforms Victorian-era Education
…(center) Girls’ camp, Milford, 1863 – The Gunnery Archive Camping at Point Beautiful on Lake Waramaug, New Preston, ca. 1870s – The Gunnery Archive The success of the Civil War…
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Connecticut Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home
…Civil War. Closed in 1875 and sold soon after, the former orphanage became the site of Storrs Agricultural School (now the University of Connecticut) in 1881. According to university historian…
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Workers at the Colt Armory, Hartford 1867
…with gold. These pieces consistently won prizes in international trade fairs, and were often presented to notable world personalities. During the Civil War, Colt Firearms officially supplied only the Union…
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Joseph Hopkins Twichell: Asylum Hill’s Religious Leader and Mark Twain’s Closest Friend
…and studied for the ministry before seeking greater adventure and becoming a chaplain for a Civil War regiment. He eventually became the pastor of Asylum Hill Congregational Church in Hartford;…
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Private Henry Cornwall 1862
Private Henry Cornwall, 20th Connecticut Volunteer, 1861 – Connecticut State Library The State of Connecticut sent over 55,000 troops to help the Union cause during the Civil War. Those troops…
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The First US Can Opener – Today in History: January 5
…with a saw-like action, which, unfortunately, left quite a jagged edge. Though never a big hit with the public, Warner’s can opener served the US Army during the Civil War…
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The Colvocoresses Oak
…George graduated in 1831. The elder Colvocoresses enjoyed a distinguished career in the United States Navy, achieving some fame for his exploits on blockading duty during the Civil War. While…
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Winning the Great War without Some Books
…against saboteurs. After the Declaration of War, Holcomb created the State Council of Defense, one of 48, to mobilize citizens, industries, labor, and organizations to win the war. “Truth” is…
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World War I Flying Ace Raoul Lufbery
…returning to France in the summer of 1914. In August 1914, France and Germany went to war, a war that later drew in many nations, including the United States and…
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A Godmother to Ravensbrück Survivors
…by concentration camp survivor and French war heroine Jacqueline Péry d’Alincourt, who, along with other French, Polish, and Czechoslovakian political prisoners interned during World War II at the Ravensbrück concentration…
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The Atheneum Joins War Effort – Who Knew?
…making its facilities available to social, civic, philanthropic, and arts groups for meetings and events. Throughout the war it hosted the meetings of such groups as the Hartford War Chest…
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The Debate Over Who Could Occupy World War II Public Housing in West Hartford
…War II public housing tract called Oakwood Acres. During this period, public housing tracts were created to shelter the many war workers and their families drawn to the Hartford area…
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From the State Historian: The Final Journey of Nathaniel Lyon
…10, 1861, at Wilson’s Creek, Missouri, Nathaniel Lyon became the first Union general to die in the Civil War. General Lyon Cemetery, Eastford – Dave Pelland, CTMonuments.net His death came…
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Sanitary Fair – Today in History: July 25
On July 25, 1864, the Stamford Ladies Soldiers’ Aid Society held a Sanitary Fair. Sanitary Fairs were established in response to the needs of Civil War soldiers beyond what the…
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Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch – Today in History: September 17
…Civil War. Designed by Hartford architect George Keller, the monument was the first permanent triumphal arch erected in the US. The Gothic Revival monument consists of two towers joined by…
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The Great Remedy: Picturing the Emancipation Proclamation
…Civil War. While the war would drag on for two more years and it would be another century before African-Americans achieved full equality under the law, the Emancipation Proclamation was,…
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Connecticut History Day 2024: Turning Points in History
…more dependent on slavery and helping bring about the Civil War. Turning points can continue to affect how society operates into the present and future. In 1878, the Boardman Building…
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Henry Deming: Mayor of Hartford and New Orleans
…also served multiple terms as Hartford’s mayor, from 1854 to 1858 and again from 1860 to 1862. Deming’s last year as Hartford’s mayor coincided with his entry into the Civil…
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Monumental Bronze Company
…did not have showrooms, grave markers were sold through catalogs and part-time salesmen. Although the company did supply numerous Union and Confederate Civil War monuments to other states, it made…
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The Orrin Freeman House and the Spirit of ‘76
…Landing during the Civil War. This partnership was successful until 1862, when the brothers sold their company to local business partners Harris Cook and Alfred Brainerd, who operated under the…
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The Decorative Arts of Connecticut
…of manufacturing in the decades before the Civil War and improved transportation networks, machine-produced household goods replaced earlier handcrafted furnishings. More fashionable and less expensive than the locally made goods,…
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Electric Boat: From Innovation Trials to WWII Submarine Leadership
…ship Housatonic in a matter of minutes during the Civil War. Even though the Confederate’s 40-foot Hunley was just a quasi-submersible that did not fully function undersea, the vessel still…
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Hartford’s Commemoration of World War I Servicemen and Women
…its appreciation for the servicemen and women of the Great War in numerous and profound ways. Hartford Commemorates the First World War Hartford Honor Roll in City Hall – Dudley…
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Food Needed to Win the War Comes from Washington
When the United States entered World War I in 1917, President Woodrow Wilson started the rallying cry of, “Food Will Win the War,” motivating Americans to increase farm production and…
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Video – Home Front: Connecticut During World War II – Civil Defense
YouTube – CTHPrograms – Co-produced by Connecticut Public Television and Connecticut Humanities as part of the Connecticut Experience series on CPTV. This clip from Home Front: During World War II…
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Bradley Airport’s Military Origins
…1944, Army Air Force personnel and civilians completed one of the more impressive fundraising drives of the war bond effort. During a two-month period, personnel at Bradley Field attempted to…
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“An Admirable Portrait” of Frederick Douglass
…paid less than their white counterparts for their Civil War service. Douglass had been active in recruiting young men to serve in the so-called “colored” regiments, including Connecticut’s 29th Regiment…
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Evaporated Milk’s Connecticut Connection – Who Knew?
…Company. The company’s first major orders came from the US Government which used condensed milk to feed the troops during the Civil War. The company changed its name to the…
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Franklin’s Ashbel Woodward was a Battlefield Surgeon and Historian
…he purchased property from the estate of Dr. Reuben Burgess, where Woodward lived for the remainder of his life. Civil War Service and Civic Spirit For the better part of…
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The Prospect Green as a Historical Narrative
…of 2000, the Prospect Green Historic District contains 16 buildings, sites, and objects that include churches as well as a police station, volunteer fire station, grange, and Civil War monument….
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Reverend James Pennington: A Voice for Freedom
…The coming of the Civil War tested his pacifism. He eventually decided to add his voice to the list of powerful African American leaders, such as Frederick Douglass, who recruited…
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Connecticut 29th Mustered into Service – Today in History: March 8
…into service to fight for the Union’s cause in the Civil War. Almost a year earlier, on January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln had issued an executive order, the Emancipation…
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Forlorn Soldier Oral History Interviews
…the monument for over a century, Matthew Warshauer, co-chair of the Civil War Commemoration Commission, and Francis Miller, proprietor of ConservArt, the company contracted to preserve and relocate the statue….
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Where Mr. Twain and Mrs. Stowe Built Their Dream Houses
…in 1867, merging the two papers. He was a general in the Civil War and a war hero and narrowly won election as governor of Connecticut in 1866. He later…
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Benedict Arnold Turns and Burns New London
…as naval agent was signed by John Hancock two weeks later. Shaw profited from the war as owner of 10 privateers and part owner of 2 more. During the war,…
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Washington’s Sister Susie Society
…In the spring of 1916, the Sister Susie Society even undertook the support of a Belgian war orphan named Daniel Bataille. They maintained this responsibility throughout the war and for…
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Connecticut Declares War Against the Pequot – Today in History: May 1
On May 1, 1637, Connecticut Colony declared war against the Pequot. This marked the first declared war in Connecticut between an indigenous people and English colonists. The conflict, though, had…
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Site Lines: The Mysterious Blue Lights
…Complications In 1813, US Secretary of the Navy William Jones had dispatched Decatur, hero of Barbary wars at Tripoli in 1803-1804 and conqueror of the British warship Macedonian in 1812…
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Connecticut Lawyer Prosecutes Nazi War Criminals at Nuremberg
In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Thomas Joseph Dodd, a Norwich-born lawyer from Connecticut, served on the United States’ prosecutorial team as Executive Trial Counsel at the International…
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New England Society for Psychic Research: Connecticut Paranormal Investigators Leave Legacy of the Occult
…haunted houses, spirits, and demonology led the couple to establish the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR) in 1952. The Warrens’ Early Years Ed Warren discusses supernatural phenomena with…
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Causes of the Pequot War
The outbreak of the Pequot War (1636-37) is best understood through an examination of the cultural, political, and economic changes that occurred after the arrival of the Dutch in 1611…
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Daring World War II Escape of a Bethany Soldier
…World War II in the air corps, and serving again in the Korean War, Fowler returned to Connecticut, eventually becoming a resident of Unionville. He passed away at John Dempsey…
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Warren Congregational Church, a Longstanding Community Center
Located at 4 Sackett Hill Road in Warren, Connecticut, is the Warren Congregational Church. Designed in the Federal style, it received a listing on the National Register of Historic Places…
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The British Raid on Essex
…single greatest loss of American shipping of the entire war. During the War of 1812 the British navy’s blockade of Long Island Sound nearly shut down commerce along the Connecticut…
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The Language of the Unheard: Racial Unrest in 20th-Century Hartford
…that neglect, Senator Dodd (who called riots “an incipient civil war” targeted at whites) insisted the riots were the work of “black extremists” controlled by Red China and Fidel Castro….
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Oldies But Goodies – Order DVDs from the Vaults of the Connecticut Humanities
…I – The Colonial Era to the Civil War (1998 w/CPTV: 1 hour) African Americans in Connecticut, Part II – The Civil War to Civil Rights (1998 w/CPTV: 1 hour)…
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The Importance of Being Puritan: Church and State in Colonial Connecticut
…population—adult male householders and landowners—was qualified to vote. Connecticut Feels the Effects of the English Civil War Increasing conflict back in England between Charles I and his Puritan subjects marked…
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A Shipping and Railroad Magnate Remembers His Connecticut Roots
…throughout the South, Morgan’s vessels faced harassment and seizure by both Union and Confederate forces during the Civil War, but he still managed to turn a profit from lucrative wartime…
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John Brown Born – Today in History: May 9
On May 9, 1800, the man who became a catalyst for the Civil War was born in an 18th-century saltbox house in West Torringford. John Brown, who would spend most…
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The Steady Evolution of a Connecticut Family Business
…he was elected to the Connecticut legislature. He served on a committee to raise troops when the Civil War began in 1861. The younger Toy obtained a captain’s commission in…
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Ivory Cutting: The Rise and Decline of a Connecticut Industry
…prior to the Civil War, these men moved into that field. Their firms, however, were generally underfinanced, which limited production. Yet, what occurred in 1862 and 1863 made Deep River…
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The Vonsiatsky Conspiracy Case
…military academy and joined the anticommunists (“Whites”) to fight the Bolsheviks (“Reds”) during the Russian Civil War (1918-1920). A lieutenant in the White Army, he admitted to participating in extrajudicial…
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Slavery and the Pequot War
…of Fairfield. During this time and throughout the war, many captured Pequot men were killed, while women and children were given to colonists as spoils of war, placed in captivity…
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War and the Fear of Enemy Aliens – Who Knew?
…that Greenwich had a special police unit trained to handle suspected foreign agents operating in Connecticut. By Karen Frederick and Anne Young During the First and Second World Wars, Greenwich’s…
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Video – Home Front: A State Divided as War Looms in Europe
YouTube – CTHPrograms – Co-produced by Connecticut Public Television and Connecticut Humanities as part of the Connecticut Experience series on CPTV. This clip from Home Front: During World War…
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UConn and the Evolution of a Public University
…in World War II, the university’s female students took leadership in campus organizations, but only for the duration of the war. In factories such as the Cheney Silk Mills in…
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The First Yale Unit: How U.S. Navy Aviation Began
…and seven additional raids before the end of World War I. All twelve original Yale Unit members survived the war, though they lost friends along the way who had joined…
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Pequot War
Pequot War (1636-1637) Though the major engagements of the Pequot War took place within a two-year span, the conflict had much earlier roots. After years of confrontations over land, trade,…
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Nathan Starr’s Cutlass Fought the War of 1812
…and scabbards for the War Department after the Revolutionary War, making him the nation’s first sword manufacturer. Starr’s 1808 government contract called on him to produce this regulation Navy cutlass…
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A True Dog of War: Sergeant Stubby
…When the division shipped out for Europe to fight in the First World War, Private Conroy managed to smuggle Stubby aboard the SS Minnesota the transport that brought the Connecticut…
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Photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White: “No Picture Was Unimportant to Her”
…South Africa, and the war in Korea. Bourke-White became one of the country’s most respected photojournalists, especially through the eras of the Depression and World War II. Among those who…
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Benjamin Wright: The Father of American Civil Engineering
…(ASCE) declared him “The Father of American Civil Engineering.” One year later, the ASCE and the Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers donated a plaque to mark his birthplace in Wethersfield….
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John Brown: A Portrait of Violent Abolitionism
…decade before the Civil War. Considered by pro-slavery Southerners as “a damned black-hearted villain,” abolitionists met Brown’s radical exploits with a combination of admiration and revulsion. John Brown was born…
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Colonel Augustus G. Hazard, Gunpowder Manufacturer – Who Knew?
…as Hazardville. During the Civil War, the company supplied 40% of all the gunpowder used by the Union army. Success, however, did not increase safety in an inherently dangerous business….
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North and South: The Legacy of Eli Whitney
…slave labor. Whitney’s manufacturing methods fueled the industrial development of the North. In the 1860s, the inevitable collision between the two systems resulted in the bloodbath of the American Civil…
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Norwich’s “Volcanic” Past
…Company, and the Norwich Arms Company, all provided armaments used during the Civil War. James Mowry, the founder of the Norwich Arms Company, won a contract in 1862 for 30,000…
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The “Welcoming Beacon” of Sheffield Island Lighthouse
…the lighthouse until his death in 1845 when Lewis Whitlock became keeper and worked on the island through the advent of the Civil War. Sailors often complained that the light…
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The Slaters Go Round the World
…to serve as a convoy escort during World War I and conveyed relief supplies after the war. She participated in at least one dramatic rescue during the war and remained…
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Oldest Cavalry Unit – Who Knew?
…to such notables as George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and William Tecumseh Sherman. The unit’s duties, however, have not been limited to official state ceremonies. During the Civil War, the unit…
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Samuel Colt: From Yankee Peddler to American Tycoon
…sustain his business, Colt had to fold his company in September of 1842, leaving him in debt. A War with Mexico Renews Demand The outbreak of the war with Mexico,…
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The Cheney Brothers’ Rise in the Silk Industry
…Spencer Guns were ultimately produced before the Spencer arms division was sold to the Winchester company following the Civil War. Cheney’s Business Flourishes and Fuels Community Growth In 1867, the…
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Connecticut’s Loyal Subjects: Toryism and the American Revolution
…War Turns As critical colonial victories began changing the course of the war in the summer of 1777, the governor of Connecticut issued a proclamation, in accordance with the Assembly,…
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Laura Wheeler Waring: Renowned African American Portrait Artist and Educator
…bring their subject’s achievements to light and were a testament to their accomplishments—aiding the early civil rights movement. Waring was also a member of the NAACP and a contributing artist…
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Fame and Infamy for the Hulls of Derby
By Carolyn Ivanoff for Connecticut Explored Men fought the War of 1812 over an enormous area, from Canada and the Great Lakes to the mouth of the Mississippi and along…
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World War II
World War II (1941-1945) In 1939, as war dawned in Europe, Connecticut debated. Those dubbed isolationists urged US detachment while internationalists favored a united response to the Axis. As pro-war…
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War and Defense
…and weaponry critical to victory. This helped make the Revolutionary War, World War II, and other conflicts ongoing focal points for patriotic commemoration. And, while war has sometimes fueled technological…
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America’s Most Devastating Conflict: King Philip’s War
…to him by the English. His death in 1676 essentially ended King Philip’s War, a violent and bloody conflict between the Wampanoag and English colonists. While most of the fighting…
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Mary Townsend Seymour: Hartford’s Organizer, Activist, and Suffragist
…war was not limited to the newspaper; she also joined the Red Cross and helped form a local chapter of The Circle for Negro War Relief in 1918 which helped…
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War of 1812
…and Stonington garnered increased support for the war. Arms, munitions, and textile manufacturers in the state benefited, as did privateers, by meeting wartime needs. Connecticut also supplied a national hero:…
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A Patriotic Legacy in Print
…who felt the country had won a “Second War of Independence.” Despite its indecisive conclusion, the war’s outcome was seen as a validation of the freedom the United States had…
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Jack Brutus, Connecticut War Dog – Who Knew?
… that although Jack Brutus’s military status was unofficial, he became the official mascot of Company K of the First Connecticut Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish-American War. Jack Brutus, or…
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The Bazooka Changes War – Today in History: June 14
…penetrate the heavy armor of enemy tanks in World War II, and when Army Major General L.H. Campbell Jr. briefed the press, he described the bazooka as “so simple and…
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New London Harbors a German Submarine During World War I – Who Knew?
…the German navy acquired the Deutschland and converted her into a warship. In her navy tenure, she successfully sank 42 ships. At the war’s end (in November of 1918) Germany…
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Connecticut Servicemen in the “Bloody Bucket” Division
…training in Wales and England. The 28th Infantry Division Enters the War On July 22, 1944, the 28th Division entered the war with a landing on the beaches at Normandy….
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Morton Biskind Warned the World About DDT
…enterprise encourages men to invent, create, and improve… – World War II Posters, Office of War Information, National Archives Dr. Morton Biskind In the late 1940s, however, a Westport physician…
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Richard Reihl: The Hate Crime That Became a Turning Point for LGBTQ+ Civil Rights
…for over a decade prior, the incident galvanized and mobilized people. Already grieving from the AIDS epidemic, the community came together to organize and transform LGBTQ+ civil rights legislation in…
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Albert Augustus Pope, Transportation Pioneer
…Quincy Market. In 1871, Pope married Abby Linder, with whom he had six children. By then he was a Civil War veteran, having joined the 1st Company, 35th Massachusetts Volunteer…
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The Minute Man, Westport CT
…centuries who benefited from the nation’s desire for sculptural projects honoring historical figures and heroes of other conflicts after the Civil War. To provide scope, The American Art Annual for…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Significant Events & Developments, 1866-1887
The Rise of the Factory The Civil War propelled Colt, New Haven‘s Remington Arms, and other Connecticut weapons producers to new heights of production. The state’s munitions industry maintained its…
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Emmeline Pankhurst’s “Freedom or Death” Speech Energizes Connecticut Women in 1913
…left the field of battle in order to explain . . . what civil war is like when civil war is waged by women.” The Guardian named her 90-minute “Freedom…
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Votes for A Woman: Sara Buek Crawford
…sisters. In 1861, a sixteen-year-old Charles enlisted with the 41st New York Volunteer Infantry to fight in the Civil War. Branded the DeKalb Zouaves, the regiment was comprised of German…
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The Sole of New Canaan’s Shoe Industry
…Benedict from History of Fairfield County, Connecticut with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers Prior to the Civil War and the growth of machine stitching, little…
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The Most Famous American in the World
…book of the 19th century, second only to the Bible, and galvanized the abolition movement, leading to the outbreak of the Civil War. It changed public opinion, created characters still…
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Hartford Retreat for the Insane Advanced Improved Standards of Care
…insane poor, the political will was lacking until after the Civil War. In the short term, the Hartford Retreat, the only institution of its kind in the state, was expanded…
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The Articles of Confederation: America’s First Constitution
…a Civil War re-enactor with Company F 14th Connecticut Volunteer Regiment. He holds a BA from New England College as well as an MA and Sixth Year Professional Diploma from…
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Enfield’s Shaker Legacy
…Emily Copley. The seed business fell into decline during the Civil War years and was discontinued by the 1870s. With the outbreak of the war, the Shakers could no longer…
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Hartford’s Challenge to “The Birth of a Nation”
By Steve Thornton Can a movie change history? The Birth of a Nation did. The original 1915 film fomented racial bigotry and consciously distorted the history of the post-Civil War…
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New London’s Tradition of Burning Benedict Arnold…in Effigy – Who Knew?
…event sometime after the American Revolution. Around the country, the practice died out sometime around the Civil War. New London’s Flock Theatre, however, revived the local tradition in 2013. Part…
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John Warner Barber’s Engravings Chronicle Connecticut History
…history through his historical writing and hundreds of engravings—many of which still exist today. Early Life in East Windsor John Warner Barber – The New York Public Library John Warner…
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Connecticut’s “Yankee Watch” Squadron Protects the Skies Here and Abroad
…before moving to Hartford’s Brainard Field in 1923, the Flying Yankees saw action in France during World War I. The 103rd also contributed in World War II by flying submarine…
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Connecticut: Home to the Boxcar Children Mysteries – Who Knew?
…that Gertrude Chandler Warner, a lifelong resident of Putnam, Connecticut, authored the popular series The Boxcar Children Mysteries? In 1924, Warner, a first-grade school teacher at the Putnam Grammar School,…
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Thomas Knowlton: A Small Town’s National Hero
…regiment in 1757 during the Seven Years’ War (also known as the French and Indian War). He fought in numerous important battles during the war, including the Battle of Fort…
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Video – Home Front: Connecticut During World War II – Migration and Housing
YouTube – CTHPrograms – Co-produced by Connecticut Public Television and Connecticut Humanities as part of the Connecticut Experience series on CPTV. This clip from Home Front: During World War II…
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Warren
…as a part of Kent, the town incorporated in 1786 and was named after Revolutionary War hero Joseph Warren. An early agricultural community, Warren, like its neighbors, took part in…
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Postwar United States 1945-1970s
Postwar United States (1945–1970s) Struggles over social, moral, military, and environmental conflicts dominated headlines across the country in the decades following World War II, as Americans took a stand on…
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Road Signs of the Air
…of the Civil Aeronautics Administration after World War II, got the Ninety-Nines involved in fundraising and the effort to continue the air marking program. To this day, local chapters of…
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Benedict Arnold: America’s Most Famous Traitor
…the Revolutionary War, he changed sides, abandoning the Americans’ fight for independence in return for the military rank and financial reward he received in the British army. Prior to his…
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A Woman Who Developed Tolerance: Leila T. Alexander
On Saturday, November 18, 1944, at noon after the meeting of the Connecticut War Council in the Senate Chambers of the State Capitol, Governor Raymond E. Baldwin, Jr. awarded certificates…
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New London’s Sound Defense
…war effort to no small degree. In addition, the disruption these raids caused to British trade led Britain’s mercantile class to exert pressure upon its government to end the war….
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Army-Navy “E” Award Honors Connecticut for Support Against the Axis Powers
By Sharon L. Cohen During World War II, the US military bestowed the top five percent of United States war plants with the Army-Navy Excellence in Production (“E”) Award for…
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The Early Years of the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company
…continued to innovate, increasing the power of their engine designs throughout the war years. By the end of the war, the power of Pratt & Whitney’s largest engine had tripled…
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Vietnam War
Vietnam War (1956 to 1975) The Vietnam era was as divisive in Connecticut as it was in the rest of the United States. Over 600 Connecticut servicemen lost their lives…
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Revolutionary War
Revolutionary War (1775-1783) Even before war erupted, Connecticut passed anti-Tory laws. In time, these—and harassment from liberty-minded neighbors—forced many loyal to Britain to flee their homes or suffer imprisonment. When…
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The Frost House Once Offered Travelers a Warm Welcome
…part of the Marion Historic District, the home is significant both architecturally and historically for the insight it provides into early New England history. Revolutionary War Hero Among Barnes Tavern…
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Vietnam Veterans Against the War – Today in History: April 19
Vietnam Veterans Against the War – Operation Dewey Canyon III On April 19, 1971, Vietnam veterans groups from Hartford, New Haven, and Stamford joined demonstrations in Washington, DC. Calling for…
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Health Department Fights Unseen Enemies During World War I
By Karen Frederick and Anne Young In the years after World War I broke out in Europe, Greenwich, like the rest of the United States, faced the menace of two…
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Israel Putnam: A Youthful Trailblazer Turned Colonial Militiaman
by Patrick J. Mahoney Israel Putnam is perhaps known best for his role as an American general during the Revolutionary War. The courage, leadership, and perseverance that endeared him to…
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Connecticut’s French Connections
…on the northern frontier and took part in attempts to invade Canada in 1690 and again in 1709, during Queen Anne’s War. During King George’s War in 1745, eight Connecticut…
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Marian Anderson’s Role in the Civil Rights Movement
…did not seek to become a symbol of civil rights, yet the times and her country made her so. A Musical Star Born into modest circumstances in South Philadelphia, Anderson’s…
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Standing at Rest, at Last: The Story of the Forlorn Soldier
…part of his master’s studies at Central Connecticut State University, Roy along with Dr. Matt Warshauer, found not just a story, but a great story of a cast-away statue that…
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A World in Motion: Artist and Sculptor Alexander Calder
…Spanish Civil War. After the end of World War II, the Calders began to spend more of their time in Europe, particularly France. In 1953, they acquired a house in…
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A Separate Place: The New Haven Colony, 1638-1665
…vessel, which unfortunately sank in the North Atlantic on its way to England. The English Civil War New Haven colonists welcomed news of the outbreak of the English Civil War,…
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Music Vale Seminary in Salem Credited as Being First in US
…outbreak of the Civil War. Enrollment at Music Vale Seminary declined precipitously in the 1860s as many of its southern students dropped out to return home. Then, in 1868, the…
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Mary and Eliza Freeman Houses
…and reached its highest population just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. The 1830s was a time when African Americans in the North, almost all free, started to…
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Looking Back: Tempest Tossed, the Story of Isabella Beecher Hooker
…losses inflicted during the Civil War. Some of the bold-faced names of the day dabbled in spirituality, including neighbor Mark Twain, who made public fun of spiritualism even though a…
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The Hartford Courant: The Oldest US Newspaper in Continuous Publication
…the Civil War – Connecticut Historical Society In the years that followed the war, the paper maintained its prominent position in American culture. It ran ads for such famous Americans…
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Understanding the Environmental Effects of Industry by Examining the Starr Mill
…innovation enabled Rusco to provide a specialized product, suspenders, to a wide market. As part of its post-Civil War expansion, Rusco bought the Starr Mill property in June of 1864…
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Rising Tide: Steamboat Workers on the Connecticut River
…meant 18-hour days, dangerous conditions, and lousy food. During the Civil War, able-bodied men were being drafted so the demand for steamboat workers was great. Monthly earnings for deckhands were…
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A Life Lived in a Rapidly Changing World: Samuel L. Clemens
…as a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River. With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861‚ however‚ all traffic along the river came to a halt‚ as did Sam’s…
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Orange Seeds Yield Corn, Alfafa, Soy, and More
…beginning his operation, Everett put his career on hold to join the Union army and served in the Connecticut Volunteer infantry during the Civil War before being taken prisoner in…
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Connecticut and the Embargo Act of 1807
…died in office later in the year.) Republican members of the assembly were shocked by Trumbull’s action, calling it “an enormous stride towards treason and civil war.” An End to…
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Connecticut’s Official State Flag – Who Knew?
…Chapter of the D.A.R. submitted several designs for a new flag, but Civil War veterans groups felt strongly about the blue Connecticut regimental flags they had fought under. The Merriam…
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Murder on the Map: The Mysterious Death of Captain George M. Colvocoresses
…Society Captain George M. Colvocoresses, naval officer, Pacific explorer, Civil War hero, and survivor of kidnapping, yellow fever, and various wars, was killed in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1872. Colvocoresses, or…
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The Wearing of the Green: 19th-century Prints of Irish Subjects by Hartford’s Kellogg Brothers
…Run,” one of the Kelloggs’ numerous Civil War subjects, depicts the heroic Colonel Michael Corcoran leading “the gallant 69th” in a charge on the Rebel batteries. Corcoran was born in…
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Exploring Early Connecticut Mapmaking
…professions. Moses Warren (1762-1835), one of the makers of the important 1813 state map, was a professional surveyor. Born in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, to Moses Warren Sr., he moved to…
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Charles Stratton and Lavinia Warren Wed – Today in History: February 10
…Grace Episcopal Church in New York City, Charles Stratton of Bridgeport married Lavinia Warren of Middleboro, Massachusetts. The cover of Harper’s Weekly showed Mr. Stratton in a formal morning coat…
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DN-1: The US Navy’s First Airship
…civilians. Suddenly nations separated from the continental war by leagues of ocean now seemed much less isolated. As a result, the United States began experimenting with developing their own lighter-than-air…
Read Charles Stratton and Lavinia Warren Wed – Today in History: February 10
…Grace Episcopal Church in New York City, Charles Stratton of Bridgeport married Lavinia Warren of Middleboro, Massachusetts. The cover of Harper’s Weekly showed Mr. Stratton in a formal morning coat…
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Joseph Alsop: Cunning Political Columnist of Mid-Century America
…by portraying himself as a civilian journalist on assignment. Once the war ended, Alsop resumed his journalism career, this time collaborating with his brother Stewart to write a column for…
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Reporting News of Pearl Harbor – Today in History: December 7
…and Italy declared war on the United States. The United States was now at war on two fronts. “History in the Headlines” transcript, December 7, 1941 – Andre Schenker Papers,…
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Ethan Allen Born – Today in History: January 10
On January 10, 1738, future hero of the Revolutionary War Ethan Allen was believed to have been born to a farming family in the frontier village of Litchfield, Connecticut. By…
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Great Depression and World War II 1929-1945
Great Depression and World War II (1929–1945) Governor Wilbur Cross helped navigate Connecticut’s course through the Great Depression. After a devastating collapse in the stock market that led to massive…
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World War I
World War I (1917-1918) When the United States entered Europe’s Great War in 1917, Connecticut manufacturers provided the military with munitions, clothing, and other goods. From Manchester silk and Waterbury…
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Airborne Pioneers: Connecticut Takes Flight
…The focus of commercial air travel in post-war Connecticut was Windsor Locks’ Bradley Field, an active Army air base during the war that was turned over to state ownership in…
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Defending Connecticut: Fortifying New London Against the British in 1812
…Great Britain on June 18, 1812. That summer, as the war got underway, Secretary of War William Eustis wrote to Captain C. D. Wood in New London, Connecticut: Sir, You…
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Site Lines: Silas Deane
…secured by the diligent efforts of Connecticut’s own Silas Deane. Deane’s extraordinary role in making the War for Independence viable should have placed him among the illustrious pantheon of America’s…
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Litchfield’s Revolutionary War Soldiers’ Tree
…of the town’s Revolutionary War soldiers. A small marker stands at the southeast corner of the eastern section of the Litchfield Green – Peter Vermilyea Soldiers Pledge to Battle Tyranny…
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The Welcoming Warmth of Kent’s Seven Hearths
…the hearth is universal in its meaning: comfort, warmth, and welcome. When John Beebe Jr. created seven of them in Flanders, keeping warm posed a significant challenge during the winter…
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Munitions Assembly Line 1943
…the armed forces with weapons, ships, planes and armaments. World War II was no exception to this tradition. With the outbreak of the war, work orders began to pour into…
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Civil Rights Demonstrations – Today in History: March 18
On March 18, 1965, about 90 Connecticut residents boarded a chartered plane at Bradley Airport to participate in the Civil Rights protest marches, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr….
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Metal Homes for the Atomic Age
By Stacey Vairo for Connecticut Explored A visitor to Connecticut’s suburbs can count on seeing an assortment of typical post-war houses in styles such as the ubiquitous Ranch or ever-present…
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Constance Baker Motley: A Warrior for Justice
…Martin Luther King Jr. and many other leading figures of the civil rights movement. Constance Baker Motley, January 28, 1964 – Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, New York…
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Illuminating Connecticut’s Past: The Bradley & Hubbard Legacy
…the United States entered World War II, prompting the Parker Company to focus on the war effort. The intensification of the conflict diverted most metal production to war-related goods, leaving…
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Did You Know a Connecticut Governor Was a US Spy?
…McConaughy’s rhetoric in the first gubernatorial campaign of the post-war era also highlighted the start of the Cold War in its emphasis on the threat from communism. In his acceptance…
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Fort Griswold Attacked – Today in History: September 6
On September 6, 1781, British forces overtook Fort Griswold and, in an infamous move that would be recalled throughout the American Revolutionary War and long after, they killed many of…
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Ruth Hovey: Heroic Battlefield Nurse
By Emily Clark During the Great War, heroes could be found on the battlefields and in the trenches across Europe, fighting to protect freedom in one of the deadliest conflicts…
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Portland’s Guy Hedlund: Actor and Activist
…only a $5 stake in return, Hedlund pleaded with Koppleman to do everything in his power to keep the US out of the war. By the war’s end, Hedlund lived…
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Early 20th-Century Immigration in Connecticut
…work dropped off significantly in the 1930s, women often joined men in the factories. World War I and Great Depression Breed Anti-Immigrant Sentiments By the start of World War I,…
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Rochambeau Returns Over and Over to Andover
Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, was a French nobleman and army general who contributed significantly to the Colonial army’s victory in the war for American independence. Rochambeau’s French troops…
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Roger Griswold: A Governor Not Afraid To Challenge Authority
…the spring of 1812, Griswold’s administration faced the difficult task of charting Connecticut’s course through the political debates surrounding war with Great Britain. Griswold personally opposed the war and refused…
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Stamford’s Three-Gun Armada
During the Revolutionary War, American privateers utilized armed whaling boats to keep the British from the colonies’ shores and prevent illicit trade in British goods. In 1778, 1779, and 1780,…
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East Haven’s Revolutionary Salt Works
…Massachusetts in the 1630s, he owned a wharf and large warehouse in East Haven that he utilized to grow his business. Revolutionary War Creates Business Opportunity When the Revolutionary War…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Crisis and Recovery, 1929-1964
…limited government, and one-party rule were gone forever. World War II brought a cascade of war orders into Connecticut and ended the Great Depression. Women found their lives transformed by…
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Connecticut Residents Did Not Let Veterans Day “Go Commercial.”
…contributions of veterans from World War II and Korea, as well as World War I. Veterans Day always fell on November 11, until 1968, when President Johnson signed the Uniform…
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Rosamond Danielson: Windham County Suffragist and Community Leader
…contributing to other state and regional activism. War Work and Philanthropy Connecticut State Council of Defense during World War I – Connecticut State Library, Dudley Photograph Collection, Connecticut History Illustrated…
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The Industrial Might of Connecticut Pegmatite
…in vacuum tubes, capacitors, and other electronic devices. During World War II muscovite was extremely important to the war effort, and many of the pegmatite mines in Connecticut were prospected…
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Over Time: Warren’s Historical Population
Town: Warren Incorporated: May, 1786 Incorporated from: Kent Connecticut is currently divided into 169 “towns” with distinct geographical boundaries. These boundaries changed as parishes were set off from larger town-tracts,…
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Leroy Anderson Composed Iconic Music in Woodbury
…utilizing his language skills as a translator and interpreter for the US Counter Intelligence Corps in Iceland during World War II. In all, Anderson spoke ten languages and his abilities…
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Capital Community College Students Explore Hartford’s Immigrant History…In Their Own Words
…the large voting potential of the Puerto Rican community.” George Keller: The Man in the Arch by Amanda Duenes Following the outbreak of the Civil War, George Keller went forth…
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Site Lines: Monuments to Connecticut’s Lost County Government
…Hall Willimantic grew rapidly after the Civil War. Early on, the town, which served as county seat, was more concerned with fulfilling the county’s basic needs than with building a…
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Early Civil Rights and Cultural Pioneers: The Easton Family
…moved the family to Eastern Massachusetts and worked actively in the early movement for black freedom. James was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and possessed Native American (Wampanoag)…
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Andover to Woodstock: How Connecticut Ended Up with 169 Towns
…body or hierarchy. John Warner Barber, Plan of the ancient Palisado Plot in Windsor – 1634, 1835 – Connecticut Historical Society The earliest pattern of town formation began with a…
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“U.S. Troops in Viet Nam, but none in Selma” – Today in History: March 9
On March 9, 1965, protesters held an all-night vigil in front of Connecticut Governor John Dempsey’s residence. Representatives of Hartford’s civil rights movement, led by members of the North End…
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Salisbury Iron Forged Early Industry
…the thousands of muskets made in Norfolk; Salisbury’s Horatio Ames made the largest Civil War cannon—which weighed in at 19,500 pounds—from it; and Thomas Alva Edison used the local iron…
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Intertwining Family Businesses
…and Southerners erupted in civil war, Johnson sold his interest in the lower mill and erected a third twine mill located between the original two. His business acumen brought the…
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P. T. Barnum’s Lottery
…in the hall to the mummy, from the circus posters to the Civil War uniforms, all the artifacts point back to one man and his lasting impression in Connecticut. P….
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Ironclad Commissioned – Today in History: April 21
On April 21, 1862, the USS Galena was commissioned. New Haven businessman Cornelius Bushnell submitted the design for the Galena by naval architect Samuel H. Pook to the United States…
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A Busy Airfield in Bethany
…exposed gas tanks and fabric-covered airplane wings helped the fire spread rapidly, resulting in $19,000 in damages. From Airfield to Playing Field Months later, however, with rebuilt facilities, the Civil…
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Josephine Bennett: Hartford’s City Mother
…help create the Travelers’ Aid Society. She also financially supported her friend Agnes Smedley, the radical journalist and novelist, who aided Indian and Chinese insurgents during their civil wars. By…
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The Hartford Wits
…final major defeat of the war, it was Humphreys who presented British General Cornwallis’s flag to the Continental Congress. After the war’s end, Trumbull, Barlow, and Humphreys settled in the…
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Soldier, Patriot, and Politician: The Life of Oliver Wolcott
…Confederation, remains one of Connecticut’s most significant and understudied revolutionary figures. His experiences during the Seven Years’ War and American Revolution made him a sought-after leader for the inexperienced American…
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Colonel Ruth A. Lucas: Literary Advocate
…the Tuskegee Institute and graduated in 1942 with a degree in education. In July of 1942, during the middle of World War II, Lucas joined the newly formed Women’s Army…
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Cromwell’s Iron Men Made Toys for Boys and Girls
…local competitors, found their way to store shelves all over the country by the start of the Second World War. World War II production needs, however, created an iron shortage…
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William Douglas: A Colonial Hero’s Sacrifice
William Douglas was a successful merchant and military leader who settled in North Branford just prior to the Revolutionary War. Despite retiring with substantial wealth acquired through trade with partners…
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Providing Bundles for Britain and News for America
…of America’s most trusted news writers and war correspondents. In addition, she worked diligently to bring relief to children and families in need during World War II and returned to…
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Connecticut Daredevil Andrew Mamedoff Joins Royal Air Force
…the first Americans to join England’s Royal Air Force. From Airshows to World War II Fighter Pilot Born in Warsaw, Russian Empire (today, Poland) in 1912, Mamedoff grew up in…
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New Canaan’s Pioneering Female Physician
…World War under way, Barringer worked with numerous organizations that supplied medical care throughout Europe and led a campaign promoting the service of female physicians in the military—a campaign that…
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A Connecticut Slave in George Washington’s Army
Nero Hawley, born into slavery in Connecticut in the 18th century, fought in the Revolutionary War. After his emancipation at the age of 41, he went on to become a…
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Lion Gardiner Helps to Fortify Early Old Saybrook
…for parts of what would become modern-day Old Saybrook. Birth of a Colony In 1631, the Earl of Warwick, who was president of the Council for New England, signed a…
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Benjamin Spock: Raising the World’s Children
…a Sane Nuclear Policy. He was an early opponent of the Vietnam War and a featured speaker at anti-war demonstrations beginning in 1967. In 1968, he and four other activists…
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A Hip Road Trip
…the turnpike after World War II. As the major thoroughfare from Boston to New Haven, by 1947 the turnpike saw on average about 11,000 cars daily. By 1953, that number…
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USS Confederacy: The Life and Service of Connecticut’s Continental Frigate
Written by Damien Cregeau and Dayne Rugh for the Connecticut History Review Though most of the famed battles of the American Revolution took place on land, in truth, the war…
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Henry Ward Beecher Born – Today in History: June 24
On June 24, 1813, Henry Ward Beecher was born in Litchfield. The Beechers were already well-known because Lyman Beecher, Henry’s father, was a nationally renowned clergyman, and Henry, too, became…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: A Society in Ferment, 1819-1865
…tragic war fell upon Connecticut. This article is a panel reproduction from An Orderly and Decent Government, an exhibition on the history of representative government in Connecticut developed by Connecticut…
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Disaster at Cold Harbor: Connecticut’s Second Volunteer Heavy Artillery Regiment
…and guard duty. In November 1863, the War Department ordered the Nineteenth to be reorganized as the Second Connecticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery Regiment, and officers were sent back to Connecticut…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Significant Events & Developments, 1819-1865
…voting, and expelled Irish units from the state militia. A War to Set Men Free Advocated first by a small group of ministers and other abolitionists, the anti-slavery cause took…
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Map – Connecticut Landmarks of the Constitution
…them to Sierra Leone. A landmark victory for abolitionists, the decision upheld the right to rebel against unlawful enslavement, and was challenged in the pre-Civil-War era. 52. New Haven: House…
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Hidden Nearby: Camp Columbia State Park in Morris
…In the years prior to World War I, a boathouse was built on Bantam Lake. Future expansion was halted by the coming of war, and in 1917, officers’ training for…
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Map – Rochambeau’s Camp at Farmington
…belonged to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, the commander of the French army in America during the Revolutionary War. France formalized its aid to the colonies following the treaties…
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Waterbury’s Radium Girls
By Nicole Fontaine The Waterbury Clock Company experienced an increased demand for watches after the First World War, and to turn a profit, they hired women at low wages to…
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Charles Ritchel and the Dirigible
…during the war and pioneered the use of the inflatable life raft. After World War I, however, the company was unable to find new peacetime customers. In 1921, it was…
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Boone Guyton Tested the Limits of World-Famous Aircraft
…serving on board the aircraft carriers Saratoga and Lexington prior to World War II. After completing his naval training, Guyton accepted a position with a commercial airline but United Aircraft,…
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Nathan Hale Hanged in New York – Today in History: September 22
On September 22, 1776, the British hanged Revolutionary War soldier Nathan Hale for spying. Born in Coventry in 1755, Hale attended Yale College and later became a schoolteacher. After hostilities…
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Timeline: Settlement of the Colony of Connecticut
1614 Dutch explorer Adriaen Block sails along the Connecticut coastline and up the Connecticut River. 1631 The Earl of Warwick signs the “Warwick Patent,” a deed of conveyance granting land…
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Fort Griswold and the Battle of Groton Heights 1781
East of the Thames River, on Groton Heights, Fort Griswold stands commanding the New London Harbor and the surrounding countryside. In the midst of the Revolutionary War, 1781, the fort…
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Eighty-Five Hundred Souls: the 1918-1919 Flu Epidemic in Connecticut
…the disease, which was further facilitated by the movements of soldiers. World War I Hastens Spread of the Disease Ward 83, American Red Cross Military Hospital Number 1, ca. 1918….
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British Burn Fairfield – Today in History: July 7
On July 7, 1779, during the Revolutionary War, the British anchored a fleet of warships off the coast of Fairfield, Connecticut. The British soldiers waited for the fog to lift…
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Governor Jonathan Trumbull Dies – Today in History: August 17
…Trumbull was known for keeping an even temperament while mediating disputes and for the way he rallied Connecticut residents to supply provisions for the Continental army during the Revolutionary War….
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Spring Training Baseball Comes to Wallingford
…donated all of the revenue they generated while in Wallingford to the Red Cross war effort. After the war and the lifting of travel restrictions in the US, baseball readily…
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Caleb Brewster and the Culper Spy Ring
…in the early years of the Revolutionary War, helped organize the Culper Spy Ring. Brewster’s friendship with the Tallmadges and his expertise as a seaman made him a natural for…
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Oliver Cromwell Launched – Today in History: June 13
…the establishment of Connecticut’s navy. The Navy was formed after the start of the American Revolutionary War in July of 1775 when the Connecticut General Assembly authorized Governor Jonathan Trumbull…
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Papier-Mache Clocks – Who Knew?
…that the William L. Gilbert Clock Corporation of Winsted was one of the few clock-making firms in Connecticut allowed to continue the manufacture of clocks during World War II. Why?…
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Freighter Worcester Launched – Today in History: April 5
…The freighter was built at the Groton Iron Works in support of the war effort for the Emergency Fleet Corporation of the United States Shipping Board. Groton Iron Works, formed…
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Hammonasset State Park Serves the State and its Residents
…from treaties and transactions to the fallout of war and disease, brought the land increasingly into European hands. From Firing Range to Public Beach The area around Hammonasset served a…
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Charles Grandison Finney Spreads Revivalism and Education throughout the Mississippi Valley
Charles Grandison Finney was a revivalist preacher and educator born in Warren on August 27, 1792. He was the seventh child of Josiah Finney and Sarah Curtiss—two of Warren’s earliest…
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Modernism in Connecticut through Photographs
…architecture that reflected a new way of living. After World War II thousands of veterans returned home. With a growing economy, need for affordable housing, and a desire for a…
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Black Loyalist Refugees: Toney Escapes During the Burning of Fairfield
By Alec Lurie When English warships landed at Fairfield’s Kenzie’s Point in July 1779, townspeople knew disaster was in store for coastal Connecticut. Some, however, saw British flags as a…
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Hometown Hero: Wallingford Remembers Stanley Budleski
…Historical Society. Gift of Mary Jane Dapkus. Yalesville Memorializes World War II Pilot Growing up, Stanley—known as “Bing” to his friends—was fascinated by airplanes, and he became an airplane mechanic…
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The Stonington Battle Flag
…Ghent in December 1814, ending the war. The flag remained in the care of Francis Amy, orderly sergeant of the 8th Company, until his death in 1863. The flag then…
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Map – Rochambeau’s Camp at East Hartford
…once belonged to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, the commander of the French army in America during the Revolutionary War. France formalized its aid to the colonies following the…
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Map – Rochambeau’s Camp at Windham
…belonged to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, the commander of the French army in America during the Revolutionary War. France formalized its aid to the colonies following the treaties…
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The Hartford Convention or Leap no Leap
…December of 1814. Historical Background The Hartford Convention, as it came to be known, met during the War of 1812 in reaction to the rise to power of the rival…
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The Ebenezer Avery House – Who Knew?
…that the Ebenezer Avery House on the grounds of Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park in Groton once served as a hospital and refuge for the wounded after the Revolutionary War’s…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Significant Events & Developments, 1776-1818
…subject which can engage our attention.” – Governor Oliver Wolcott Jr., 1818 A Second War with Britain The Connecticut ship, Arbula Many in Connecticut opposed the War of 1812 and…
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D-Day – Today in History: June 6
…warned in the first bulletins that the news could be German propaganda. Not until 3:32 am did General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s London headquarters issue a statement confirming that the invasion,…
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Connecticut’s Valley Forge: The Redding Encampment and Putnam Memorial State Park
By CT Humanities Staff As the 1778-79 winter quarters for a division of the Continental army during the Revolutionary War, Putnam Memorial State Park is sometimes referred to as “Connecticut’s…
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Map – Rochambeau’s Camp at Danbury
…to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, the commander of the French army in America during the Revolutionary War. France formalized its aid to the colonies following the treaties of…
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Southbury Takes On the Nazis
In the late 1930s, in an attempt to avoid a second world war, countries around the globe worked to curb increasingly hostile Nazi aggression through policies of appeasement. The United…
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Map – Rochambeau’s Camp at Canterbury
…to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, the commander of the French army in America during the Revolutionary War. France formalized its aid to the colonies following the treaties of…
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Map – Rochambeau’s Camp at Voluntown
…to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, the commander of the French army in America during the Revolutionary War. France formalized its aid to the colonies following the treaties of…
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Stealth Attack from Guilford Launched – Today in History: May 23
…large stores of hay, grain, and rum. They brought with them 96 prisoners of war. Not a single patriot had been lost. But Guilford would have its turn to feel…
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Bradley International Airport Transforms Windsor Locks into Regional Gateway
…area for overseas deployment and, toward the end of the war, as a camp for German prisoners of war. The field was deactivated in 1945 and returned to state ownership…
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Caleb Brewster: A Patriot Against Freedom
…member of the Culper Spy Ring during the Revolutionary War—was also an active participant in the African Slave Trade. Runaway Advertisement in the Fairfield Gazette Advertisement by Caleb Brewster in…
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Levi Pease, Stage Route and Transportation Innovator
…at the start of the Revolutionary War. Serving in various special functions throughout the war, Pease was primarily in charge of transportation-related matters. He delivered correspondence, purchased horses and foraged…
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Oliver Wolcott Dies – Today in History: December 1
…military leader during the Revolutionary War. The latter role culminated with his appointment to Brigadier General of the Connecticut Militia. After the war, Wolcott continued in political service as the…
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David Bushnell and his Revolutionary Submarine
…the Delaware River; both were successful. When the war ended—and with brother Ezra having died in 1786—David Bushnell left Connecticut and went to Warrenton, Georgia, with Yale classmate Abraham Baldwin….
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The Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918
…with pigs a likely intermediary. The pandemic coincided with another devastating event: the Great War, more commonly known today as World War I. During the late winter and spring of…
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Town Patents the Lattice Truss Bridge – Today in History: January 28
…made the design the common choice for covered bridges and early railroad bridges until the post-Civil War era. Town’s bridge design accommodated early trains simply by doubling the quantity of…
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Colt Armory Burns – Today in History: February 4
…spread about the factory fire; because it took place at the height of the Civil War, some believed Confederate sympathizers started the blaze. However, no one ever discovered the real…
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The Fight Over Slavery Reaches Torrington
In the years prior to the Civil War, Torrington, like many towns in New England and the rest of the country, found itself divided by the issue of slavery. Abolitionist…
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Savin Rock Park: “Connecticut’s Coney Island”
…Haven, 1906, 1981.136.1 – Connecticut Historical Society Kelsey served with the 6th Regiment of the Connecticut Volunteers during the Civil War. An entrepreneur at heart, Kelsey spent his postwar years…
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The Many Layers to Onion Farming in Westport
…from Westport and the surrounding area once flooded the markets of New York. By Ship and Rail, Connecticut Onions Head to Market Around the time of the Civil War, the…
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James Lindsey Smith Takes the Underground Railroad to Connecticut
By Nancy Finlay In the years before the Civil War, the Underground Railroad enabled thousands of Americans of African descent to escape from slavery. In the North and in the…
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Triangle Shirtwaist Fire: Connecticut Lessons from a Tragedy
…according to ConnectiCOSH spokesman Steven Schrag. The group holds CEOs personally responsible for providing adequate safety and health programs in the workplace. In Hartford’s Bushnell Park, near the Civil War…
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The Northern Student Movement
…in the South and to challenge racial discrimination in the North. Though only 19, Countryman had already been active in the civil rights movement through the New England Student Christian…
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Danbury Hangings: The Executions of Anthony and Amos
…black Civil War soldiers. But many of its residents remain unaware of the executions of Anthony and Adams and the social ramifications of their deaths. An acknowledgment of these stories…
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The Seth Wetmore House: A Storied Structure of 18th Century Middletown
…Civil War History George Washington’s Gravestone, Indian Hill Cemetery, Middletown – Find a Grave Though renowned for its Georgian architecture and New England features, the house also has connections to…
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Selma, Not So Far Away
…institutional racism wherever he found it, in the state and in his own church. On March, 11, 1965, at the height of violent confrontations over civil rights in the South,…
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One-Legged Stools – Who Knew?
…helped establish over 100 mills in an area of Enfield that later became known as Hazardville. His Hazard Powder Company supplied the gun powder that helped fight the Civil War,…
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Hidden Nearby: Two Monuments to Sportsmen at Housatonic Meadows State Park
By Peter Vermilyea Men and their firefighting tools, Camp Cross Housatonic State Forest, Cornwall-Bridge – Courtesy of Civilian Conservation Corps Legacy Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the legislation establishing the Civilian…
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Eighteen Years in the Making: Connecticut’s 1991 Gay Rights Law
…Colloquially known as the “gay-rights bill,” this legislation prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, employment, and credit. It was one of the first LGBTQ+ civil rights laws in…
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A Public Responsibility: Conservation and Development in the 20th Century
…recreational development. Depression-era Programs Advance Conservation Projects The Depression provided additional opportunity for state conservation efforts through the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), initiated in 1933 and one of the flagship…
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Video – Hidden History: Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch
YouTube CTnow.com Hidden History is a video series highlighting stories from Connecticut’s past. Content is produced by and used with the permission of CTnow.com. Presentation of external content from for-profit…
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The Rogerenes Leave Their Mark on Connecticut Society
…that he would “behave himself civilly and peaceably,” including refraining from work on the Sabbath. When he would not so swear, he was transported out of the colony. The frequency…
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Waterbury Clock Company Saved by Mickey Mouse – Who Knew?
…was the largest clock maker in the United States. With the advent of World War I, Waterbury Clock continued to place itself at the forefront of innovation when they modified…
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Beatrice Fox Auerbach: Retail Pioneer Led Iconic Family Department Store
…education, Auerbach devoted much of her life to the betterment of her community and the world. She made contributions to civilian relief efforts during World War II by establishing a…
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The “Red Scare” in Connecticut
…the First World War (ironically, some of those arrested were war veterans themselves). Postmaster General Albert Burleson attempted to clarify the laws’ purpose: “For instance, papers may not say that…
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The Great Atlantic Hurricane Hits Connecticut
…War Council and the establishment of a storm headquarters at the office of Hartford Mayor William H. Mortensen. Additionally, state officials activated the War Emergency Radio Service (the first time…
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Helen F. Boyd Leads the Charge for Better Public Health
…forces during World War I. Boyd claimed: The battle to keep up the highest standard of public health must not be delayed for one moment. There must be women to…
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I-95 Reaches New London
…and World War II. With the postwar development of the Interstate Highway System, the single-span bridge soon proved unable to handle the ever-increasing flow of traffic. In 1963, planning began…
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The Connecticut Poll Tax
…Connecticut and New Haven colonial governments, stipulated that “all charges of the war be born by the poll.” Although no war ensued, Massachusetts enacted a law in 1646, which included…
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David Humphreys, Soldier, Statesman, and Agricultural Innovator
…Gold medal awarded to David Humphreys by the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, 1802 A Distinguished Career at Home and Abroad During the Revolutionary War, Humphreys’ military talents and patriotism…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Significant Events & Developments, 1905-1929
…on to Washington. War in Europe greatly stimulated the Connecticut economy as contracts from the European combatants flooded into the state’s brass industry and arms makers. American entry in the…
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The Turtle Submarine – Today in History: September 6
On September 6, 1776, the first functioning submarine, called the Turtle, attacked the HMS Eagle anchored in New York Harbor. Designed by Saybrook native and Yale graduate David Bushnell, the…
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Colonial Revival Movement Sought Stability during Time of Change
…of the past: a gun that had belonged to Revolutionary War hero General Israel Putnam, an antique tall clock, relics of the Charter Oak, and what would become the icon…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Searching for the Common Good, 1929-1964
…militant. Organized labor grew enormously in strength and influence in the 1930s and helped mobilize legislative support for the minimum wage, worker’s compensation, and unemployment insurance. The lure of wartime…
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Dynamic Tensions: Conservation and Development up to the 1920s
…Threatens Electrical Service” and characterized the Governor’s tree-trimming plans as a “War on Trees.” “Mark my word,” warned Governor Dannel Malloy, “when we start to do that… there are going…
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Danbury Prison Protest – Today in History: August 11
…1940 the Federal Correctional Institution, also known as the Danbury prison, became a site of political protest. During World War II, the prison was one of several facilities nationwide to…
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Hartford’s Anna Sokolow, Modern Dance Pioneer
…Her contemporaries inspired and challenged her and Sokolow explored serious themes in Strange American Funeral, Inquisition ’36, Anti-War Trilogy and Excerpts From a War Poem in a series of critically…
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The Burning of Danbury
By Richard Buel When General George Washington ordered that Danbury serve as a supply depot for the Continental army in early 1777, he based his decision on the town’s importance…
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Blood on the Hill: The Battle of Groton Heights, September 6, 1781
By Richard Malley Linen Vest, about 1781. Col. William Ledyard’s linen vest came to CHS from his daughter-in-law Maria Ledyard. Note puncture hole in the side, suggesting a bayonet wound…
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Lemuel Haynes: America’s First Black Ordained Minister
…career in religion. At the time his indenture expired (in 1774) the American colonies seemed destined for war with Great Britain so Haynes put his theological dreams on hold and…
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Battle at Ridgefield – Today in History: April 27
On April 27, 1777, American forces under the command of Major General David Wooster attacked the retreating British troops under Major General William Tryon in Ridgefield. In anticipation of Tryon’s…
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The British Attack Danbury – Today in History: April 26
On April 25, 1777, British forces land at the mouth of the Saugatuck River with plans to attack Danbury. General William Howe had ordered Major General William Tryon, royal governor…
Read Benedict Arnold Demands the Key – Today in History: April 22
On April 22, 1775, Benedict Arnold demanded the key to New Haven’s powder house. After hearing the news of the fighting at Lexington, Massachusetts, Arnold, as the commander of the…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: A New State, A New Constitution, 1776-1818
…remained in the hands of the same political and religious elite that had governed Connecticut for decades. The General Assembly emerged from the war a far stronger institution. The great…
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Gerald MacGuire and the Plot to Overthrow Franklin Roosevelt
…Legion’s Connecticut commander. MacGuire was born in Rhode Island on May 10, 1897, served in the First World War, settled in Darien, and worked at a prominent Wall Street brokerage…
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Samuel Colt…and Sewing Machines?
…the Revolutionary War and during the War of 1812. Plus, if an artisan-produced musket or revolver failed on the battlefield, the army would need a field blacksmith to repair it,…
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Hannah Bunce Watson: One of America’s First Female Publishers
…Watson on August 1, 1771. Ebenezer was the publisher of the Connecticut Courant newspaper at his shop on Main Street in Hartford. The paper became popular during the Revolutionary War…
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Mariann Wolcott and Ralph Earl – Opposites Come Together and Make History
…formed 10,790, a figure representing a quarter of all the bullets produced from King George’s fallen statue. An Artist Struggles Through the Revolutionary War Meantime, Ralph Earl firmly allied himself…
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Brass City/Grass Roots: Struggles and Decline
…and other farmers before World War II, it began to work against them in the post-War era. Increased efficiency of production meant, paradoxically, overproduction leading to lower prices for farm…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Searching for the Common Good, 1776-1818
The General Assembly Wages War Loyalists were numerous in Connecticut, especially in Fairfield County, and posed a real threat to the war effort. The General Assembly responded with laws punishing…
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Homer D. Babbidge, Leader in Education
…“ten outstanding young men of the nation” in recognition of his work administering the National Defense Education Act of 1958. The NDEA reacted to Cold War fears of Soviet ascendancy…
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The Platt Amendment – Today in History: June 12
On June 12, 1901, the Cuban Constitutional Convention agreed to the terms of the Platt Amendment. Drafted by United States Secretary of War, Elihu Root, the Platt Amendment was a…
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WDRC AM/FM – Connecticut’s Oldest Commercial Radio Station
…on these developments, unregulated amateur and experimental broadcasts commenced until a ban during World War I. Recognizing a need for regulation after the war, the US Department of Commerce issued…
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Sloan Wilson, the Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, is Born – Today in History: May 8
…set in Westport, Connecticut, examines the life of a returning World War II veteran in post-war suburbia and his subsequent angst-ridden struggle to maintain his family’s upper-middle-class lifestyle. Many consider…
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Chief G’tinemong/Ralph W. Sturges
…in administration and criminology. That training prompted his service as a security and intelligence officer for the United States Government during the Second World War. After the war, he worked…
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Maritime History: The Founding of the United States Coast Guard Academy
…the aftermath of World War II, the United States claimed the vessel as a war reparation and brought it to Connecticut where it remains in use today. In addition to…
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Connecticut Pocketknife Firms
…tariffs led to a drastic decline in European imports, which all but ceased during World War I. Before the conflict, tariffs encouraged skilled Europeans to migrate to America, but the…
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“Take Five” with Dave Brubeck
…army during World War II. While in the army, Brubeck led a band that traveled into combat areas to play for troops, and while he was close to the front…
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Video – Connecticut’s Cultural Treasures: Lebanon Green
YouTube – CPTV – Created by the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network and the Department of Economic and Community Development with additional funding provided by Connecticut Humanities….
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Preserving an All-American Downtown in Torrington
…Arts Center. Perhaps the most famous preservation project in Torrington is the Warner Theater. Built as a movie palace by Warner Brothers Studios in 1931, and capable of seating 1,700…
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Abigail Hinman: Heroine of the American Revolution or Legend?
By Emily Clark New London resident Abigail Hinman, the relatively unknown wife of sea captain Elisha Hinman, allegedly made a name for herself as a patriot in 1781. Her story…
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Connecticut Issues Same-Sex Marriage Licenses for the First Time – Today In History: November 12
…grant civil unions for same-sex couples, hoping to strike a compromise between gay and lesbian activists and others with religious or traditional marriage beliefs. After the state legalized civil unions,…
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Andover Lake: A Lesson in Social Change
…few may appreciate the role the lake played in challenging racial boundaries during the Civil Rights Era. In 1926, after years of research and planning, contractors began clearing trees and…
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The Rise of the Black Panther Party in Connecticut
…violence on a local and national scale. In 1961 the US Civil Rights Commission found that as the civil rights movement grew, a majority of African Americans feared racist backlash….
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Children of the Reconcentrados: Caroline Selden’s Cuban School
…rebellion against Spanish rule and continued to work for Cuban independence. Another rebellion, the War of Independence, broke out in Cuba in February 1895. Attempting to quash widespread popular support,…
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Scandal in the Beecher Family
By Karen DePauw The story reads like a soap opera. In 1870, Theodore Tilton accused his wife of being unfaithful to him with the popular preacher Henry Ward Beecher, and…
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Hope for the West: The Life and Mission of Lyman Beecher
…prosperity, is coming in upon us like a flood; and if anything shall defeat the hopes of the world, which hand upon our experiment of civil liberty, it is that…
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Designed to Heal: The Connecticut General Hospital for the Insane
…plan. Patients able to comply with hospital regimens occupied the wards closest to the central building, while the hospital reserved the rooms at the ends of the wings—farthest from the…
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Capital Punishment in Connecticut: Changing Views
…offenses and death for a third. The preferred method of execution during this time was hanging. Executions as Public Spectacle and Warning Public hangings were a part of Connecticut culture…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Making Self-Government Work, 1929-1964
…for the state’s fiscal integrity, mandated an annual budget, and created a state civil service system. These attempts to improve governmental efficiency increased executive power relative to the legislature. During…
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A Baltic Mill Helps Found a New Town
…at the Baltic Mill Former Baltic Mill Warehouse, Baltic Several decades later, around the turn of the century, a businessman from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, named Frederick Sayles purchased the property…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Significant Events & Developments, 1965-Now
A New Constitution President Johnson declared war on poverty following his election in 1964, and federal funds soon flowed into urban renewal and anti-poverty programs across the state. President Lyndon…
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Miss Porter’s School in Farmington
…to 1943. In 1943, its centennial year, significant changes occurred at the school. It incorporated as a non-profit educational institution, its first board of trustees was chosen, and Ward L….
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Africans in Search of the American Dream: Cape Verdean Whalers and Sealers
…rescued by the Marion (a United States man-of-war). Although two of the other crewmembers froze to death, all the Cape Verdeans survived the ordeal. Cape Verdeans Formed Integral Part of…
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Connecticut Pin Makers
…appeared through the efforts of individual craftsmen. American endeavors to create a pin “industry” during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, when British supplies disappeared, proved largely unsuccessful,…
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Putting Cleveland on the Map: Lorenzo Carter on the Ohio Frontier
…Environs:The Heart of New Connecticut by Elroy M. Avery, 1918 Carter was born in Warren, Connecticut, in 1766. His father, a Continental army soldier, died when Lorenzo was 11, forcing…
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Mounds Candy Bar Involved in Espionage – Who Knew?
…that a storied Naugatuck business had its own “navy” and that it performed espionage services for the United States government during World War II? It’s true. That business was the…
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Herbert Abrams Immortalizes the Nation’s Leaders
…in World War II as a pilot and flight instructor. After the war, he graduated from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and studied at the Art Students League in New…
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Meriden
…Silver City. In 1944, the War Manpower Commission named Meriden “The Nation’s Ideal War Community,” for its industrial and patriotic contributions during World War II. Today’s economy is primarily service-based….
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Connecticut and the Armenian Genocide
…Ottoman Empire and oppression and violence against Armenians rose for decades. With the outbreak of World War I, Ottoman authorities viewed the Armenians as an increasing threat to their security….
Read Brass City/Grass Roots: What Makes a Farm a Farm? Other Sites of Food Production in Waterbury
…War I and Victory Gardens during World War II, encouraged and aided not just by local government but also by the large brass factories. Like many cities, Waterbury established a…
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Changing Sentiments on Slavery in Colonial Hebron
…six years, without assistance from a master or aid from the local population. With the war’s end, no one offered any opposition to Cesar, Lowis, and their several children re-occupying…
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A Connecticut Nazi Spy Has a Change of Heart
…academy in Annapolis, William attended MIT where he openly expressed his desire to settle in Nazi Germany at the conclusion of World War II. William Colepaugh Learns German Spycraft Increasingly…
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The Beadle Family Murders – Today in History: December 11
…a Wethersfield merchant gave money for the relief of Boston. In exchange for his goods, Beadle accepted Continental currency, which dropped greatly in value during the war. When Beadle no…
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Notorious New-Gate Prison
…New-Gate not only housed thieves, counterfeiters, and murderers but Tories (a label given to those sympathetic to the British cause during the Revolutionary War) as well. Connecticut’s Council of Safety…
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The “Father of American Football” is Born – Today in History: April 7
…War I. Walter Camp as Yale’s Team Captain from the book Football Days Memories of the Game and of the Men Behind the Ball by William H. Edwards, 1916 The…
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Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold (1741-1801) Once lauded for heroism, Norwich-born Benedict Arnold earned infamy as a traitor during the American Revolutionary War by leaving liberty’s cause to side with the British. As…
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Tradition and Transformation Define Hartford’s Jewish Community
…Washington for refugee relief. Both before and after the war, Hartford Jews fought to bring in the refugees, many of whom were members of their own families. World War II…
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Hiram Bingham IV: A Humanitarian Honored for Saving Lives during WWII
…At the start of World War II, Marseilles, along with numerous other European port cities, received an influx of refugees (many of them Jewish), fleeing from the advancing German armies….
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Ernest Borgnine: Breaking the Hollywood Mold
…the Second World War, Borgnine retuned to Connecticut and, with nothing in particular to do, heeded a suggestion from his mother to study acting. At the rather advanced age of…
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George Washington Slept Here (Just Perhaps Not Well)
…Washington traveled from Boston to Hartford, he stopped in Pomfret, Connecticut, to inquire about the residence of Revolutionary War veteran, Israel Putnam. Concluding that a trip to see his old…
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Hamden’s Literary Legend
…After briefly leaving school to serve as a corporal in the Coast Artillery Corps during World War I, he graduated from Yale in 1920. From there he went on to…
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The Whitney Armory Helps Progress in Hamden
…order to support himself. In addition to tutoring the children of Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene, Whitney soon gained a reputation as man with a gift for invention. In 1793,…
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Connecticut’s Black Governors
…into war after the battles of Lexington and Concord. In 1776, for example, with Connecticut’s government in the hands of the revolutionaries, a slave named John Anderson became black governor…
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An Old Saybrook Borough has a Stately History
…Warwick signed the Warwick Patent, which was a deed of conveyance granting 11 of his contemporaries land rights in what is now southeastern Connecticut. Included in this group were the…
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Ralph Earl: Portrait of an Early American Artist
…drew four pictures of the battles and Doolittle translated them into engravings for printing; these are the earliest Revolutionary War battle scenes distributed in America. He also painted portraits of…
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Cornfield Point: Old Saybrook’s Forgotten Scenic Alcove
…significance to the Pequot War. Fewer state residents realize that another key historical location exists on the opposite end of the coastline just a short ride down the street. Cornfield…
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Samuel Huntington, the first President of the United States, dies – Today in History: January 5
…the Third Pennamite War (dispute over settlements by Connecticut’s Susquehanna Company in Pennsylvania), the distribution of the lands held in the Western Reserve, the ratification of the United States Constitution,…
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Roger Sherman, Revolutionary and Dedicated Public Servant
…nation’s first constitution). He involved himself in issues of supply purchasing, Native American affairs, and the administration of the post office. In addition, he served on the Board of War…
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Algonquin Man 1645
…occupants of this area. In the early 17th century, just before European contact, the tribe had approximately 8,000 members and inhabited 250 square miles (160,000 acres). The Pequot War of…
Read The Story Trail of Voices
…(in New York) and by the Revolutionary War. Records show Mohegan heads of households equaling 35 and the grand total of individuals numbered 84. However, when considering these numbers, it…
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Washington Didn’t Only Sleep Here: George Washington at Wethersfield’s Webb House
…existed in large part thanks to Washington’s leadership of American troops to victory over that same British military in the war for independence. All of the trips Washington made to…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Significant Events & Developments, 1929-1964
…ready, the State Capitol begins a black-out test on December 12, 1941, five days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. During the War the General Assembly granted the governor broad…
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Jeremiah Wadsworth, “foremost in every enterprise”
…War, he advanced to commissary for the eastern division of the Continental army and in 1778 succeeded Joseph Trumbull as commissary general for the entire army. He earned the trust…
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New London’s Indian Mariners
…relations on the mainland. Indentured Service and Indian Resistance On his return to Fishers Island early in his second year of service, however, he encountered a man-of-war sloop entering Long…
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Clare Boothe Luce Changed Perceptions about Women in Business and Politics
…upon her earlier journalistic experience to provide Life readers with in-depth first-hand accounts of her travels across the different theaters of war. Her wartime writings presented a marked criticism of…
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News From Lexington: Contemporary Views of the Opening Battles of the American Revolution
…but most historians agree the Doolittle’s four etchings are an accurate reflection of the actual events. Such contemporary views of Revolutionary War battles are extremely unusual, and Doolittle’s four prints…
Read Brass City/Grass Roots: From Farmers to Developers: The Rasmussens of Town Plot
…his land into half-acre parcels for house lots. The Depression and World War II stalled development, but Hans’ sons Floyd and Wesley continued their father’s project post-War, creating housing at…
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Samuel Foot: A Trader Turned Governor
…to New Haven and found employment in the West India trade, traveling on numerous voyages before the War of 1812 brought an end to his commercial prosperity. Cheshire Politician Becomes…
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Prudence Punderson, Ordinary Woman, Extraordinary Artist: Needlework in Connecticut
…War was over, the couple reunited, married, and planned a life together. Sadly, their life together was cut short after their daughter, Sophia, was born. The story of this young…
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Playing with Time: The Introduction of Daylight Saving Time in Connecticut
…cost them an hour of daylight, making farm workers an hour late getting to the fields. Connecticut patriotically supported Daylight Saving during the war, but once the war was over,…
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The Interstate Highway System Comes to Hartford
…government looked for ways to improve transportation in the event the United States went to war. War broke out before workers accomplished much in Hartford, but by 1945 a multilane…
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Alexander Calder and Making Art Political
…notables to sign anti-draft petitions and anti-war advertisements in national newspapers. In 1972, Calder joined a group of about one hundred high-profile artists—including Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg—to support Senator…
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The Pie Man from Georgetown and the Connecticut ~ Copperthite Pie Company
…79th Highlanders of New York in the Civil War. After the war, Henry returned to Connecticut where he put his highly prized wagon-driving skills to work for a pie maker….
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L.D. Brown and Son Silk Mill: A Staple in Middletown’s South Farms District
…New Middletown Mill Interior of the former L.D. Brown & Son silk mill, now the site of Estate Treasures – Kelly Marino Following the Civil War, the South Farms area…
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Horror on the Housatonic: The Railroad Disaster of August 1865
…days earlier and was returning home to Canaan after three years service in the Civil War. Richard Malley is Head of Collections at the Connecticut Historical Society. © Connecticut Public…
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The US Constitutional Convention: America Forms a Bicameral Legislature
…US History at Moran Middle School in Wallingford, is a participant in the Teaching American History program of the US Department of Education and a Civil War re-enactor with Company…
Read The Connecticut Ratification Convention
…US History at Moran Middle School in Wallingford, is a participant in the Teaching American History program of the US Department of Education and a Civil War re-enactor with Company…
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The Rise of the “Second Home” Community in Sharon – Who Knew?
…that after the Civil War and through the 1930s, recreational pursuits attained ever-greater importance, until they ranked among the region’s most significant characteristics. Such activities included amenities that served local…
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Gideon Welles
…Abraham Lincoln. Welles, whom Lincoln called “My Neptune,” rapidly doubled the size of the US navy during his tenure and successfully directed the Union’s naval campaigns during the Civil War….
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Linonian and Brothers in Unity: The Societies that Built Yale University’s Library
…during the Revolutionary War. Linonian and Brothers in Unity Donate to Yale Library Yale’s Sterling Library’s L&B Room – Wikimedia Commons, Jaredjonker Before the Civil War, when so few libraries…
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Plainville Has Been Flying High for Over 100 Years
…unimaginable to those remaining earthbound. In addition, the airport’s strategic location made it an ideal base for the Civil Air Patrol during times of war and for small businessmen in…
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W. J. Squire’s Gill Net Manufactory in East Haddam
…at his sister’s in Colchester. His condition may have stemmed from his four years’ Civil War service as a Private in Co. G, 1st CT Heavy Artillery. In addition to…
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A Unique Island Attraction in Bridgeport
…park had suffered $60,000 worth of damage. Tilyou sold the park in 1910 and it took on the name Sea Breeze Island. The park hosted outings for local businessmen, Civil…
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Abundant Wildlife Drives the History of Rocky Neck State Park
…kelp from the area waters for use as a fertilizer in their cornfields. By the time of the Civil War, small fish replaced the seaweed as the fertilizer of choice….
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Yung Wing, the Chinese Educational Mission, and Transnational Connecticut
…New England preparatory schools and at universities like Yale. But there were other relevant elements as well. Yung volunteered for the Union Army during the Civil War (though his services…
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Map – Bird’s-eye View of Ansonia, 1875
…This pictorial cartographic form portrayed the landscape as if viewed from above and at an angle, and those produced after the Civil War often presented an idealized view of Connecticut’s…
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Hidden Nearby: Henry Obookiah’s Cornwall Grave
by Peter Vermilyea Heneri Opukaha’ia (Anglicized as Henry Obookiah in his lifetime) was born on the island of Hawaii in 1792. His parents were killed in a civil war and,…
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Food and Drink
…By the mid-19th century, Connecticut hosted a thriving dairy industry and was a vital producer of milk and eggs during the Civil War. The 20th century witnessed the birth of…
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Connecticut and American Impressionism
…in the aftermath of the Civil War, when an intense longing for order and stability led artists to favor quiet, peaceful views over awesome wilderness vistas. Connecticut, with its longtime…
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Crew of the Whaling Schooner Margaret 1907
…Civil War and various arctic disasters were discouraging. In addition, there were clearly a declining number of whales in accessible waters. Because of the combination of these factors, the industry…
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Plainfield Academy: Grooming Connecticut Scholars in the 18th and 19th Centuries
…but the rapid expansion of educational institutions following the Civil War crippled the school’s annual enrollment revenues and created intense competition for qualified instructors. These pressures ultimately forced the Academy…
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A Revolution On Two Wheels: Columbia Bicycles
…Civil War veteran who continued to use the honorific “Colonel” after the war, was one of the visionaries who recognized the potential for the bicycle. The early postwar years saw…
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The Danbury Hatters
…Hatting” by J. Moss Ives, 1901. After the industry recovered from the flood and the loss of business in the South during the Civil War, it brought prosperity to Danbury…
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American Actor Changes 19th-Century Theater – Who Knew?
…helped usher in a new style of theater in the late 19th century. His 1886 Civil War drama, Held by the Enemy, epitomized this shift. This entirely American play earned…
Read Father of Architects Born – Today in History: December 4
…station (demolished in 1848), and the Italian Gothic city hall—commissioned just prior to the Civil War. Austin also built churches across the state in the Gothic revival and Italianate styles,…
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Map – Bird’s-eye View of Jewett City, 1889
…This pictorial cartographic form portrayed the landscape as if viewed from above and at an angle, and those produced after the Civil War often presented an idealized view of Connecticut’s…
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Establishing Roots in Oxford
…nearby manufacturing areas than the small waterways leading to Oxford could supply. The decline in trade with southern states after the Civil War compounded the problem and ended mass manufacturing…
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Swinging for the Fences: Connecticut’s Black Baseball Greats
…If baseball is America’s pastime, it has been Connecticut’s passion for more than 150 years. Our state can trace the popularity of the game back before the Civil War. Towns,…
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Eastford
…agricultural community well into the 20th century. Markers of Eastford’s past include a monument to hometown hero Nathaniel Lyon, the first Union general killed in the Civil War, and a…
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Helen Keller in Connecticut: The Last Years of a Legendary Crusader
…her life to civil liberties and was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). A self-identified socialist, she also believed in birth control and the suffragist movement….
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The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
…which bound the three towns to be governed in all civil matters by the Orders. The preamble, then, was a civil equivalent of a church covenant. (The model of the…
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19th Amendment: The Fight Over Woman Suffrage in Connecticut
…acts of civil disobedience. The Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association In Connecticut, Frances Ellen Burr and Isabella Beecher Hooker took up the cause by forming the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association (CWSA)…
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Amateur Radio Comes of Age in Connecticut
…relief organizations, such as the Red Cross, they also play an important role in civil emergencies. Radio amateur volunteers provide a communications adjunct to the professional civil services and are…
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First Commercial Telephone Exchange – Today in History: January 28
…the brainchild of Civil War veteran and telegraph office manager George Coy in partnership with Herrick Frost and Walter Lewis. List of Subscribers, February 21, 1878 – Southern New England…
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Miss Huntley’s School Opens – Today in History: August 1
…States until the Civil War. Though once dismissed for the sentimentality of its verse, Sigourney’s work is increasingly studied by modern scholars because she was one of the first women…
Read Torrington
…1735, incorporated in 1740, and chartered as a city in 1923. In the years before the Civil War, Torringford, a section of Torrington, was a transportation center for the Underground…
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The Education of Ella Grasso
…arrived in Windsor Locks early in the 20th century, they followed tens of thousands of Europeans who immigrated to the United States in the decades after the Civil War. By…
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Steam Railroads Transform Connecticut Travel and Commerce
…to monitor the operations of all railroads in the state, which helped to reduce the number of train accidents. By the time of the Civil War, rail travel in Connecticut…
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North Stonington
…and was a well-known mercantile center that produced silk and satin, wools, and thread lace among other items. After the Civil War, the town turned primarily agricultural with dairy farming…
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Weaving the Cultural Fabric of Beacon Falls
…American interest in long coats that reduced demand for the woolen shawls made popular during the Civil War. But just 30 years later, John Wolfe purchased some of the machinery…
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Sharon
…goods, including rakes, buckles, and currycombs, from locally mined ore. During the Civil War, the town made munitions and invented the Hotchkiss explosive shell. Today, Sharon is a quiet bedroom…
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The League of American Wheelmen and Hartford’s Albert Pope Champion the Good Roads Movement
…important role: the bicycle. The Extraordinary “Ordinary” In 1878, Colonel Albert Pope, a former Civil War officer and successful entrepreneur from Boston, began the manufacture of what was called the…
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Franklin
…to be buried in the Congressional Cemetery in the nation’s capital, and Dr. Ashbel Woodward, a Union surgeon during the Civil War whose home is now a museum. Today, Franklin…
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Two Cornwall Firms Part of Famed Salisbury Iron District
…iron these companies produced found its way into everything from ironclad ships used in the Civil War to the materials utilized in expanding the nation’s railway system. Salisbury district iron…
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Samuel Colt
…Civil War both the Union and the Confederacy purchased firearms from the Hartford businessman. Sam Colt died in 1862 in his native city. The factory complex and grounds of the…
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The Old Leatherman Alive in Our Memories
…Old Leatherman, whose first mysterious appearance in the state occurred before the Civil War and whose career as a familiar itinerant carried on until his death in 1889. The legend…
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Child Labor vs. Schooling in 19th-century Naugatuck
…The boom in industry that coincided with the start of the Civil War only dropped those numbers lower, and by 1873, Naugatuck ranked 131st in school attendance among Connecticut’s towns….
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Health and Medicine
…treatments for mental illness. During the Civil War, New Haven’s State Hospital converted to military use and, as Knight US Army General Hospital, treated 25,340 soldiers. Twentieth-century advances include Dr….
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Politics and Government
…one of only four Union governors to serve throughout the Civil War and remembered as Connecticut’s Lincoln for his anti-slavery stance, and Ella Grasso, the nation’s first elected woman governor….
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Meriden’s Silver Lining
…out of business by the start of the Civil War, two former peddlers, Horace and Dennis Wilcox, helped establish a lucrative silver industry in Meriden. Bringing together numerous local manufacturers…
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Hartford and New Haven: A Tale of Two Capitals
…design of New York-based architect Richard M. Upjohn. They also chose Hartford-based designer James G. Batterson (famous for his Civil War monument projects) to serve as the building contractor. Upon…
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Benjamin Dutton Beecher had a Penchant for Invention
…added an “e” to his surname and later became an admiral celebrated for his Civil War service) to call for additional experimentation. So, around 1840, Beecher outfitted and sent a…
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The Ku Klux Klan in Connecticut
By Andy Piascik Within months of the Union victory in the Civil War in 1865, a small band of soldiers from the defeated Confederate army gathered in Pulaski, Tennessee, and…
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The Thimble Islands – Little Islands with a Big History
…to the Thimble Islands. Only a $1.00 for a round trip. The area’s resort industry declined during the Civil War, but by the war’s end, tourism once again boomed. Residents…
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Rivers of Outrage
Written by William Devlin for the Connecticut History Review Pollution of Connecticut’s waters by industrial waste and sewage in the decades after the Civil War was arguably the state’s first…
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George Griffin: “Devoted Friend” to Samuel Clemens
…Samuel Clemens. From Slavery to Freedom Born into slavery in the late 1840s, George Griffin faced many obstacles and served many roles before coming to Connecticut. During the Civil War,…
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Willimantic’s American Thread Plant–A Multinational Corporate Takeover
…[spool cotton] thread” and grew rapidly through the Civil War era and after. By the 1880s, it comprised four large granite mills, employed a thousand workers, innovatively installed electric lights,…
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Derby Day on the Housatonic
…industrialists, headed by Edward Nelson Shelton, created the Ousatonic Water Company shortly after the Civil War. A major accomplishment of the company was the completion of the Ousatonic Dam (on…
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Past Perfect: Wallace Nutting Invents an Ideal Olde New England
…Nutting’s rise to national prominence is an unlikely narrative and one that the minister put to good use as he marketed his personality. Left fatherless by the Civil War, Nutting…
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Overland Travel in Connecticut, from Footpaths to Interstates
…along steel rails. Within a generation, almost every city in Connecticut was served by one or more horse railroad companies. After the Civil War, the construction of electrical generating plants…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: The Rise of the Factory, 1866-1887
In the years following the Civil War, Connecticut’s transformation to an urban, industrial state intensified. Great factories with enormous workforces replaced the multitude of small shops that characterized the state’s…
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A Good Spot and a Healthy Place: A Short History of Charles Island
…Park But the days of Charles Island’s service as a trendy resort location were short-lived. In the years following the Civil War, Charles Island’s reputation as a wholesome family resort…
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A Pioneering Woman in Business: Martha Parsons of Enfield
By Nancy Finlay Martha Parsons was born in Enfield, Connecticut, in 1869, just four years after the end of the Civil War, at a time when a woman’s place was…
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The Fundamental Orders: Connecticut’s Role in Early Constitutional Government
…program of the US Department of Education, and a Civil War re-enactor with Company F 14th Connecticut Volunteer Regiment. He holds a BA from New England College as well as…
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Speaking under the Open Sky: Frederick Douglass in Connecticut
…Abraham Lincoln in 1858 and then lost the 1860 presidential election to him. Connecticut Denies Blacks the Right to Vote After Union victory in the Civil War, the black freedom…
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Lounsbury Elected Governor – Today in History: January 4
…as part of a semester-long graduate student project at Central Connecticut State University that examined Civil War monuments and their histories in and around the State Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut….
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Boot Blacks and the Struggle to Survive in Hartford
…paper money was a show of faith in the US government, both during and after the Civil War, and those who hoarded gold and silver were waiting for the North…
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Surveying Connecticut’s Borders
…the lands within Connecticut’s charter (between the Mystic and Pawcatuck Rivers) as payment for assistance during the Pequot War. Lucky for us, Connecticut prevailed and kept that valuable piece of…
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Living Rituals: Mohegan Wigwam Festival
…by hunters and warriors. It was light to carry and nourishing. We have been told that a small quantity was placed in a deerskin sack to be placed at the…
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Connecticut and the West Indies: Sugar Spurs Trans-Atlantic Trade
…the approximately 5,000 slaves in Connecticut at the time of the Revolutionary War, most came to the colony through the West Indies Trade. Between seven and nine million enslaved Africans…
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The Incident of the Stonington Schooner ‘Breakwater’: A View from Indian Country
Jason R. Mancini, Ph.D. Author’s Note: The use of the term “Indian” is problematic but must be contextualized. Tribal specific labels are preferred, though often “Native” and “Indigenous” are used…
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Video – Connecticut’s Cultural Treasures: Samuel Huntington
YouTube – CPTV – Created by the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network and the Department of Economic and Community Development….
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Malcolm X in Hartford: “Our Mission is Not Violence but Freedom”
By Steve Thornton On a warm summer day in 1955, 15 domestic workers—maids, cooks, and chauffeurs—packed into a small apartment in a Hartford public housing project. It was a Thursday,…
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Oliver Wolcott
Oliver Wolcott (1726-1797) Oliver Wolcott was a Revolutionary War hero who played a vital role in early Connecticut politics. He graduated from Yale in 1747, and became the first Sheriff…
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Parachutist Snagged in Midair – Today in History: September 13
On September 13, 1966, Charles (Chuck) Alexander became the first human to be captured by an aircraft in flight. A test parachutist for the Pioneer Parachute Company of Manchester, Connecticut,…
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Windsor Tobacco: Made in the Shade
…produce and Windsor and the surrounding areas soon exhausted the supply of local help. With the onset of the immigration restrictions that accompanied World War I, local farmers resorted to…
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USS Nautilus Passes Under North Pole – Today in History: August 3
On August 3, 1958, the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) made history by becoming the first ship to pass underneath the North Pole. The 1,830-mile journey was launched from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii,…
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John Fitch Born – Today in History: January 21
…on to find some success as a silversmith in Trenton, however, and during the Revolutionary War the Committee of Safety of the Province of New Jersey called on him to…
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A Bird’s-eye View of East Haddam
…by a billowy plume of black smoke penetrating the skyline, was the L. Boardman & Son Britannia Ware Manufactory and Silver Works (upper left, upper center, and vignettes). Two prominent…
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USS Tullibee – Today in History: April 27
…or ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare) weapons, the first to be equipped with the AN/BQQ-series Sonar, and the first submarine to have the torpedo tubes amidships. This “all-Connecticut” prototype was built by…
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A Willington Visionary Preserves the Nation’s Colonial Past
Jared Sparks was a Unitarian minister, editor, and historian who went on to serve as President of Harvard University in the middle of the 19th century. Perhaps the greatest contribution…
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Site Lines: Connecticut’s Freedom Trail
…colony politics, and his son, Jedidiah, who served as a general under General Washington in the Revolutionary War. Trowtrow’s gravesite is on the Trail. Churches serving black congregations played a…
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A Beautiful and Goodly Tree: The Rise and Fall of the American Elm
…shade trees and to line village and city streets. In the early 1830s, when John Warner Barber documented the appearance of every town in Connecticut for his book, Connecticut Historical…
Read Jackson v. Bulloch and the End of Slavery in Connecticut
by Andy Piascik In 1784, as the American Revolution drew to a close, the new government of Connecticut passed the Gradual Abolition Act to address the issue of slavery in…
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Wallingford Native Son Signed the Declaration of Independence
Lyman Hall was a doctor, minister, and statesman from Connecticut who traveled throughout the original 13 colonies during the latter half of the 18th century. Hall served in the Second…
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Jonathan Trumbull
…Indian War, Trumbull won election as deputy governor of Connecticut in 1766. With the death of Governor William Pitkin in 1769, Trumbull became governor of the colony. During the Revolutionary…
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The Hurricane of 1938 Rocks Connecticut
…absorbed with the Munich Conference and impending war in Europe, to comprehend fully the enormity of the disaster. It is even more difficult for present generations to appreciate what William…
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Elizabeth Bentley Born – Today in History: January 1
…and then graduate school at Columbia University. At Columbia, Bentley found a kindred community in the American League Against War and Fascism, and she eventually joined the Communist Party of…
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Henry Bacon Helps Beautify Naugatuck
…a sea of magnificent public buildings of polished stone. Evelyn Beatrice Longman assisted by Henry Bacon, Great War Memorial, ca. 1920, pink granite, town green, Naugatuck – Smithsonian American Art…
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Selling Connecticut Products Abroad
…of the industrial, artistic, and agricultural products of many of the world’s nations. Colt set a precedent for Connecticut manufacturers who would show their wares at European expositions and fairs….
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Celia Burleigh, Connecticut’s First Female Minister
…Church. Her ordination was such a momentous occasion that Julia Ward Howe (author of “Battle Hymn of the Republic”), read a letter of support for Burleigh written by Henry Ward…
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Walt Dropo Stars Throughout New England
…stay in Storrs was interrupted in 1943 when he entered the army during the Second World War. He served as an engineer in Europe and returned to UConn after being…
Read Brass City/Grass Roots: Bucks Hill: Waterbury’s Rural Holdout
…of Buck’s Hill Road. The Bosses did all the milking by hand until at least the World War II era. They had a smokehouse where they prepared their own bacon…
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Video – Connecticut’s Cultural Treasures: Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum
YouTube – CPTV – Created by the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network and the Department of Economic and Community Development….
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A Month-Long Look at Immigration
…residents. The 20th century again brought changing attitudes toward various populations (thanks, in part, to two world wars, the Great Depression, conflicts on the Asian continent, the Cold War, and…
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The Rise and Fall of Manufacturing in Bridgeport: The Case of Bryant Electric
…Second World War when the company did a substantial amount of work for the military. By this time, the Bryant factory had 340,000 square feet of floor space and its…
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The Rise and Fall of Silas Deane, American Patriot
…marked the successful negotiation of the Franco-American treaties of friendship and alliance. Deane returned to the United States aboard a French warship in July 1778 and learned that he was…
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Timothy Dwight Dies – Today in History: January 11
…and John Trumbull—the “Hartford Wits” —began using poetry and satire to push at conventions and explore the ideas of a new American nation. A supporter of the Revolutionary War, but…
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George Laurence Nelson: Artist of Kent’s Seven Hearths
…was growing in the years preceding World War I.) Painting Family Tragedy Laurence’s painting of his brother Nelson who was lost at sea – Courtesy of Kent Historical Society As…
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Early Church Bell Founders
…craftsman in many endeavors. He built the first printing press in the colonies in 1769, made the first brass wheel clocks, operated a powder mill during the Revolutionary War, and…
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Hidden Nearby: The Morris Academy
…future in the ministry. The Revolutionary War, however, got in the way. He served first in the Connecticut militia, then in the Continental army, fighting on Long Island, at White…
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The Revolution of 1817
…Puritan,” became governor of Connecticut in 1814. During these troubled times, the Federalists opposed the Embargo Act of 1807 and the War of 1812. Leading Connecticut Federalists played a prominent…
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USS George Washington Launched – Today in History: June 9
On June 9, 1959, the first nuclear-powered, ballistic-missile submarine, the USS George Washington (SSBN 598), was launched at Groton. The George Washington was originally scheduled to become the USS Scorpion,…
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Colt’s Submarine Battery – Today in History: April 13
On April 13, 1844, Samuel Colt blew up a schooner on the Potomac River off the Washington (DC) Navy Yard to demonstrate the effectiveness of his invention, the underwater electric…
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Built on Innovation, Saved by Nostalgia: Hitchcock Chair Company
…chairs alongside cabinets, tables, and candle holders. John Warner Barber, West view of Hitchcocksville in Barkhamsted, ca. 1836, pen and ink – Connecticut Historical Society, and Connecticut History Online Chair-making…
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Peter’s Rock: North Haven History with a View
…wound in the Revolutionary War that deformed his spine and left him partially crippled. Brockett built a small hut on the northern base of the mountain and lived out his…
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Putting History on the Map
…even before the French and Indian War. The popular author Douglas Grant Mitchell (known as “Ike Marvel”) was born in Norwich in 1822. As an old man he produced a…
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James Merrill: Connecticut’s First Poet Laureate
…US army during World War II, Merrill graduated summa cum laude from Amherst in 1947. Shortly before graduating, he published a second collection of poems entitled, The Black Swan. After…
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Sam Colt’s Funeral: The Day Hartford Stopped
…Colt’s short life had indeed been full. Potsdam Village & Willow Ware Factory – Connecticut State Library, State Archives, PG 460, Colt Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company The foremost mourner…
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The Comstock Bridge Brings East Hampton Residents Together
…the Civilian Conservation Corps went to work renovating the bridge and added, among other things, wooden gates and new siding. A new concrete structure, built just 500 feet downstream from…
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The Story of Connecticut’s Largest State Forest
…Civilian Conservation Corps then turned these newly acquired lands into usable open space throughout much of the 1930s and into the ’40s. The park continued to grow throughout the 20th…
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Mr. & Mrs. Rockwell’s Park
…bring its outdated facilities up to date. The city hired Milone & MacBroom, Inc., a civil engineering firm in Cheshire, to oversee the project. Like the park’s original architect, Milone…
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Byram River Flood – Today in History: October 15
…by Byram River Flood, October 16, 1955. L. E. Gotch, photographer – Greenwich Historical Society Worst Flood in Greenwich History Police, firefighters, civil defense workers, and Red Cross worked together…
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Pre-Colonization and Settlement Up Through 1763
…facilitated the founding of the Connecticut Colony, and two years later, inspired the drafting of the Fundamental Orders (which established civil government in the colony). European settlement also contributed to…
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North Branford Vied for the Title of “Shredded Coconut Capital of the World” – Who Knew?
…that patents granted to North Branford residents included one for a device used for paring coconut meats in 1875. An industrial invention rather than a tool for the home kitchen,…
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Literacy Tests and the Right To Vote
…in the United States. (Puerto Rico had been a colony of Spain until 1898, when, as part of the treaty ending the Spanish-American War, the US assumed sovereignty. Puerto Rico’s…
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Serving Up Justice: Hartford’s Black Workers Organize
…for all. Civil rights and labor leader A. Philip Randolph led the organizing campaign in 1925 to unionize the Pullman railroad company into the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP),…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Making Self-Government Work, 1819-1865
…request for equal voting rights but did finally abolish human servitude in Connecticut in 1848. The terrible casualties of the war divided public opinion in Connecticut. Democrats bitterly opposed Lincoln’s…
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William Hawkins Abbott Finds the Energy to Power the Northeast
William Hawkins Abbott was a 19th-century pioneer in the energy industry. Originally a farmer and merchant from Connecticut, Abbott found his fortune in the oil fields of western Pennsylvania and…
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Women of the Prison Brigade
…arrested six times in front of Woodrow Wilson’s home. Suffragists Face Prison, Abuse, and Slurs Local women had also been among those arrested in acts of civil disobedience. Edna Purtell…
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Grounds for Divorce – Who Knew?
…civil contract. Approximately 1,000 divorces were granted in Connecticut between 1670 and 1800. The four grounds for dissolution remained essentially unchanged until 1849 when “habitual intemperance” and “intolerable cruelty” were…
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How the Wobblies Won Free Speech
…Theater but was interrupted by a police officer. The soap-box orator was charged with breach of peace for speaking in public without a license. Workers Use Civil Disobedience Tactics The…
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Mighty, Mighty Hartford
…which showed every type of military equipment used by Connecticut soldiers from the Pequot War to the Spanish-American War. There was a water carnival of 300 decorated yachts on the…
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“Negroes Who Stand Up and Fight Back” – Paul Robeson in Hartford
…W. E .B. Du Bois, noted intellectual, author, and civil rights activist. The Hartford controversy stemmed directly from the August 1949 outdoor performance that Robeson had been scheduled to give…
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“’No Taxation without Representation’: Black Voting in Connecticut
In 1784, Connecticut passed a Gradual Emancipation Act that ended hereditary enslavement for African Americans in the state. The act required freeing, at the age of 25, those born into…
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Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) Acclaimed as the founder of American landscape architecture, Hartford-born Frederick Law Olmsted received an informal education in civil engineering, farming, and scientific agriculture. Travels to Europe…
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John Frederick Kensett Illuminates the 19th-Century Landscape
John Frederick Kensett was a landscape painter who is now identified with Luminism—a style of painting that utilized delicate, almost invisible brushstrokes to capture subtle effects of natural light. Best…
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Late 19th-Century Immigration in Connecticut
Immigration to Connecticut in the second half of the 19th century proceeded much as it had in earlier decades. Driven from their homelands by changing social and economic conditions, waves…
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A Bird’s-eye View of Moosup
…village of Plainfield) is by Lucien Burleigh. Educated to be a civil engineer, Burleigh switched to a career as artist, lithographer, and view publisher and is one of the few…
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Free Speech for Some – Who Knew?
…that the IWW defied laws and filled jails! In 1919, the Connecticut General Assembly enacted laws aimed at the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) (a.k.a. the Wobblies). The laws…
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Hard Times: Governor Wilbur Cross and the Great Depression in Connecticut
…Recovery Act (NRA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), intended to combat the financial crisis and help people get back to work. The responsibility for…
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Rock and Roll vs. Racism
…in the NAACP. During this same period, the Connecticut state civil rights commission reported that it was “virtually impossible for a Negro to rent a home in a white neighborhood.”…
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Video – Helen Keller Tribute Film
…speaker, and dedicated advocate for civil rights, she did more to promote and secure equal treatment for those with disabilities than anyone before her, or since. Keller did not limit…
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The Long, Ambiguous History of Connecticut’s Blue Laws
…civil and religious order of the community. An illustration from A Sketch of the life, trial, and execution of Oliver Watkins Recognized as the main source for what later became…
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A Different Look at the Amistad Trial: The Teenager Who Helped Save the Mende Captives
…Covey from John Warner Barber’s book A History of the Amistad Captives:…” On July 2, 1839, the Africans seized the schooner Amistad from Portuguese slavers who planned to sell these…
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Pierre Lallement and the Modern-Day Pedal Bicycle – Today in History: November 20
On November 20, 1866, mechanic Pierre Lallement, a temporary resident of New Haven, Connecticut, received a patent for an improvement in velocipedes. Credited with paving the way for the modern-day…
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Thomas Hooker: Connecticut’s Founding Father
…Connecticut, which established a civil government and assured the existence of Connecticut as a separate colony, independent from Massachusetts. The Fundamental Orders served as the legal basis for the Connecticut…
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Lisbon Tunnel Completed – Today in History: August 28
…the 27 woolen and 75 cotton mills along the route. James Laurie, co-founder of the American Society of Civil Engineers and chief engineer for the railroad, oversaw the project. Due…
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The Effects of “Redlining” on the Hartford Metropolitan Region
…is Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act, made redlining on a racial basis an illegal practice. Yet, there is evidence that redlining continued in the Hartford region as late…
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Furniture Caster Patented – Today in History: June 30
…macadamized roads. Eli and Philos Blake had gained invaluable civil and mechanical engineering skills working at the Whitney Armory, their uncle’s arms factory, which they continued to run for 10…
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Child Labor in Connecticut
…The law did not address the minimum age of the workers, however. In 1824, state civil authorities in areas where factories and other manufacturing firms operated began to establish groups…
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Killingworth’s Automated Attraction – Who Knew?
…beating time to her husband’s fiddle. (The mammy image is a racial caricature that appeared frequently in popular culture prior to the Civil Rights era.) The Killingworth Images were in…
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Up from the Ashes: Fire at the Meriden Britannia Company – Today in History: July 16
By Nancy Finlay Cupid and Swan Dish manufactured by the Meriden Britannia Company. Wood engraving by Asher & Adams, ca. 1876. An example of the ornate wares produced by Meriden…
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Stanley Works for New Britain
…of War Information The success of Stanley Works in the decades that followed came not only from a dedication to producing quality tools but from the foresight company executives had…
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Education/Instrucción Combats Housing Discrimination
…area, Education/Instrucción launched Project Ya Basta. (The Spanish phrase “Ya Basta” is equivalent to “enough already” in English.) Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, better known as…
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Thomas Hooker
…Orders of Connecticut which established civil government for the Colony of Connecticut. An influential preacher as well as civic leader, Hooker died during an epidemic in the summer of 1647….
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Gifford Pinchot: Bridging Two Eras of National Conservation
…civil rights. She was long active in liberal causes and ran several times, unsuccessfully, for political office. When African American contralto Marian Anderson made her famous performance at the Lincoln…
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Igor Sikorsky and his Flying Machines
…had designed the Ilya Muromets to carry passengers, the military converted it to use as a bomber during World War I. It successfully flew hundreds of combat missions. Sikorsky left…
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Maria Sánchez, State Representative and Community Advocate
…for attention to the underlying issues. As the 1960s, an era of civil protest and social unrest in urban centers across the country, came to a close, Hartford’s Puerto Rican…
Read Where It All Happened: Connecticut’s Old State House
…secretly at the Old State House to oppose U.S. involvement in the War of 1812 and to seek protection for New England’s commercial interests. Representatives from five states debated ways…
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Women
…advocate Isabella Beecher Hooker. Twentieth-century notables include Mary Townsend Seymour, champion of African Americans’ civil rights, and Ella Grasso, first woman to be elected a US governor in her own…
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Constance Baker Motley
Constance Baker Motley (1921-2005) Constance Baker Motley was an attorney, and later, federal judge, who became a leading figure in the civil rights movement. Born in New Haven, she became…
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An Experiment in Evangelization: Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School
…Christian revival movement emerged in the early 1800s and many who embraced it saw religion—especially through the work of missionaries—as a tool for civilizing “heathen” peoples. Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School…
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The Blake Rock Crusher – Today in History: June 15
…gained civil and mechanical engineering skills at the Whitney Armory, his uncle’s arms factory, which he and his brothers ran upon Whitney’s death. The brothers left the armory in 1835…
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The Wallingford Oneida Community
Edward T. Howe Wallingford, located about twenty miles southwest of Hartford along the Quinnipiac River, was once home to a small branch of the Oneida Community. The Oneida Community was…
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James Abbott McNeil Whistler’s Life in Pomfret
by Christina Volpe As one of the most well-known American realist painters of the late 19th century, James Abbot McNeil Whistler has intrigued art history enthusiasts for over a century….
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Taking on the State: Griswold v. Connecticut
…of civil disobedience, they opened a small clinic near the PPLC office. The clinic immediately received numerous requests from married women seeking advice on birth control. Detectives also showed up…
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Popular Culture
…in every age. In colonial times, the desire for British tableware and other imports spoke to notions of what it meant to remain civilized on the frontier. Centuries later, the…
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James Williams, More than Trinity College’s Janitor
…which he crisscrossed the Atlantic Ocean on any ship that accepted his labor. He was at sea during the War of 1812, serving on the USS Hornet. Williams was a…
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The Smith Sisters and Their Cows Strike a Blow for Equal Rights – Today in History: January 8
On January 8, 1874, seven cows belonging to Abigail and Julia Smith headed down Glastonbury’s Main Street to the auction block. The cows—Jessie, Daisy, Proxy, Minnie, Bessie, Whitey, and Lily—were…
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The Smith Sisters, Their Cows, and Women’s Rights in Glastonbury
…of Abby and Julia Smith and their cows garnered public interest in the civil rights of women. By associating their story with the Boston Tea Party and other Revolutionary War…
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Artist Roger Tory Peterson, a Champion for the Natural World
…of Freedom, the highest civilian award, for his cultural contributions. He was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1983 and 1986, and was a finalist for the award…
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Breaking the Myth of the Unmanaged Landscape
…from native communities’ first contact with Europeans to the present. That history is complicated by episodes of disease, warfare, colonialism, and land loss. But it also offers examples of native…
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John Ledyard, Connecticut’s Most Famous Traveler
…the ward of his uncle, Thomas Seymour, and apprenticed in Seymour’s law office, but a different path opened for him in the spring of 1772 when he enrolled at Dartmouth….
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When Old Saybrook Was a College Town
…employment both in Church & Civil State.” In short, Yale’s founders envisioned the school providing the training necessary to develop the Connecticut Colony’s next generation of religious and political leaders….
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Aristocratic Dental Cream Gets Squeezed
Dr. Washington Wentworth Sheffield was born in North Stonington, Connecticut. After graduating from dental college, he worked in the practice of Dr. J.A.G. Comstock of New London, practiced briefly in…
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Site Lines: Fortresses of Faith, Agents of Change
…in 1830, under the leadership of Reverend Jehiel Beman. Beman, the son of a Revolutionary War soldier and the father of Amos Beman, led the congregation in the antislavery cause….
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The Litchfield Law School: Connecticut’s First Law School
…1751 with a sheriff and a court to decide criminal and civil cases. An important crossroads developed as people from neighboring towns traveled to the courthouse and conducted market activity…
Read Hartford Times – Voices of Change
…and national attention on the civil rights of African Americans, the war in Vietnam, and the inequalities facing women. “This exhibition was made possible through the generous contributions of individual…
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Kalos Society: Connecticut’s First Modern LGBTQ+ Activist Organization
…a custodian, but he turned down the demotion. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) got involved and the events inspired the Kalos Society to advocate for the first gay rights…
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Thomas W. Nason, the Poet Engraver of New England
…during World War I and pursued various jobs in civil service and business. In 1921, Nason’s intellectual curiosity turned him toward art, which would become his lifelong career. He taught…
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Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Captures the Gilded Age in Norwalk
By Emily Clark A table set for tea in the Card Room at Lockwood-Mathews – Emily Clark An elaborate 19th-century home sits sheltered among tall elm trees near the intersection…
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The Sea in their Blood: The Portuguese in New London County
By Nancy Finlay New London in the early 19th century was a bustling port city. The 1850 Federal Census lists individuals from more than 30 different countries and from virtually…
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Hurricanes Connie & Diane Deliver Double Hit – Who Knew?
…US Marine Corps supplied additional aircraft, rescuing hundreds of people. Civil defense and emergency shelters filled quickly, and the American Red Cross set up a central disaster headquarters in Hartford….
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Lee’s Academy: An Icon of Education for 200 Years
…Madison, Temple Beth Tikvah, the Boy Scouts, and the Girl Scouts. Lee’s Academy also provided offices for the Red Cross during World War II. Later, Lee’s Academy served as the…
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Abraham Lincoln’s Republican Rally – Today in History: March 5
On March 5, 1860, Abraham Lincoln addressed the Republicans of Hartford at City Hall. He spoke to the danger of an indifferent attitude on the topic of slavery, a follow-up…
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Albert Pope Pioneered Bicycles for Women
…with bicycling. So closely associated were bicycles to the concept of independence for women, that civil rights activist and suffragist Susan B. Anthony declared, “The bicycle has done more for…
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Today in History – Fales & Gray Explosion Underscores Need for a Hartford Hospital
At 2 pm on March 2, 1854, the power of steam incorrectly managed and harnessed wreaked havoc at the railroad-car factory Fales & Gray Car Works in Hartford. The explosion…
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Reel Lawn Mower Patent – Today in History: January 28
On January 28, 1868, Amariah Hills of Hockanum, Connecticut, received the first US patent for a reel-type lawn mower. In 1830, Edwin Beard Budding, an engineer from Gloucestershire, England, had…
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Sarah Boone: First Connecticut Black Woman to Receive Patent
By Edward T. Howe Originally published March 22, 2022 On April 26, 1892, Sarah Boone of New Haven became the first Black woman in Connecticut to be awarded a patent—for…
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LGBTQ+ Mental Health Treatment in the 20th Century
…use on minors. Late 20th Century: Compassionate Care and Empathy Influenced by the civil rights movement, the Stonewall Riots in 1969 triggered a national push to bring LGBTQ+ visibility into…
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Thread Your Needle – Today in History: March 2
On March 2, 1866, the Excelsior Needle Company of Wolcottville was organized. The company produced machine-made sewing needles by a new method called swaging, a process of cold-forming metal by…
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First Connecticut Carpet Mills Emerge in Simsbury and Enfield
By Edward T. Howe In the 1820s, the first Connecticut carpetmakers emerged in the north central part of the state—the Tariff Manufacturing Company in Simsbury and the Thompsonville Carpet Manufacturing…
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Rubber Vulcanization and the Myth of Nathaniel Hayward
…warmed. According to the patent record, Hayward invented an early method for making rubber useful in manufacturing, but that process was not vulcanization. Hayward began experimenting with rubber and found…
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Phillips’ Milk of Magnesia Originated in Stamford
By Edward T. Howe Trademark registration by C.H. Phillips for Milk of Magnesia brand Preparation of Magnesia – Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division In 1873, Charles H. Phillips…
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Connecticut Domestic Oil Lamp Makers
By Edward T. Howe Throughout the 19th century, in a time before gas lamps and incandescent bulbs were more widely embraced, Connecticut firms made oil lamps using various fuels, burners,…
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Social Movements
…for recognition and land rights. And sometimes it is violent, as seen in the Hartford and New Haven riots of the Civil Rights era. Noted Connecticut reformers include abolitionist Roger…
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