Anna Louise James Makes History with Medicine

…until 1911, when she went to work for her brother-in-law at his pharmacy, making her the first female African American pharmacist in the state. Anna Takes Over The pharmacy where…

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

…and changed the name to James Pharmacy. With Anna living upstairs, the pharmacy was open every day except half-days on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. Everyone called her Miss James,…

Leroy Anderson Composed Iconic Music in Woodbury

Leroy Anderson, a long-time resident of Woodbury, was one of the most popular composers of light concert music in the 20th century. Though he served in the military, taught music…

Ann Petry: Old Saybrook’s Bestselling African American Author

…life in Old Saybrook, Petry explored the intricacies of Black life during the mid-20th century with her writing. Growing Up in Old Saybrook James Pharmacy, Old Saybrook – National Register…

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

…would sell the home above market value to black home buyers. Blockbusting allowed agents to maximize profit by buying low and selling high. They targeted the small supply of homes…

Built on Innovation, Saved by Nostalgia: Hitchcock Chair Company

…the company. In 2005 he put Hitchcock up for sale, saying the company’s custom-made furniture couldn’t compete with cheaper, mass-produced products crafted overseas. No buyers stepped forward. Coleman closed Hitchcock…

The Kewpies Buy A House in Westport

…least smile more than it does.” -Rose O’Neill   Kim Sheridan is a researcher and digital curator who holds a Master’s Degree in Library Science from Southern Connecticut State University….

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…

Privacy Policy

This privacy policy covers the Connecticut Humanities website located at www.ConnecticutHistory.org. Connecticut Humanities respects and protects the privacy of our website visitors and does not collect personally identifiable information about…

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

…they are directed to cause suitable cases to be erected in the Capitol, and the flags placed therein.” With the resolution approved on March 11, 1879, officials placed a total…

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,…

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…

Exploring Early Connecticut Mapmaking

…lottery tickets, which at the time was occasionally done to support public infrastructure projects. A more common approach was a subscription scheme under which customers committed to buy the work…

“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…

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…

The Connecticut Town Green

…B. G. Northrop on the subject of village improvement, March 26, 1878, Glastonbury – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online In the decade after the Revolutionary War, population growth…

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…

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…

The Most Famous American in the World

…shillings and “cheap popular editions” for as little as several pennies. “The discovery was soon made that any one was at liberty to reprint the book, and the initiative was…

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…

Video: No Booze for You – Who Knew?

…that the era of Prohibition began January 17, 1919. Though Connecticut residents could legally get alcohol in a pharmacy for medicinal purposes with a doctor’s prescription, many found it easy…

The Newsies Strike Back

…was raining, but that did not stop one hundred boys from marching behind a drum and bugle corps with a huge banner urging customers to buy only local newspapers. The…

Education/Instrucción Combats Housing Discrimination

…they wished to buy a house. This method provided a way of measuring the accuracy of information and quality of customer service given to potential buyers of different backgrounds. For…

First General Copyright Law – Today in History: January 29

…cheaply in London, and law books were almost the only printed books in the colonies before 1740. But by the revolutionary era, authors became worried about protecting their rights. It…

First General Copyright Law – Today in History: January 29

…cheaply in London, and law books were almost the only printed books in the colonies before 1740. But by the revolutionary era, authors became worried about protecting their rights. It…

Windsor Tobacco: Made in the Shade

…Online The World War II years brought further labor shortages, as did the passing of Connecticut’s 1947 Child Labor Bill, which set age and hourly restrictions on agricultural labor. Tobacco…

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…

The Decorative Arts of Connecticut

…of a woman’s life presented in an 18th-century room interior. Clock works by Daniel Burnap – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online Clocks: From Craft to Mass Manufacturing Connecticut’s…

Connecticut Pin Makers

…easy access to the brass industry, marketing distribution channels, competent management, a readily employable labor supply, and sustained demand from buyers. It was not until after competitive pressures gained momentum…

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…

Connecticut’s First Municipal Electric Utility

…the appropriated amount and, if constructed, not capable of being operated at its estimated outlays. Nevertheless, city residents approved a bond issue of $22,500 for construction of the municipal electric…

The Ulysses S. Grant Memorial Tablet

…bronze tablet that would be placed in the state capitol, and the committee also showed a full-sized drawing of the tablet’s design to the Encampment. The Encampment approved this suggestion…

The 42-Day Income Tax

…negotiate a deal. Early the following morning, the Senate passed a bill proposing a state income tax. Hours later, the House approved the bill, scheduling the new tax to take…

Mohegan Federal Recognition

…March 7, 1994, Mohegan Federal Recognition was approved in a “Final Determination” by the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, Ada Elizabeth Deer of the Menominee Nation. Acknowledgement…

How the Wobblies Won Free Speech

…in the streets—the First Amendment was an illusion for many Connecticut citizens. In 1791, a sufficient number of states approved the Bill of Rights, which guaranteed that Congress could not…

Looking Back: How the Vote Was Won

…shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” It was not until after 36 states approved the amendment and it…

Connecticut’s First Mutual Savings Bank Opens in Hartford

By Edward T. Howe On June 1, 1819, Governor Oliver Wolcott Jr. approved a legislative charter for the Society for Savings in Hartford—the first mutual savings bank in the state….

Discovered Dinosaur Tracks Re-Route Highway and Lead to State Park

…this discovery, state officials approved the ancient lake bed be designated as a Connecticut state park. The Connecticut Valley formed four billion years ago during a collision between land masses…

Video: The Story of the Salisbury Iron District

YouTube – The story of the Salisbury Iron District. Sharon Historical Society https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgPocrRQAak Traces of Connecticut’s iron age can still be found in the state’s northwest corner where its production…

Charles Goodyear

Charles Goodyear (1800-1860) Born in New Haven, Charles Goodyear attended school in Naugatuck and, in 1826, started the first retail domestic hardware store in the US with his father, inventor…

The Incident of the Stonington Schooner ‘Breakwater’: A View from Indian Country

…www.indianmarinersproject.com. For more on Moses Brushell, visit the Native Northeast Portal, here. Jason R. Mancini, PhD, is executive director of Connecticut Humanities, a former executive director of the Mashantucket Pequot…

Connecticut’s Early Commercial Banks

…municipality. In 1784 the General Assembly approved all five petitions from the ports to become cities. Local leaders now had the power to enact laws reflective of the needs of…

A Hip Road Trip

…Wethersfield zoning board approved the change, arguing that the fact that this was a throughway for traffic handling 28,000 cars a day clearly gave it much more commercial value than…

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….

Instruction by Mail: The Famous Artists School

…students (when FAS only had 150). With instructors no longer working on site, FAS moved its operations to Wilton, but distance learning and art instruction became readily available online, and…

A New Source of Farm Labor Crops Up in Wartime

…ca. 1917 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online The Women’s Land Army and WWI During the First World War, Americans believed that, in addition to weapons and raw…

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…

Stagecoach Sustained Commerce and Communication in 1800s

…Hartford, ca. 1875 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online The journey to New York took up a week. The carriages were old and shackling and much of the…

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,…

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…

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…

Metal Homes for the Atomic Age

…asphalt tile floors, a concrete foundation, and aluminum windows. The company offered four models: the Westchester, the Westchester Deluxe, the Newport, and the Meadowbrook. All models were available in two-…

The Land of Nod Farm, East Canaan, Connecticut

…to the farm to buy rye for her family. As the workers placed her one allotted bag onto her cart, she asked if she could buy two, as the trip…

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Willimantic’s American Thread Plant–A Multinational Corporate Takeover

…Thread Company under the laws of New Jersey, authorizing that new firm to buy and consolidate 14 yarn and thread manufacturers in the United States, including Willimantic Linen. Hard times…

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

…city boys, went down to Southbury, and the farmer asked them do you want the fresh or the dried manure. They thought they were buying bread! They wanted the fresh…

Ivory Cutting: The Rise and Decline of a Connecticut Industry

…infusion of $4,500 by George A. Cheney, an ivory trader who spent 10 years as a buyer on the East African island of Zanzibar. Comstock, Cheney employee cutting elephant tusk…

P. T. Barnum’s Lottery

…of Bethel. Having proved himself to be a hard worker, the shop gave him some liberty at buying and selling goods: I made a very remarkable trade at one time…

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…

Overland Travel in Connecticut, from Footpaths to Interstates

…which were now connected to a truly national economy, made possible by cheap and reliable rail transportation. First horse car in Hartford, ca. 1895 – Connecticut Museum of Culture and…

Late 19th-Century Immigration in Connecticut

…part of the 19th century also faced increased resistance to their arrival. While many of the state’s industries were in favor of having a large supply of cheap labor to…

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…

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…

Early Connecticut Gas Light Companies

…the emerging electric utility companies. By the mid-1950s, interstate natural gas pipelines provided a product that was cleaner, cheaper, and had a higher energy content than manufactured gas. Thus, manufactured…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Ebenezer Bassett’s Historic Journey

…sugar, coffee, and indigo under the intense brutality of the French plantation system. Under the French system, it was cheaper to work a slave to death and purchase a new…

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.)…

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…

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…

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

…and cheaply, too. The year 1816, when Jerome joined the shop, also saw the introduction of Terry’s shelf clock. This smaller design cost less and could be transported more easily…

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…

An Orderly & Decent Government: Making Self-Government Work, 1905-1929

…session of the General Assembly to ratify it. Only after the necessary 36 states had already approved the amendment did Connecticut act. “It would be better for the country if…

Yale University from Colonial Times to the Present

…General Court of the Colony of Connecticut approved an act to establish a “Collegiate School” for the purpose of training young men for careers in religion and politics, Yale University’s…

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

…an immoral practice. Once approved by the legislature, however, the board voted to set aside an additional $50,000 of stock for the life insurance venture. Aetna Insurance Company calendar by…

Taking on the State: Griswold v. Connecticut

…Supreme Court In 1960, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved the first oral contraceptive, making safe, effective birth control available—but not in Connecticut. The following year, Estelle Griswold…

America’s First Ordained Woman Minister: Olympia Brown and Bridgeport’s Universalist Church

By Andy Piascik When the board of Bridgeport’s First Universalist Church offered Olympia Brown a position as minister in 1869, not everyone in the church’s congregation approved. Congregants protested, and…

The Black Panther Party in Connecticut: Community Survival Programs

…3,000 citizens and small businesses. A 1977 lawsuit uncovered the surveillance, which the department said the FBI approved. The Bureau disavowed knowledge of the wiretaps. In a 1984 settlement agreement,…

I-95 Reaches New London

…markets, and plenty of parking. The Hodges Square Businessmen’s Association protested the destruction of the area. Eventually officials approved an alternate plan that “saved” Hodges Square, though cynical city officials…

Buckling Up For Auto Safety

…in a federally approved seat. Children from one to four years had to be in a safety seat or strapped into the back seat with a safety belt. Further amended…

Elizabeth W. Coe Demands the Right of Jury Service

…until March 17, 1937, when the Connecticut General Assembly finally passed a bill allowing women to serve on juries–House Bill 39:The Act Concerning Jury Service for Women. The Senate approved…

An Orderly & Decent Government: Searching for the Common Good, 1965-Now

…history, the General Assembly enacted the state’s first income tax. The legislature also endorsed a Constitutional amendment capping state expenditure, which was overwhelmingly approved by the voters. The redesigned central…

A Connecticut Slave in George Washington’s Army

…Pensioners approved April 30, 1816 by James Madison and printed in the Connecticut Journal, June 4, 1816 One day, while attending church with the Hawley’s, Nero met and fell in…

Gideon Welles’s Role in Lincoln’s Cabinet

…Seward. Seward disapproved of Gideon Welles, regarding him as simplistic and brash. – Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division When Gideon Welles was appointed to Lincoln’s cabinet as secretary…

Prudence Crandall Fights for Equal Access to Education

…Assembly approved an annual pension of $400 in an attempt to redress her persecution under the Black Law. Today, Prudence Crandall’s house in Canterbury stands open to the public as…

Connecticut Suffragists Appeal to the President – Today in History: July 12

…1919, and then approved in the Senate on June 4, by a vote of 56 to 25. Two of the 25 opposing votes belonged to McLean and Brandegee. The amendment…

Land Purchase Becomes Bushnell Park – Today in History: January 5

On January 5, 1854, Hartford voters approved spending over $100,000 in public funds for land that would become a municipal park. It would be the first park in the country…

The Fundamental Orders: Connecticut’s Role in Early Constitutional Government

…for their government needed to be written and approved by representatives of the people. Adopted in January 1639, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut stated the powers and limits of government….

Connecticut Turnpike Opens – Today in History: January 2

…part of this new national system—approved by the Bureau of Public Roads on August 21, 1957, and designated as Interstate 95 from New York to East Lyme and then Interstate…

Connecticut’s “The Legend of the Charter Oak”

…officials. Charles’s death in 1685 brought his brother, James II, to the throne. James disapproved of the Royal Charters and demanded their return. The charters interfered with James’s plan to…

New Britain

…1754 the colony approved the area as a new parish and named it New Briton. By the beginning of the 19th century, New Britain had made its mark as an…

Merritt Parkway Creates Scenic Gateway to New England

…1926, the State Highway Department hired consultants to study MacDonald’s idea, and, by the end of the decade, the State Legislature approved a bill that authorized him to plan the…

Raise a Glass to Winemaking in Connecticut

…throughout Connecticut. Each produces signature and diverse labels for public consumption. The Connecticut Wine Trail In 1988 the Connecticut Wine Trail, a state-approved winery- and vineyard-awareness program, gave greater prominence…

Bridge Ornaments Help Tell the Legend of the Windham Frog Fight

…with frog sculptures. The bronze sculptures by Leo Jensen were part of a design for a new bridge approved for construction in the 1990s, but the answer to why frogs…

Collections: Battle Flags

…They could, however, be designed, and privately paid for, if approved by the Connecticut quartermaster general. Corporal Thomas Fox , Second Connecticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery, B Company with his regimental…

A Busy Airfield in Bethany

…Aeronautics Authority approved the resumption of operations in Bethany. Owner Walter Reynolds, who purchased the airport from Harris Whittemore Jr., installed individual T-shaped hangars for each of the airplanes housed…

The Connecticut Ratification Convention

By John Morrison Though approved at a renegade convention on September 17, 1787, the US Constitution would not become “the supreme law of the land” unless 9 of the 13…

A Revolution in Horse Power: The Hartford & Wethersfield Horse Railroad Goes Electric

…lamps. In 1888 city officials approved a petition by the H & W Horse Railroad to begin electrifying its cars, with power to be provided by the Hartford Light &…

Winning the Great War without Some Books

…it had been annotated and approved by the American Library Association. “Great care should be exercised in the use of this list,” the memo warned. Only librarians should receive it….

The Fugitive and the Hero

…slave owners who demanded the return of their property. Detail from a news article in the Times “The Fugitive Slave Meeting”, October 12, 1850, Hartford, Connecticut Approved less than a…

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…

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

…On August 2, they approved the reopening of Parkway School and the transferring of funds for renovations. The principal scheduled a meeting for students and parents to assure them that…

Cornelius Bushnell and His Ironclad Ship

…Include USS Monitor The navy approved three designs for construction, one submitted by Bushnell (now the operator of a shipyard in the Fair Haven section of New Haven). Bushnell’s ship,…

The Constitution Oak

…and 86 in 1986. The last survey, conducted in 2002, revealed only 74 remain. While a new state constitution was finally approved in 1965, Litchfield’s oak–a reminder of a failed…

Hidden Nearby: Goshen’s Liberty Pole

…far from the mark; he erred only in believing that the celebrations would be held on July 2nd, the day the Continental Congress approved the document. In Adams’ time, American…

Merritt Parkway 1939

…years later legislation was passed to build a new road from Bridgeport to Greenwich. An appropriation of $1 million was approved in 1931 and the Merritt Highway Commission was formed….

Southbury Takes On the Nazis

…because of the massive local turnout, the legislature approved new zoning laws that designated the land in Kettletown as appropriate for farming and residential use only—making the operation of any…

One Powerful Family in Bozrah

…Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P). This left BL&P customers susceptible to the numerous rate hikes the state legislature approved for CL&P—hikes that doubled the price BL&P customers paid for electricity…

A Memorial to General Hawley at the State Capitol

by Evelyn Hudyma The Joseph Roswell Hawley Medallion Within months of his death, the Connecticut State Legislature approved House Joint Resolution No. 439 commissioning a memorial to General Joseph R….

Creating Candlewood Lake – Today in History: July 15

On July 15, 1926, Connecticut Light & Power Company’s board of directors approved a plan to build a man-made reservoir in order to produce electric power. What would become Candlewood…

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…

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…

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…

Sarah Pierce’s Litchfield Female Academy

…or language. Detail of the catalogue of the members of the Female Academy of Litchfield, for the year ending November 1, 1824 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online…

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…

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…

Ezra Stiles Captured 18th-Century Life on Paper

…preserved records fill 42 boxes and make up 22 reels of microfilm housed at the Yale University Library. Ongoing digitization efforts have also made materials from the collection accessible online….

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Windsor Engineers Success

…– Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online By the mid-19th century, the village that had grown up alongside the canal had earned the name “the Locks.” In recognition of…

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…

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…

Bridgeport’s WPKN: Going Strong After Half a Century

…move to Bijou Square. As radio evolves, WPKN is continually utilizing new technology. Many programs are now archived and accessible online for the listener’s convenience. Some hosts also provide updates,…

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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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…

Colonial Revival Movement Sought Stability during Time of Change

…in colonial styles. Inspired Nostalgia Trumps Historical Accuracy Reenactors at 1908 Bulkeley Bridge dedication recreate Thomas Hooker’s 1636 landing – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online In most cases,…

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…

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…

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…

Ferry Boats a Way of Life in Early Connecticut

…where a further surcharge was allowed for a winter crossing. Other Transportation Developments Transform Ferry Operations Ferry crossing at Hartford, 1895 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online As…

Noah Webster and the Dream of a Common Language

…the English Language. Even with today’s spell-check and online resources, many Americans still think “Webster’s” when they have a question regarding spelling and word definitions. Yet, as major a contribution…

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…

Connecticut Origins Shape New Light Luminary Jonathan Edwards

…into the 19th century. Kenneth P. Minkema, PhD, is the Executive Editor of The Works of Jonathan Edwards and of the Jonathan Edwards Center & Online Archive at Yale University….

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

…moved to the neighborhood after marrying Gillette’s daughter Elizabeth (Lilly) in 1864. Charles Dudley Warner, 1893 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online Charles Warner gained national fame after…

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…

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…

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…

Connecticut’s Naval Contributions to the Civil War

…Historical Society and Connecticut History Online At the start of the Civil War, the navy was in disarray, with much of its officer corps harboring Confederate sympathies and its ships…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Plainville Has Been Flying High for Over 100 Years

…first solo flight, ca. 1928 – Hartford Public Library, Hartford History Center, Hartford Times Collection and Connecticut History Online Plainville is also the home of John H. Trumbull, who served…

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…

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…

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….

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…

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…

The Rise of the Black Panther Party in Connecticut

…south Hartford. Their target was the practice of segregated housing that made buying or renting homes in the South End practically impossible for African American families. The marchers (an integrated…

Emile Gauvreau and the Era of Tabloid Journalism

…as Graphic stock Macfadden allowed him to buy at a reduced rate. When he quit in 1929 after a falling out with Macfadden, it is said that Gauvreau cashed that…

Connecticut’s Black Governors

…to either go along with his selection or to vote for him in the event of an election. The insurgent government in Hartford appeared unbothered by the attempted vote buying…

The Van Vleck Observatory: A Reflection of Environmental Conditions

…observatory to environmental conditions. He determined that the university, constrained by a small budget, faced two options in purchasing instruments—either buying a few small instruments or, instead, use all the…

Boot Blacks and the Struggle to Survive in Hartford

…poverty that festered as the Depression grew. “If you take us off the busy streets and put us on streets that are not busy, we won’t make enough to buy…

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…

Colt Park and the Magical Summer of 1976

…to a point where failure to buy something—anything—was to shirk one’s patriotic duty. And every single night for two and a half years, CBS-TV presented its prime time Bicentennial Minute….

Carl Sandburg, Poet from the Grassroots, Reaches Connecticut Audiences

…He further revealed that the “picnic” was a mandatory event—forcing workers to buy a ticket or potentially lose their jobs. Sandburg in Connecticut The College Club of Hartford may have…

Washington’s Sister Susie Society

…for donations. These efforts enabled the society to buy necessary supplies and to send money to various war relief organizations, including the American Red Cross and the Belgian Relief Fund….

Pierre Lallement and the Modern-Day Pedal Bicycle – Today in History: November 20

…buy his patents rights so he sold them to a representative, Calvin Witty, and returned to Paris. Albert Pope eventually purchased the patent in 1876 and started producing the bicycles…

Samuel Colt: From Yankee Peddler to American Tycoon

…private armory in the world, in 1851 Colt began buying up Hartford property in the South Meadows that fronted on the Connecticut River. As lowland, it was swampy, prone to…

Albert Augustus Pope, Transportation Pioneer

…in-house, buying the Hartford Rubber Works, a steel company, and the largest nickel-plating factory in the world. Now in control of the production of his raw materials, he sought new…

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

…became the first people of color to buy property on what is now known as the Beman Triangle, just west of what became Wesleyan University three years later. Asa and…

Cornfield Point: Old Saybrook’s Forgotten Scenic Alcove

…Cornfield Point with no luck. To help pay off thousands of dollars of tax debt, they offered pieces of land to different buyers over several years. Gilbert Pratt, a wealthy…

Alan L. Hart: Pioneer in Medicine and Transgender History

…moved to Connecticut, eventually buying a home in West Hartford in 1950. Hart obtained a license to practice medicine in Connecticut in 1945 and earned a master’s degree in public…

Polish Tobacco Farmers in the Connecticut River Valley

…Many of them found work on tobacco farms in the Connecticut River Valley that specialized in growing the tobacco used for cigar wrappers. Michael Zukowski Buys a Tobacco Farm Mr….

Building an Armenian Community in New Britain

…century. Some dreamed of earning enough money to return home, buy property, and establish businesses. Others planned to remain in the United States, hoping one day to send for the…

The Ives Manufacturing Company: Connecticut’s Foremost Toy Maker

…its main competitor, fought Ives through lawsuits and expensive advertising efforts. Lionel not only enticed children to buy its trains at comparable or lower prices, but also denigrated the quality…

The Stamford Foundry Company Made Notable Stoves

…producer, it made wood-, coal-, and oil-burning cast iron heating and cooking stoves and ranges in a variety of shapes and sizes. The company’s leading status culminated with the emergence…

Connecticut Pocketknife Firms

…end of the 19th century. The Northfield establishment expanded in 1865 by purchasing a factory of the American Knife Company and buying the Excelsior Knife Company (1880-1884) of Torrington. More…

Artist Louis Paul Dessar Dies – Today in History: February 14

…in the development of American Impressionism and it was there that Dessar decided to settle, buying a 600-acre farm on Becket Hill in Lyme. Louis Paul Dessar’s work can be…

Sam Colt’s Funeral: The Day Hartford Stopped

…third president. Only the year before, the colonel had sent John to England to buy surplus guns and equipment. The Famous Gather Near the Jarvises sat Lydia Sigourney, Hartford’s aging,…

A Tale of Shad, the State Fish

…those boning the shad would put a towel over the fish to hide their special techniques. The ability to buy fresh fish from around the world year-round has blurred the…

Hamilton Wrecks Aeroplane – Today in History: April 22

…of 1911, the Hamilton Aviation Company, for the purpose of “manufacturing, exhibiting, selling and buying aeroplanes.” The company immediately ordered a Burgess-Wright biplane which arrived by train on April 20….

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

…to stop overfishing in southern Connecticut. Before oyster cultivation began in local waters, shortages of “natural growthers” led some oystermen to buy their “catch” in New York, the Delaware Bay,…

Dynamic Tensions: Conservation and Development up to the 1920s

…years rather than re- fertilizing. In order to clear new land for cultivation, some burned forests. European colonists arriving in the Connecticut River Valley brought a different culture, one that…

The Rise and Fall of Silas Deane, American Patriot

…official cover provided by Congress was that he had come to buy goods on behalf of the colonies to trade with the North American Indians and was to be paid…

Barkhamsted Reservoir Construction Washes Away a Community

…was completed – Connecticut Historical Society   Local Land Needed for Reservoir As for local residents, the MDC began buying up their landholdings to make way for the reservoir as…

Summer Crowds Flocked to New Canaan and Stayed

…during the summer and then return for a month or longer the next year. The following summer they might stay for the entire season and then, eventually, buy property in…

North Stonington Fairs Preserve Connecticut’s Agricultural Heritage

…while also improving livestock and assisting buyers and sellers in the exchange of materials, products, and ideas. Today, North Stonington still hosts its agricultural fair. Sponsored by the North Stonington…

The Wearing of the Green: 19th-century Prints of Irish Subjects by Hartford’s Kellogg Brothers

…would have been likely to buy a radical political print like “The Fenian Banner” with its slogans “Erin Go Bragh” and “Justice for Ireland”. The Battle of Bull’s Run, Va….

Savin Rock Park: “Connecticut’s Coney Island”

…buying a controlling interest in a horse-drawn trolley system located in the current town of West Haven. He supplemented his transportation interests by building a 1,500-foot pier out into Long…

Andover Lake: A Lesson in Social Change

…the lake. Despite buying what his attorney, George J. Ritter, described as an “implied easement” for access to the lake upon purchase of the home, Philpot encountered resistance as the…

Sarah Kemble Knight’s Journey through Colonial Connecticut

…her married daughter. There, she owned a tavern and an inn, engaged in the buying and selling of land for speculation and became a respected member of her church. Sarah…

David Humphreys, Soldier, Statesman, and Agricultural Innovator

…college friend who went on to become president of Yale, wrote of David Humphreys in his renowned Travels in New-England and New- York, a four-volume travel diary he kept of…

Tradition and Transformation Define Hartford’s Jewish Community

…were looking beyond their former inner city neighborhoods. Many used their government benefits for higher education, which would increase their earning potential and allow them to buy new homes in…

Enfield’s Shaker Legacy

…When we buy packets of garden seeds we are touched by the business genius of the Enfield Shakers. But Enfield’s Shaker legacy is far more than mere objects and marketing…

The Education of Ella Grasso

…compatriots: they encouraged their daughter to aspire to an education. It was a goal, Ella later recalled, that her parents-particularly her mother, who had a passionate love for education-“could dare…

Connecticut’s Mulberry Craze

…to buy more trees, which seemed a safer haven. Much of the blame has fallen on boosters who downplayed the labor involved in silk production while over-inflating the potential profits….

William Hawkins Abbott Finds the Energy to Power the Northeast

…arrived back in Ohio his well was producing upwards of 50 barrels of oil per day. He promptly made his way to New York to help locate buyers for this…

Remembering Civil War Prisoners of War

…so he arranged to buy a replica of the statue. He hoped the statue would live at the state capitol, but he had only purchased a statue and not its…

American Chairs, Made in Connecticut

…The chair’s simple design made it relatively easy to build and affordable to buy. In the 18th and early 19th centuries both large and small Connecticut workshops employed apprentices and…

First Commercial Telephone Exchange – Today in History: January 28

…two locations. Coy created a rudimentary telephone switchboard that allowed a central office to connect multiple persons, thus allowing each subscriber the advantage of having to buy only one phone…

A Russian Village Retreat in Southbury

…Register of Historic Places Grebenstchikoff purchased much of Tolstoy’s property in 1925, buying an additional 100 acres of property nearby the following year. He envisioned Southbury as a summer retreat…

A Valley Flooded to Slake the Capital Region’s Thirst

…years after the first purchase, and just before the General Assembly granted the MDC its charter, the agency bought J. Alfred Cables ‘s 200-acre spread. The Cyrus Miller Tavern -and…

Hidden Nearby: Camp Columbia State Park in Morris

…find a buyer for the property, the buildings slowly deteriorated. In 1989, the Town of Morris declared several buildings to be a public hazard and they were utilized in a…

The Scoville Memorial Library

…Richard Smith, the owner of a local blast furnace, made a proposition to the residents of Salisbury. He promised to buy 200 books from London, England, if the public would…

Union Brew

…city to make sure owners were not buying scab beer, even though the four breweries were completely shut down. They also went to other unions and asked them to pledge…

Seth Thomas Works Around the Clock in Wolcott

…a man named Daniel Tuttle and soon began building houses and barns. Seth Thomas, engraved by Samuel Sartain, from The History of Waterbuy, Connecticut… by Henry Bronson, 1858. Thomas Teams…

Living Rituals: Mohegan Wigwam Festival

…table and the items women made during the year. You could buy a nice gingham apron. There were quite a few baskets made by our Indian men, cooking utensils such…

P. T. Barnum: An Entertaining Life

…to wane in New York, Barnum took her through New England, attempting to increase sales by claiming Heth was using the proceeds from the tour to buy her great-grandchildren out…

Connecticut Valley Style: Eliphalet Chapin Inspires a Tradition of Craft

…between chair legs. Using local resources available to him and adapting to the tastes of Connecticut buyers, Chapin’s furniture departed in some ways from Philadelphia styles. Rather than the rich…