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Home of Charles Dudley Warner. Hartford, Conn.

Charles Dudley Warner: 19th Century Writer and Social Commentator

By Emily Clark Like its sister states in New England, Connecticut is known for its many writers: the humorous essayists, the historical novelists, and the prize-winning journalists. Though not as…

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Row of women sitting at typewriters

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Headshot of a woman looking away from the camera. Her dark hair is tied back in a low bun.

Ann Petry: Old Saybrook’s Bestselling African American Author

…in 1938. Petry’s Writing Career Cover of mass paperback The Street by Ann Petry, set in Harlem – Wikimedia Commons After moving to Harlem, Petry began to write for local…

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Joseph Alsop - Hennepin County Library

Joseph Alsop: Cunning Political Columnist of Mid-Century America

…was remade,” Merry writes. “And its remaking illuminates their careers, just as their careers illuminate the American Century.” Later Writings Late in his career, Alsop wrote for the Washington Post…

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Man sitting at a piano, turned away from the piano, facing the photographer. He is wearing a white shirt. There is a potted plant to his left and lots of music books on the piano

James Merrill: Connecticut’s First Poet Laureate

…New York, New Canaan, Connecticut, and Southampton, Long Island. His financial position allowed him the freedom to write without the worry of supporting himself. He was already writing stories by…

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Elizabeth W. Coe Demands the Right of Jury Service

…introduced and failed multiple times, Coe introduced a new bill (House Bill 429: An Act Concerning Jury Service for Women) in an attempt to convince legislators that it should be…

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Aerial view of Black Rock Turnpike Bridge and Vicinity

Overland Travel in Connecticut, from Footpaths to Interstates

…truly national economy, made possible by cheap and reliable rail transportation. First horse car in Hartford, ca. 1895 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online As cities grew in…

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Advertisement for the Eastern line of stages, 1842

Stagecoach Sustained Commerce and Communication in 1800s

…of the turnpike roads that made stage service faster and more reliable. The establishment of numerous local post offices and the expansion of postal service throughout the new nation between…

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Mark Twain with his friend, John Lewis

A Life Lived in a Rapidly Changing World: Samuel L. Clemens

…its publication‚ the Clemenses’ elaborate 25-room house on Farmington Avenue‚ which had cost the then-huge sum of $40‚000-$45‚000‚ was completed. Twain Writes his Most Famous Books While Living in Hartford…

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Harriet Beecher Stowe's residence

Hartford’s Nook Farm

…travel writer, Warner became co-author, with Mark Twain, of The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today published in 1873. The anecdote behind the writing of the only novel Twain co-authored…

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Two women sitting on the steps of a building

Rewriting the Norm: How Two East Haddam Women Revolutionized Nonsexist Language

…is revealed in the way writers and others use language. Using the changing demographics of teachers as an example, they wrote, “Until a few years ago most publications, writers, and…

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James Trenchard, View from the Green Woods towards Canaan and Salisbury, in Connecticut

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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Two picture books propped up against a shelf that has more books

Lillian Hoban: Beloved Illustrator of “I Can Read” Books

…and never losing her passion for drawing. “When I am writing, I like writing best, and when I am drawing, I like drawing best,” she once said. “But probably what…

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American Whaler printed by Elijah Chapman Kellogg

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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Timothy Dwight Provides Religious, Military, and Educational Services for a Young Country

…produced much of his poetry, writing some of his best poems during the 12 years he spent at Greenfield Hill. Among the better-known works are The Conquest of Canaan and…

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Fayerweather Island Lighthouse, Bridgeport, Connecticut

Kate Moore: Lighthouse Keeper and Coast Guard Heroine

…father, as Moore did, and were formally recognized for their own service during a time when such employment for women was quite uncommon. Kate Moore’s Dedicated Service to Her Country…

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The Black Panther Party in Connecticut: Community Survival Programs

…and peace.” The statement ended with the Declaration of Independence. Survival Programs Throughout its brief existence in Connecticut (1969–1972), the Black Panther Party prioritized community service. This was not service

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Boy Scouts carrying World War I banners

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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Jared Eliot

Jared Eliot Calls on Colonists to Change their Agricultural Practices

…His essays discussed English practices at length and he was careful to build his theories upon proven research before launching into recommendations. Five Forward-thinking Recommendations In his essays Jared Eliot…

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New Haven Green

The Connecticut Town Green

…1760 paper “Essay on Tree Planting,” mentioned New Haven’s trees, writing, “I observed in New Haven they have planted a range of trees all around the market place and secured…

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Reverend James Pennington: A Voice for Freedom

…with a pump-maker. The owner no longer had to house or feed the children, while in return he would soon receive the services of a skilled craftsman. The pump-maker offered…

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Carter’s Inn sign

Tavern Signs Mark Changes in Travel, Innkeeping, and Artistic Practice

…notable. In this context, tavern signs served simply to inform strangers of available services. David Loomis’s Inn simple panel sign, Westchester, 1811 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online

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Makris Diner, 1795 Berlin Turnpike, Wethersfield

A Hip Road Trip

…some as sporting Connecticut’s best examples of “roadside architecture,” the road features an offbeat blend of vintage and contemporary gas stations, diners, miniature golf courses, motels, and bowling alleys, in…

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Testing the camping equipment on The Gunnery’s campus in Washington

Reading, Writing, and the Great Outdoors: Frederick Gunn’s School Transforms Victorian-era Education

writers Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thomas Carlyle, and the work of his brother John in the abolitionist movement, Frederick became an outspoken leader for the antislavery cause in Litchfield County….

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Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford

Where Mr. Twain and Mrs. Stowe Built Their Dream Houses

…invited school chum and writer Charles Dudley Warner to Hartford to write for the Press and later the Courant. Warner had another connection to Nook Farm: his brother George had…

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Essex-Lyme ferry

Ferry Boats a Way of Life in Early Connecticut

…would peak at 30 by the end of the century. Busier crossings now utilized two boats, one stationed on either shore, and offered scheduled service as opposed to service on…

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Grey plaque dedicated to Moses Wheeler with the names of the Connecticut governor and state highway commissioner in 1962

Moses Wheeler: Legendary Housatonic Ferryman

…begin service. Ferry Service Begins The town of Stratford leased to Wheeler approximately 40 acres of land to construct a wharf, create a walkway, and keep all elements in good…

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Governor Ella Grasso

The Education of Ella Grasso

…Connecticut’s State Employment Service was followed by a position as Assistant Director of Research for the War Manpower Commission in Hartford. She remained in state service until 1946 when she…

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Detail of Connecticut and Parts Adjacent, 1780

Levi Pease, Stage Route and Transportation Innovator

…a service for the elite to one available to the average citizen. The Hartford-to-Somers route eventually expanded to link a number of major cities in the Northeast. In the process…

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Joel Barlow

The Hartford Wits

…all begun writing poetry by the early 1770s and it was Trumbull who initially gave voice to the themes that defined the group, first in “An Essay on the Use…

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Noah Webster the schoolmaster of the republic, ca. 1891

Noah Webster and the Dream of a Common Language

By Christopher Dobbs Noah Webster Jr. is best remembered as the author of the dictionary most often called, simply, “Webster’s,” but whose original 1828 title was An American Dictionary of…

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Detail of a bed curtain attributed to Priscilla Kingsbury

The Decorative Arts of Connecticut

…in family and society. Writing-arm chair attributed to Ebenezer Tracy, ca. 1775 – Connecticut Historical Society The second half of the 18th century saw a growing interest in gentility as…

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Honiss Oyster House, Hartford

Oystering in Connecticut, from Colonial Times to the 21st Century

…of the best native oyster ground, and furnish the best oysters in the country … Fair Haven, Ct. Broadsides M 188- R878g — Connecticut Historical Society Early Oystering Leads to…

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Ida Tarbell: The Woman Who Took On Standard Oil

…and ended up working at the Chautauquan as a writer and editor for six years. IdaTarbell, ca. 1904 – Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division Writing became Tarbell’s passion….

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Carl Sandburg, Poet from the Grassroots, Reaches Connecticut Audiences

…up the charts at local booksellers. In November 1948, Sandburg’s Remembrance Rock was on the fiction best-seller list of Hartford’s eight bookstores. By the 1950s Sandburg no longer toured the…

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Gwen Reed, circa 1950's

Actress Gwen Reed Best Remembered for Dedication to Childhood Literacy

…and write under her tutelage but also allowed Gwen to eventually graduate from Hartford Public High School. After a brief period of studying law at Hartford Federal College, she married…

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John F. Weir, Roger Sherman, ca. 1902

Roger Sherman, Revolutionary and Dedicated Public Servant

…items from leather) before establishing himself as a political icon of the American Revolution. He spent the last 30 years of his life devoted to public service, often simultaneously holding…

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The wreck of Major Lufbery's machine, May 19, 1918

World War I Flying Ace Raoul Lufbery

…Army Air Service made him a household name across the country. His fiery death on May 19, 1918, in the skies over France was a major story and a loss…

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Portrait of an older man wearing a black suit and a white clerical collar. He is also wearing glasses and has a white handkerchief in his breast pocket

Canon Clinton Jones: A Revolutionary Figure in Connecticut’s LGBTQ+ History

…which provided similar services. In 1947, Dr. Alfred Gross founded the George H. Henry Foundation, named after the early sex researcher. The Henry Foundation was a social service group that…

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Woman in military outfit standing between two men who are pinning something to her shoulders.

Colonel Ruth A. Lucas: Literary Advocate

Services at the Pentagon and attained the rank of colonel in 1968. In 1970, Lucas retired from the air force with eight medals and awards for her service. After her…

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USS Confederacy (by William Nowland Van Powel

USS Confederacy: The Life and Service of Connecticut’s Continental Frigate

…ship’s carpenter for the duration of its service. The Confederacy Enters the American Revolution The Confederacy set sail on its inaugural cruise on May 1, 1779, taking the first of…

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Type Writing Machine

The Portable Typewriting Machine – Today in History: April 12

writing machine.” The machine worked on the principle of a revolving type wheel that reduced the number of moving parts from 2,500 to 250, improving reliability and reducing the weight…

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A Woman Ahead of Her Time: Mabel Osgood Wright

…a doctor, Mabel Osgood Wright made a name for herself as both a writer and a photographer. Writer, Photographer, and Founder of Connecticut Audubon Society Mabel Osgood was born in…

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Black and white drawing of a man from the waist up. He is wearing a collared jacked with a neck covering

Lemuel Haynes: America’s First Black Ordained Minister

…eventually became a minuteman in the Massachusetts militia in 1776. During this time, Haynes continued writing sermons. Once his military career was over, he conducted services at his local town…

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South view of the Hempstead House, New London

The Joshua Hempsted Diary: A Window into Colonial Connecticut

…is the author of A Useful Friend, winner of the 2008 Homer D. Babbidge Jr. Award for the best work on Connecticut history, and writes and speaks on colonial Connecticut….

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Page from a book with colorful illustrations of animals in a human town situation

The Road to Busytown: Richard Scarry’s Life in Fairfield County

write things out for his mother’s grocery list. Scarry grew up to create and illustrate some of the most beloved characters and communities in children’s literature—from Lowly Worm to Busytown….

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American troops of the 28th Infantry Division march down the Champs-Élysées

Connecticut Servicemen in the “Bloody Bucket” Division

…from which the Germans readily retreated. By August 19th, 833 German prisoners were in the hands of the 28th. It was because of this success that the Germans bestowed upon…

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Commissary Sergeant 29th Regiment

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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Bridge on the grounds of Gillette's Castle

A Public Responsibility: Conservation and Development in the 20th Century

…developments: Connecticut’s industrial economy grew with the country’s westward expansion, and its state park and forest program emerged alongside the US Forest Service and the National Park Service. But with…

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Height of the fire on Greenwich Avenue February 22, 1936

The Greenwich Avenue Fires of 1908 and 1936 Sparked Upgrades to Town’s Emergency Services

…cold, the fire, the smoke. When their water soaked clothing froze they would go home, change and return for more. Greenwich Avenue Fire, February 22, 1936 -Greenwich Historical Society The…

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ARRL station W1MK at Brainerd Field

Amateur Radio Comes of Age in Connecticut

…voice means amongst themselves. Amateur Operators Important Today Amateur radio operators, organized by the league, not only provide daily message handling services for the public, military personnel, and service and…

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Harriet Beecher Stowe

The Most Famous American in the World

…selling 10,000 copies in a week and more than 300,000 copies in the United States in its first year, despite being widely banned in the South. It became the best-selling…

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Columbite

The Industrial Might of Connecticut Pegmatite

…Feldspar Mill, Higganum – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online Versatile Feldspar For centuries pegmatite was chiefly valued for its mineral feldspar. Feldspar mining peaked in Connecticut in the…

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A car with one person driving and a man with a camera standing on the back bumper and a woman kneeling on the roof with a camera.

Photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White: “No Picture Was Unimportant to Her”

…ventured into the South and Midwest where she and writer Erskine Caldwell photographed the devastation of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression through the lives of sharecroppers and tenant…

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Paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh

The Who, What, Where, When and Why of Archives: How to Use Them

by Brian Stevens – Connecticut Archives Online, Western Connecticut State University The Who and What: You could probably guess what archives might be, but think you have never seen one,…

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Waste Not, Want Not: The Colonial Era Midden

…mark, and the diameter of the hole in their stems. (Essentially, as tobacco became cheaper, the bowls became larger and the stems became longer to allow the smoke to cool.)…

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Sarah Pierce’s Litchfield Female Academy

…the same subjects as boys. These subjects included such intellectual staples as geography and history. Pierce even went so far as to write her own histories when she could not…

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Eleanor: The Maltese Port painting by Vincenzo D'Esposito

The Slaters Go Round the World

…than 70,000 copies sold in its first year, it remained the best selling of Twain’s books throughout his lifetime. A quarter century after Twain’s tour, William and Ellen Slater of…

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Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

By Amy Gagnon Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a noted writer, lecturer, economist, and theorist who fought for women’s domestic rights and women’s suffrage in the early 1900s. Born in Hartford…

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J.O. Davidson, Battle of Port Hudson

Connecticut’s Naval Contributions to the Civil War

…Names a Connectican to Lead the Union Navy USS Albatross was just one of scores of Connecticut-built vessels that saw service in the Civil War. She had been among the…

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The Hartford Insurance Investigator With the Action-Packed Expense Account

…radio’s best shows. It remains popular today and can often be heard regularly on shows dedicated to old-time radio as well as online. Thanks to the show, it can always…

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Capital Community College Students Explore Hartford’s Immigrant History…In Their Own Words

…Center, Hartford Public Library and Connecticut History Online Maria C. Sanchez by Tanisha Pino Maria opened up her News Stand, “Marias News Stand,” in the late 1950s. She used this…

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Benjamin Spock: Raising the World’s Children

…Connecticut, and the couple remained married until 1976. Jane even assisted in the research and writing of Spock’s 1946 breakthrough book. Dr. Spock holding baby, April 19, 1977. © John…

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Beacon Falls Rubber Shoe Company

Beacon Falls Rubber Shoe Company Puts Best Foot Forward

Father and son George and Tracy Lewis not only founded a business together, they also had a hand in more than doubling the population of Beacon Falls. As their Beacon…

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Murphy Terminal, 1952

Bradley Field Enters the Jet Age

…Boeing-720 inaugurated Bradley’s passenger jetliner service in early 1961 – Connecticut Historical Society The introduction of scheduled jetliner service at Bradley dates to 1961 when United Airlines inaugurated service with…

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Almira Ambler, Civil War Nurse

A Voice for Veterans: A Civil War era ‘Whistle-Blower’ – Who Knew?

…one of the first women to volunteer her services as a nurse and one of the first women to receive a pension from the Federal government for her service. Her…

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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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Cover of a patriotic song dedicated to Lincoln's secretary of the navy Gideon Welles

Gideon Welles, US Secretary of the Navy and Lincoln’s “Neptune”

…public service on both the state and national levels. One of his first positions was in the Glastonbury Tax Office. He participated in the State Legislature from 1827 to 1835…

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Map of the state of Connecticut showing Indian trails, villages and sachemdoms

Andover to Woodstock: How Connecticut Ended Up with 169 Towns

…the church’s support and that every resident was required to attend day-long worship services at a meetinghouse on Sunday. Congregationalists were organized into self-governing churches, independent of any other religious…

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Brass City/Grass Roots: Bucks Hill: Waterbury’s Rural Holdout

…Bucks Hill Union Chapel and then went down in a buggy to pick up a preacher to preside over services. Children attended a two-room schoolhouse until the middle of the…

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Gifford Pinchot, ca. 1890-1910

Gifford Pinchot: Bridging Two Eras of National Conservation

…Born in Simsbury in 1865 and educated at Yale University in New Haven, Pinchot was the first chief of the US Forest Service, a founder of the Yale School of…

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Connecticut’s First Municipal Electric Utility

…plant was approved for commercial lighting (homes and businesses), with service beginning on August 1, 1898. As with street lighting, a flat rate system for service was initially used, but…

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Connecticut Shore, Winter by John Henry Twachtman

Connecticut and American Impressionism

…of the Florence Griswold Museum and first appeared on their website as a scholar’s essay in their On-Line Learning section. Author Hildegard Cummings is an independent art historian and curator….

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Tomlinson Cottage, Retreat for the Insane, Hartford

Hartford Retreat for the Insane Advanced Improved Standards of Care

…Connecticut History Online A number of state physicians, including Eli Todd, MD, had led the effort to convince political and community leaders of the need for a facility reflective of…

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Henry Augustus Loop, Jonathan Edwards

Connecticut Origins Shape New Light Luminary Jonathan Edwards

…his own church, Edwards went on to write A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections (1746), in which he delineated the negative and positive “signs” of true vs. counterfeit religion. Prayer, in…

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A plan of the first Society in Lebanon

Exploring Early Connecticut Mapmaking

…Lexington, April 19th. 1775, printer’s ink and watercolor on laid paper – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online Amos Doolittle of New Haven (1754-1832) was another such mapmaker. He…

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Silkworms, Cheney Brothers, Manchester

Connecticut’s Mulberry Craze

…and the storekeeper, farmer, mechanic, etc. rush from their useful employment into the grand speculation.” Another writer exclaimed: “the product increases too fast – we grow rich too rapidly.” Cocoonery,…

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Soldiers with cannons, 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery

The Complicated Realities of Connecticut and the Civil War

…only 2,206 were men between the ages of 15 and 50 (the most likely ages for service). Seventy-eight percent of eligible black men enrolled in the 29th and 30th regiments….

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Newspaper headline that reads "Girl Flyer Gets License, Aviation Writer's Paper Gets Story By Hard Work"

“Girl Pilot”: Mary Goodrich Jenson Breaks Barriers in Aviation and Journalism

…a man’s province,” she said. Upon learning that the 20-year-old was studying to be a pilot, the editor agreed to hire Jenson to write about aviation after she obtained her…

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Henry Deming: Mayor of Hartford and New Orleans

writer and public speaker) and then graduated from Harvard Law School in 1839. After graduation, Deming moved to New York where he took more of an interest in writing and…

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A family outing in the Woodmont section of Milford, September, 1887

Connecticut’s Sleepy Hollow

…article in the New York Times offers another view. The author, Harold Van Santvoord of Kinderhook, New York, was writing about whether “Sleepy Hollow” was really in Tarrytown or Kinderhook,…

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Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Take a giant step." New York Public Library Digital Collections.

Hartford’s Louis Peterson, Groundbreaking African American Playwright

…also studied writing with Clifford Odets, a playwright who rose to fame in the 1930s. Peterson took his first serious stab at writing by adapting Carson McCuller’s novel The Member…

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Harriet Beecher Stowe

Harriet Beecher Stowe Born – Today in History: June 14

…Farm neighborhood, which was also home to writer Mark Twain. Over the course of her writing career, Stowe published more than 30 books–from children’s textbooks, to advice books on childrearing…

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Thornton Wilder

Hamden’s Literary Legend

…the University of Chicago, Harvard, and the University of Hawaii. Award-Winning Works A writer at heart, Wilder’s breakthrough novel came in 1927 with the publication of The Bridge of San…

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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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Detail of the South Part of New London Co.

The Rogerenes Leave Their Mark on Connecticut Society

…Companion to the Joshua Hempstead Diary, 1711-1758, winner of the 2008 Homer D. Babbidge Jr. Award for the best work on Connecticut history, and writes and speaks on colonial Connecticut….

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Two people standing next to a large printing press

Charlton Publications: Song Lyric Printing Business to Major Player in the Comic Book Industry

…1950s, this publishing-printing-distributing organization filled a seven-and-a-half-acre property and was home to some of the most accomplished artists and writers in the comic book industry. John Santangelo and the Printing…

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Somoff Cottage

A Russian Village Retreat in Southbury

…country. These refugees went about setting up new ethnic communities across the globe. In 1925, two Russian writers, Count Ilya Tolstoy (son of author Leo Tolstoy) and George Grebenstchikoff founded…

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United States Army dirigible with crowd of onlookers

Airborne Pioneers: Connecticut Takes Flight

…Jersey, Rentschler was an astute businessman and visionary. Rentschler believed that the future of aviation lay in aircraft capable of carrying a large number of passengers great distances at ever-faster…

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Congressional pugilists

Roger Griswold: A Governor Not Afraid To Challenge Authority

Roger Griswold was a lawyer, judge, and politician who spent the better part of his life in service to Connecticut. The son of a Connecticut governor, Griswold, himself, served as…

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Dedication

…sharing Connecticut history with state residents is best exemplified by The Connecticut Experience, a 19-part history series for public television which received numerous awards, including four regional Emmys. Under his…

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Holmes at Home: The Life of William Gillette

…on Stage Gillette continued to work in American theater, eventually crossing the Atlantic to appear in London in 1897, where his play Secret Service was both a critical and commercial…

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Map – Connecticut Landmarks of the Constitution

…militia company: 34. Willimantic: Willimantic Armory   PROMOTE THE GENERAL WELFARE The National Park Service: The Park Service Administers 61 Miles of Trail In Connecticut, and one historic site in…

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Illumination of Old State House, Hartford, December 31, 1900

A Turn-of-the-Century New Year’s Eve

…around the state, religious observances also marked the year’s end. Write-ups before and after the holiday recounted in some detail the variety of Christian services held (but made no note…

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Gun Wheel of the First Light Battery, Connecticut Volunteers

…16, 1864, from disease during active service. Note the witness signature of Lieutenant George Metcalf, who also died, at the Battle of Proctor’s Creek – Connecticut Historical Society The First…

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Detail from a map of Connecticut and Rhode Island, with Long Island Sound, 1776

Boston Post Road Carved out Three Travel Routes through State

…charter in 1691 revitalized postal service throughout the English colonies in North America along a route that extended from Baltimore to Portsmouth, Maine. As part of this extended service, the…

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Senator William Wallace Eaton

William Eaton, a Peace Democrat and Civil War Opponent

…Connecticut politician during the mid-1800s. His federal service was preceded by several terms in the Connecticut General Assembly. Eaton’s most notable contribution to the history of Connecticut was the important…

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Bradley Field, Windsor Locks

Bradley International Airport Transforms Windsor Locks into Regional Gateway

…and all the passenger and administrative facilities needed to operate the small airport. The terminal opened in 1952, with regional air service provided by Eastern, United, Northeast, and American airlines….

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Hiram Bingham IV

Hiram Bingham IV: A Humanitarian Honored for Saving Lives during WWII

…honored by the United Nations, the State of Israel, the American Foreign Service Association, and has had a commemorative stamp issued of his likeness by the United States Postal Service….

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Detail view of the 29th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers

29th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers Fought More than One War

…the regiment won many important battles and became one of the first Union regiments to march through the Confederate capital of Richmond. With its respectable service, the 29th Connecticut demonstrated…

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Hopkins Street Center once known as the Pearl St. Neighborhood House

A Woman Who Developed Tolerance: Leila T. Alexander

…and Distinguished Service Medals to 10 citizens. One was 14-year-old Donald Anderson of Columbia whose quick actions and bravery saved countless lives at the Hartford Circus Fire of the previous…

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Colonel William Douglas

William Douglas: A Colonial Hero’s Sacrifice

…in the West Indies, Douglas sacrificed most of his fortune, as well as his health, in service to his country. West Indies Trade Brings Prosperity Born in Plainfield, Connecticut, on…

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Combate de Cavite, 10 de Mayo 1898

The Colvocoresses Oak

…in command of the USS Supply, Colvocoresses was joined in the service by his son, George Patridge, named for the family’s American benefactor. Following the war, the elder Colvocoresses was…

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Hoffman Wall Paper Company in Hartford

Tradition and Transformation Define Hartford’s Jewish Community

…were also charitable and service organizations. As the Jewish community took root, its members encouraged family and friends to join them. By the early 1880s, the population of Hartford stood…

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Red Cross Emergency Ambulance Station

The Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918

…than before. United States Public health service flyer, 1918 – Library of Congress, American Memory Sickness Spreads to the States The East Coast ports provided the means of entry and…

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Beatrice Fox Auerbach meets with the department heads of her store, G. Fox & Company

Beatrice Fox Auerbach: Retail Pioneer Led Iconic Family Department Store

…death in 1938. The Auerbach Years Beatrice Fox Auerbach with Moses Fox Club cake and chefs, 1958 – Connecticut Historical Society Auerbach’s passion for service and love for the city…

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An Evolution of Fluid Burning Lamps up to the Electric Light

Connecticut Domestic Oil Lamp Makers

…those homes with lesser incomes searched for cheaper alternatives. Two fuel sources thus emerged in the 1840s: burning fluids and lard oil. Lard oil lamps became popular after overcoming the…

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Billhead and bill from John Olmsted.

An Inconvenient Season: Charlotte Cowles’s Letters from December 1839

…the stove in their keeping room. She informed Samuel that the item would be cheaper at Abernathy’s or Chafee’s than at Catlin’s or Olmsted’s and that it should be lighter…

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Child Labor in Connecticut

…New England colonies, bringing about an unprecedented boom in profits, and the need for a cheap, sustainable labor force. Portrait of Samuel Slater from the book Samuel Slater and the…

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Charles McLean Andrews and Evangeline Walker Andrews

…among the living historians of America.” Between 1888 and 1937, he was the author of more than one hundred books, articles, essays, and published addresses and estimated that, in addition,…

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About

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Connecticut Pin Makers

…and other apparel due to cheaper imports, growing usage of plastic tags for clothing, and increased usage of paper clips and staples for fastening paper. Safety pin production was hampered…

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Detail from the broadside an "Address to Miss Phillis Wheatly" composed by Jupiter Hammon

Hartford Publishes the First Literary Work by an African American – Who Knew?

…that Jupiter Hammon, who endured life-long enslavement became the first African American writer to be published in America when his 88-line poem, “An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ with Penitential…

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Tobacco barns in Windsor, Connecticut

Windsor Tobacco: Made in the Shade

…Havana Seed, made the best binders. These varieties prospered when grown outside, with full exposure to the sun. In the late 1800s, however, a fine-grained tobacco from Sumatra began replacing…

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Education/Instrucción Combats Housing Discrimination

services and informative articles that coherently described the nature of housing biases and corrupt practices. The bilingual name of the group reflected its educational mission and also its vision of…

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A Journal of Captain Cook’s Last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean by John Ledyard

First General Copyright Law – Today in History: January 29

…colonies made their living printing proclamations, sermons, broadsides, and newspapers as well as by selling writing supplies, stationary, and imported books. Larger and lengthier works could be produced far more…

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A Journal of Captain Cook’s Last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean by John Ledyard

First General Copyright Law – Today in History: January 29

…colonies made their living printing proclamations, sermons, broadsides, and newspapers as well as by selling writing supplies, stationary, and imported books. Larger and lengthier works could be produced far more…

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View of Rockville, Conn

Bird’s-eye Views of Rockville Chart Textile Industry’s Growth

…right) are much larger in scale than the homes surrounding them. Rockville, Connecticut, Boston: O.H. Bailey & Co., 1895 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online Although these prints…

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Detail from a map of Hayt

Ebenezer Bassett’s Historic Journey

…Derby owned. One of Pero and Hagar’s sons, Tobiah (Bassett’s grandfather), was sold to John Wooster of Oxford; Tobiah won his freedom through his service in the American Revolution. Tobiah…

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The Hartford Wheel Club, Hartford

The League of American Wheelmen and Hartford’s Albert Pope Champion the Good Roads Movement

…producing 10,000 bicycles a year from the Capitol Avenue plant in Hartford, which he now owned. The Columbia Cycle Club, Hartford, 1890 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online

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Group photo of Famous Artists School Faculty

Instruction by Mail: The Famous Artists School

Writers School, in 1970. She revealed hucksterish sales tactics and the misleading pitch that famous figureheads evaluated student work. Detail from Famous Artists Cartoon Course, Lesson 1, “The Comic Head,”…

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Silas Deane House, Wethersfield

Site Lines: Silas Deane

…Franklin, already fast friends, worked closely together, leaving Lee, who already disliked both of his colleagues, bitterly resentful. Lee covertly began undermining their efforts, writing letters to allies in Congress…

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The Middlesex Quarry, Portland

Portland Puts Its Stamp on an Architectural Era

…of the quarry works dock from the early 1900s, Portland – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online Demand Peaks During Brownstone Era Brownstone quarrying shaped the evolution of the…

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Connecticut Agricultural College coeds gathering maple sap for war effort

A New Source of Farm Labor Crops Up in Wartime

…crops and keep their farms in operation. Under the jurisdiction of the US Department of Agriculture and the Extension Service, the Emergency Farm Labor Program often relied on convicts, POWs,…

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Hall of Flags: Memorial to Connecticut’s Civil War Colors

Online In January of 1862, Connecticut’s Governor William A. Buckingham appointed his son-in-law, William Aiken, quartermaster general for the state. In the summer of 1862 it became Aiken’s job to…

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Side of a house with a painting on one wall

The Orrin Freeman House and the Spirit of ‘76

…with stucco, it was designed in a Tuscan Italian Villa style. Although it is most recently a bed and breakfast, the home served many purposes since its construction in the…

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A 1761 letter by Wheelock describing the progress of his first female students, Amie and Miriam. Source: “The Occom Circle,” n.d. Dartmouth College.

Amy Johnson: A Mohegan Woman Who Survived Colonialism

…learned basic reading and writing in Wheelock’s home. Sundays they spent in church, sitting behind white women while absorbing Calvinist scripture. Johnson’s educators attempted to teach her that her old…

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Typing History

by Karen DePauw Before the age of the computer, typewriters fulfilled our need to write faster than our pens allowed. The gentle click of keys on a keyboard are no…

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Drawing (on) the Connecticut Landscape: Benjamin Hutchins Coe Teaches Americans the Democratic Art

…widely held belief that anyone who could learn how to write with pen or pencil could learn how to draw. The connection between writing and drawing was based simply on…

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HOLC Residential Security Map of Hartford Area 1937

The Effects of “Redlining” on the Hartford Metropolitan Region

…the Federal Home Loan Bank’s (FHLB) underwriting criteria and to provide a detailed guide for mortgage loan investment decisions being made by the newly regulated financial institutions engaged in home…

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A 1908 reenactment of Thomas Hooker’s 1636 landing in Hartford

Colonial Revival Movement Sought Stability during Time of Change

…of the Colonial Revival, a spinning wheel positioned in front of the fireplace. Artists and writers working in Connecticut helped bring such idealized images of early American life to a…

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WPKN blocks on top of an on the air sign in the WPKN radio station

Bridgeport’s WPKN: Going Strong After Half a Century

…honors in its decades on the air. For example, Connecticut Magazine once named WPKN the best radio station for music in the state of Connecticut. More recently, The New Yorker…

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David Bushnell and his Revolutionary Submarine

…of the natural sciences was then called–and other topics of interest to a budding inventor. Yale’s fine library included standard 18th-century scientific texts, so Bushnell had access to the best

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The Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company in East Hartford

The Early Years of the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company

…William E.Boeing, left and Frederick B Rentschler inspecting a Wasp “A” engine in 1927 – Pratt & Whitney Rentschler, a former Navy lieutenant convinced that “the best airplane could only…

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Detail from an 1863 broadside

Henry Ward Beecher, a Preacher with Political Clout

…years, which left him little time for writing or for his family. In 1887 Beecher eventually accepted an offer to write an autobiography. Unfortunately, before work could begin in earnest,…

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Catharine Beecher, Champion of Women’s Education

…an educator, reformer, and writer. The eldest child of the renowned Beecher clan, Catharine was born in East Hampton, New York, in 1800. When she was 10, her family moved…

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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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Picture of a man sitting in front of a large illustration of a monster. The man is wearing a dark sweater and has his right arm propped up.

Where the Wild Things Are: Maurice Sendak

…dark moments in his childhood such as his poor health, the death of his best friend in a car accident, and his struggle with losing a portion of his extended…

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Stanley Works for New Britain

…inventing the process for cold rolling steel. Line drawing of Stanley Works, New Britain, ca. 1879 – Hartford Public Library, Hartford History Center, Hartford Time Collection and Connecticut History Online

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Dry Nutmegs

The Storied History behind Connecticut’s Nicknames

…prim behaviors. Reverend Noah Welles penned a booklet satirizing existing laws which guarded against behavior such as gambling and drinking, traveling on Sunday, and missing religious services. Over time, the…

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Detail from a Map of the survey for a canal route for manufacturing purposes from the head of Enfield Falls to Hartford

Windsor Engineers Success

…later. The canal opened in November of 1829 to great fanfare. The opening ceremonies included a demonstration of the first steamboats built for service on the river north of Hartford….

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Hartford’s Les Payne, Trailblazing Journalist

…the best-known African American journalists in the United States beginning in the 1970s and won several awards over his long career. He did most of his work for Newsday, the…

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Black and white photo of a large brick and wood house. The house is asymmetrical and has many gables. There are large trees surrounding the house.

George Griffin: “Devoted Friend” to Samuel Clemens

…Though this Black man attended the family as a servant for years, he also became a faithful companion and confidant to Twain—who Griffin knew best by his birth name of…

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Mark Twain

Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn Published 1885

…Beecher Stowe. Twain lived in his home on Nook Farm for almost twenty years. He did some of his best writing there, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures…

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David Humphreys

David Humphreys, Soldier, Statesman, and Agricultural Innovator

By Holly V. Izard David Humphreys was a Yale-educated soldier, politician, foreign minister, and entrepreneur. Though noted by literary historians for his poetry and writings as a member of the…

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Anna Louise James seated, with a cat on her lap

Miss James, First Woman Pharmacist in CT Right in Old Saybrook

…including her niece Ann Lane, Peter and Bertha’s daughter, who worked in the store and later gained fame as Ann Petry (1908-1997), author of the important best seller The Street….

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Blizzard of 1888 - Hartford, corner of Main Street and State Street

Blizzard of 1888 Devastates State

…Face Storm with Humor and Heroism While the storm caught people by surprise, many tried to make the best of it. Humor and good nature often prevailed as the state…

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Collision on the Housatonic Railroad near Bridgeport

Horror on the Housatonic: The Railroad Disaster of August 1865

…with their train. As the train was slowly backing its way toward Bridgeport, around a curve came a fast moving locomotive “running light,” that is, without a train in tow….

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Laboring in the Shade

…season begins in May with weeding and transplanting seedlings in long rows. As the plants grow they are fastened to guide wires, and then cloth tents are spread over them…

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Steamer City of Hartford

A Night to Remember: When the Steamboat Took on the Railroad—and Lost

…the building of ever larger, more powerful and luxurious coastal and passenger steamers. In 1852 the splendid new City of Hartford entered service and for three decades reigned as one…

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The Story Trail of Voices

…a Native arts’ specialist under René d’Harnoncourt. Her duties included the supervision, teaching, exhibition, and sale of Native American artifacts from Montana to California. Gladys finally concluded her Government service

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Engraving drawing of several buildings

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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Sophie Tucker - World-Telegram photo by Dick DeMarsico

Sophie Tucker, The Last of the Red-Hot Mamas

…the week she spent in Hartford was one of the best in her life. In 1922 Sophie toured England with Ted Shapiro, her new pianist. The duo worked well and…

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Thomas Nason, The Leaning Silo

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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The U.S. frigate United States capturing H.B.M frigate Macedonian

Site Lines: The Mysterious Blue Lights

…and seaborne commerce of all types, fell upon extremely hard times,” writes Navy Lieutenant Commander Douglas S. Jordan in his article “Stephen Decatur at New London: A Study in Strategic…

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Woman sitting in a small boat on a body of water with a fishing pole in her hand.

Edith Watson: Camera Artist

…Watson’s untitled photographs published in Touchstone – Wikimedia Commons While Watson originally earned fame for her landscape photography, her talent is best displayed in the portraits she created, primarily in…

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African American baseball team, Danbury

Swinging for the Fences: Connecticut’s Black Baseball Greats

…of baseball’s all-time superstars, notably Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and the young Jackie Robinson. Here again, Connecticut offered its best and brightest to baseball. Johnny “Schoolboy” Taylor was a 1933…

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U.S. Frigate Constitution, Isaac Hull, Esqr., commander

Fame and Infamy for the Hulls of Derby

…was part. Carolyn Ivanoff, a housemaster at Shelton Intermediate School, writes and lectures frequently about American history and was the primary writer of Ebenezer Bassett’s Historic Journey for the 2011/2012…

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Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller dies – Today in History: February 10

…Broadway theaters were darkened in mourning and respect. Recognized for his contribution to the development of the American theater in the 20th century, Miller is best known for his play…

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A 1947 Movie Details the Unsolved Murder of a Bridgeport Priest

…his efforts, Murphy received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Kazan also received a nomination for, and won, a Best Director Academy Award that year, though it was…

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Impressionist painting of shaded trees next to a pond

Julian Alden Weir: The “Heart” of American Impressionism

…and member of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in the early 1900s. Princeton and Yale bestowed honorary degrees upon him and his paintings now hang in institutions such as…

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Alexander Calder in studio, Roxbury, 1973

Calder in Connecticut: World-Famous Artist Called Roxbury Home

By Emily Dunnack for Your Public Media July 22nd is the birthday of Alexander Calder, one of the best-known and most prolific sculptors of the 20th century. His work hangs…

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Walt Dropo, Boston Red Sox

Walt Dropo Stars Throughout New England

…Dropo posted a .322 batting average, slugged 34 homers, drove in a major-league-best 144 runs, and led the American League (AL) with 326 total bases. His home run total was…

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Hartford Whalers Logo

The Hartford Whalers: Connecticut’s Last Major League Sports Franchise

…still considered one of the best in all of sports and can be seen on tee-shirts, lawn flags, and bumper stickers around Connecticut to this day. The World Hockey Association…

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Danbury’s Sandemanian meeting house, built in 1798 next door to the “eating house,” on a rise above Main Street.

The Sandemanians

…middle of their day-long service held at a special “eating house.” Their clergy didn’t need to be trained. Their practices earned them the derisive nickname of “Kissites.” They were the…

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Connecticut’s Loyal Subjects: Toryism and the American Revolution

…note that “any person by writing, or speaking, or by any overt act, shall libel or defame any of the resolves of the Honorable Congress of the United Colonies, or…

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Black sign in front of a house

Peter Prudden: Milford’s First Minister

…south and established a church of his own. The Founding of “Milford Church” First Meeting House in Milford – History of Milford, Connecticut, 1639-1939 by the Federal Writer’s Project for…

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Early Civil Rights and Cultural Pioneers: The Easton Family

…church and required all black members of the congregation to sit there during services. James and Sarah Easton refused. The family continued to sit on the main floor of the…

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Poster with a blue and red flag and several people underneath cheering

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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To show an image of Mary Townsend Seymour

Mary Townsend Seymour: Hartford’s Organizer, Activist, and Suffragist

…soldiers – Hartford Courant Mary Townsend Seymour is perhaps best known for her integral involvement founding the Hartford chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (N.A.A.C.P.)—an…

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Delivery truck for The Lustron Home

Metal Homes for the Atomic Age

…undergoing renovation and being considered by the National Park Service for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Porcelain enamel had been used beginning in the late 1920s for…

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Henry Austin, Grove Street Cemetery Entrance, 1845, New Haven

An Overview of Connecticut’s Outdoor Sculpture

…the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor commemorates those who died in service during World War II. Evelyn Beatrice Longman, who moved to Windsor at the height of her career, designed…

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Seaside Sanatorium, Waterford

Seaside Tuberculosis Sanatorium: Waterford’s Contested Oceanfront Gem

…professionals believed the best solution was to separate tuberculosis patients and offer them bed rest and proper nutrition in places that seemed like large country homes. There were four such…

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Benedict Arnold

Benedict Arnold Turns and Burns New London

…Revenge, also a sloop, 19. Shaw’s success attracted partners. Benedict Arnold, in fact, wrote to Shaw asking to be included as an eighth- or sixteenth- part owner of a Shaw…

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Chinese Educational Mission: the college, Hartford

Yung Wing, the Chinese Educational Mission, and Transnational Connecticut

…but inspiring final American acts, Yung and the Mission reflect the worst and best of the Chinese Exclusion Act era. Yung Wing, Hartford, ca. 1900 – Connecticut Historical Society Experiences…

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Boot Blacks and the Struggle to Survive in Hartford

…pay him for his services, but that was not always the case. “Sometimes not all the cops pay for their shine,” he once told a reporter. Shoe-Shining Survival: A Public…

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A Memorial to General Hawley at the State Capitol

…beliefs were more accepted. Joseph was greatly influenced by his father and he quickly developed an interest in public service. After attending law school at Hamilton College in New York,…

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The 29th Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry Flag and Display

…in History of the Twenty-ninth (Colored) Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry; In Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the Army and Navy of the United States During the War of…

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Carousel

Quassy: One of the Last of the Old-Time Trolley Parks

…evolving to meet the changing demands of its constituency. Its history details the services and experiences valued by recreation seekers in Connecticut over the past century. Boulder Cove, Lake Quassapaug,…

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Anna Hyatt Huntington

A Celebrated Artist and a Meaningful Space – Today in History: October 20

…that would be used “For Art, Service and Industry, in the Service of the People of Danbury.” Documents depicting Anna Hyatt Huntington and the Dedication of Huntington Hall – Danbury…

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Map detail of an island

The “Welcoming Beacon” of Sheffield Island Lighthouse

…a thousand miles to see.” More Than Just a Lighthouse Though the lighthouse ended its navigational service in early 1902 (replaced by the nearby Green Ledge Light), the island and…

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Large white sail boat with three masts next to a dock. It is labeled "US Coast Guard" on the side.

Maritime History: The Founding of the United States Coast Guard Academy

…undeniable historic significance, and grants Bachelor of Science degrees. Additionally, it is the only branch of the United States armed services that operates under the Department of Homeland Security (rather…

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Igor Sikorsky and the first successful helicopter built in America, Stratford

Igor Sikorsky and his Flying Machines

…commonplace, airlines used seaplanes to provide air mail service to warm-water ports, where the water became the runway. Innovation Takes Root in Connecticut With more orders for his “flying boats”…

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The Innumerable Accolades Afforded Dr. William H. Welch

…Medal of the American Medical Association, the Order of the Royal Crown of Germany, the US Army Distinguished Service Medal, and the Harben Plaque for Public Health Service. Today, the…

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A Monument Memorializes the Fallen

…used during the Civil War. Conditions along the lines were deplorable. The Hartford Courant said it best in its issue of September 22, 1902, when it noted that “veterans who…

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Rockwell Park Lagoon, Bristol

Mr. & Mrs. Rockwell’s Park

…as “the best of its kind to be found anywhere.” Following her husband’s death in 1925, she continued to provide financial support for the park, and she left the Bristol…

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A Metal Giant in Wilton

…out his service, Lynch opened his own metalworking shop in Manhattan and then moved to Long Island City, before, in 1938, relocating to Wilton, Connecticut. Having recently completed renovations on…

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Wethersfield's four-wheeled combination hook, ladder and bucket carrier

Connecticut’s Oldest Fire Department

…technology. In 1915, Wethersfield purchased a motorized Republic pumper with a gasoline engine and solid rubber tires. In addition, the expansion of telephone service and the introduction of short-wave radios…

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Borough of Stonington

…The town taxes were for services not provided by the borough (e.g., education). In June of 1801, in accordance with the act, they elected a warden, six burgesses, a clerk,…

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Eight Mile River

Continuity and Change along the Eightmile River

…fishing and kayaking. Conservation efforts to gain federal protection for the area started with a joint venture undertaken by the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension Service, the US Fish &…

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Honor and Duty: The Life of Alfred Howe Terry

…Colonel. The 7th consisted of 1,018 men and was mustered into service on September 7, 1861. The regiment was ordered south and became part of the expedition against southern coastal…

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Remembering Civil War Prisoners of War

…men endured. Andersonville Military Prison Boy replica at the state capitol in Hartford, CT – Courtesy of Stacey Renee Conditions at Andersonville Prison According to the National Park Service brochure…

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Ashbel Woodward house, Franklin

Franklin’s Ashbel Woodward was a Battlefield Surgeon and Historian

…in need while also constructing a comprehensive history of Franklin. After his death, Woodward’s service carried on through the use of his home as a museum and repository for the…

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The Connecticut Poll Tax

…were exempt from the poll tax during their period of service and after ten years of service were exempt from payment altogether. For a long time both the poll and…

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Marietta Canty

Marietta Canty House

…Canty House, Hartford – National Register of Historic Places Chapter, B’nai B’rith, for outstanding civic service, 1960; the Hartford Neighborhood Centers Certificate of Appreciation, 1965; the Humanitarian Award, Hartford Section…

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A Godmother to Ravensbrück Survivors

…military valor? Ferriday’s French Connection Photo taken in France of Caroline Ferriday, from the cover of Jacqueline Péry d’Alincourt’s reminiscence of Ferriday given at Ferriday’s 1990 memorial service in Bethlehem…

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William E. Simonds

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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J. Frederick Kelly: Constructing Connecticut’s Architectural History

…the architectural styles of the past. While presenting an essay written in celebration of Connecticut’s 300th Anniversary in 1933, Kelly lamented the architectural links with the state’s past already needlessly…

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Apostle of Peace: Elihu Burritt’s Quest for Universal Brotherhood

…large number of foreign languages, including French, Spanish, German, Italian, Hebrew, Chaldaic, Samarian, Ethiopic, and several Asian languages. He became a popular and influential author and lecturer, writing and speaking…

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A First Amendment Lesson: Weaver High Students Teach Their Elders

…he championed. Parents and alumni also met to support the cause, and the University of Hartford’s student newspaper, UH News/Liberated Press, followed the story, published Manselle’s essays, and even listed…

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Hitchcock chairs

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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German American workers from the buff room

Late 19th-Century Immigration in Connecticut

…residents and was the fastest growing immigrant group in the city. Known in particular for their skill in manufacturing furniture, Hartford Germans played a significant role in the city’s domestic,…

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Red onion surrounded by text

Oniontown: How Hard Work, Tall Tales, and Red Onions Built Wethersfield

…a cheap source of vitamin C, many of the onions sent to the Caribbean fed enslaved people, providing food in an area that was otherwise filled with sugar crops. In…

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Triangle Shirtwaist Fire: Connecticut Lessons from a Tragedy

…women is so cheap! And property is so sacred! Too much blood has been spilled. I know from experience it is up to working people to save themselves. And the…

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Mayor Insists Air Terminal to Aid Idle

“Something to Show for Our Work”: Building Brainard Airport

…order to spur the local economy. This required expanding Brainard’s facilities and replacing the grass airstrip runways with blacktop pavement. Looking for cheap sources of labor for the project, officials…

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Shelf clock by Eli Terry

The Life of Chauncey Jerome: An Insider’s Look at What Made Early Bristol Tick

…home at age 11 after his father’s death forced him to seek a trade to earn his keep. He tried farming and carpentry before finding the work he loved best:…

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Industrial scene where several men are working at a manufactured gas plant

Early Connecticut Gas Light Companies

…feet. Customers complained about the high price of the gas, its smell, and service availability. Nonetheless, the arrival of these firms signaled a proliferation of manufactured gas firms throughout the…

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Site of the Revolutionary War Foundry, Salisbury

Salisbury Iron Forged Early Industry

…blast. The stacks’ construction required the expertise and supervision of an experienced iron master and a large number of workers. Since labor was cheap and manpower readily available, construction of…

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Capital Punishment in Connecticut: Changing Views

…began shying away from the death penalty and started constructing more prisons. Bird’s-eye view of Wethersfield Prison, Wethersfield, ca. 1880 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online In 1846,…

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Detail of A New and Correct Map of the United States by Abel Buell

An Uncommonly Ingenious Mechanic: Abel Buell of Connecticut

…maps will be added to eMuseum, the CHS online museum catalog, and to Connecticut History Illustrated, a collaborative online digital library of primary and secondary resources relating to Connecticut History….

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Black and white photograph of a group of men sitting or standing in front of a brick building

Southington Cutlery Company: From Silverware to Hardware

…170 people and produced standard and special cold-headed fasteners. Similarly, Elco also produced fasteners and tools for use in the construction industry. Elco remained in the building until 1977. In…

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Map of the invasion of New Haven

Ezra Stiles Captured 18th-Century Life on Paper

…before moving to Newport, Rhode Island, in 1755 and returning to the pulpit. While in Newport he became pastor of the Second Congregational Church and went on to write a…

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Cottages on Beach Road, Fenwick, ca. 1885

Paradise on the Sound: The Summer Colony at Fenwick

…Connecticut “Preserve the Sound” License plates. John Warner Barber, Saybrook Point, 1834, drawing – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online The completion of the Connecticut Valley Railroad in May…

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Hamilton making adjustments to his biplane, 1911

Looking Back: the First “Aero Planes”

…carriages, and two daring young men came by air to help commemorate the special occasion. Connecticut River highway bridge (Saybrook-Old Lyme) – Mystic Seaport and Connecticut History Online For people…

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Sharpe Hill Vineyard in Pomfret

Raise a Glass to Winemaking in Connecticut

…the Grapes, 1822 – Connecticut Historical Society, Collection of Morgan B. Brainard and Connecticut History Online Although native grapes grew in abundance, early hopes of mass winegrowing disappeared partly because…

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Miniature Boots, Wales Goodyear Shoe Company, Naugatuck

Charles Goodyear and the Vulcanization of Rubber

…Charles Slack writes that the manager of the Roxbury India Rubber Company then led Goodyear to a warehouse where, “he pointed at rows of shelves containing heaps of misshapen blobs,…

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James Mars

James Mars’ Words Illuminate the Cruelty of Slavery in New England

…In 1864, an aging James Mars returned to Norfolk. By 1870, impoverished and increasingly frail, Mars determined to write his autobiography because “[s]ome told me that they did not know…

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Arrest of White House pickets Catherine Flanagan of Hartford, Connecticut, and Madeleine Watson of Chicago

Women of the Prison Brigade

…Brigade walked to the Allyn House for a fundraising breakfast organized by local sponsors. They were greeted by 250 supporters, including a wide range of Hartford women: “colored sympathizers, women…

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Picking Tobacco in the Connecticut River Valley

Literacy Tests and the Right To Vote

…were fast approaching. The farm hands hailed from Puerto Rico but were presently living at Camp Windsor, a local migrant workers’ barracks where seasonal laborers were required to stay. Postcard…

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The Jedediah Strong Milestone

Hidden Nearby: Jedediah Strong’s Milestone

…the bank’s lawn. However, when it was erected 225 years ago, travelers, moving only as fast as their horse or feet could take them, almost certainly saw the engraved stone:…

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Frederick Douglass

Speaking under the Open Sky: Frederick Douglass in Connecticut

…of abolitionists like Douglass, he freed them. Detail from a letter written by Frederick Douglass to the Boston Liberator from the Victoria Hotel, Belfast, Jan. 1, 1846 and reprinted in…

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The Language of the Unheard: Racial Unrest in 20th-Century Hartford

…at a local demonstration, Hartford, CT, September 28, 1967 – Photograph by George Grogan – Hartford Times Collection, Hartford History Center, Hartford Public Library Word traveled fast through the north…

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The Rise of the Black Panther Party in Connecticut

…the arrests spread fast, and that night Hartford experienced its first full-scale riot. When the Panthers started recruiting, Rap Bailey was among the first to join. Charles “Butch” Lewis, a…

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View of Wadsworth Street in 1877

The Lives of Addie Brown and Rebecca Primus Told Through their Loving Letters

…Black family in New York City. She took on dressmaking and millinery work while also helping to care for nine children. Brown felt trapped there—writing about longing to be with…

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Aetna Helps Make Hartford “The Insurance Capital of the World”

…charter amendment to permit the writing of life insurance. The expansion was a bold move given the stance of many religious leaders that assigning monetary value to one’s life was…

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Clare Boothe Luce Changed Perceptions about Women in Business and Politics

…23 years her senior. After six turbulent years of marriage and the birth of a daughter, the couple divorced in 1929. Following the divorce, Boothe pursued a career in writing,…

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Section of the map "Connecticut, from actual survey" (1813)

Caleb Brewster: A Patriot Against Freedom

…Fairfield Gazette, February 25, 1789 – Genealogy Bank In winter 1789, Caleb Brewster was busy writing. With the American Revolution over, he stopped sneaking hidden messages to the Continental troops…

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Detail of a map of Middletown, Connecticut

Middletown’s Beman Triangle: A Testament to Black Freedom and Resilience

…Railroad. In 1854, Reverend Jehiel Beman openly defied the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act by writing in a public letter to Douglass, “The Underground Railroad…is in good repair, and our office…

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Suffragette Helena Hill Weed of Norwalk, serving a 3 day sentence in D.C. prison for picketing July 4, 1917

19th Amendment: The Fight Over Woman Suffrage in Connecticut

…decade that followed witnessed such pioneers as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony emerge as the face of a movement that furthered their cause through letter-writing campaigns, marches, and…

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Jared Sparks

A Willington Visionary Preserves the Nation’s Colonial Past

…1823 and, four years later, began collecting the papers of the nation’s founding fathers. His efforts led him to author numerous publications, including The Writings of George Washington, The Library…

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Joseph Hopkins Twichell: Asylum Hill’s Religious Leader and Mark Twain’s Closest Friend

…Talcott Mountain, all the while having philosophical discussions that inspired Clemens’ story writing and Twichell’s sermon writing. Like Clemens, Twichell was unafraid to voice his convictions. He used his position…

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Robertson Field, also known as Robertson Airport, Plainville

Plainville Has Been Flying High for Over 100 Years

…governor, all of whom soared through the sky just overhead. Plainville’s Robertson Airport Robertson Airport in Plainville services small-engine commercial and private aircraft. Founded in 1911, it is Connecticut’s oldest…

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Somers' prison opening day

Osborn Correctional Institution

…Public Library and Connecticut History Online A 20th-century Facility With the November 1963 opening of the Connecticut Correctional Institution, the state transferred all prisoners from Wethersfield to Somers. The new…

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Detail from the map GoodSpeeds Landing

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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The 1909 seven passenger limousine

The Hardware City Could’ve Been the Motor City – Who Knew?

…unable to compete with larger automobile manufacturers with faster production lines. The American Hardware Corporation, operated by family members of founder and president, Philip Corbin, absorbed the former car company…

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Effect of Confederate shot on the USS Galena, 1862

Mystic-built USS Galena Part of Plan to Strengthen Union Navy

…the Mystic Pioneer, followed construction of the ironclad closely and favorably, reporting on the construction’s fast progress, the large number of people employed on the ship’s construction, and the advantage…

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Mohegan Sacred Sites: Moshup’s Rock

…an MA in history from the University of Connecticut Connecticut and an MFA in Creative Writing from Fairfield University; she has authored several books, including Medicine Trail: The Life and…

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Home Economics Club, Hartford Public High School

Much Good Might be Accomplished: Catharine Esther Beecher and the Pursuit of Domestic Economy

…Receipt-book, a cookbook that was meant to serve as a supplement to her Treatise. Catharine spent the following decades writing further on the topic of women: their health, their rights,…

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Detail from a glass plate negative showing the rear of one of the tenements that lined the Park River

Hartford’s Sex Trade: Prostitutes and Politics

…Workers of the World (the Wobblies), Goldman was writing and speaking on behalf of true liberation for women. On February 12, 1913, she spoke to the Hartford crowd on “Marriage…

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Mohegan Federal Recognition

…in history from the University of Connecticut Connecticut and an MFA in Creative Writing from Fairfield University; she has authored several books, including Medicine Trail: The Life and Lessons of…

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Section of page from the Report of the Commissioner of Patents for the Year 1852

Rubber Vulcanization and the Myth of Nathaniel Hayward

…trademark attorney with the RC Trademark Company (RCTrademark.com), went digging through the patent record to find the truth. Leslie, a freelance writer in New London County, helped with the writing….

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Frame for Indian round house

Living Rituals: Mohegan Wigwam Festival

…in history from the University of Connecticut Connecticut and an MFA in Creative Writing from Fairfield University; she has authored several books, including Medicine Trail: The Life and Lessons of…

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Merritt Parkway, New York to Connecticut, 1941

Merritt Parkway Creates Scenic Gateway to New England

…roadway. Doe Boyle, a Connecticut Office of the Arts Master Teaching Artist of creative and expository writing, is an editor, a widely published freelance writer, and the author of 11…

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Are you a goop? by Caroline Hewins

The Public Library Movement: Caroline Hewins Makes Room for Young Readers

…Section so that members could exchange ideas on how to best serve young readers and it was supporting professional training schools for children’s librarians. Hewins broadened her influence through her…

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Excelsior Cutlery

Connecticut Pocketknife Firms

…for sharpening quill pens for writing, other types of folding pocketknives were still imported from Sheffield. Unknown workers in New England had been making pocketknives in small shops in the…

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Sloan Wilson, the Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, is Born – Today in History: May 8

On May 8, 1920, American author Sloan Wilson was born in Norwalk, Connecticut. Readers know Wilson best for his 1955 book The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. The novel,…

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Harriet Beecher Stowe

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) Best remembered as the author of the anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe was born into a talented Litchfield family headed by noted preacher…

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Boyhood home of Amos Bronson Alcott, Wolcott

Amos Bronson Alcott Changes the Way Connecticut Children Learn

…four daughters. One of these daughters, Louisa May Alcott, arrived on her father’s birthday in 1832 and grew up to be a best-selling author. Born into dire financial circumstance, Alcott…

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Yale University from Colonial Times to the Present

…numbers swelled as a result of a rule exempting students from military service). Additionally, when the war ended, the return of students who chose to serve in the military gave…

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General Nathaniel Lyon

From the State Historian: The Final Journey of Nathaniel Lyon

…gates of Heaven had broken loose,” according to The Last Political Writings of Gen. Nathaniel Lyon, a huge procession accompanied Lyon’s body from Union Station to the State House, where…

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The Seth Wetmore House: A Storied Structure of 18th Century Middletown

…to Hartford’s Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. A duplicate was made and added to the Wetmore house.) During the early days of the home, Wetmore welcomed notable writers, scholars, politicians,…

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Amasa Preston House

“Washburn Colonials”: Distinguished 1920s Homes Stand the Test of Time

…build their dream homes. One of her most famous clients was Hamden writer Thornton Wilder. Built in 1929, his Colonial on Deepwood Drive has since been renovated, not unlike many…

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Team Photo of the Danbury Alerts

Danbury Baseball History Covers All the Bases

…High School team. Smith took a job in 1925 as a baseball writer for the New York Graphic and worked for the New York Mirror from 1941 to 1963. He…

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Samson Occom

Samson Occom

Samson Occom (1723-1792) Samson Occom was a Native American minister, missionary, and writer whose influence helped promote more intimate ties between Native American and European culture. Born on a Mohegan…

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Emily Pierson handing out leaflets in New York State Suffrage Campaign

A Feeling of Solidarity: Labor Unions and Suffragists Team Up

…campaign” through Hartford’s streets, Emily Pierson and others addressed a lunchtime crowd of 400 Underwood Typewriter employees in front of the factory. As one writer noted: There is being born…

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National Biscuit Company graham crackers, circa 1915

Sylvester Graham: Progressive Advocate for Healthy Living

…a lighter perspective in their criticism of Graham. Ralph Waldo Emerson labeled him “the poet of bran and pumpkins” while a writer for a Northampton, Massachusetts newspaper called him “Dr….

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Malcolm X in Hartford: “Our Mission is Not Violence but Freedom”

…the Bushnell Memorial Hall. The University of Hartford sponsored the event. According to African American writer J. K. Obatala, the speech inspired him to travel to Ghana, his ancestral homeland….

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Black and white photograph of the profile of a woman wearing a hat and sheer veil over her face

Emmeline Pankhurst’s “Freedom or Death” Speech Energizes Connecticut Women in 1913

…throughout the country. In the 1990s, Time Magazine named Pankhurst one of the “100 Most Important People of the 20th Century” and writer Marina Warner said that Pankhurst “shaped an…

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John Frederick Kensett, Twilight in the Cedars at Darien, Connecticut

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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Workingmen's Restaurant, 129 Market Street, Hartford.

Serving Up Justice: Hartford’s Black Workers Organize

…must have felt optimistic, however. They announced that “the membership roll grows larger each meeting, and everything points favorably to Local 359 being one of the best in its kind…

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A photograph of a rowing shell with 8 rowers sitting at attention and one coxswain on the water

Derby Day on the Housatonic

…races and continued through Saturday night. Newspapers printed that Derby had come into its own as “the best place in the United States to view a race and second to…

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An Artist and Her Books: Amelia Watson, 1856–1934

…publisher Charles Scribner. Bostonian Sarah Wyman Whitman did most of her best work for Boston publisher Houghton Mifflin Company. Though Hartford had ceased to be a major center for book…

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Leatherman in Wallingford, 1880s

The Old Leatherman Alive in Our Memories

…fueled speculation about his origins. The best-known story, and one that circulated in the press during his lifetime, is that he was Jules Bourglay, the disgraced suitor of the daughter…

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Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman Born – Today in History: July 3

On July 3, 1860, Charlotte Anna Perkins (Charlotte Perkins Gilman) was born in Hartford, Connecticut. Gilman became a prolific writer whose subject matter ranged from the differences between women and…

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Nurses getting water at Base Hospital No.21, Rouen. This unit supported the British Expeditionary Force

Ruth Hovey: Heroic Battlefield Nurse

…heart, but we simply had not time to think.” Honor Bestowed Though the war was nearing its end when Hovey and others endured this battle in July of 1918, her…

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An example of two different Kewpie dolls

The Kewpies Buy A House in Westport

…welcomed artists, writers, cartoonists, and musicians, including such notables as Martha Graham and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. While an array of O’Neill’s art was eventually exhibited at galleries in Paris and…

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Gerald MacGuire and the Plot to Overthrow Franklin Roosevelt

…one of the best-known military men in the country at the time. According to Butler, the visitors came with ulterior motives and chose to meet with him because of his…

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HMS Resolution and Discovery in Tahiti

John Ledyard, Connecticut’s Most Famous Traveler

…Cook and wrote a best-selling journal about the navigator’s fatal third voyage. He trekked across Siberia and was arrested as a spy. And, living on the edge until the very…

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Jimmy Piersall’s Public Struggle with Mental Illness

…hidden under it took flight to the delight of many in attendance. While Piersall is best-known for his mental health struggles, he was a good enough ballplayer to play 17…

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Platter with View of New Haven Green

Setting the Table in Historic Style: Connecticut Views on Staffordshire China

By Nancy Finlay for Your Pubic Media When setting the table for Thanksgiving dinner, you probably bring out your best china and glassware, perhaps including some pieces that have been…

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Senator Hiram Bingham of Connecticut

From the State Historian: Discovering the Explorer Hiram Bingham III

…III. Born in 1875, this scion of two generations of New England missionaries to Hawaii accomplished much in his 81 years. He was an explorer, a best-selling author, an aeronautics…

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Illustration of a woman on horse, woodcut

Sarah Kemble Knight’s Journey through Colonial Connecticut

…Food and Lodging Inconsistent at Best As for room and board, Sarah Knight was fortunate to spend one evening with the Congregationalist minister in New London, “where I was very…

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Richard Yates

Trouble in the Connecticut Suburbs: Revolutionary Road

…industrial cities and the green suburbs of Fairfield County have been the subject of much literature and Richard Yates’s 1961 Revolutionary Road is one of the best-known novels about the…

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Katharine Hepburn’s Love Affair (with Connecticut)

…Door (1937), Bringing Up Baby (1938), Holiday (1938), and The Philadelphia Story (1940). She earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for three of those performances and won for…

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Chapel, Industrial School for Girls, Middletown

Thanksgiving and Christmas at Long Lane, 1874

…in any court. The State exercised its in loco parentis powers in committing each girl, and it subsidized their placements. The founders and directors thought that the best place for…

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Ernest Borgnine: Breaking the Hollywood Mold

…was an integral part. In 1955, Borgnine appeared as the title character in Marty, the part and the movie for which he is best known. Unlike many of the previous…

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Art Young, Radical Cartoonist

…a cartoonist. Young is known best for the cartoons he designed from 1911 to 1917 for The Masses, a left-wing monthly magazine of which he was co-editor. Among his best

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Total eclipse by Frederick E. Turner, Willimantic, January 24, 1925

The Astronomical Event of the Century

…eyes from the sun’s light. Those wishing to get the best views of the corona (the rays of light surrounding the sun during a total eclipse) were advised to bandage…

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A page from a clock design booklet by Daniel Burnap

When the World Ran on Connecticut Time

The success of the clock- and watch-making industries in Connecticut came about in an era when the state was just beginning to realize its industrial potential. The availability of raw…

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Waterbury, Bank Street. After the Great Blizzard

The Blizzard of 1888 – Today in History: March 11

…surprise, they made the best of it. Humor and good nature often prevailed as the state dug its way out. People escaped snow-imposed imprisonment by crawling out of second-story windows…

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The “Father of American Football” is Born – Today in History: April 7

…the freshman baseball and football teams, a testament to his athleticism. He later developed the “Daily Dozen,” a series of exercises for physical fitness used to train servicemen in World…

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The Fugitive and the Hero

…the owner when the ship reached port. Slave hunting was a profitable business. The U.S. Constitution specifically required the return of escaped “persons held to service or labor.” The government…

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Photograph of a horse hitched to a wagon driven by a man with milk cans in the wagon.

Derby’s Osbornedale Farms, Frances Kellogg, and the Dairy Industry

…length and had what farmers call “dairy strength.” Ivanhoe was sold to the American Breeders Service as a young adult and was one of the first bulls to gain international…

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Joseph Bellamy Monument

Hidden Nearby: Bethlehem’s Joseph Bellamy Monument

…as a prominent educator and writer—of the late 18th century. Born in Cheshire, Connecticut, in 1719, he graduated from Yale in 1735 and studied for a time under the famed…

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Francis Ingals, Chaffinch Island, Guilford

Guilford’s One-Man Fire Department

…Haven Fire Department with having some of the best equipment found between New Haven and New London, the Chaffinch Island department ignored town borders to help extinguish fires all along…

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Shaker women and buildings, Enfield, 1890s

Shakers Revolutionize Garden Seed Business – Who Knew?

…century, Shaker leader Mother Ann, her husband, and seven others left England for the Colonies. On a trip through New England, Mother Ann and her followers held services in Enfield,…

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Norwich Free Academy, School Architecture: Pt. II. Plans for Graded Schools by Henry Barnard

Henry Barnard Advances State and National Education Initiatives

…national level. Barnard’s substantial career included service as the first secretary of the Connecticut Board of Education, principal of the New Britain Normal School (the predecessor of Central Connecticut State…

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Postcard of Beechmont Dairy in Bridgeport, CT

Beechmont Dairy: Bridgeport’s Ice Cream to Die For

…it is perhaps best remembered: ice cream. When Niedermeier passed away in 1949, his three sons took over the business and made some changes. As sales to retail and wholesale…

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Man sitting on a donkey in front of a fence

Yukitaka Osaki and Gillette Castle: One of Hadlyme’s First Japanese Immigrants

…Gillette—a famous actor best known for his iconic portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. Gillette hired Osaki to work on his houseboat The Holy Terror and, a few years later, his newly…

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Oil painting of numerous men gathered around a table listening to one man reading

Linonian and Brothers in Unity: The Societies that Built Yale University’s Library

…famous for carrying that secrecy into their post-graduation lives. The public best remembers Nathan Hale, a member of Linonian’s class of 1773, as a Connecticut hero—hanged by British troops in…

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John Rogers, Checkers up at the Farm,1875, painted plaster

John Rogers was a 19th-Century Sculptor for the Common Man

…some of his best-known and most-loved works. Early Life Born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1829, Rogers was the son of an unsuccessful Boston merchant. Rather than going into business himself,…

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Ensign, Bickford & Company fuse factory campus, ca. late 1800s

The Steady Evolution of a Connecticut Family Business

…the firm in 1871, returning to Hartford to join his brother’s seed and fertilizer business. In his place Toy sent his stepson James Bestor Merritt Jr. In 1876 Sarah Jennette…

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The Importance of Being Puritan: Church and State in Colonial Connecticut

…to attend church services, but only a small minority earned admittance to full church membership. These church members enjoyed considerable power and influence. They chose and ordained their own ministers…

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Muster of Civil War troops, Main Street, New Britain, May 11, 1861

The Civil War Commences: Connecticut’s Involvement in the Civil War

…of weapons. Approximately 10% of the Connecticut men who served in the war died while in service, over 2,000 of them in battle. Almost 700 Connecticut soldiers died in Confederate…

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Benedict Arnold: America’s Most Famous Traitor

By Gregg Mangan Benedict Arnold, despite the extraordinary efforts and sacrifices he made on behalf of American independence, is probably known best for being a traitor. In the middle of…

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Amos Doolittle, The looking glass for 1787. A house divided against itself cannot stand

The War Connecticut Hated

…had opposed the idea of political parties as inherently dangerous to the new American republic, because they would promote self-serving political behavior rather than disinterested public service. The very act…

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Hotchkiss & Sons Artillery Projectiles

Connecticut Arms the Union

…Model Springfield .58-caliber rifle muskets (“the best infantry arm in the world”) in the next 12 months; he also assessed how many rifles and revolvers they would need. Connecticut’s armories…

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Fire at Cos Cob School, Roberta Lindstrom, photographer

Fire Ravages Cos Cob School – Today in History: July 29

…were treated for heat exhaustion by Greenwich Emergency Medical Services (GEMS). Police regulated the traffic on the Post Road. The Cos Cob Ladies Auxiliary, Red Cross Disaster Service, and local…

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Vivien Kellems Takes On the IRS

…a woman’s right to vote, perhaps no fight garnered as much attention from the entire nation as Kellems’s highly publicized battles with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The only daughter…

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Red Cross Headquarters, Hurricane of 1944

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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State Street and Old Ferry Landing, New London

New London’s Ferries: A Transportation Tradition

By Nancy Finlay New London’s first ferry was chartered in 1651 and crossed the Thames River from New London to Groton. This service evolved with the times, transporting everything from…

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An Orderly & Decent Government: Crisis and Recovery, 1929-1964

…crowded urban centers in search of better housing and better schools. The General Assembly was besieged with requests for additional support for schools, highways, and services. As the suburbs swelled,…

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Person facing towards the camera with classes, holding a pipe in one hand in their mouth. They are wearing a jacket

Alan L. Hart: Pioneer in Medicine and Transgender History

…his career in Connecticut working for the state’s Tuberculosis Commission to expand public health screenings and services. Hart was also one of the first people to undergo gender affirmation surgery…

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School children placing flowers on the graves of World War I servicemen

Memorial Day 1920 Brings a Changing of the Guard

…had done for years, groups dedicated to sustaining public remembrance of the Civil War organized and marched in parades, gave speeches, attended religious services, and gathered school children to help…

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Comstock covered bridge

The Comstock Bridge Brings East Hampton Residents Together

…River in the town of East Hampton (then known as Chatham) encountered great difficulties in crossing the river to attend church services and conduct business with their fellow citizens north…

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Eighty-Five Hundred Souls: the 1918-1919 Flu Epidemic in Connecticut

…in New London on September 11, 1918. By October 25, the State Public Health Service reported 180,000 cases. It appears the outbreak, after originating in New London County, moved to…

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First Woman Elected as US State Governor Born – Today in History: May 10

…Locks. Grasso devoted her entire adult life to governmental service, initially as a state legislator in 1952 and in 1954, then serving as Connecticut’s secretary of state in 1958 for…

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Litchfield’s Revolutionary War Soldiers’ Tree

…Floyd Tallmadge Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution celebrated the first Arbor Day of Roosevelt’s presidency by planting a tree on the Litchfield Green to commemorate the services…

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A Connecticut Nazi Spy Has a Change of Heart

…1944. Upon arriving in Lisbon, Portugal, Colepaugh jumped ship to offer his services to the German consulate there. The Germans sent Colepaugh to spy school in the Netherlands where he…

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The Thimble Islands – Little Islands with a Big History

…Photograph of the steamer Margaret which serviced the Thimble Islands – Branford Historical Society Advertisement from New Haven’s Columbian Register, July 8, 1865, for the steamer “Alice E. Preston” excursions…

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Postcard of New London Bridge on Thames River, New London, Conn.

I-95 Reaches New London

…opening to the public on February 27, 1943. In 1951, officials renamed it the Gold Star Memorial Bridge in honor of servicemen who gave their lives in World War I…

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Goshen Congregational Church

Pan-Harmonicum Strikes a New Note for Puritan Worship in Lebanon

…such an instrument to services. Certainly, instrumental music could be used for ill, “enlivening the giddy throng.” Further, he emphasized, “The design of musick is to produce agreeable and lively…

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Black and white photo of a group of people. Two people are holding a large banner that says "Kalos Society"

Kalos Society: Connecticut’s First Modern LGBTQ+ Activist Organization

…State University The Kalos Society was an offshoot of the group, Project H, which Canon Clinton Jones and others started in 1963 to provide educational and counseling services for gay…

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Rocky shore in front of a white lighthouse and several white buildings.

New London Harbor Lighthouse: Connecticut’s First Official Lighthouse

…its services ineffective. To solve this problem, Congress funded a new structure—the current structure—that opened in 1801 with an octagonal, tapered tower of thick brick walls resting on a foundation…

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The Ulysses S. Grant Memorial Tablet

…HOLD THE SERVICES AND MEMORY OF THIS DISTINGUISHED GRANDSON OF THE STATE. Sons of Veterans, USA Ulysses S. Grant presidential campaign badge made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury,…

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Elias Perkins: One of Lisbon’s Most Accomplished Public Servants

Elias Perkins’s career in public service lasted nearly half a century and made him a popular figure both locally and nationally. His was a life that required seamless transitions from…

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Connecticut Valley R. R. schedule

Connecticut Valley Railroad’s First Train – Today in History: July 29

…railroad from Hartford to Old Saybrook. Built along the west bank of the Connecticut River, it competed with steamboat service by providing a quicker overland route to Long Island Sound…

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Video – Gifford Pinchot: America’s First Forester

YouTube – USDA Forest Service A public television adaptation of Gary Hines’ one-man play about the first Chief of the Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot. This video incorporates historic photos and…

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Enoch Smith Woods, Colonel Thomas Knowlton

Thomas Knowlton: A Small Town’s National Hero

Thomas Knowlton is arguably Ashford’s most widely recognized war hero. His service during the Seven Years’ War and the American Revolution are memorialized in a statue on the grounds of…

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Westford Glass Company factory, Ashford

Ashford’s Glass from the Past

…for commercial glass containers in the mid-19th century. Westford Glass produced quart ink bottles, wine bottles, flasks from 1/2 pint to quart sizes, pint- and quart-size bottles for schnapps, handled…

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University of Connecticut main campus

Homer D. Babbidge, Leader in Education

…as assistant US commissioner of education and director of the Division of Higher Education during 1959-1961. He received the department’s Distinguished Service Medal in 1961 before he moved to become…

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Image of Soldiers Memorial, Company B, 29th Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers

Connecticut’s Black Civil War Regiment

…into service and soon thereafter received as its commanders Colonel William B. Wooster of Derby, Lieutenant Colonel Henry C. Ward of Hartford, and Major David Torrance of Greenville (part of…

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Norwich City Hall, Union Square, Norwich, New London County

Site Lines: Monuments to Connecticut’s Lost County Government

…buildings, inspection of weights and measures, adjustment of road disputes, administration of certain trust funds (such as cemetery trust funds), appropriation of funds for agricultural extension services, and fighting forest…

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The Girl in White, movie advertisement starring June Allyson as Emily Dunning Barringer

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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Attributed to Osbert Burr Loomis, Nancy Toney, oil on canvas

Nancy Toney’s Lifetime in Slavery

…and Records Service Death and Legacy Seven years later, on December 19, 1857, Nancy died. Windsor’s death record lists her as an 82-year-old, single, colored female who was born at…

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David Hotchkiss House, ca. 1980

The Prospect Green as a Historical Narrative

…The historic protection came because the National Park Service recognized the important role the Prospect Green played in serving the community for over 200 years. Soldiers’ Monument, Prospect – Art…

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G. Fox and Co. Delivery Fleet, ca.1910-1950

G. Fox and the Golden Age of Department Stores

…developed a reputation for outstanding customer service, even starting a home delivery service by carrying goods to people’s homes using a series of wheelbarrows. When Isaac moved to New York…

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Two A-10 Thunderbolt IIs from the Connecticut Air National Guard's 103rd Fighter Wing fly in formation behind a KC-135

Connecticut’s “Yankee Watch” Squadron Protects the Skies Here and Abroad

…history of service as a part of the 103rd Airlift Wing (known as the “Flying Yankees”) and dates back to the earliest days of military flight. Established in Rhode Island…

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Eolia, Harkness Memorial State Park, Waterford

Harkness Memorial Park Offers a Glimpse into Early 20th Century Wealth

…playing in the countryside. After over 40 years of service to the state, the park began to look its age and proved in desperate need of repair. A $3.8-million renovation…

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Greenwich Emergency Responders: On the Move Overtime

…with 60 members and one piece of apparatus—a horse-drawn hand-pumper given them by the East Port Chester (now Byram) Fire Department. 1907 Greenwich Hospital Association establishes an ambulance service. There…

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New Haven: What Was Everyday Life Like During the Civil War?

…be a good starting point to answer questions such as: what types of occupations would women have held? What goods were being sold? And what types of services were available?…

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Sexton family home, now the Ellington Historical Society

Nellie McKnight Promotes History and Literacy throughout Ellington

…years of service, McKnight retired from her position as the town’s trusted librarian. During her retirement years, she dedicated herself to researching Ellington’s history and became a member of the…

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Nuclear power plant, Haddam Neck

Connecticut Yankee Brings Power to the People

…decades of reliable service to Connecticut—pumping out over 100 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity over its lifetime—until both economic and safety concerns eventually brought about the plant’s decommissioning. The Connecticut Yankee…

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Plan of USS monitor, 1862

Cornelius Bushnell and His Ironclad Ship

…from the US Postal Service to carry mail. With the outbreak of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln asked his Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, to establish a naval…

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The General Superintendent, Z. R. Brockway, interviewing new arrivals

Zebulon Brockway: A Controversial Figure in Prison Reform

…well as the development of the precursor to the modern parole system. Z. R. Brockway, 1853 from Fifty Years of Prison Service by Zebulon Reed Brockway Zebulon Brockway was born…

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Advertisement with a drawing of a silk spooler and text

L.D. Brown and Son Silk Mill: A Staple in Middletown’s South Farms District

…and accessories, and custom dye, bleach, and finish services. By 1924, the lace company had downsized and moved mostly into the sawtooth block. The Russell Manufacturing Company utilized the eastern…

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Amos Doolittle, The looking glass for 1787. A house divided against itself cannot stand

The Connecticut Ratification Convention

…same a month later, The Federalist Papers (a series of essays published in New York newspapers in 1787 and 1788 for the purpose of rallying support for ratification) began to…

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Alexander Calder at Stegosaurus sculpture dedication

A World in Motion: Artist and Sculptor Alexander Calder

…parks and plazas all over the world. Teresa Erskine Roth wrote about art history and her publications included the essay “Synthetic Statues,” which appeared in Calder: Sculptor of Air (2009)….

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Keney Park Meadow, ca. early 1900s

The Park Movement in Hartford

…to create public green spaces within urban environments as a means to promote public health, moral uplift, and democratic access to forms of recreation deemed respectable by middle- and upper-class…

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Racial Change Map displaying the Non-White Population in 1970

How Real Estate Practices Influenced the Hartford Region’s Demographic Makeup

…to non-white populations. Nicole Sagullo, who is working towards her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Educational Studies at Trinity College in Hartford, contributed this essay during the 2012-13 academic year….

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Girl’s Stays

Little Nutmeggers: Four Centuries of Children’s Clothes and Games

…Stevens & Brown in Cromwell, CT, became popular in the mid-19th century as a cheap and durable substitute for wooden toys – Connecticut Historical Society The idea of play also…

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Original waterwheels, Waterbury Brass Company

Birth of the Brass Valley

…began a sharp decline as the age of large, national corporations took shape. The troubled US economy of the 1970s only exacerbated the local brass industry’s problems, as did cheap

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Advertisement from The Hartford Daily Courant, October 8, 1852

Augustus Washington (1820 – 1875): African American Daguerreotypist

…his uncommonly cheap prices.” Believing that African Americans could not “develop [their] moral and intellectual capacities as a distinct people” in the United States, Washington and his family left Hartford…

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Broadside for Pine Apple cheese patented in 1810

The Story of Pineapple Cheese

…in two-, four-, and six-pound sizes for 35¢, 65¢, and 85¢, respectively. Production records in 1889 show that the Goshen factory produced 2,592 two-pound cheeses, 12,474 four-pounders, and a whopping…

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Noble Jerome’s Clock Patent Model

…Jerome built demonstrated that the new design would allow this weight-driven, one-day clock to be mass produced more cheaply and in much greater quantities. The clock came to be known…

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Andover Creamery, 1889

Andover’s Award-Winning Creamery

…products to the East Coast at prices cheaper than most eastern dairy producers offered. In 1915, Andover Creamery Corporation owners voted to dissolve their enterprise and sell its property. For…

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Cheney Brothers Mills

The Cheney Brothers’ Rise in the Silk Industry

…and other synthetics, which were stronger, cheaper, and more readily available. By the end of the war, Americans had acquired a taste for these more durable synthetics and silk looms…

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Brass City/Grass Roots: Struggles and Decline

…products. Developments such as refrigerated train cars and trucks undercut the advantages of fresh and local farm products, with faraway produce sold at cheaper prices. The fossil-fuel-based agriculture of the…

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An Orderly & Decent Government: Searching for the Common Good, 1819-1865

…“The common school should no longer be regarded as “common” because it is cheap, inferior, and attended only by the poor and those who are indifferent to the education of…

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Total eclipse of the sun, Willimantic vicinity, January 24, 1925

A Total Eclipse of the Sun – Today in History: January 24

…of knowledge for this generation. Total eclipse by Frederick E. Turner, Willimantic, January 24, 1925 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online Frederick E. Turner, of 175 North Street…

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The Collins Company Dry Grinding Department, Collinsville

World-renowned Maker of Axes: The Collins Company of Canton

…Connecticut History Online A Company Town with International Reach Axe-making, which involved a four-step process of forging, grinding, tempering, and polishing the metal head, dominated Collinsville’s economic life. Immense grinding…

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Map shows the neighborhood where the murder took place

Murder on the Map: The Mysterious Death of Captain George M. Colvocoresses

…the crime. The “murder map” is one of 800 maps in the collections of the Connecticut Historical Society that are being digitized and added to CHS’s online database, with generous…

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Entrance to Steeplechase Island, Bridgeport

A Unique Island Attraction in Bridgeport

…ca. 1912 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online In 1919, the city of Bridgeport bought the facilities for $220,000 and expanded upon its amusements. The park now offered…

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Illuminations at the entrance to the Bulkeley Bridge

Mighty, Mighty Hartford

…Dutch, Hartford, October 6, 1908 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online Dave Corrigan is Curator for the Museum of Connecticut History © Connecticut State Library. All rights reserved….

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Nutrition class, Connecticut Agricultural College

From Aprons to Lab Coats: The Art and Science of Home Economics

…History Online By the 1920s, the national home economics movement had adopted a more scientific approach to the field, supported by legislation such as the Smith-Lever Act (1914) and state…

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John Howard Hale: Glastonbury’s Peach King

…Hale’s hardy peach, the “Crosbey” (excelsior) … introduced and for sale by G.H. & J.H. Hale, South Glastonbury, Conn, ca. 1890–96 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online In…

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Corpse preserver

Death and Mourning in the Civil War Era

by Amy Gagnon Funeral notice, ca. 1856 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online Romance, sentiment, and strict moral conscience characterized much of expressive life in New England during…

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The Smith-Worthington Saddle Company

Saddles Fit For a Shah

…concerns merged in 1905. Smith-Worthington Saddlery Company, Hartford – Hartford History Center, Hartford Public Library and Connecticut History Online Business continued to expand and adapt in wartime. The company made…

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Map detail of H. Knecht, View of New Britain, Conn.

A Bird’s-eye View of New Britain

…accustomed to—their rapidly changing environments. H. Knecht, View of New Britain, Conn. NY: Jacob Rau, ca. 1862-68 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online In this bird’s-eye view of…

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Trinity College Students Call Attention to Histories of Inequality

…criteria for sound historical methodology, clarity of expression, and use of multi-media documentation to engage online audiences. Here’s what some of the 2012-13 authors had to say about how this…

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Shelves of books in the interior of a bookstore

The Reader’s Feast: A Bookstore Ahead of Its Time

…de Palma took over the bookstore. Unfortunately, with the rise of online commerce and digital media, The Reader’s Feast closed its doors in 2007. As a communal space ahead of…

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Civil War Monuments and Memorials in and Around the State Capitol

…of 19th-century Connecticut history that you can not only read about, but see firsthand when you visit Hartford. Compiled here on ConnecticutHistory.org, the 15 resources are easily accessed online, through…

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Frost Bolt Company employees

Southington Industry: From Nuts to Bolts

…Bolt Company, ca. 1885, Marion (Southington) – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online In 1839, Micah Rugg established his own business and secured the first patent for mechanically trimming…

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Corporal Thomas Fox , Second Connecticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery, B Company with his regimental flag

Disaster at Cold Harbor: Connecticut’s Second Volunteer Heavy Artillery Regiment

…by Bowdoin, Taylor & Co., Alexandria, VA, 1864 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online In the months following the sobering Union defeat at the first battle of Bull…

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Railroad bridge, Norwich, ca. 1870

Combined Rail-and-Water System Makes Norwich a Key Travel Hub in Mid-1800s

…Inspires Railroad Company and Steamboat Line Mergers Steamer City of Norwich at wharf in Norwich, ca. 1870 – Mystic Seaport and Connecticut History Online The Norwich & Worcester railroad opened…

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Trade card for Hill’s Archimedean Lawn Mower Co

Selling Connecticut Products Abroad

…sign, Collins Co., Hartford, late 19th century – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online The Collins Company was also a pioneer in the foreign trade. As early as the…

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The boiler that fed the machinery at the Fales & Gray Car Works in Hartford exploded

100 Years of Workers’ Compensation

…any action brought by an injured employee or the employee’s survivors. Broadside printed after the Fales & Gray steam-boiler explosion – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online Industrial Revolution…

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A Different “Type” of Connecticut Industry

…Interior of a typewriter factory, ca. 1910, Hartford. Most likely the Underwood Typewriter Manufacturing Company, 581 Capitol Avenue, Hartford – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online The company’s success…

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Peddler E.H. Farrell with his cart, 1910

New Britain’s Yankee Peddlers Boost 18th-century Economy

…horses, wagons, and other supplies and returning to Connecticut to start the process over again. Peddler and cart, ca. 1900 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online The Yankee…

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Laurel Street bridge construction, Hartford

From Frontier Town to Capital City: Collection Traces Hartford’s Transformation

…Hartford History Center. Today, an online finding aid for the records makes them immediately accessible to the public. For students, scholars, and others researchers wanting to investigate the history of…

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Louis’ Lunch eatery at its original location on George Street

Louis’ Lunch and the Birth of the Hamburger

…History Online Louis’ Lunch is currently located at 263 Crown Street in New Haven. The brickwork storefront of the restaurant stands in contrast to the wheeled lunch wagon originally operated…

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The Danbury Hatters

…Sturdevant wool hat factory, Beaver Brook (Danbury), CT, drawing ca. 1858 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online In the early 1800s, Danbury produced mostly unfinished hats. Hatters softened…

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Fredi Washington and her sister Isabel, 1930s

Remembering Fredi Washington: Actress, Activist, and Journalist

…includes photographs of Fredi, her family, and friends. Additional selections from the collection may be viewed in the CHS online catalog eMuseum. Nancy Finlay, formerly Curator of Graphics at the…

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Ralph Earl, The Battle of Lexington, April 19th, 1775 etched by Amos Doolittle

News From Lexington: Contemporary Views of the Opening Battles of the American Revolution

…by Doolittle may be viewed in the CHS online catalog, eMuseum. Nancy Finlay, formerly Curator of Graphics at the Connecticut Historical Society, is the editor of Picturing Victorian America: Prints…

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Bird's-eye map of Moosup, Conn. Uniondale and Almyville,

A Bird’s-eye View of Moosup

…artist, lithographer & publisher – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online Burleigh’s depiction of this Quinebaug Valley town and its satellite communities, Uniondale (left) and Almyville (right), records the…

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View of Norwich, from the west side of the river

Norwich in Perspective

…H. Knecht, artist & lithographer, New York: Jacob Rau, 1861-62 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online The Scenic Becomes Civic A useful comparison can be made by considering…

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Palmer Brothers' Fitchville Mills

When Bozrah Provided Comfort to the Nation

…ca. 1880-1910 – Archives & Special Collections of the University of Connecticut Libraries, and Connecticut History Online By 1928, the company was in a position to enjoy much of the…

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Emily Holcombe presenting deeds of Gold Street to Mayor Miles B. Preston

Emily Holcombe Pioneered to Preserve Connecticut’s Colonial Past

…spent her summers back in Bristol. Holcombe’s Early Preservation Efforts Western end of Gold Street before widening, Hartford – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online The preservation efforts she…

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Sandbags in Rockville. September 22, 1938

Hurricane of 1938: Connecticut’s Worst Disaster

…1938 – Connecticut Historical Society   By 10:00 p.m. the fast-moving storm reached Canada, still with hurricane-force winds. Behind in New England, 600 people were dead and over 700 were…

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Freedom to the Slave

From the State Historian: Connecticut’s Slow Steps Toward Emancipation

…and the welfare of the enslaved. Connecticut’s blacks—both free and enslaved—not surprisingly thought otherwise, and they were a steady voice urging faster emancipation. In the end, slavery remained in the…

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Eighteen-hundred-and-froze-to-death: 1816, The Year Without a Summer

…but three days later Robbins noted “this morning there was considerable frost. It is a melancholy time. There was a fast here yesterday on account of the season.” At the…

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Crystal Lake, Ellington

Ellington

…the late-1890s through the Great Depression. Although Ellington continues farming today, it is one of the fastest-growing towns in Connecticut, evolving from an agricultural center to a suburban bedroom community….

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The Hartford Convention or Leap no leap

The Hartford Convention or Leap no Leap

…pray and fast some time longer—little Rhode will jump the first,” while Massachusetts urges, “What a dangerous leap!!! but we must jump Brother Conn.” The lower left-hand corner depicts King…

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Video – Free-for-all Race at Charter Oak Park

YouTube – Library of Congress This early Edison Manufacturing Co. film shows part of the enormous crowd assembled on July 5, 1897, to watch the fastest harness horse in the…

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Karen Mission Compound at Maulmain

Baptist Missionaries at Work in 19th-Century Burma

…December and immediately began sharing their religion with the Karen people. The Vintons soon discovered that working independently of one another enabled them to spread their message faster, and the…

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Mamie Eisenhower launches the USS Nautilus

The Launch of the USS Nautilus – Today in History: January 21

…to be powered by nuclear fuel it could travel faster and farther than any other submarine in the history of the world. In 1983, the Nautilus was named the official…

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Clarence Dickinson Carries Printing Innovation into the 20th Century

…on a rotary offset press and the first man to sell a two-, four-, and six-color lithograph press. By the time of his death, industry executives considered him the leading…

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Patents – Bloomfield’s Inventive Minds

…Boiler Patent Number 112,627 March 14, 1871 Henry Humphrey and Frederick H. Humphrey, Shutter Fasteners Patent Number 150,955 May 19, 1874 Walter S. Loveland & Edwin C. Henn, Journal Patent…

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Trail in the woods. There are trees lining a gravel/dirt path and in the foreground there is a sign that points towards the trail and reads "Tree I.D. Trail"

Saving Sessions Woods

…to the Hartford Courant, Burlington was the fastest growing town in Connecticut in the 1980s. People were moving out of the cities to the suburbs and rural areas—small towns such…

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Residence and Library of Ithiel Town, New Haven

American Architect Ithiel Town Born – Today in History: October 3

…in 1820 received the patent for a wooden truss bridge known as Town’s Lattice Truss. The design fastened diagonally set planks with pegs into a crisscrossing truss system secured at…

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Original brass stencil used for decorating Hitchcock chairs

The “Fancy Chair” Craze of the 1800s: Lambert Hitchcock and the Story of the Hitchcock Chair

…Gift of The Hitchcock Chair Co., Ltd Making chairs and other wood furniture had always been a laborious job, as each part was handmade. Hitchcock made the process faster and…

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North and South: The Legacy of Eli Whitney

…endeavor—making muskets for the United States government. He obtained a contract for 10,000 muskets, believing he knew a way to make them faster and better than anybody else. He established…

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Lattice Truss Bridge, Ithiel Town

Town Patents the Lattice Truss Bridge – Today in History: January 28

…of overlapping triangles. Unlike the use of the arch in Burr’s design, Town’s approach distributed the load equally with no vertical timbers. By fastening each triangle at its points of…

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Music Vale Seminary, Salem

Music Vale Seminary in Salem Credited as Being First in US

…– Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Music Division   A typical day of instruction involved awaking at 5:00 a.m. to dust pianos and practice before breakfast. The curriculum…

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English barn, Ashford

Barn Design in Connecticut

…19th century and later. Sadly, barns are fast disappearing, victims of neglect when a property goes out of agriculture and stands in the way of residential development. In fact, the…

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Re-creating Our National Pastime

…plate for fastballs; for curveballs, it moved with a sudden swing left or right at the end. If a batter made contact, the playograph operator moved the ball to a…

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Detail of the W.A. Slater's Jewett City Cotton Mills in the foreground from Jewett City, Conn, bird’s-eye map by Lucien R. Burleigh

The Industrial Revolution Comes to Jewett City

…machines whose sides consisted of long banks of fast-moving spindles (tapered rods around which yarn or thread is wound) to ensure threads did not break, entangle, or otherwise slow down…

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Thanksgiving Proclamation, Matthew Griswold, New Haven, 1785

Governor Griswold’s Thanksgiving Proclamation

…throughout the colonial period and into the 19th century for official days of feasting or fasting depending on the year’s fortunes. There was no set month or date for these…

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The Collapse of the L’Ambiance Plaza

…In this building style, workers pour concrete floor slabs in layers on the ground and then raise them using hydraulic jacks. The slabs then get fastened onto a building’s vertical…

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Fire Bucket

Firefighters Answer the Call in Greenwich

…able to live in Greenwich. The materials used in building construction today as well as the method of construction mean that fires burn hotter, buildings burn faster, and the air…

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Philip Corbin

Philip Corbin: Manufacturing A Legacy for New Britain

…grew. The firm manufactured builders’ hardware, including coat and hat hooks, sash fasteners, picture nails, locks, and knobs, as well as coffin trimmings. Beginning in early 1870 the company switched…

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Section of a handwritten document

Black Loyalist Refugees: Toney Escapes During the Burning of Fairfield

…during his stay in New York, Nancy, Toney’s young daughter, was kidnapped. In a city defined by anonymity and fast-paced enterprise, the abduction of Black people had become a profitable…

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Drawing from Remarkable Apparitions, and Ghost-Stories, 1849

The Ghost Ship of New Haven Sets Sail Shrouded in Mystery

…it, “they found their estates sink so fast, that they must quickly do something.” Colony Pins Its Hopes on New Vessel A group of the settlement’s most prominent merchants set…

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Detail of Map exhibiting the route of the Norwich & Worcester Railroad

Iron and Water: The Norwich & Worcester Railroad Story

…and trains. This strategy allowed relatively fast schedules without the expense of constructing a rail route along the irregular Connecticut shoreline and avoided exposing steamboat passengers to the dangers of…

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Climax Fuse Company, 1899

Avon Industry: From Underground to Outerspace

…so fast that it exhausted local labor supplies. Soon immigrants from Poland, Russia, Italy, Germany, and other European nations arrived in Avon to assist in fuse manufacturing. The company even…

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Can Opener, E. J. Warner, patented January 5, 1858

The First US Can Opener – Today in History: January 5

…parts which could be replaced if worn out. The can opener wasn’t Warner’s first invention. He had received a patent in November of 1850 for a Mode of Fastening Hooks…

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Sandbagging at the Stanley P. Rockwell Co

The Flood That We Forget: October 15 and 16, 1955

…waters began to recede shows that the water was still moving fast. The partially collapsed roof of a building is visible behind the bridge. Our collective memory of disasters tends…

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Gideon Welles’s Role in Lincoln’s Cabinet

…only a small, outdated fleet of 76 ships. Many of these ships were sailing vessels which proved useless as blockade vessels in the rising age of fast, steam-powered ships. Welles…

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Penguins, 1933-35, Antarctic

Sixty Degrees Below Zero: Connecticut Man Explores Antarctica

…tractor which was now half buried in the snowdrift…recorded -60 below,” wrote Connecticut native John Henry Von der Wall on September 25, 1934. Von der Wall was a member of…

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Elevated view of Storrs Agricultural College

The Yale-Storrs Controversy

…“stepping out from the mists of antiquity and the graves of dead languages and ‘taking up the shovel and the hoe.’” However, Yale was not hoeing fast enough to suit…

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Hartford Jai Alai players, 1976

“The Basque Game in Town”: The Heyday of Jai Alai in Connecticut

By Patrick Mahoney While jai alai is recognized as one of the fastest sports in existence, the game’s popularity in most of the United States dropped off considerably in recent…

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Charles H. Dow

Humble Beginnings of the Dow Jones: How a Sterling Farmer Became the Toast of Wall Street

…November of 1882, Dow and Jones struck out on their own, forming the news agency of Dow, Jones & Company. In order to provide information faster than their competitors, Dow…

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Front facade of a multi-story building with three arches over doorways.

Connecticut’s First Mutual Savings Bank Opens in Hartford

…remained throughout its existence. Bank Business The bank authorized individual deposits of up to two hundred dollars annually, but a depositor had to give four months advance notice in writing

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Pastoral Picture by Faith Trumbull

Faith Trumbull: The Artist Was a Young Girl

…reading, writing, arithmetic, and classical languages, along with drawing, painting, sewing, and embroidery. She learned art by copying elements from Old Master prints. For example, elements borrowed from a Dutch…

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Souvenir Book of the Hippodrome to show the connection to theater world

Hartford’s Charles Dillingham Discovered Broadway Stars

…a reporter for the Hartford Post. Finding his hometown dull in comparison to the adventures he witnessed in the West, Dillingham left Hartford to take a position writing for the…

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The Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth. Miss Rose Meers, the Greatest living lady rider

P. T. Barnum: An Entertaining Life

…under false pretenses from the public at large,” as quoted in the foreward to a 2000 edition of Barnum’s autobiography. Barnum spent years rewriting and attempting to control the damage…

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Game ball patent filed Feb. 18, 1954

Wiffle Throws a Curve in American Leisure Time

…whose work includes curating several exhibits at the New Britain Youth Museum and researching and writing a walking tour for Connecticut Landmarks, holds a graduate degree in Public History from…

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Creative License, or Fundamental Fact?

…our state slogan refers. Our constitution-the one on which we stake our claim to be “The Constitution State”-is a 1639 document called The Fundamental Orders. It preceded the American constitution…

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Obookiah’s gravesite, Cornwall

Hidden Nearby: Henry Obookiah’s Cornwall Grave

…as a 15- or 16-year-old, Henry was taken aboard the merchant ship Triumph, commanded by Captain Britnall and bound for New Haven. While on board the ship, Henry befriended Thomas…

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Photograph of a brown two story house with an attic and two chimneys. There is a white fence in front of the house

The Welcoming Warmth of Kent’s Seven Hearths

…Nelson was renovating the second floor to make way for a bathroom, he discovered the literal writing on the wall: “mink and fox and other skins, marked in blue chalk…

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Black and white photograph of a large ship next to a dock full of hundreds of people. There are people standing on the ship and streamers coming off the boat

Helen James Chisholm: A Hartford Teacher in Hawaii

…the kitchen and dining room, paying bills, and writing monthly reports. James also wrote articles for the Hartford Courant, the Honolulu Advertiser, and the Southern Workman (the journal of the…

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Reverend John Davenport

Forgotten Founder: John Davenport of New Haven

…Hooker and Cotton and other prominent Puritan leaders during the early years of the New England colonies, and his surviving writings provide a wealth of information about this important formative…

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The Socially Dynamic Drumlin of Foss Hill

…for students not in fraternities to have food, writing programs, and social activities. The Commons Club affiliated with similar clubs at Tufts, Middlebury, and Union Norwich that also provided an…

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Looking Back: Tempest Tossed, the Story of Isabella Beecher Hooker

…for Journalism and Mass Communication at Central Connecticut State University. She is also a trustee at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House and Museum and a writing instructor at the Mark…

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Drawing of a town common with a church on the right side, a building in the center and a couple buildings on the left. There are a few trees and a few people

Lee’s Academy: An Icon of Education for 200 Years

…a civic responsibility to offer an institution of higher learning to his community. At the time, public education focused on teaching baseline skills in reading, writing, and arithmetic. These basics…

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Aunt Polly and Its Preservation

…in order to claim the insurance money, but in a response in the local newspaper, Gillette decried the rumors, writing that it could not be true “owing to the fact…

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Harriet Beecher Stowe

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin Published 1852

Harriet Beecher was born to a prominent Connecticut family in Litchfield on June 14, 1811. Before she began her prolific writing career, she taught school with her older sister Catherine….

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Israel Putnam Wolf Den, Pomfret

Folklore

…From the Dark Day in 1780 to the 19th-century’s Old Leather Man and the Charter Oak tree, the state’s early tales live on in our writings, artifacts, monuments, and memories….

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Guy Hedlund playing Guy Frances in Fortune's Pet

Portland’s Guy Hedlund: Actor and Activist

…in Guy’s writings and procured a position for him at the Commercial Advertiser (later known as the New York Globe). Having heard stories about the mistreatment cattlemen endured on ocean…

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Henry Ward Beecher, ca. 1866

Henry Ward Beecher Born – Today in History: June 24

…in Connecticut and elsewhere. Beecher was active in publishing circles also, and it was through his writing for the newspaper The Independent that he came to be accused of adultery…

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The Articles of Confederation: America’s First Constitution

writing and four years in the ratifying, the Articles of Confederation was the compromise that established our first national government. For that reason, some argue the first president of the…

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Horace Bushnell

Horace Bushnell Born – Today in History: April 14

…often called the “father of American religious liberalism.” Bushnell strove to bring religion in closer harmony with the human experience and nature through his writings, and was famous for the…

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Portrait of James Williams from his biography

James Williams, More than Trinity College’s Janitor

…and community he had created off campus grounds. In 1873, Williams’ biographer admits that Williams was not treated seriously, writing, “When he meant to be most solemn, he excited most…

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Portrait of Eugene O'Neill and Carlotta Monterey O'Neill

Eugene O’Neill’s Connecticut Connections

…stage production of “Ah! Wilderness,” which is set in New London, Connecticut. O’Neill drew on New London for the rest of his writing career. The text of Mourning Becomes Electra,…

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Wallace Stevens

Poet Wallace Stevens Dies – Today in History: August 2

…his home near Elizabeth Park to his offices at the insurance company. Born in 1879, Stevens had begun writing poetry while an undergraduate at Harvard, but his first book of…

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Mrs. Lydia H. Sigourney

Miss Huntley’s School Opens – Today in History: August 1

…under her married name as the poet and writer Lydia Huntley Sigourney, regarded Wadsworth as her patron, and he also helped her get her first work published. Lydia had opened…

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Map of changing Connecticut's boundary lines

Surveying Connecticut’s Borders

…them. As State Historian Walter Woodward writes, the original charter received from King Charles II described Connecticut’s boundaries as including all lands west of Narragansett Bay, “south by the sea,”…

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Work on foundation of the Bulkeley Bridge

The Sand Hogs Set the Foundation for the Bulkeley Bridge

…delayed. The sand hogs knew better. Steve Thornton has been a labor union organizer for 35 years and writes on the history of working people. This article originally appeared on…

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Theodate posing for painter Robert Brandegee in 1902

Theodate Pope Riddle Dies – Today in History: August 30

…a friend and patron of artists and writers. Her circle included novelist Henry James, artist Mary Cassatt, and pioneering landscape architect Beatrix Farrand, who designed Hill-Stead’s beautiful Sunken Garden. In…

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The crew and passengers of the steamboat Sunshine

Rising Tide: Steamboat Workers on the Connecticut River

…promptly went on strike to win their fair share, too. Steve Thornton has been a labor union organizer for 35 years and writes on the history of working people. This…

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The 29th Leaves for War – Today in History: March 19

…casualties in a half-dozen hard-fought battles in Virginia. Cornel Garfman, MS, is a writer and historian. This Today in History was published as part of a semester-long graduate student project…

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Paul Robeson by Gordon Parks, 1942

“Negroes Who Stand Up and Fight Back” – Paul Robeson in Hartford

…audience called him back for six encores. Steve Thornton has been a labor union organizer for 35 years and writes on the history of working people. This article originally appeared…

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Walnut Grove, Hammond Estate, Waterford

“Gentleman’s Farming” Comes to Waterford

…area that included the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Today the Theater Center provides opportunities for new artists and writers to hone their craft through conferences, individual instruction, and the production…

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Windsor’s “Murder Factory”

…One particular follower of Gilligan’s case, a New York playwright named Joseph Kesselring, decided to take Gilligan’s story and rewrite it as a comedy. His very successful play ran on…

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A Better Home and Garden in Bethlehem

…house served numerous functions, providing him a place to live, to write such famous works as True Religion Delineated, and to open the first theological school in North America. After…

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Westport Country Playhouse

Broadway Comes to Westport

…Connecticut, residents) Lawrence Langner and Armina Marshall purchased a barn and apple orchard in town. Their intention was to turn it into a venue where both aspiring and established writers,…

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Charles De Wolf Brownell, Charter Oak

The Unsteady Meaning of “The Land of Steady Habits”

…to radical and untested innovation. For their political opponents—who would turn the Standing Order out of office and write the state’s new constitution in 1818—“The Land of Steady Habits” proved…

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Little Bethel AME Church, 44 Lake Avenue, Greenwich

Site Lines: Fortresses of Faith, Agents of Change

…African American protest writer, who raised funds to replace the church building when it burned in 1836. The new structure, on Elm Street, also provided a school for African American…

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Interior of Otto Henning's Cafe

Union Brew

…each hour to drink beer. Steve Thornton has been a labor union organizer for 35 years and writes on the history of working people. This article originally appeared on ShoeLeatherHistoryProject.com…

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American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, Hartford

Gallaudet’s Vision Advances Deaf Education

…– Hartford History Center, Hartford Public Library While visiting his family in Hartford, Gallaudet became acquainted with Alice Cogswell, a deaf-nonspeaking nine-year-old. He taught her to write basic words by…

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Governor Wilbur L. Cross

Video: 1938 Thanksgiving Proclamation

…other Thanksgiving Proclamations that are no less lyrical. In a November 28, 1968, Hartford Courant editorial, the writer says “…the late Wilbur Lucius Cross in 1935 issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation…

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The Wethersfield Academy

Wethersfield Academy Est. 1804

…insistence that every member of their society be able to read and write. Our schools continued to flourish in the 19th century under the leadership of Henry Barnard. The Wethersfield…

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Horace Wells

Horace Wells Discovers Pain-free Dentistry

…continued to write about dentistry and invent various devices, such as a foot-powered shower. Wells Sees Potential in Laughing Gas In 1842, Wells took Morton, first, as his student and…

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Straitsville Schoolhouse, Naugatuck

Child Labor vs. Schooling in 19th-century Naugatuck

…their incomes. In Naugatuck, the rich industrial base provided ample opportunities for children to join the labor force. In 1650, Connecticut passed the “Act for Educating Children.” The writers of…

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Charles Ethan Porter, Fruit: Apples, Grapes, Peaches, and Pears

Arts

…painter Charles Ethan Porter, writer Mark Twain, architect Theodate Pope Riddle, and sculptor Alexander Calder. Collectors, patrons, and institutions, too, have shaped the state’s arts history. Among these are the…

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Mark Twain's Interactive Scrap Book

Samuel L. Clemens Receives Scrap-book Patent – Who Knew?

…that writer and humorist Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, invented more than tall tales and novels. In 1871, Clemens moved his family to Hartford,…

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Abraham Davenport

Dark Day – Today in History: May 19

On May 19, 1780, a strange darkness fell over much of New England. It was so dark by noon that it was impossible to read or write even sitting by…

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Dedication of the New State Capitol, 1876

Imagining Connecticut

…lost our early respect for learning. The extraordinary array of public and independent schools and universities across the state we see today has deep roots in our past. Writers and…

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Roger Tory Peterson

Roger Tory Peterson Dies – Today in History: July 28

…sold more than five million copies and Peterson continued to write and edit books on birds and nature, 50 in all, as well as paint and exhibit his artwork in…

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Main Street, During Fair Week

The Great Danbury State Fair & Early 20th-Century Outdoor Advertising

…Hassan is an independent researcher, genealogist and writer currently working as a Research Specialist for the Danbury Museum & Historical Society. © CTPost.com. All rights reserved. This article is excerpted…

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Gravestones at a cemetery

Protected: New England Society for Psychic Research: Connecticut Paranormal Investigators Leave Legacy of the Occult

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

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The 29th First to Enter Confederate Capital When It Surrenders – Today in History: April 3

…wrote, until her voice gave out. Cornel Garfman, MS, is a writer and historian. This Today in History was published as part of a semester-long graduate student project at Central…

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Josephine Bennett: Hartford’s City Mother

…linking disparate social and political movements of the early 20th century, Josephine Bennett was “intersectional” well before the term was invented. Steve Thornton is a retired union organizer who writes…

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Birth of a Nation Advertisement

Hartford’s Challenge to “The Birth of a Nation”

…a 2016 film intended to re-envision the story of Nat Turner’s 1831 slave rebellion in Virginia. Steve Thornton is a retired union organizer who writes for the Shoeleather History Project…

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An Orderly & Decent Government: Searching for the Common Good, 1776-1818

…of the Federalists grouped together in the Toleration Party, won control of both houses of the General Assembly and the governor’s chair and vowed to write a new constitution for…

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Bradley-Wheeler Barn, Museum of Westport History, Wesport

Westport

…leading onion growing center in the US. By the early 20th century, Westport had a lively arts community that attracted artists, musicians, and writers. The later 20th century saw Westport…

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Women Protestors of the Day March for the Vote

Looking Back: How the Vote Was Won

…Club. Cicely Hamilton (1872-1952) was an English writer and advocate for women’s rights. She co-authored “How the Vote was Won” as a one-act comedy specially written to support women’s suffrage….

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20th-century photograph of shad nets

A Tale of Shad, the State Fish

…extra money in the spring. Christine Woodside of Deep River, Connecticut, edits Appalachia journal and Connecticut Woodlands magazine and writes about the environment, climate change, and American history for periodicals….

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History in a Heart

…The Valentine’s Day traditions we are the most familiar with became popular in the 19th century as more people were able to read and write. We can thank Esther Howland…

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Votes for A Woman: Sara Buek Crawford

…Ideals Re-invigorate Westport In the ensuing years, local farmers, merchants, and seafaring captains noticed growing numbers of artists, writers, publishers, actors, and career-minded women among their new neighbors. These newcomers,…

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Mambo for Cats by Jim Flora

Jim Flora Captures 20th-Century Pop Culture

…an early start in commercial art. While a student at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, he met writer Robert Lowry, and in 1938, the two started Little Man Press, producing…

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Portrait of Amos Beman.

The Rev. Amos Beman’s Devotion to Education, Social Activism, and New Haven

…because of his race, Beman went on to enroll at the progressive Oneida Institute, using what he learned to write and speak on the liberation of the oppressed. Beman’s interracial…

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Two women sliding on a toboggan down a ramp. There is the remnants of snow on the ground.

Trumbull’s Parlor Rock Park: A Premier Amusement Center of the Late 19th Century

…that remain of this “unrivaled summer resort” of the late 1800s. Emily Clark is a freelance writer and an English and Journalism teacher at Amity Regional High School in Woodbridge….

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Large ornate building

Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Captures the Gilded Age in Norwalk

…renovation, allowing the history of the Gilded Age to live on. Emily Clark is a freelance writer and an English and Journalism teacher at Amity Regional High School in Woodbridge….

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Black and white photograph of a submarine draped in American flags on the water.

Electric Boat: From Innovation Trials to WWII Submarine Leadership

…Corporation, one of the largest defense contractors in the world. Sharon L. Cohen is a communication specialist and professional writer who has authored several books on business and Connecticut communities….

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Large building in the background across from a green lawn and walking path

Connecticut College for Women: The State’s First All-Female Institution of Higher Learning

…approximately two thousand co-eds, dozens of buildings, and a reputation of distinction. Emily Clark is a freelance writer and an English and Journalism teacher at Amity Regional High School in…

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Drawing of a group of women gathered together sewing

Hebron’s Josephine Sophia (White) Griffing and a Vision for Post-Emancipation America

…1872, her body was returned to Hebron’s Burrows Hill Cemetery. Sharon L. Cohen is a communication specialist and professional writer who has authored several books on business and Connecticut history….

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Locomotive number 14 from the Central New England Railway Co

The Industrial United States 1870-1900

…New Haven opening of the country’s first telephone exchange in 1878, while Connecticut writers and reformers such as Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe sought to entertain while also informing…

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The Hartford Wheel Club, Hartford

The Hartford Wheel Club: Disparity in the Gilded Age

…“penny farthings,” single high-wheeled vehicles, at his factory on Washington Street.) The Wheel Club took their cycles to races in other states, which often meant two- or three-day treks. Since…

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Connecticut Revolutionized Geography – Who Knew?

…Olney went on to write other textbooks including: Olney’s School Atlas, A History of the United State: for the Use of Schools and Academies, and The Family Book of History….

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Rock and Roll vs. Racism

…Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Steve Thornton has been a labor union organizer for 35 years and writes on the history of working people. This article originally appeared on ShoeLeatherHistoryProject.com…

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The Newsies Strike Back

…the need for newsies altogether. Steve Thornton has been a labor union organizer for 35 years and writes on the history of working people. This article originally appeared on ShoeLeatherHistoryProject.com…

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Selma, Not So Far Away

…of progress, the challenge still remains to “reshape the community befitting the dignity of man.” Steve Thornton is a retired union organizer who writes for the Shoeleather History Project (shoeleatherhistoryproject.com)…

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Video – Helen Keller Tribute Film

…did not limit herself to public speaking and lobbying, however. She was also an influential writer and lent her words to letters and articles that publicly addressed issues of discrimination….

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Emma Hart Willard: Leader in Women’s Education

…the school. Emma Willard as Author In addition to being an educator and reformer, Willard was also a prolific writer whose publications greatly increased her influence. She believed in establishing…

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John Warner Barber, South view Bethlehem

The Reverend Joseph Bellamy Makes Bethlehem a Holy Place

…Bethlehem, where local residents eventually requested he become the town’s preacher in 1740. Congregationalist Preacher, Writer, and Educator Bellamy preached the traditional Puritan belief that an abundance of material possessions…

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Connecticut: Home to the Boxcar Children Mysteries – Who Knew?

…local school board asked Warner to teach first grade and she continued teaching in the same classroom for the next 32 years. An avid reader and writer from an early…

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A Different Look at the Amistad Trial: The Teenager Who Helped Save the Mende Captives

…in 1841, James Benjamin Covey made the decision to go with them, as a free man. Steve Thornton is a retired union organizer who writes for the Shoeleather History Project…

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Andrus Field 1831–1911: Athletics and the Environment

…team sports as a form of fitness, though Wesleyan’s team tended to lose by large margins in relatively high-scoring games. Writers for the Wesleyan Argus (the student newspaper) justified some…

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Evelyn Beatrice Longman Commemorates the Working Class

…cut in stone and, it is said, she sculpted the humble rail-splitter’s hands from Georgia granite. Steve Thornton is a retired union organizer who writes for the Shoeleather History Project…

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The “Red Scare” in Connecticut

…“Palmer and Hoover were roundly criticized for the plan and for their overzealous domestic security efforts.” Steve Thornton is a retired union organizer who writes for the Shoeleather History Project…

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Morton Biskind Warned the World About DDT

…1981 at the age of 74. His work, however, continues to live on—celebrated by environmentalists around the world, as well as by such influential public health advocates and writers as…

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Theodate posing for painter Robert Brandegee in 1902

Theodate Pope Riddle: Connecticut’s Pioneering Woman Architect

…career as a writer or an artist; but finally decided that her true calling was architecture. She did not attend college and had no formal training as an architect, although…

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Full body painting of a woman in colonial dress holding a firearm looking outside

Abigail Hinman: Heroine of the American Revolution or Legend?

…in Stonington, just 15 miles from Hinman’s home in New London. Emily Clark is a freelance writer and an English and Journalism teacher at Amity Regional High School in Woodbridge….

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Edward Alexander Bouchet: The First African American to Earn a PhD from an American University

…2014, however, indicated otherwise. Research by several scholars and writers, including some at Yale, indicated that three men thought to be white and who preceded Bouchet at the school—Moses Simon…

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Emile Gauvreau and the Era of Tabloid Journalism

…staff to do likewise. In one instance, Gauvreau had a Courant reporter work undercover at a veteran’s hospital and write about conditions there from an inside perspective. By 1924, the…

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Man wearing a hat with card stating "Bread or Revolution"

How the Wobblies Won Free Speech

…suit. In 1939, 150 years after its original passage, Connecticut finally ratified the Bill of Rights. Steve Thornton has been a labor union organizer for 35 years and writes on…

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A Pie Tin’s Soaring Sales

…and the popularity of the Frisbee soared. The Frisbee became Wham-O’s best-selling product and spawned dozens of imitators. Consumers purchased over 200 million Frisbees from Wham-O before the company sold…

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A man sitting at a piano and a woman standing, singing

Rosa Ponselle: Meriden’s Famous Musical Daughter

…Conservatory of Music and the University of Maryland both bestowed Ponselle with honorary doctor of arts degrees, further underscoring her significance in music. After battling cancer, Rosa Ponselle died on…

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Kimberly Mansion, Glastonbury

The Smith Sisters, Their Cows, and Women’s Rights in Glastonbury

By Molly May Abolitionists and suffragists Abigail (Abby) and Julia Smith of Glastonbury were best known for their fight against the town tax collector, George C. Andrews, in the 1870s….

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Video – Rudolph Zallinger’s Masterpiece, “The Age of Reptiles”

…its depictions on the best science of the time and, in recognition of this artistic and scientific achievement, Zallinger received the Pulitzer Award for Painting in 1949. The mural can…

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Gideon Welles

Gideon Welles

Gideon Welles (1802-1878) Born in Glastonbury in 1802, Gideon Welles is known best for his work in organizing and expanding the US navy during the Lincoln Administration. After working in…

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Bridgeport, Conn., 1882

A Bird’s-eye View of Bridgeport

…residences, and industries of Bridgeport and dominate the proportionately smaller view. Best known for women’s apparel, sewing machines, and seamless brass tubing, the industries were almost as celebrated as Bridgeport’s…

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Deep River, 1934 aerial survey

Road Signs of the Air

…Association. The committee studied the recommendations of the conference and others and conducted test flights at day and night and in different weather conditions to see what worked best. Connecticut…

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Postcard of Luna Park, Hartford

Luna Park: A 20th-century Story of Amusement and Morality

…applying state laws at Luna Park, enforcement proved haphazard at best. While a couple of peanut vendors faced prosecution in 1906 for trespassing on the grounds, little attention fell on…

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Lantern Hill

Breaking the Myth of the Unmanaged Landscape

…Connecticut General Court, seeking redress from land loss and English encroachment, 1721. “…they make us as goats! by moving us from place to place to clear rough land…”- Photograph Brian…

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Reporting News of Pearl Harbor – Today in History: December 7

…Archives & Special Collections, University of Connecticut Libraries During World War II, Schenker, who hosted a radio show called “History in the Headlines,” became one of the best-known commentators in…

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Merino Sheep

Textile Mills in Oxford Dominated Early Industry

…be the best in the world. The Spanish government placed rigid restrictions on their export, but Bonaparte’s invasion of Spain helped loosen these protectionist measures. Consequently, David Humphreys, a Connecticut…

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Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Bethel

Map – Sanborn Fire Insurance Map for Bethel, Fairfield County

…the US, the Sanborn Map Company, founded in Pelham, New York, became one of the best known producers of these large-scale maps. Beginning in 1867, Sanborn issued fire insurance maps…

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Detail from View of Essex, Centerbrook & Ivoryton, Conn. 1881

The British Raid on Essex

…and the town did its best to forget this dark chapter in its history. Within two years it had changed its name to Essex, and the raid passed into obscurity…

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Anna Louise James behind the soda fountain in the James' pharmacy

Anna Louise James Makes History with Medicine

…Rennaissance. A registered pharmacist, she worked at the James Pharmacy before marrying and moving to New York. Petry wrote The Street, a best-selling 1946 book about life in Harlem that…

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Pequot bowl, trade item, 17th century

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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Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Baltic

Map – Sanborn Fire Insurance Map for Baltic, New London County

…the US, the Sanborn Map Company, founded in Pelham, New York, became one of the best known producers of these large-scale maps. Beginning in 1867, Sanborn issued fire insurance maps…

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Sol Lewitt, Certificate of Ownership and Diagram Wall Drawing #614

Painter, Muralist, Sculptor Sol LeWitt born – Today in History: September 9

…squares, and other basic geometric shapes. An innovator, Lewitt is probably best known for his wall drawings—a radical concept in the art world at the time as they were temporary,…

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Samuel Langhorne Clemens

Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910) Missouri-born Samuel Clemens is best known by his pen name Mark Twain. The author, lecturer, humorist, and sometime inventor moved to Hartford in 1871, shortly after…

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A front view of the Wadsworth Atheneum

Gothic Connecticut

…design of the Wadsworth Atheneum (1842), perhaps Connecticut’s best known example of Gothic Revival architecture. The rectangular building features crenelations along the roof line, and square towers flanking the recessed…

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Lebanon

…Connecticut Colony that received a biblical name. Best known for its role in the American Revolution, Lebanon was an important base of American operations and is often referred to as…

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George Washington Packer's patented rock and stump pullers, Mystic

Invention and Technology

…teams of researchers in corporate and university settings have pioneered medical, technological, and other advances. One of the state’s best-known “firsts” is the USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine….

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New England Carousel Museum

Bristol

…and Ingraham Clocks. It incorporated as a city in 1911. Today, Bristol is mostly residential and best known as the home of ESPN, the American Clock & Watch Museum, and…

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Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys

Ethan Allen Born – Today in History: January 10

…it was the British who captured Allen. He wrote of his experience in A Narrative of Colonel Ethan Allen’s Captivity (1779), which became a best seller. After the war, Allen’s…

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Elizabeth T. Bentley, 1948

Elizabeth Bentley Born – Today in History: January 1

On January 1, 1908, Elizabeth Terrill Bentley was born in New Milford. Bentley is best known for her role as an American spy for the Soviet Union in the 1930s…

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Savin Rock Amusement Park, 1930s

Connecticut’s Youngest City – Who Knew?

…making it the last city incorporated in the state. West Haven is perhaps best known as the home of Savin Rock Amusement Park, a popular late 19th century seaside resort…

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Graphic of multi colored lines spinning around a gold circle that reads "National History Day 2024 Turning Points in History"

Connecticut History Day 2024: Turning Points in History

…in New Haven became the site of the world’s first commercial telephone exchange, forever changing how communication and long-distance commercial operations worked. While Hartford’s Samuel Colt is known best for…

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Nathan Hale Homestead, Coventry

Coventry

…industries. The items produced varied but included glass flasks, cardboard boxes, and textiles. Today, Coventry is best known as the birthplace of Captain Nathan Hale and is home to the…

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Gravestones, Old Burying Ground, Hartford

Belief

…Jews, Catholics, and others. Such groups founded some of the state’s oldest and best-known hospitals, universities, and philanthropic organizations. Today, diverse beliefs continue to enrich Connecticut’s cultural and spiritual landscape….

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Clown with bucket

The Hartford Circus Fire – Today in History: July 6

…financial responsibility. They did not, however, accept responsibility for the fire and five men were charged and brought to trial; four were convicted. Shortly after, all were pardoned. The best-known…

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Margaret Rudkin

Pepperidge Farm Opens Bakery – Today in History: July 4

…Company in 1961. In 1963 her illustrated recipe book, the Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm Cookbook, became the first cookbook ever to break onto The New York Times Best Sellers List….

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Katharine Hepburn, standing on the beach, Fenwick. Hurricane of 1938

Katharine Hepburn Born – Today in History: May 12

…an actress, she won four Oscars for best actress—her first in 1933 for the film Morning Glory and her last for On Golden Pond in 1981—as well as an Emmy,…

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Am I not a man and a brother?

Early Anti-slavery Advocates in 18th-century Connecticut

…them for becoming good citizens of the United States, a privilege and elevation to which we look forward with pleasure, and which we believe can be best merited by habits…

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A worker cutting ivory

Ivory Cutting: The Rise and Decline of a Connecticut Industry

…it was regarded as the best covering for piano keys, and an adult African elephant tusk of 75 pounds, properly milled, could yield the wafer-thin ivory veneers to cover the…

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City of Hartford, Connecticut

Bird’s-eye Views Offer Idealized Portraits of Progress

…its best possible light. Every detail became an optimistic advertisement for progress. Artists took care to include new structures (factories, bridges, railroad tracks and stations, gas works, and reservoirs, some…

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Infrared view of Philip Johnson's Glass House and Pavillion, New Canaan

Philip Johnson in His Own Words

…his life and work. Johnson established the Department of Architecture at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and is perhaps best known for his work with Ludwig Mies van der…

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Connecticut Audubon Society, Pomfret

Pomfret

…Pontefract in Yorkshire, England. Agriculture and various mills along the town’s plentiful waterways supported the settlers’ earliest enterprises. The town might be best known for the wolf’s den where Israel…

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Detail of Warwick patent copy by John Winthrop, Jr., 1662

The Charter of 1662

…attempt to assume absolute control over the Puritan colonies in New England. Connecticut’s leaders decided, therefore, that their best hope for preserving their liberties lay in petitioning for a legal…

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Black and white photograph of a long large building. There is a river and dam in front

Willimantic’s American Thread Plant–A Multinational Corporate Takeover

…was best for sewing machines, and on the patriotic ground that it used only American cotton and labor. How ironic, then, that Willimantic Linen sold out to the American Thread…

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The Entrance to Pope Park

Pope Park – Yesterday and Today

…a city thrives best by caring and providing for the well being of its citizens. – Albert Pope In 1894, Colonel Albert Pope, of Columbia Bicycle and Pope Manufacturing fame,…

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President Richard Nixon visits Hartford

The 42-Day Income Tax

…agreement on how best to address the financial crisis. On June 30, 1971, the last day before the start of the new fiscal year, legislators worked into the night to…

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Ingersoll Mickey Mouse Wrist Watch, 1933

Waterbury Clock Company Saved by Mickey Mouse – Who Knew?

…their best-selling item was the “Yankee” pocket watch produced for Robert H. Ingersoll & Bro. which sold for a dollar and appealed to the masses. Consequently, by 1915, Waterbury Clock…

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Black and white photograph of a ship at port

They Also Served: Chinese, Southeast Asians, and Hawaiians in the American Civil War

…The best indicator of ethnicity is often place of birth, but even this can be inaccurate or misleading as in the case of two men with Hispanic names who claimed…

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An Orderly & Decent Government: Significant Events & Developments, 1634-1776

…can have most Land and be under best advantages to get Money.” – Rev. William Russell 1730 The Revolution Approaches Liberty Pole demonstration With the Stamp Act of 1765, England…

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An Orderly & Decent Government: A Society in Ferment, 1819-1865

…ingenuity pioneered the concept of interchangeable parts and made Connecticut the “Silicon Valley” of the 19th century. Legislators struggled to discover how best to support and regulate this new economy….

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Advertisement for Phillips' Milk of Magnesia in the Washington DC Evening Star, 1945

Phillips’ Milk of Magnesia Originated in Stamford

…his new bestseller. Later, the company marketed other products—such as cod liver oil, wheat phosphates, and cocoa powder for soda fountains—but Milk of Magnesia outlasted these offerings to reign supreme….

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Detail from Puck magazine, "It costs money to fix things" - C P Huntington

Collis P. Huntington: The Boy from Poverty Hollow

…The little Gothic chapel, with lovely stained glass windows, reached completion in 1887. At its dedication, Huntington, then 66 years old, recalled how his mother, “one of the best women…

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William Gillette’s Last Performance – Today in History: February 27

…New York but died nearly a year later, never returning to a Connecticut stage. Gillette is probably best remembered for his 1,300 performances in the lead role of his own…

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Thomas Cole, View of Monte Video, Seat of Daniel Wadsworth Esq., 1878

Talcott Mountain: A View of Early New England

…a collector of fine art and known best for founding the Wadsworth Atheneum, the first public art museum in the US. Wadsworth purchased land on Talcott Mountain in 1805 and…

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Lover's Leap Bridge, New Milford

New Milford

…produced buttons, paint and varnish, hats, and furnishings, among other goods, but tobacco crops and warehouses made up its main industry. Today, the town is best known as the former…

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Lake Compounce entrance, Bristol

Lake Compounce: Bringing Amusements to the State’s Residents Since 1846

…built in 2000, uses the natural terrain in the Lake Compounce area to provide a thrill. In 2002, the Boulder Dash was voted the world’s best wooden roller coaster by…

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Alain and May White Memorial Boulder

Alain and May White Memorial Boulder

…youth to the countryside. Still, they are rightly best remembered today for their remarkable contribution of a 4,000-acre backyard for Litchfield, a refuge not only for animals but for hikers,…

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Boothe Memorial Park, Stratford

Stratford

…electrical parts, and hardware to plastics and paper products. It is best known, however, as the birthplace of the American helicopter industry built on the pioneering work of Igor Sikorsky….

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Bronze Hall of Fame medal of Josiah Willard Gibbs

Josiah Willard Gibbs’s Impact on Modern Science

…father was a linguist and theologian who is best remembered as the abolitionist who found an interpreter for the African captives on the Amistad–thus allowing them to testify during their…

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P.T. Barnum

P.T. (Phineas Taylor) Barnum (1810-1891) Best known as an entertainer and promoter, Connecticut native Phineas Taylor Barnum was also an author, philanthropist, businessman, and politician. He served in the Connecticut…

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The Origins and Enduring Legacy of New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre

…Elm City. The successful rise of the Long Wharf Theatre is perhaps best exemplified by its current annual patronage of over 100,000, and its transfer of more than 30 productions…

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Scandal in the Beecher Family

…the scandal for the sake of everyone’s reputations. The cover-up, however, was shaky at best, and Tilton continued to talk about his wife and the Reverend Beecher to friends who…

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Herbert Abrams Self Portrait

Herbert Abrams Immortalizes the Nation’s Leaders

…security checked the portrait for explosives and hidden microphones. Conger called Abrams the best contemporary portrait artist he ever saw and years later hired Abrams to do his own portrait….

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Horses crossing the finish line at Charter Oak Park

And They’re Off!: Harness Racing at Charter Oak Park

…Oak Park was especially designed for harness racing, though in the early 1900s it was also the site of bicycle and automobile races. It was one of the best-known tracks…

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Trumbull Gallery

Yale University Art Gallery – Today in History: October 25

best works to Yale in exchange for a lifetime annuity of $1,000 a year and the construction of a fire-proof building to be designed by Trumbull himself. The Neoclassical building…

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Map of the 1761 transit of Venus

Transit of Venus: German Scientists Visit Hartford

…expeditions to observe the transits from the best locations around the world. The four members of the German scientific expedition to Hartford: Dr. Gustav Mueller of the Astro-Physical Observatory at…

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The Connecticut History Sports Challenge

…Middletown in 1922, Guglielmo Papaleo started boxing in 1940 and became the World Featherweight Champion in 1942. He is considered one of the best boxers of the 20th century and…

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Edwin Land Inventor of the Polaroid Born – Today in History: May 7

On May 7, 1909, Edwin Herbert Land, founder of the Polaroid Corporation, was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. A scientist and inventor, Land is known best for his development of instant…

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Up from the Ashes: Fire at the Meriden Britannia Company – Today in History: July 16

…and at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876. The American Institute pronounced its goods to be “By far The Best made in this country, and we believe in the world.”…

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Connecticut’s Capitol Building – Inside and Out

…changes in name, first Upjohn and Company, and later, Richard Upjohn and Company. Some of their best-known projects include Trinity Church in New York City, the Connecticut State Capitol, the…

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The Adventure of a Lifetime: John Ledyard and Captain Cook’s Last Voyage

…began an exploration of Africa before dying of an intestinal ailment in Cairo at the age of 37. His tale of Captain Cook’s voyage was a best-seller in Connecticut and…

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American Actor Changes 19th-Century Theater – Who Knew?

…that stage actor and playwright, William Gillette, helped modernize theater by doing away with 19th-century melodrama devices and introducing realism into theater productions. Hartford-born William Gillette, known best for his…

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Thomas Hooker: Connecticut’s Founding Father

…church councils. His book, A Survey of the Summe of Church-Discipline, is considered one of the best expositions of Puritan church doctrine. Sadly, Hooker did not live to see it…

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There’s No Place Like Home for the Designer of Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers – Who Knew?

…that Connecticut-born Adrian, the American clothing designer known best for creating costumes showcased in hundreds of movies, also designed Dorothy’s ruby slippers for The Wizard of Oz. Born in Naugatuck…

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William Gillette

William Gillette (1853–1937) William Gillette was an American actor and playwright known best for his portrayal of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. A native of Hartford, Gillette gave over 1,300…

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When the NFL Played in Connecticut: The Hartford Blues

…who attended games had the opportunity to see some of the best football players in the world. Among the stars who played against the Blues in Hartford that year were…

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Soldier, Patriot, and Politician: The Life of Oliver Wolcott

Service Oliver Wolcott, a native of Litchfield, Connecticut, attended Yale College and graduated in 1747. Immediately upon graduating, he received a captain’s commission from New York Governor George Clinton. In…

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Uriah Tracy

Uriah Tracy Authors the Rules for Impeachment

Uriah Tracy was an attorney and politician who took up arms against the British after the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Following his military service, he served Connecticut locally as…

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Samuel A. Foote

Samuel Foot: A Trader Turned Governor

…Congressional Representative Foot returned to Cheshire in 1813 and took up farming, but it was not long before his political interests landed him a job in public service. In 1817,…

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Hard Times: Governor Wilbur Cross and the Great Depression in Connecticut

…Hartford found itself underwater, and electricity and telephone service remained out for days. Flood of 1936: Cleanup on Front Street, Hartford, during the Flood of 1936 – Connecticut Historical Society…

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Crisis Management during the American Civil War: The Hartford Soldiers’ Aid Society

…Connecticut has in suitable terms thanked the patriotic women for their services, in ministering to the welfare of its defenders; the soldiers, with hearts overflowing with gratitude; have thanked them;…

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Nathan Hale: The Man and the Legend

…obscure and unsuccessful spy into a symbol of selfless sacrifice in the service of his country. Cities such as New Haven, Hartford, and New York erected statues of Hale. Since…

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Jack Brutus, Connecticut War Dog – Who Knew?

…had health issues throughout his service with Company K. During a heat spell at Camp Alger near Falls Church, Virginia, Jack had trouble breathing and suffered in the heat. Thayer…

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America’s First Ordained Woman Minister: Olympia Brown and Bridgeport’s Universalist Church

…abolitionist and suffrage movements, to lecture at the church. The First American Woman Ordained a Minister Comes to the Park City Mrs. Olympia Brown, ca. 1919- Library of Congress, Prints…

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Caleb Brewster and the Culper Spy Ring

…and a farmer. He was also, for many years, an officer in the United States Revenue Cutter Service, forerunner of the Coast Guard. He died in 1827 at the age…

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Mayor's Council Russian Class

A Month-Long Look at Immigration

…to changing demographics challenged the state to rethink how Connecticut provided education, jobs, training, social services, transportation, housing, legal protection, equal rights, and a political voice to all of its…

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MT. Higby Reservoir

Middletown’s Reservoirs Drive Growth Throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries

…commissioners predicted a surge in population over the course of the next 40 years because of the stability of the local water infrastructure and the expansion of services such as…

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The Northern Student Movement

…the ones determining what their communities needed. Rather than continuing to provide services to a predominantly black constituency, black leaders asked whites to leave the NSM and SNCC and organize…

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Hannah Bunce Watson: One of America’s First Female Publishers

…of Hannah’s 16-month service to the Connecticut Courant and the American Revolution in her short obituary: “Died in this city, on Sunday last, Mrs. Hannah Hudson, wife of Mr. Barzillai…

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John Fitch's steamboat model

John Fitch Born – Today in History: January 21

…an endless chain. Modifications to this design eventually brought a steamboat into service running the Burlington-Philadelphia-Trenton route in 1790. Court battles between John Fitch and James Rumsey over the origination…

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A Revolutionary Book Designer: Bruce Rogers of New Fairfield

…for use in Anglican church services, the bible’s large size complemented the dimensions of the lecterns used in English churches. In addition, because it was meant to be read aloud,…

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Connecticut’s War Governor, William A. Buckingham

…investing his own capital to help fund the war. On several occasions he took out personal loans to pay soldiers for their service. During the war, the governor kept in…

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Illustration of Hebron by John Warner Barber

Changing Sentiments on Slavery in Colonial Hebron

…disperse the family. A conviction on the theft charges and the subsequent sentencing to two years of service under the watchful eye of Cesar’s good friend Elijah Graves helped to…

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Aldrich Free Public Library, Plainfield

Aldrich Free Public Library: Dedicated to the Dissemination of Knowledge

…meeting place for local Girl and Boy Scouts, as well as educational facilities for teaching public school classes. The Aldrich Free Library Association funded these services by soliciting subscriptions from…

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Early 19th-Century Immigration in Connecticut

…opening in the West created a demand for new sources of labor. Experienced Craftsmen Needed From the exhibit the “Irish Women in Domestic Service” – New Haven Museum In addition,…

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View of Camp Columbia, Morris

Hidden Nearby: Camp Columbia State Park in Morris

…to the National Army and desire to fit themselves for officers of noncommissioned officers in Government Service.” The packet stated that the program was conducted by the university, not the…

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Connecticut Courant building

The Hartford Courant: The Oldest US Newspaper in Continuous Publication

…for suppliers of goods and services but reflected the strong pro-slavery sentiments that existed in Connecticut by running ads meant to aid in the capture of fugitive slaves. Though slavery…

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Danbury Hangings: The Executions of Anthony and Amos

…to the Congregational church. Adams sat in a pew with “a halter around his neck” as Rev. William Andrews gave a sermon at the crowded church. After the service, a…

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Private Henry Cornwall

Private Henry Cornwall 1862

…following occupation of Atlanta, and Sherman’s March to the Sea. During its service, the regiment lost four officers and 76 enlisted men in the course of battle or from injuries…

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Launching of the Nautilus

Launching of the USS Nautilus 1954

…men on board had accomplished this seemingly impossible task. After almost 25 years of active service to the United States Navy, in the spring of 1979, the USS Nautilus set…

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Andrew Mamedoff

Connecticut Daredevil Andrew Mamedoff Joins Royal Air Force

…charter service in Miami, Florida, and then southern California, while also performing as a daredevil at local airshows. Seeking greater excitement, Mamedoff headed to Europe to fight for Finland in…

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The Hermitage, Peter's Rock

Peter’s Rock: North Haven History with a View

…formation with an extensive history of service to the surrounding area. During the years of colonial settlement, Peter’s Rock was described as a Native American lookout post and given the…

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Scoville Library, Salisbury

The Scoville Memorial Library

…environment, all free of charge. Prior to the 19th century, however, no such services existed in the United States. Around the year 1800 that would begin to change. In 1771,…

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One Powerful Family in Bozrah

…to all the homes and farms in the surrounding area. The operation of BL&P began strictly as a family affair with a focus on providing exemplary service to the local…

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Camp of the 13th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers

What’s in a Number? Connecticut’s Thirteenth Regiment Goes Off to War

…war’s end. So how lucky was the Thirteenth? When officially mustered out of service in May 1866 the regiment could truly count itself fortunate to have suffered only 197 deaths…

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Hometown Hero: Wallingford Remembers Stanley Budleski

…was shot down over Germany. He was initially listed as missing in action and his death was not confirmed until March 1944. He was the first serviceman from Yalesville to…

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A Shipping and Railroad Magnate Remembers His Connecticut Roots

…contracts. At the conclusion of the war, Morgan again focused on his business in the South. He began integrating the service of his shipping routes with those of the rail…

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D-Day – Today in History: June 6

…the crowd with constant bulletins and maps of the invasion’s multiple locations. A bulletin service to the city’s factories kept curious workers at their much-needed tasks to produce war materiel—from…

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Commemorating the USS Hartford at the Connecticut State Capitol

…Congressional Medal of Honor on the Hartford for their service that day. However, this time of glory and honor for the USS Hartford did not last. William Heysham Overend English,…

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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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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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First American Medicine Patent – Today in History: April 30

…the schooner Oliver Cromwell, which entered the privateer service in Norwich, Connecticut, during the Revolutionary War. As Yankee peddlers spread their wares beyond New England, “Dr. Lee’s Windham Bilious Pills”…

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Map of Plan of the city of New Haven - Connecticut Historical Society Museum & Library

New Haven’s Long Wharf

…about two centuries—before railroad service—the economic prosperity of New Haven significantly depended upon Long Wharf. Edward T. Howe, Ph.D., is Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at Siena College near Albany, N.Y….

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The Blizzard of 1978

Blizzard Halts Mail Delivery – Today in History: February 7

On February 7, 1978, the US Postal Service was unable to deliver mail to many Connecticut residents for the first time in almost 40 years. The culprit was a blizzard…

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Valley Forge, 1777

A Connecticut Slave in George Washington’s Army

…month from the US government as a pension for his military service. The money he saved eventually allowed him to purchase some land in the Daniels Farm area and start…

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Quinnipiac: The People of the Long Water Land

…the title of a university, a national polling service, several businesses, and a bridge that crosses a river of the same name in New Haven, Connecticut. Ezra Stiles’ Description of…

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Rosamond Danielson: Windham County Suffragist and Community Leader

…Connecticut as an air raid warden, the assistant chief observer of the Aircraft Warning Service, a registrar for the Red Cross Blood Bank, and a volunteer for hospital work. After…

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Pachaug Trail, Wiclcabouet Marsh, Voluntown

The Story of Connecticut’s Largest State Forest

…century, offering an increasingly diverse array of recreational opportunities to Connecticut residents, as well as abundant acres of pristine wilderness. In 1973, the National Park Service designated 855 acres of…

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An Eccentric Middletown Polymath and Fossil Collector: Dr. Joseph Barratt

…Indian Hill Cemetery in Middletown on the western slope of the titular hill. John Meszaros works as a visitor services specialist at the Connecticut Science Center and as a planetarium…

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Hope on the Wall: Connecticut’s New Deal Post Office Murals

…Photography by Todd Jones. Used with the permission of the United States Postal Service®. All rights reserved. The WPA, through its Federal Art Project, also made artwork in public buildings…

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Cosntance Baker Motley

Constance Baker Motley

…accomplishments, Motley worked to desegregate southern universities and public spaces, at times providing legal services to such notable activists as Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1964 she became the first…

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Brass City/Grass Roots: Remnants and Revivals

…organizations such as Brass City Harvest, Neighborhood Housing Services of Waterbury, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Connecticut’s Waterbury campus. Recent federal and state legislation and…

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Sam Colt

Sam Colt’s Funeral: The Day Hartford Stopped

…the master’s aged, favorite horse, and scanned the long line of sleighs and the thousands of bareheaded onlookers jamming Wethersfield Avenue. After the simple Episcopal service, the workers formed two…

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Image of an advertisement with a red train coming through a mountain and a boy in white clothing waving. There is a body of water next to the train with two boats. The tagline reads "Ives Toys Make Happy Boys." Catalog 1925

The Ives Manufacturing Company: Connecticut’s Foremost Toy Maker

…the 1920s. The financial problems involved a continuing failure of revenues to cover the costs of production, free service repairs, and problems with poorly designed toy boats. The Lionel Corporation,…

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Mayor's Council Armenian Group, Hartford, 1920

Building an Armenian Community in New Britain

…St. Stephen Armenian Church on Tremont Street—they conducted services at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, perhaps as early as 1900. Some Armenians continued to return to their homeland, but many others…

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The Sea in their Blood: The Portuguese in New London County

…from the Azores, joined the United States Revenue Cutter Service, a predecessor of the modern Coast Guard. Manuel E. Joseph of Stonington served as assistant keeper of the Latimer Reef…

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Portrait painting of a man from the chest up wearing a red shirt, light colored coat, a hat, and glasses

George Laurence Nelson: Artist of Kent’s Seven Hearths

…shores of Galveston. His father, Carl Hirschberg, then received correspondence from The National Weather Service, the US Secretary of the Navy, Joseph Daniels, and US Senator James Wadsworth expressing sympathy…

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Black and white profile portrait of a woman looking to the side.

Alice Hamilton: The Nation’s Leading Expert on Industrial Diseases

…and advocated for throughout the remainder of her career. Becoming the Leader on Industrial Disease Alice Hamilton postage stamp – United States Postal Service, National Postal Museum Collection Hamilton’s work…

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Detail of a fire insurance map with outlined and labeled structures

Connecticut’s First Roman Catholic Church

…Without a physical church, Roman Catholics in Connecticut celebrated Mass and conducted services in homes and other informal locations. With the increase in Roman Catholic immigrants to Connecticut in the…

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Man sitting on a bench in front of a storefront

Jewish Farming Communities in Connecticut in the 19th and 20th Centuries

…Old man entering Jewish synagogue for afternoon services in Colchester by Jack Delano, 1940 – Library of Congress, Prints Colchester became home to one of Connecticut’s largest Jewish communities. Colchester’s…

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A white sign in the foreground with a yellow house in the background

Miss Porter’s School in Farmington

…visitors). Sundays mainly involved church services and Porter’s Bible class. The school also encouraged participation in exercises (e.g., skating and rowing) and sports (e.g., tennis and baseball). The various classes…

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Connecticut Turnpike Opens – Today in History: January 2

…395 from East Lyme to Plainfield. Tolls and concession income from the 14 service areas that lined the route covered the construction costs for the Connecticut Turnpike. It opened with…

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Aerial view of Connecticut State Prison

Wethersfield Prison Blues

…offered religious services and Sunday school classes. Cell block for women prisoners, Connecticut State Prison, ca. 1910-1920 – Connecticut Historical Society Both male and female prisoners were housed in separate…

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General Mansfield's uniform epaulets

One of the Honored Dead: General J. K. F. Mansfield

…his distinguished service during this action. Four months later, in September, he was seriously wounded in the Battle of Monterrey, and promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel. He recovered in time…

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Portrait of a man dressed in 18th century clothing. He is wearing a black suit with a white neckcloth

Samuel Huntington, the first President of the United States, dies – Today in History: January 5

…was a cooper’s apprentice before reading law and pursuing a career in public service. In 1768, he received an appointment as King’s Attorney for the Colony of Connecticut though he…

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Pulling Down the Statue of King George II, New York City

Mariann Wolcott and Ralph Earl – Opposites Come Together and Make History

…with England, assessing his career as a portraitist to be more secure siding with affluent Loyalists. Disinherited by his father, a captain in the “rebel service,” Earl staged his own…

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Hartford County Jail, 1915

The Deplorable History of Hartford’s Seyms Street Jail

…Chair Company. Deplorable Living Conditions Despite its years of service to the county, many alleged the Seyms Street Jail actually did more harm to the inmate population than good. The…

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Detail of an advertisement for Connecticut Pies, 1913

The Pie Man from Georgetown and the Connecticut ~ Copperthite Pie Company

…hotels, and shopping that attracted summer guests from near and far. Copperthite also gave generously to animal rights charities and protective services for children. Copperthite died suddenly at his daughter’s…

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Adam Farm in North (or East) Canaan, Connecticut

The Land of Nod Farm, East Canaan, Connecticut

…Canaan and Norfolk. Service to the Community Remains of the Forbes furnace, operated by Samuel Forbes, built in 1832 and abandoned in 1885, East Canaan, Connecticut – Connecticut Historical Society…

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Painting of a man sitting in a chair. There is a drapery behind him. He is wearing a reddish brown suit from the 18th century

Roger Sherman Dies – Today in History: July 23

…vocations, including surveyor, storekeeper, and author of a series of almanacs before becoming a lawyer and public official. Sherman’s public service in Connecticut included holding the offices of clerk, selectman,…

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Postcard of Charles Island, Milford, CT

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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Advertisement for Isaac Doolittle's bell foundry

Early Church Bell Founders

…during this period: to summon the worshippers to weekly church services; announce births, weddings, deaths, or executions; indicate the time of day and curfew; sound alarms for fires, floods, and…

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Computer generation of a hurricane over the northeast United States

Hurricane Gloria: “Storm of the Century”

…Hurricane Gloria, September 15 through September 28, 1985 – National Weather Service, NOAA Although inland areas suffered immensely, Connecticut’s coastline communities found themselves the hardest hit. From Milford to Stonington,…

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Blue button with a tan colored moose profile with the word "progressive" over the moose

The Bull Moose Party in Connecticut

…formed Progressive Party. The Progressive Party supported organized labor against big business, was in favor of women’s suffrage, and even proposed a national health service. Most of the party’s followers…

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Hiram Percy Maxim

A Diversified Mind: Hiram Percy Maxim

…in particular, the advantages of reliable air mail service, Maxim positioned Hartford at the forefront of this new trend. He served for many years as chairman of Hartford’s Aviation Commission…

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An Orderly & Decent Government: Significant Events & Developments, 1965-Now

…Deep cuts in defense spending after the end of the Cold War sent Connecticut’s economy into recession and challenged the General Assembly on several fronts. Demands for increased social services…

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Monumental Bronze Company

…It identifies–significantly–the deceased as “colored” on the front side; a rare recognition of the service provided by African American Civil War soldiers. The reverse side shows a raised figure of…

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Trolley interior, Branford Electric Railway - Trolley Museum

Branford Gets On the Trolley

…of damaging natural disasters proved prohibitive to cost-effective operation. The combination of all these factors led the Connecticut Company (owners of the Branford line) to discontinue service in 1947. The…

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Wallace Nutting, The Shadow of the Blossoms

Past Perfect: Wallace Nutting Invents an Ideal Olde New England

…life of service to the Congregational church in cities such as Minneapolis, Seattle, and Providence, but he soon developed neurasthenia (a now-obsolete term that described a range of mental and…

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Copy of Map of Windsor, shewing the parishes, the roads, and houses by Seth Pease

Seth Pease Surveys New Lands

…entered public service and invested successfully in industry and in land in New York State and Ohio. How Seth Pease learned the astronomy, mathematics, and surveying that he employed in…

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Billings & Spencer Company

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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Fairground

A Fair to Remember in Brooklyn

…in use today. In recent years, the Windham County Agricultural Society has successfully expanded the variety of services it offers to the community, as well as the entertainment available to…

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The Influence of Woman, Harper's Weekly, 1862

Bridgeport Women Answer the Call – Today in History: April 15

…$10,000 toward the city’s Civil War monument. Dedicated in 1876, Bridgeport’s Soldiers Monument stands in Seaside Park, a testimony to the service of the city’s men and the devotion of…

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The First Yale Unit: How U.S. Navy Aviation Began

…at Yale University. After spending the previous summer in Paris with the American Ambulance Field Service and meeting pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille, Trubee was determined to become a pilot…

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Mary and Eliza Freeman Houses, Bridgeport, photograph ca. 1998

Mary and Eliza Freeman Houses

…Gregory Streets.” During their lifetimes the Freeman sisters overcame significant obstacles as women and as African Americans in 19th-century society. © National Register of Historic Places and National Park Service….

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View in Batterson, Canfield & Co.'s Monumental Works

James G. Batterson, Stone Contractor

…as the “War Committee.” Speaking at a public memorial service held several years after Batterson’s death, William F. Henney announced, “During the war of the Rebellion [Batterson] was of invaluable…

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Vietnam War Moratorium peace demonstration, Bushnell Park, Hartford

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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First Company Governor’s Horse Guards escorting President Taft

Oldest Cavalry Unit – Who Knew?

…served in Meriden where they were mustered into duty as the First Connecticut Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. They have also been called to federal service three times. First, in 1916, when…

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Little Sorrel

Little Sorrel, Connecticut’s Confederate War Horse

…Jackson’s trusted companion, the steed carried him into some of the most well-known battles in US history. Little Sorrel’s wartime service earned him a place of honor at the Virginia…

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University of Connecticut, Commencement

UConn and the Evolution of a Public University

…deal with critical questions of racial and gender rights. His was not an easy time for college presidents, although thousands joined a petition asking him to remain in service when…

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Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch, Hartford

The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, Hartford

…in service.” Hartford’s own George Keller, one of the city’s leading architects of the 1800s, designed the Gothic and Romanesque revival monument. Following Keller’s death in 1935, his ashes were…

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Hiram Bingham

Hiram Bingham III: Machu Picchu Explorer and Politician

…trip ended in 1915, along with his service to Yale. Bingham spent the remainder of his life working primarily in politics. He became lieutenant governor of Connecticut in 1922 and…

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Photograph of Hilda Crosby Standish

Hilda Crosby Standish, Early Proponent of Women’s Reproductive Health

…who heard about its services by word of mouth and who could not afford private medical care. Open for five years, the clinic closed its doors in 1940 following the…

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Automobiles waiting to cross

East Haddam Swing Bridge – Today in History: June 14

…by the American Bridge Company. The bridge’s construction allowed the state to retire ferry service, which had begun in 1694, now that it had more modern means for travelers to…

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USS George Washington (SSBN 589)

USS George Washington Launched – Today in History: June 9

…but during her construction she was lengthened by the insertion of a 130-foot missile section and finished as a fleet ballistic-missile submarine. The George Washington was commissioned into service in…

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Diagram of SS Savannah

Steaming Across the Atlantic

New London‘s advantageous location on Long Island Sound made it a center for innovation in the transportation of goods and services by sea. As ocean transportation’s age of sail evolved…

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New-Gate Prison courtyard

Notorious New-Gate Prison

…of the site in 1968. In 1973 the National Park Service designated New-Gate Prison a National Historic Landmark. Now called Old New-Gate Prison and Copper Mines, the property is administered…

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Video – Hidden History: Connecticut Historical Society

…is produced by and used with the permission of CTnow.com. Presentation of external content from for-profit organizations on ConnecticutHistory.org is provided as a public service and does not constitute endorsement….

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Pierre Eugene Du Simetière, Silas Deane. Member of Congress

The Rise and Fall of Silas Deane, American Patriot

…American service. Some of those commissioned, such as the Marquis de Lafayette, the Baron de Kalb, and Baron von Steuben, became prominent heroes of the American Revolution. Others, notably General…

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The Stonington Battle Flag

The Stonington Battle Flag

…is now on display at the National Museum of American History), originally measured an exceptionally large 30 feet by 42 feet. According to the National Park Service Web site for…

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Video – Hidden History: Keney Tower

…is produced by and used with the permission of CTnow.com. Presentation of external content from for-profit organizations on ConnecticutHistory.org is provided as a public service and does not constitute endorsement….

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Video – Haunted History: Harriet Beecher Stowe House

…is produced by and used with the permission of CTnow.com. Presentation of external content from for-profit organizations on ConnecticutHistory.org is provided as a public service and does not constitute endorsement….

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The village of the Pequot Indians

Pequot War

…war or sold into slavery. Today, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in southeastern Connecticut is proof of a people’s endurance and a collaborative project funded by the National Park Service

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Airmen returning home, Bradley Field, Windsor Locks

Bradley Airport’s Military Origins

…developing photographs, making maps, and working as meteorological technicians. The demand for their services became so great that the Army began encouraging women to volunteer by promising them assignments close…

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Election day, Main Street, Hartford

When Elections in Hartford Were a Piece of Cake

…Connecticut recipes for it date back to 1771. Back then, colonists might consume Election Cake during daylong town meetings or as a reward for their service after a long day…

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Tariffville Train Wreck

The Tariffville Disaster – Today in History: January 15

…and that its iron suspension rods had deteriorated. The jury’s final verdict ended up being split. The engines were eventually raised, repaired, and returned to service, and the bridge was…

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The Farmington Canal near Mount Carmel in Hamden

New England’s Grand Ambition: The Farmington Canal

…& Northampton Canal recorded a profit only once. Beginning in 1845, the company phased out canal service along the Connecticut portion of the route, and then amended its charter to…

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Video – Hidden History: Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch

…is produced by and used with the permission of CTnow.com. Presentation of external content from for-profit organizations on ConnecticutHistory.org is provided as a public service and does not constitute endorsement….

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Chester - Hadlyme Ferry

Chester

…incorporated in 1836. Back in 1769, Jonathan Warner was granted permission to operate a ferry across the Connecticut River that became the Chester-Hadlyme Ferry, the second-oldest continuously operating ferry service

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Southern New England Telephone Company Operator School

Connecticut’s First Female Telephone Operator – Today in History: March 24

…and were rude. To meet customers’ demand for patient, polite, and efficient service—qualities which the company decided were more likely to be found in women—female workers were recruited and trained…

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Hindenburg over The Travelers Tower

Video – The Hindenburg Flies Over Hartford

…destroyed by fire on May 6, 1937. At the time of its destruction, the Hindenburg was in its second season of service and was at the end of its first…

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Jacob Schick Invents the Electric Razor – Today in History: May 13

…military duty during World War I. Later, inspired by weaponry he saw in the service, Schick went to work to develop the Magazine Repeating Razor, and in 1925 he started…

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Civil War Sanitary Commission

Sanitary Fair – Today in History: July 25

…to soldiers’ homes, transport the sick, supply food, and to provide services to discharged soldiers. The Stamford Ladies Soldiers’ Aid Society held their fair to raise money for medical supplies…

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Connecticut’s “Woodstock” Canceled – Today in History: July 30

…in protest even though the state police had set up barricades on roads leading to Powder Ridge up to two miles away and utilities and other services had been cut….

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Portland Passenger Bridge, ca. 1906

The Longest Highway Drawbridge – Who Knew?

…cow, ox, or mule: 3 cents. Sheep, swine, or goats: one cent each. The ferry boat Brown-Stone, which provided service for fifty years, made its last crossing across the Connecticut…

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Jonathan Trumbull, Sr.

Governor Jonathan Trumbull Dies – Today in History: August 17

…Revolution and then serving as the state’s first governor after. Trumbull saw Connecticut through one of its most challenging times; his service, and that of his heirs, to the state…

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Beacon Falls

…towns of Bethany, Oxford, Naugatuck, and Seymour and incorporated in June of 1871. The town’s early economy centered on farming, friction matches, and rubber shoes and is service based today….

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West Cornwall Covered Bridge, Cornwall

Cornwall

…of the Covered Bridge,” in reference to the 1864 West Cornwall Covered Bridge that is still in service today. One of Connecticut’s smallest towns, Cornwall has remained a rural community….

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Columbia Mark XLVIII

Transportation

…moving people and goods that remains in use today is the Glastonbury-Rocky Hill ferry; opened in 1655, it is the oldest continuously running service of its kind in the US….

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Meriden Silver Plate Company, nut dish

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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Putnam Memorial State Park, Redding

Redding

…in 1844 by the United States Postal Service. During the Revolutionary War, Redding served as the winter encampment for the Continental army. General Israel Putnam, along with three Continental brigades,…

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Map showing a newly laid road in relationship to the Talcott Mountain Turnpike

Early Turnpikes Provided Solution to Lack of Reliable Roads

…These privately constructed highways provided for the surge of overland travel, including regular stagecoach service, and made possible the growth of trade and commerce within Connecticut and beyond. At a…

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Igor Sikorsky in the VS-300

Igor Sikorsky Dies – Today in History: October 26

…himself, and his company captured many world aviation records including the first flight over the Andes Mountains, the first trans-oceanic air service, the longest-range commercial aircraft, and numerous altitude records….

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Shaker advertisement to board horses, 1884

Enfield’s Shaker Legacy

…Enfield visits. During Mother Ann’s first Enfield visit, in 1781, the Shakers were holding services at David Meacham’s house when a mob of townspeople broke in and threatened to tar…

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Inventor Charles F. Ritchel

Charles Ritchel and the Dirigible

…summer the fleet was put into active service guarding the country’s Atlantic coastline. The Connecticut Aircraft Company also built about 100 observation and supply balloons for the United States Army…

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Old New-Gate Prison

East Granby

…as now, its ruins drew tourists to the dairy and tobacco farming community. Though service, mining, manufacturing, and construction businesses now dominate town economy, its agricultural roots are still evident….

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Ralph Earl, Oliver Wolcott

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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Pier at Savin Rock, West Haven, 1905

Savin Rock Park: “Connecticut’s Coney Island”

…Island Sound that was capable of accommodating ferry service regardless of the height of the tides. With his transportation infrastructure in place, Kelsey began developing attractions to bring visitors to…

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Video – Hidden History: Old Hartford State House

…is produced by and used with the permission of CTnow.com. Presentation of external content from for-profit organizations on ConnecticutHistory.org is provided as a public service and does not constitute endorsement….

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The Chinese Educational Mission Building in Hartford, 1887

Yung Wing’s Dream: The Chinese Educational Mission, 1872-1881

…program was in operation. When they returned home, these young men entered the diplomatic service, worked as engineers on infrastructure such as railroads, and served as naval officers, physicians, educators,…

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Warren Congregational Church

Warren Congregational Church, a Longstanding Community Center

…that followed. Today, the Warren Congregational Church continues to serve communities both in Connecticut and around the world. In addition to providing religious services for local residents, the church remains…

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The White Mountain Express, traveling 50 miles per hour went off the track in Greenwich

The White Mountain Express Derails in Greenwich

…its needs and respond. From this has evolved today’s first responders—police, fire, and emergency medical service (GEMS). July 16, 1908 The gong of the ambulances on Greenwich Avenue broadcast one…

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Contagious Ward, Greenwich General Hospital, 1916

Health Department Fights Unseen Enemies During World War I

…Greenwich Board of Health United States Public health service flyer, 1918 – Library of Congress, American Memory Dr. Alvin W. Klein, head of the Greenwich Board of Health, realized that…

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Lyman Hall memorial, Center Street Cemetery

Wallingford Native Son Signed the Declaration of Independence

…followed by one year terms as a member of the state assembly and as a judge, and, finally, retirement from public service. Lyman Hall died in Burke County, Georgia, on…

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Digging out from the Blizzard '88

Blizzard of ’88 Shuts Greenwich Off from Outside World

…its needs and respond. From this has evolved today’s first responders—police, fire, and emergency medical service (GEMS). March 11, 1888 Engine No. 48, 3 p.m., March 15, 1888, Greenwich –…

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State Representative William A. O'Neill and State Senator David M. Barry

William O’Neill: Climbing Up the Political Ladder

…Middletown. His legacy is fostered by Central Connecticut State University, where an endowed chair in Public Policy and Practical Politics and a public service scholarship are named in his honor….

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Dr. Daniel Sheldon of Litchfield, painted by Dickinson in 1831

Anson Dickinson: Milton’s Painter of Portrait Miniatures

…Clients from Litchfield to Quebec In 1802, the following advertisement appeared in the Connecticut Journal: Anson Dickinson has taken a room directly opposite the Episcopal Church, he offers his services…

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James Lukens McConaughy sworn in as Governor by Chief Justice William M. Maltbie

Did You Know a Connecticut Governor Was a US Spy?

…of Connecticut (1939-1941), President of the United China Relief (1942-1946), and a prominent role in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II (1943-1945). The OSS was the…

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Illustration of Lorenzo Carter's first cabin

Putting Cleveland on the Map: Lorenzo Carter on the Ohio Frontier

…riverside, establishing a ferry service and a small trade operation with local Natives. In 1801, Carter received a license to keep a tavern, and the following year, purchased 23 ½…

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Deep River Drum Corps

The World’s Record for the Largest Muster – Who Knew?

…militia service. The first time Deep River referred to this type of gathering as a “muster” occurred on September 5, 1953. Fifteen corps, from the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and…

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Levi B. Frost House, Southington

The Frost House Once Offered Travelers a Warm Welcome

…in 1865, but the home stayed in his family into the 1920s. It remained a private residence afterward, and in 1987, came under the protection of the National Park Service….

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Faulkner’s Island

Improving Sea Transportation: Guilford Goes About it the Light Way

…a part of the US Fish and Wildlife Service—with the US Coast Guard maintaining the lighthouse, dock, and other navigational equipment. Today, the island remains under the jurisdiction of the…

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Portrait detail of Frederick Douglass

“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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Kaman Aircraft, 1949

Helicopters, Guitars, and Guide Dogs: The Revolutionary Mind of Charles Kaman

…Inventors Hall of Fame, Kaman received numerous awards during his lifetime, including the United States Department of Defense Public Service Medal and the National Medal of Technology. His achievements extend…

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Merritt Hat Factory, Danbury

Ending the Danbury Shakes: A Story of Workers’ Rights and Corporate Responsibility

…Ives The United States Public Health Service negotiated an agreement among hatters’ unions and the manufacturers in 26 states in which hat factories were located, ending the use of mercury…

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Firemen work to douse the last flames of a fire that swept through Gulliver's Restaurant

Deadly Fire at Gulliver’s – Today in History: June 30

…of the American Red Cross sent an emergency unit with a fully trained Red Cross first aid disaster team as well as a canteen service to provide food and coffee….

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Workers on the Charter farm on Crystal Lake Road, Ellington

William Pinney Does It All for Ellington

William N. Pinney’s life was one of public service. A lifelong resident of Ellington, William served his town and his state up until his death at the age of 90….

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Policeman, ca. 1905

Enforcing Law and Order in Greenwich

By Karen Frederick and Anne Young During the 18th and 19th centuries, Greenwich citizens relied on the services of state marshals and constables as well as county sheriffs. These law…

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A Plan of the Town of New Haven with All the Buildings in 1748

Why Was New Haven Divided into Nine Squares?

…a gathering place where citizens came together to worship, to protect and educate community members, report for military service, conduct business, make laws, mete out punishment, and to bury the…

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Ella Grasso at the Danbury Fair, ca. 1975-80

America’s First Woman Governor: Ella Grasso, 1919-1981

…public service and, soon after completing her education, became involved in the Democratic Party in Connecticut. She was first elected to the state General Assembly in 1952. In nine subsequent…

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Map of the Town of New Britain, Hartford County, Conn. From original surveys by E.M. Woodford

“A Noble and Precious Life”: Edgar M. Woodford, Civil Engineer, Abolitionist, and Soldier

…at Hilton Head. More than 50 years after his death, at a memorial service in 1913, a family member recalled his “noble and precious life,” remembering him as “a man…

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Video – Hidden History: Bushnell Park

…is produced by and used with the permission of CTnow.com. Presentation of external content from for-profit organizations on ConnecticutHistory.org is provided as a public service and does not constitute endorsement….

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A Muster Ceremony, New Haven Green

The First Battle of Bull Run: Connecticut Troops Stand Firm When the Battle Turns Against Them

…when their 90 days of service were up. It was the first of many feats of bravery Connecticut men would act out over the next four years of bloodshed. John…

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Video – Hidden History: Hartford’s Ancient Burial Ground

…is produced by and used with the permission of CTnow.com. Presentation of external content from for-profit organizations on ConnecticutHistory.org is provided as a public service and does not constitute endorsement….

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Wagonload of Christmas trees, Hartford

O Christmas Tree!

…from an array of activities, including church services, dinners, theatrical performances, dance parties, and even a polo match pitting Hartford’s team against that of Springfield, Massachusetts. And, in the day’s…

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A US Army Air Force Waco CG-4A-WO glider

Daring World War II Escape of a Bethany Soldier

…Pearl Harbor, Fowler enlisted in the army. He spent a year in the field artillery before transferring to the air corps where he volunteered for glider service. His glider training…

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Detail of Bethany area from Map of Connecticut, from actual survey by Moses Warren, 1811

Bethany: Small-town Perseverance in the Face of Growing Industrialization

…the area surrounding Bethany. The Canal Railroad in 1848 and the Naugatuck Valley Railroad in 1849 brought railroad service close to Bethany but not close enough to make the town…

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Detail of the Bethany Airport Hanger from the Aerial survey of Connecticut 1934

A Busy Airfield in Bethany

…its first few years, the airfield in Bethany served the interests of small-time aviation enthusiasts. Its central location, however, soon made it a convenient stop for planes providing airmail service

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Flood damage to railroad tracks, Derby, 1955

Hurricanes Connie & Diane Deliver Double Hit – Who Knew?

Service, 77 Connecticut lives were lost and property damage exceeded $350 million. Contributed by Emma Demar, a Connecticut Explored intern and Trinity College student in 2011, and Elizabeth Normen, the…

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Detail of North Stonington from Town and city atlas of the State of Connecticut

North Stonington: Shunock River and Local Ambitions Powered a 19th-century Mill Town

…York’s Grand Central Terminal and turning North Stonington into a major transportation hub. Unfortunately for the local industries, railroad service never made it to North Stonington. Instead, railway lines stayed…

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The southeast block of West Street, Litchfield as it looked in the Civil War era, 1867

The Peace Movement in Litchfield

…and trying to creep back into decent society- What has become of your peace men that used to congregate in your village and hold forth evenings[?] Townspeople responded by forming…

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World War II scrap metal drive, Hartford, ca. 1941-1944

Women and Defense: World War II on the Connecticut Home Front

…civilian front in this country. Each home must be a fighting squad; each block or neighborhood a fighting battalion.” Columbia Anne Boticello of Glastonbury, her cousins, and a serviceman. Photo…

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Jens Risom and a selection of his furniture

The Answer Is Risom!

…a consulting service, Design Control, in New Canaan, where he lives today. At 93, he remains an active and sought-after designer. In recent years he has modified some of his…

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Helen Keller in front of her home at Arcan Ridge, Easton

Helen Keller in Connecticut: The Last Years of a Legendary Crusader

…Arcan Ridge on June 1, 1968. Funeral services were held at the National Cathedral in Washington DC, and her ashes were disbursed next to those of her teacher Anne Sullivan…

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Detail of Julian Alden Weir from a portrait of Weir in his studio, ca. 1910

Julian Alden Weir

…held by top museums around the world, and Weir Farm, which sits on land in Ridgefield and Wilton, is the only National Park Service historic site dedicated to American painting….

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Stubby

A True Dog of War: Sergeant Stubby

…with Allied flags, a military wound stripe, chevrons denoting his military service, and a variety of medals. By the end of World War I, Stubby was a veteran of 17…

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St. Anthony Comstock, the Village nuisance

Connecticut and the Comstock Law

…United States Postal Service, or to obtain them from overseas. Legislators passed the law hoping to mitigate the influence of obscene materials on the morality of the general population as…

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Hervey Brooks's pottery wheel

Hervey Brooks’s 19th-Century Pottery Barn

…and platters that he then sold or exchanged with neighbors for goods and services. Redware Pudding Pot, Hervey Brooks, Goshen The life of a farmer-potter meant that Brooks did not…

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Late 19th century Christmas postcards

Sending Season’s Greetings: Christmas Cards in Connecticut

…postal charges made the sending of cards for specific holidays easier. Instead of requiring payment by the recipient and charging by the number of pages included, the postal service now…

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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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Detail of the Town Hall, Public Library, and Fire Department and the Bristol Manufacturing Company

The Plainville Town Hall Catches Fire

…among others, the local probate judge and the town clerk, the building played an indispensible role in providing residents with municipal services—that is, until December 4, 1917. On that day,…

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US Post Office, 1946, Bethlehem

Connecticut’s Christmas Town

…Italy. After his retirement, the Christmas postal tradition continued, with the United States Postal Service taking responsibility for providing the town’s Christmas cachets—many of them designed by local artists. It…

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Richard Brooks, Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell Launched – Today in History: June 13

…of the ships of the Connecticut Navy were captured or destroyed by 1779. The Oliver Cromwell, in its service to the Navy, captured nine British ships, the first being the…

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