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Search results for: revolutionary war
Litchfield’s Revolutionary War Soldiers’ Tree
…of the town’s Revolutionary War soldiers. A small marker stands at the southeast corner of the eastern section of the Litchfield Green – Peter Vermilyea Soldiers Pledge to Battle Tyranny…
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Revolutionary War
Revolutionary War (1775-1783) As one of the thirteen colonies, Connecticut and its people played instrumental roles during the American Revolution. Connecticut provided food, cannon, and other supplies to the Continental…
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“Legalized Piracy”: Connecticut’s Revolutionary War Privateers
…Courts served as prize courts—the Connecticut State Library holds the original records. The division of the prize was a topic of debate throughout the Revolutionary period. Both the Continental Navy…
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Marquis de Lafayette’s 1824 Tour of Connecticut
…memorable event for virtually every community he passed through. Over the course of his tour, Lafayette was met with large crowds, welcoming committees, notable town members, Revolutionary War veterans, receptions,…
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East Haven’s Revolutionary Salt Works
…Massachusetts in the 1630s, he owned a wharf and large warehouse in East Haven that he utilized to grow his business. Revolutionary War Creates Business Opportunity When the Revolutionary War…
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Benedict Arnold Turns and Burns New London
…On that day 1,700 British, Hessian, and Loyalist troops, under the command of General Benedict Arnold, achieved the last British victory of the Revolutionary War, committing acts of urban terrorism…
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Jonathan Trumbull’s Lebanon War Office: The “Pentagon of the Revolution”
By Emily Clark Considered one of the most important buildings in Connecticut’s Revolutionary War history, Jonathan Trumbull’s War Office in Lebanon functioned as headquarters for Connecticut’s Council of Safety from…
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The Connecticut Town Green
…and provisions from the War Office located at the edge of the green. The War Office also served as the meeting place for the Council of Safety, a wartime group…
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Caleb Brewster and the Culper Spy Ring
…revolutionary cause. Life in Connecticut After the Revolutionary War, Brewster settled in Connecticut and became a blacksmith and a farmer. He was also, for many years, an officer in the…
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The Battle of Groton Heights at Fort Griswold
Last Updated: March 12, 2025 East of the Thames River, on Groton Heights, Fort Griswold stands commanding the New London Harbor and the surrounding countryside. During the Revolutionary War, British…
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Caleb Brewster: A Patriot Against Freedom
…member of the Culper Spy Ring during the Revolutionary War—was also an active participant in the African Slave Trade. Runaway Advertisement in the Fairfield Gazette Advertisement by Caleb Brewster in…
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Trouble in the Connecticut Suburbs: Revolutionary Road
…From Unhappiness Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates The Connecticut suburbs play a crucial role in Revolutionary Road. As it was then, and in many ways remains today, Fairfield County is…
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Connecticut’s Black Civil War Regiment
…that black people had fought in, and made important contributions to, every previous American war, most notably the Revolutionary War. Prejudice Blocks Black Enlistment Until War’s Third Year In January…
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New London’s Sound Defense
…one of great military powers at sea, during the Revolutionary War. The usual agreement granted privateers, individuals who operated privately-owned seagoing vessels, one-half of all the prizes they took. While…
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The Frost House Once Offered Travelers a Warm Welcome
…part of the Marion Historic District, the home is significant both architecturally and historically for the insight it provides into early New England history. Revolutionary War Hero Among Barnes Tavern…
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Benedict Arnold: America’s Most Famous Traitor
…the Revolutionary War, he changed sides, abandoning the Americans’ fight for independence in return for the military rank and financial reward he received in the British army. Prior to his…
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Israel Putnam: A Youthful Trailblazer Turned Colonial Militiaman
by Patrick J. Mahoney Israel Putnam is perhaps known best for his role as an American general during the Revolutionary War. The courage, leadership, and perseverance that endeared him to…
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Connecticut in the French and Indian War
…campaigns, the war continued in other theaters and Connecticut troops played a sorrowful role in one of those. In 1761 Spain belatedly entered the war on the side of France,…
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Ethan Allen Born – Today in History: January 10
On January 10, 1738, future hero of the Revolutionary War Ethan Allen was believed to have been born to a farming family in the frontier village of Litchfield, Connecticut. By…
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An Overview of Connecticut’s Outdoor Sculpture
…firm of Town and Davis, at Fort Griswold in Groton to commemorate patriots slaughtered there by British troops during a Revolutionary War battle. Town designed a modified obelisk. (An obelisk…
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USS Confederacy: The Life and Service of Connecticut’s Continental Frigate
…marines; ultimately, Captain Harding avoided prosecution. A Revolutionary Ship Meets Its End Interior of the old Jersey prison ship, in the Revolutionary War, where many of the Confederacy’s crew ended…
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Fort Griswold Attacked – Today in History: September 6
On September 6, 1781, British forces overtook Fort Griswold and, in an infamous move that would be recalled throughout the American Revolutionary War and long after, they killed many of…
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William Douglas: A Colonial Hero’s Sacrifice
William Douglas was a successful merchant and military leader who settled in North Branford just prior to the Revolutionary War. Despite retiring with substantial wealth acquired through trade with partners…
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Black Loyalist Refugees: Toney Escapes During the Burning of Fairfield
…such ads came from the town of Fairfield. But it was the Revolutionary War and Enlightenment ideas which gave the cause of “freedom” the biggest boost. As Thomas Jefferson wrote…
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The Complicated Realities of Connecticut and the Civil War
Last Updated: September 19, 2024 By Matthew Warshauer Connecticut has a remarkable Civil War history. Although it is a small state, it was in many ways instrumental to the Union’s…
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Colonial Revival Movement Sought Stability during Time of Change
…of the past: a gun that had belonged to Revolutionary War hero General Israel Putnam, an antique tall clock, relics of the Charter Oak, and what would become the icon…
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Mariann Wolcott and Ralph Earl – Opposites Come Together and Make History
…brother, Frederick, 936. Mariann herself formed 10,790, a figure representing a quarter of all the bullets produced from King George’s fallen statue. An Artist Struggles Through the Revolutionary War Meantime,…
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Stamford’s Three-Gun Armada
During the Revolutionary War, American privateers utilized armed whaling boats to keep the British from the colonies’ shores and prevent illicit trade in British goods. In 1778, 1779, and 1780,…
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Rochambeau Returns Over and Over to Andover
…the midst of an epic march from Rhode Island to Yorktown, to aid General Washington in what became one of the most decisive battles of the Revolutionary War. On a…
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Roger Sherman, Revolutionary and Dedicated Public Servant
…in his new work at the national level. Throughout the Revolutionary Era, he was known as a steadfast worker and an informed, attentive legislator. He is reported to have risen…
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A Connecticut Slave in George Washington’s Army
Nero Hawley, born into slavery in Connecticut in the 18th century, fought in the Revolutionary War. After his emancipation at the age of 41, he went on to become a…
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The Orrin Freeman House and the Spirit of ‘76
…early 1840s. So, how did it end up with one of its most distinctive features—a giant mural of Revolutionary War soldiers? What’s in a Name? Spirit of ’76 Mural –…
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David Bushnell and his Revolutionary Submarine
…When the war ended—and with brother Ezra having died in 1786—David Bushnell left Connecticut and went to Warrenton, Georgia, with Yale classmate Abraham Baldwin. There, he taught at Franklin College…
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Connecticut’s Naval Contributions to the Civil War
…approaching Vicksburg from the north. The 445-ton Albatross was built three years before the war in Mystic, Connecticut, at the shipyard of George Greenman and Company. Before the war she…
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Oliver Cromwell Launched – Today in History: June 13
…the establishment of Connecticut’s navy. The Navy was formed after the start of the American Revolutionary War in July of 1775 when the Connecticut General Assembly authorized Governor Jonathan Trumbull…
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British Burn Fairfield – Today in History: July 7
On July 7, 1779, during the Revolutionary War, the British anchored a fleet of warships off the coast of Fairfield, Connecticut. The British soldiers waited for the fog to lift…
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Governor Jonathan Trumbull Dies – Today in History: August 17
…Trumbull was known for keeping an even temperament while mediating disputes and for the way he rallied Connecticut residents to supply provisions for the Continental army during the Revolutionary War….
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Nathan Hale Hanged in New York – Today in History: September 22
On September 22, 1776, the British hanged Revolutionary War soldier Nathan Hale for spying. Born in Coventry in 1755, Hale attended Yale College and later became a schoolteacher. After hostilities…
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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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The Ebenezer Avery House – Who Knew?
…that the Ebenezer Avery House on the grounds of Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park in Groton once served as a hospital and refuge for the wounded after the Revolutionary War’s…
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Map – Rochambeau’s Camp at Windham
…belonged to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, the commander of the French army in America during the Revolutionary War. France formalized its aid to the colonies following the treaties…
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Map – Rochambeau’s Camp at Farmington
…belonged to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, the commander of the French army in America during the Revolutionary War. France formalized its aid to the colonies following the treaties…
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Map – Rochambeau’s Camp at Voluntown
…to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, the commander of the French army in America during the Revolutionary War. France formalized its aid to the colonies following the treaties of…
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Map – Rochambeau’s Camp at Danbury
…to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, the commander of the French army in America during the Revolutionary War. France formalized its aid to the colonies following the treaties of…
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Map – Rochambeau’s Camp at Canterbury
…to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, the commander of the French army in America during the Revolutionary War. France formalized its aid to the colonies following the treaties of…
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Map – Rochambeau’s Camp at East Hartford
…once belonged to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, the commander of the French army in America during the Revolutionary War. France formalized its aid to the colonies following the…
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The Hartford Wits
…who is told to prioritize clothes, appearance, and finding a husband despite obvious intellectual abilities. Poetry Tells the Story of the American Revolution With the onset of the Revolutionary War,…
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Ridgefield’s Keeler Tavern
…Connecticut during the Revolutionary War. In April 1777, British troops commanded by the governor of New York, Major General William Tryon, sailed to the mouth of the Saugatuck River and…
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Connecticut’s Valley Forge: The Redding Encampment and Putnam Memorial State Park
By CT Humanities Staff As the 1778-79 winter quarters for a division of the Continental army during the Revolutionary War, Putnam Memorial State Park is sometimes referred to as “Connecticut’s…
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New Haven: What Was Everyday Life Like During the Civil War?
…cities began as broadsides in the mid 1700s—and city directories soon followed, making their appearance right after the end of the Revolutionary War. These directories often provided an alphabetical list…
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David Humphreys, Soldier, Statesman, and Agricultural Innovator
…Gold medal awarded to David Humphreys, 1802 – The Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture. Used through Public Domain. A Distinguished Career at Home and Abroad During the Revolutionary War, Humphreys’…
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The Articles of Confederation: America’s First Constitution
By John Morrison Amid the chaos of the Revolutionary War, which pitted 13 separate entities against a common enemy, it became apparent that the colonies’ different agendas were stalling military…
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Hannah Bunce Watson: One of America’s First Female Publishers
…popular during the Revolutionary War by boosting morale among patriots with stories of their successes alongside those of British failures. When Ebenezer Watson died (due to smallpox) on September 16,…
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New London’s Tradition of Burning Benedict Arnold…in Effigy – Who Knew?
…that New London has a yearly tradition of burning an effigy of Benedict Arnold, the infamous Revolutionary War general turned traitor. Norwich-born Benedict Arnold was a lauded major general in…
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Middletown’s Nathan Starr Supplied Cutlasses for the War of 1812
…likelihood of war looming, the US Navy ramped up production of gunboats and the forces manning these vessels needed weaponry. Nathan Starr provided cavalry swords and scabbards for the War…
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The Decorative Arts of Connecticut
…that led to the Revolutionary War. Shethar returned to Connecticut to work in Litchfield, where the economy boomed after the war. Like other silversmiths at the end of the 18th…
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George Washington Slept Here (Just Perhaps Not Well)
…Washington traveled from Boston to Hartford, he stopped in Pomfret, Connecticut, to inquire about the residence of Revolutionary War veteran, Israel Putnam. Concluding that a trip to see his old…
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Prudence Punderson, Ordinary Woman, Extraordinary Artist: Needlework in Connecticut
…the Connecticut Historical Society, reveals how she agonized about personal, political, and religious issues, and her sadness about leaving the young man she had hoped to marry. Once the Revolutionary…
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News From Lexington: Contemporary Views of the Opening Battles of the American Revolution
…but most historians agree the Doolittle’s four etchings are an accurate reflection of the actual events. Such contemporary views of Revolutionary War battles are extremely unusual, and Doolittle’s four prints…
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Jeremiah Wadsworth, “foremost in every enterprise”
…the Connecticut militia. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, he advanced to commissary for the eastern division of the Continental army and in 1778 succeeded Joseph Trumbull as commissary…
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Ralph Earl: Portrait of an Early American Artist
…drew four pictures of the battles and Doolittle translated them into engravings for printing; these are the earliest Revolutionary War battle scenes distributed in America. He also painted portraits of…
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The War Connecticut Hated
By Walter W. Woodward for Connecticut Explored For most Connecticans, the War of 1812 was as much a war mounted by the federal government against New England as it was…
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General Joseph R. Hawley Helps Commemorate Connecticut’s Civil War Soldiers
…dedications, and one of Connecticut’s most prominent Civil War veterans, General Joseph R. Hawley, took a leading role in fostering the war’s remembrance. After 1865, Civil War veterans attended Decoration…
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Fame and Infamy for the Hulls of Derby
…second of seven sons. His father Joseph, William Hull’s brother, had fought in the Revolutionary War, leading a flotilla of whaleboats against the British on Long Island Sound. The sea…
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The Ulysses S. Grant Memorial Tablet
…mentioned that Grant was the grandson of Noah Grant, who lived in Connecticut and fought in a Connecticut company during the Revolutionary War, and a descendant of Matthew Grant, one…
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War and Defense
…and weaponry critical to victory. This helped make the Revolutionary War, World War II, and other conflicts ongoing focal points for patriotic commemoration. And, while war has sometimes fueled technological…
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Exploring Early Connecticut Mapmaking
…professions. Moses Warren (1762-1835), one of the makers of the important 1813 state map, was a professional surveyor. Born in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, to Moses Warren Sr., he moved to…
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Warren
…as a part of Kent, the town incorporated in 1786 and was named after Revolutionary War hero Joseph Warren. An early agricultural community, Warren, like its neighbors, took part in…
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Levi Pease, Stage Route and Transportation Innovator
…at the start of the Revolutionary War. Serving in various special functions throughout the war, Pease was primarily in charge of transportation-related matters. He delivered correspondence, purchased horses and foraged…
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Changing Sentiments on Slavery in Colonial Hebron
…six years, without assistance from a master or aid from the local population. With the war’s end, no one offered any opposition to Cesar, Lowis, and their several children re-occupying…
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Soldier, Patriot, and Politician: The Life of Oliver Wolcott
…Confederation, remains one of Connecticut’s most significant and understudied revolutionary figures. His experiences during the Seven Years’ War and American Revolution made him a sought-after leader for the inexperienced American…
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Hall of Flags: Memorial to Connecticut’s Civil War Colors
…flags of the state’s military from the Civil War to the War on Terror. A vast majority of the flags in the oak and glass cabinets come from the Civil…
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Halladay’s Revolutionary Windmill – Today in History: August 29
…Windmills had been used for centuries to grind grain, draw water, and power machines. So what was revolutionary about Halladay’s design? It allowed the windmill to automatically turn to face…
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Connecticut Arms the Union
By Dean E. Nelson for Connecticut Explored A year into the Civil War, the US War Department’s “Commission on Ordnance and Ordnance Stores” reported to Congress on the state of…
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Charles Dudley Warner: 19th Century Writer and Social Commentator
…commentary. Charles Dudley Warner Makes His Way To Hartford Born in the small town of Plainfield, Massachusetts in 1829, Warner grew up on a relative’s farm in nearby Charlemont after…
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Remembering Civil War Prisoners of War
…in Wirz. He was the only person executed for war crimes during the Civil War. An Andersonville Prison survivor recovering in a hospital, ca. 1864 – Library of Congress, Prints…
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Gideon Welles’s Role in Lincoln’s Cabinet
…greatest technological developments during the Civil War was the creation of ironclad warships which were used extensively in battles throughout the war. In 1861, when Virginia seceded, Union forces abandoned…
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Connecticut’s War Governor, William A. Buckingham
…Connecticut’s War Governor Olin Levi Warner, ca. 1874 – Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Art The state honored Governor Buckingham 20 years after the Civil War ended. The state funded…
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Death and Mourning in the Civil War Era
…to war. Troops from the state fought in almost every major and minor battle of the Civil War, and casualties numbered in the thousands. Many more died in confederate prisons…
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The Story Trail of Voices
…(in New York) and by the Revolutionary War. Records show Mohegan heads of households equaling 35 and the grand total of individuals numbered 84. However, when considering these numbers, it…
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The Hartford Courant: The Oldest US Newspaper in Continuous Publication
…Independence in its entirety. The Courant soon became the most widely circulated newspaper in the colonies and so important to coverage of the Revolutionary War that when the local paper…
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From Bombs to Bras: World War I Conservation Measures Transform the Lives of Women
…on Women’s Fashion With the decline of available corsets during the Great War era, the backless brassiere gained popularity. D. H. Warner, President of Warner Brothers Corset Company from 1894…
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Helicopters, Guitars, and Guide Dogs: The Revolutionary Mind of Charles Kaman
Charles Kaman, an inventor and aviation pioneer, managed to combine all of his passions in life (namely flying, music, and dogs) into successful business ventures. An inductee into the National…
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A Revolutionary Book Designer: Bruce Rogers of New Fairfield
By Nancy Finlay The Oxford Lectern Bible has been called “the most important and notable typographic achievement of the twentieth century.” Published in England by the Oxford University Press and…
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Canon Clinton Jones: A Revolutionary Figure in Connecticut’s LGBTQ+ History
…a “Cell Block G” to house all gay and transgender people. Canon Clinton Jones negotiated meetings in the prison to speak with the warden. The warden claimed the separation was…
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Benedict Arnold died in London, England – Today in History: June 14
On June 14, 1801, Revolutionary War general and traitor Benedict Arnold died in London. Arnold became involved in local politics while a New Haven merchant-sea captain trading in horses and…
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Silas Deane
Silas Deane (1737-1789) Silas Deane was a politician and diplomat credited with successfully soliciting the foreign aid the colonies needed to defeat the British during the Revolutionary War. Prior to…
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Site Lines: Connecticut’s Freedom Trail
…colony politics, and his son, Jedidiah, who served as a general under General Washington in the Revolutionary War. Trowtrow’s gravesite is on the Trail. Churches serving black congregations played a…
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The Susquehanna Settlers
…land with the Connecticut invaders and repeatedly employed force to push them out. The Battle of Wyoming The dispute between Connecticut and Pennsylvania seemed to calm during the Revolutionary War,…
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Oliver Wolcott
Oliver Wolcott (1726-1797) Oliver Wolcott was a Revolutionary War hero who played a vital role in early Connecticut politics. He graduated from Yale in 1747, and became the first Sheriff…
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Early Church Bell Founders
…craftsman in many endeavors. He built the first printing press in the colonies in 1769, made the first brass wheel clocks, operated a powder mill during the Revolutionary War, and…
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Civil War Monuments and Memorials in and Around the State Capitol
…all to learn from and enjoy. If you would like to learn more about Connecticut in the Civil War, please visit our Civil War topics page, pick up Dr. Warshauer’s…
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The Civil War Commences: Connecticut’s Involvement in the Civil War
By John Potter for Your Public Media The American Civil War began in South Carolina on April 12, 1861, when Confederate batteries in Charleston Harbor opened fire on Fort Sumter;…
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The 29th Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry Flag and Display
By Cornel Garfman Civil War Battle Flags During the American Civil War, battle flags were so important to soldiers, men would routinely risk their lives so that their unit banner…
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Ebenezer Bassett’s Historic Journey
…struggled with revolt, civil war, and foreign invasion. Inspired by the American and French revolutions and led by Toussaint L’Overture, a formerly enslaved coachman and genius of guerrilla warfare, Haiti…
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Enfield’s Shaker Legacy
…and feather the worshippers. Whether he was sympathetic to the Shakers, more tolerant than the mob, or simply keeping the peace, local Revolutionary War veteran Elija Jones intervened and escorted…
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…was a Connecticut native who served in the Revolutionary War and because he was descended from Matthew Grant, one of the earliest settlers of Windsor, Connecticut. Approximately 350 people were…
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A New Source of Farm Labor Crops Up in Wartime
…the war but began anew with the coming of the Second World War. In 1942, Mrs. Joseph Alsop reorganized the WLA in Connecticut. After initially balking at the idea of…
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Vietnam Protests in Connecticut
By Andy Piascik Connecticut opposition to the war in Vietnam paralleled that found in many other parts of America. When the movement against the war was in its early phase,…
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Connecticut’s Loyal Subjects: Toryism and the American Revolution
…Boston. The Fate of Tories as the Tide of the War Turns As critical colonial victories began changing the course of the war in the summer of 1777, the governor…
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World War I Flying Ace Raoul Lufbery
…returning to France in the summer of 1914. In August 1914, France and Germany went to war, a war that later drew in many nations, including the United States and…
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Women and Defense: World War II on the Connecticut Home Front
By Ben Gammell for Your Public Media Uniform of Virginia Grover Bulkeley, Greater Hartford Chairwoman of the Woman’s Organization for War Savings during World War II – Connecticut Historical Society,…
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Thomas Knowlton: A Small Town’s National Hero
…regiment in 1757 during the Seven Years’ War (also known as the French and Indian War). He fought in numerous important battles during the war, including the Battle of Fort…
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The Long, Ambiguous History of Connecticut’s Blue Laws
…General History of Connecticut. After relocating to London during the turmoil of the Revolutionary War, Peters published a semi-historical account of his former New England home in 1781. The work…
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Christopher Leffingwell Born – Today in History: June 11
On June 11, 1734, businessman and civic leader Christopher Leffingwell was born in Norwich. Leffingwell’s ancestors founded Norwich in the 1660s, and he continued and expanded the family business with…
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The Atheneum Joins War Effort – Who Knew?
…making its facilities available to social, civic, philanthropic, and arts groups for meetings and events. Throughout the war it hosted the meetings of such groups as the Hartford War Chest…
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The Debate Over Who Could Occupy World War II Public Housing in West Hartford
…War II public housing tract called Oakwood Acres. During this period, public housing tracts were created to shelter the many war workers and their families drawn to the Hartford area…
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Pomp and Circumstance: Civil War Commemoration
…July 19, 2013 – Courtesy of Anthony Roy The Forlorn Soldier’s sordid story sustained until the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission took up the task to relocate the Civil War…
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Gun Wheel of the First Light Battery, Connecticut Volunteers
By Mike Blanker On May 15, 1864, during the Civil War Battle of Proctor’s Creek in Virginia, a Confederate artillery shot struck and damaged a gun wheel on one of…
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Winning the Great War without Some Books
…against saboteurs. After the Declaration of War, Holcomb created the State Council of Defense, one of 48, to mobilize citizens, industries, labor, and organizations to win the war. “Truth” is…
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Crisis Management during the American Civil War: The Hartford Soldiers’ Aid Society
By Nick Streifel The American Civil War was one of the deadliest periods in American history. Over 600,000 Americans perished during the conflict, more than all other US wars combined….
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Honor and Duty: The Life of Alfred Howe Terry
…16, 1865. Terry received national recognition for his service in capturing Fort Fisher. Secretary of War Edwin W. Stanton wrote the following to Terry: “The Secretary of War, in the…
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Food Needed to Win the War Comes from Washington
When the United States entered World War I in 1917, President Woodrow Wilson started the rallying cry of, “Food Will Win the War,” motivating Americans to increase farm production and…
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A Godmother to Ravensbrück Survivors
…by concentration camp survivor and French war heroine Jacqueline Péry d’Alincourt, who, along with other French, Polish, and Czechoslovakian political prisoners interned during World War II at the Ravensbrück concentration…
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Site Lines: Silas Deane
…secured by the diligent efforts of Connecticut’s own Silas Deane. Deane’s extraordinary role in making the War for Independence viable should have placed him among the illustrious pantheon of America’s…
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I-95 Reaches New London
…and World War II. With the postwar development of the Interstate Highway System, the single-span bridge soon proved unable to handle the ever-increasing flow of traffic. In 1963, planning began…
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Borough of Stonington
…the Revolutionary War.) Six years later, in 1820, Stonington resident Captain Nathaniel Palmer, on a voyage seeking seals, reached Antarctica, becoming the first American to achieve this feat. Previously, Edmund…
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The “Welcoming Beacon” of Sheffield Island Lighthouse
…“Winnipank, Indian Sagamour of Norwalk” occupied the island, followed by Norwalk’s first minister, Thomas Hanford. After subsequent owners and a stint as community land, a Revolutionary War captain named Robert…
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Connecticut’s Black Governors
…even intensified when the colonies plunged into war after the battles of Lexington and Concord. In 1776, for example, with Connecticut’s government in the hands of the revolutionaries, a slave…
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Hartford’s Commemoration of World War I Servicemen and Women
…its appreciation for the servicemen and women of the Great War in numerous and profound ways. Hartford Commemorates the First World War Hartford Honor Roll in City Hall – Dudley…
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Washington’s Sister Susie Society
…In the spring of 1916, the Sister Susie Society even undertook the support of a Belgian war orphan named Daniel Bataille. They maintained this responsibility throughout the war and for…
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Connecticut Declares War Against the Pequot – Today in History: May 1
On May 1, 1637, Connecticut Colony declared war against the Pequot. This marked the first declared war in Connecticut between an indigenous people and English colonists. The conflict, though, had…
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Little Sorrel, Connecticut’s Confederate War Horse
…War Jackson rode his new horse into some of the most famous Civil War battles, including Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg, and it was Little Sorrel who carried Jackson on the fateful…
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They Also Served: Chinese, Southeast Asians, and Hawaiians in the American Civil War
By Nancy Finlay While oversimplified narratives about the American Civil War often reduce it to a simple conflict involving the binary classifications of Black and white, not all the participants…
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Nathaniel Lyon: First US General to Die During the Civil War
By Emma Wiley Nathaniel Lyon became nationally famous as the first US general killed during the Civil War. As a career soldier, Lyon served in several wars, participated in the…
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Memorial Day 1920 Brings a Changing of the Guard
…of Hartford’s Memorial Day parade and observances. Veterans of the Spanish-American War (1898) numbered fewer as well. New to the ranks were Connecticut’s veterans of the World War, many who…
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Site Lines: The Mysterious Blue Lights
…Complications In 1813, US Secretary of the Navy William Jones had dispatched Decatur, hero of Barbary wars at Tripoli in 1803-1804 and conqueror of the British warship Macedonian in 1812…
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The Gildersleeve Shipbuilding Legacy in Portland
…well as for military protection during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. Perhaps the most recognizable name in the history of Portland shipbuilding is Sylvester Gildersleeve, the man…
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Notorious New-Gate Prison
…New-Gate not only housed thieves, counterfeiters, and murderers but Tories (a label given to those sympathetic to the British cause during the Revolutionary War) as well. Connecticut’s Council of Safety…
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Hartford Retreat for the Insane Advanced Improved Standards of Care
By Michael Sturges In the early national period, following the Revolutionary War’s end in 1783, dependant adults, such as the elderly, disabled, or unemployed, would be cared for by their…
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Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold (1741-1801) Once lauded for heroism, Norwich-born Benedict Arnold earned infamy as a traitor during the American Revolutionary War by leaving liberty’s cause to side with the British. As…
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The Whitney Armory Helps Progress in Hamden
…order to support himself. In addition to tutoring the children of Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene, Whitney soon gained a reputation as man with a gift for invention. In 1793,…
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Connecticut and the Embargo Act of 1807
…had continued to serve throughout the Revolutionary War. Trumbull Jr. had been governor since 1797, and in 1809 was serving the last of eleven consecutive terms in that office. (He…
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Warren Congregational Church, a Longstanding Community Center
Located at 4 Sackett Hill Road in Warren, Connecticut, is the Warren Congregational Church. Designed in the Federal style, it received a listing on the National Register of Historic Places…
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Daring World War II Escape of a Bethany Soldier
…World War II in the air corps, and serving again in the Korean War, Fowler returned to Connecticut, eventually becoming a resident of Unionville. He passed away at John Dempsey…
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William Eaton, a Peace Democrat and Civil War Opponent
…role he played as a leader of the loyal Democrat opposition throughout the Civil War. In that capacity, Eaton consistently articulated the Jeffersonian view of the respective roles of the…
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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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Bradley Airport’s Military Origins
In 1941, with war raging on the European continent, the United States government anxiously pursued opportunities to establish an air base in Connecticut to bolster defenses along the East Coast….
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Fighting Sons of Erin: Connecticut’s Irish Regiment in the Civil War
…Most were desperately poor refugees from the potato famine devastating their homeland. These largely illiterate newcomers were not warmly welcomed to the new land, especially because an overwhelmingly Protestant Connecticut…
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Connecticut’s Chickamauga Tree: An Investigation
By Christopher Frank Within the halls of the Connecticut State Capitol is the remnant of an oak tree containing pieces of artillery fire that were supposedly from the Civil War…
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New England Society for Psychic Research: Connecticut Paranormal Investigators Leave Legacy of the Occult
…haunted houses, spirits, and demonology led the couple to establish the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR) in 1952. The Warrens’ Early Years Ed Warren discusses supernatural phenomena with…
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A Special Place to Honor Military Veterans in Plainville
…as a way to commemorate the sacrifices of those who fought and died in American wars. Containing monuments to soldiers of two world wars, Korea, Vietnam, the Civil War, and…
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The British Raid on Essex
…single greatest loss of American shipping of the entire war. During the War of 1812 the British navy’s blockade of Long Island Sound nearly shut down commerce along the Connecticut…
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Mystic-built USS Galena Part of Plan to Strengthen Union Navy
…midst of the Civil War (1861-1865) marked the emergence of a new type of naval architecture. It also heralded a shift in naval warfare that resulted from the ingenuity of…
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The Cheney Brothers’ Rise in the Silk Industry
…mulberry tree, morus multicaulis, to the United States. US Silk Market Booms and Crashes In 1833, three sons of Manchester’s George Wells and Electa Woodbridge Cheney—Ward, Frank, and Rush—invested heavily…
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Stealth Attack from Guilford Launched – Today in History: May 23
…large stores of hay, grain, and rum. They brought with them 96 prisoners of war. Not a single patriot had been lost. But Guilford would have its turn to feel…
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Hidden Nearby: Goshen’s Liberty Pole
…remnants of colonial Goshen further north on East Street.) Still, the town was proud of its patriotic activity in the Revolutionary Era and chose to commemorate it for the nation’s…
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Slavery and the Pequot War
…of Fairfield. During this time and throughout the war, many captured Pequot men were killed, while women and children were given to colonists as spoils of war, placed in captivity…
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A Monument Memorializes the Fallen
…Civil War, Vol. V, 1911. The regiment performed garrison duty around the capital until May of 1864, when they were deployed south to Virginia. There, Major General Benjamin Butler had…
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War and the Fear of Enemy Aliens – Who Knew?
…that Greenwich had a special police unit trained to handle suspected foreign agents operating in Connecticut. By Karen Frederick and Anne Young During the First and Second World Wars, Greenwich’s…
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Benedict Arnold Demands the Key – Today in History: April 22
On April 22, 1775, Benedict Arnold demanded the key to New Haven’s powder house. After hearing the news of the fighting at Lexington, Massachusetts, Arnold, as the commander of the…
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The British Attack Danbury – Today in History: April 25
On April 25, 1777, British forces land at the mouth of the Saugatuck River with plans to attack Danbury. General William Howe had ordered Major General William Tryon, royal governor…
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Battle at Ridgefield – Today in History: April 27
On April 27, 1777, American forces under the command of Major General David Wooster attacked the retreating British troops under Major General William Tryon in Ridgefield. In anticipation of Tryon’s…
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The Burning of Danbury
By Richard Buel When General George Washington ordered that Danbury serve as a supply depot for the Continental army in early 1777, he based his decision on the town’s importance…
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The Turtle Submarine – Today in History: September 6
On September 6, 1776, the first functioning submarine, called the Turtle, attacked the HMS Eagle anchored in New York Harbor. Designed by Saybrook native and Yale graduate David Bushnell, the…
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Lemuel Haynes: America’s First Black Ordained Minister
…positive feedback inspired Haynes to begin a career in religion. At the time his indenture expired (in 1774) the American colonies seemed destined for war with Great Britain so Haynes…
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Abigail Hinman: Heroine of the American Revolution or Legend?
By Emily Clark New London resident Abigail Hinman, the relatively unknown wife of sea captain Elisha Hinman, allegedly made a name for herself as a patriot in 1781. Her story…
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East Hartford
…During the Revolutionary War, French troops under Lieutenant General Comte de Rochambeau twice camped in town: before and after they aided General George Washington’s forces in the 1781 defeat of…
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Connecticut and the West Indies: Sugar Spurs Trans-Atlantic Trade
…the approximately 5,000 slaves in Connecticut at the time of the Revolutionary War, most came to the colony through the West Indies Trade. Between seven and nine million enslaved Africans…
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Israel Putnam
Israel Putnam (1718-1790) Israel Putnam, a patriot and Revolutionary War veteran, is most famous today for his bravery during the Battle of Bunker Hill. Originally from Massachusetts, a 22-year-old Putnam…
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Goshen’s Asaph Hall Becomes an Astronomical Success
…the Hart Hollow section of town and his grandfather, who moved to Goshen in 1758, served under Ethan Allen during the Revolutionary War. After the death of his father, Asaph…
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Benjamin Wright: The Father of American Civil Engineering
…as a lieutenant under George Washington during the Revolutionary War, became so ridden with debt that Benjamin spent more time working to help support his family than he did in…
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Jonathan Trumbull
…Indian War, Trumbull won election as deputy governor of Connecticut in 1766. With the death of Governor William Pitkin in 1769, Trumbull became governor of the colony. During the Revolutionary…
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Peter’s Rock: North Haven History with a View
…wound in the Revolutionary War that deformed his spine and left him partially crippled. Brockett built a small hut on the northern base of the mountain and lived out his…
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Hidden Nearby: The Morris Academy
…future in the ministry. The Revolutionary War, however, got in the way. He served first in the Connecticut militia, then in the Continental army, fighting on Long Island, at White…
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Putting History on the Map
…celebration of Connecticut’s Tercentenary, shows the sites of important events associated with the Battle of Ridgefield during the Revolutionary War, including the sites of the first and second engagements, the…
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John Fitch Born – Today in History: January 21
…on to find some success as a silversmith in Trenton, however, and during the Revolutionary War the Committee of Safety of the Province of New Jersey called on him to…
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Connecticut Pin Makers
…appeared through the efforts of individual craftsmen. American endeavors to create a pin “industry” during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, when British supplies disappeared, proved largely unsuccessful,…
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Timothy Dwight Dies – Today in History: January 11
…and John Trumbull—the “Hartford Wits” —began using poetry and satire to push at conventions and explore the ideas of a new American nation. A supporter of the Revolutionary War, but…
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Pequot War
Pequot War (1636-1637) Though the major engagements of the Pequot War took place within a two-year span, the conflict had much earlier roots. After years of confrontations over land, trade,…
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A Civil War Soldier Engineers an Iconic Career
Horatio Wright was a Connecticut native who served with distinction during the Civil War. Rising rapidly through the ranks of the Union army, Wright commanded troops in battles fought all…
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A True Dog of War: Sergeant Stubby
…When the division shipped out for Europe to fight in the First World War, Private Conroy managed to smuggle Stubby aboard the SS Minnesota the transport that brought the Connecticut…
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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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The First Yale Unit: How U.S. Navy Aviation Began
…and seven additional raids before the end of World War I. All twelve original Yale Unit members survived the war, though they lost friends along the way who had joined…
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Connecticut Lawyer Prosecutes Nazi War Criminals at Nuremberg
In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Thomas Joseph Dodd, a Norwich-born lawyer from Connecticut, served on the United States’ prosecutorial team as Executive Trial Counsel at the International…
Read The 29th Connecticut Colored Infantry Regiment Leaves for War – Today in History: March 19
…Civil War, they were presented with their state (regimental) flag in Fair Haven. According to The New Haven Daily Palladium, a local Black woman presented the dark blue silk flag…
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Photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White: “No Picture Was Unimportant to Her”
…South Africa, and the war in Korea. Bourke-White became one of the country’s most respected photojournalists, especially through the eras of the Depression and World War II. Among those who…
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Fitch Soldiers’ Home Closes – Today in History: August 28
…residence hall, became home to thousands of Connecticut soldiers, sailors, and marines from the Indian wars, the Spanish-American War, the Mexican War, and World War I. The grounds were eventually…
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Henry Ward Beecher, a Preacher with Political Clout
By Gregg Mangan Henry Ward Beecher was a renowned clergyman, author, anti-slavery activist, and reformer in the 19th century. At a time when ministers played a prominent role in American…
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The Beadle Family Murders – Today in History: December 11
…a Wethersfield merchant gave money for the relief of Boston. In exchange for his goods, Beadle accepted Continental currency, which dropped greatly in value during the war. When Beadle no…
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Washington Didn’t Only Sleep Here: George Washington at Wethersfield’s Webb House
…existed in large part thanks to Washington’s leadership of American troops to victory over that same British military in the war for independence. All of the trips Washington made to…
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Samuel Huntington, the first President of the United States, dies – Today in History: January 5
…the Third Pennamite War (dispute over settlements by Connecticut’s Susquehanna Company in Pennsylvania), the distribution of the lands held in the Western Reserve, the ratification of the United States Constitution,…
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The Minute Man, Westport CT
…centuries who benefited from the nation’s desire for sculptural projects honoring historical figures and heroes of other conflicts after the Civil War. To provide scope, The American Art Annual for…
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World War II
World War II (1941-1945) In 1939, as war dawned in Europe, Connecticut debated. Those dubbed isolationists urged US detachment while internationalists favored a united response to the Axis. As pro-war…
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John Warner Barber’s Engravings Chronicle Connecticut History
…and small-town life in Connecticut and neighboring states. Chronicling Connecticut and New England John Warner Barber’s View in the central part of Westport, CT – John Warner Barber, Connecticut Museum…
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America’s Most Devastating Conflict: King Philip’s War
…to him by the English. His death in 1676 essentially ended King Philip’s War, a violent and bloody conflict between the Wampanoag and English colonists. While most of the fighting…
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Celebrating Civil War Men and Women – Today in History: April 9
Today marks the anniversary of not only one, but two Civil War anniversaries. On April 9th, 1927 the Woman’s Relief Corps (WRC) and Daughters of Union Veterans (DUV) joined together…
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What’s in a Number? Connecticut’s Thirteenth Regiment Goes Off to War
…in New Orleans, the men of the unit quickly found themselves in the middle of a war of words between pro-Southern and pro-Union factions in the city. During these first…
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The Gettysburg Address and Heroic Fathers Bronze Tablets at the State Capitol
…of the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. The first tablet lauded the dedication of “Our Heroic Fathers” who fought in the Civil War, and was designed, purchased, and erected by…
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Sloop-of-War Ship’s Figurehead Lands at State Capitol
…Renee The USS Hartford was a sloop-of-war launched on November 22, 1858, at the Boston Naval Yard. During her commission, she served in many prominent campaigns, most notably as the…
Read Connecticut’s Capitol Building – Inside and Out
…the Republican Party in Connecticut and was elected to be the chairman of the War Committee during the Civil War. Because of his role within the party, he is credited…
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Gideon Welles, US Secretary of the Navy and Lincoln’s “Neptune”
…His development of the Navy into a force that could successfully execute blockades of Southern ports was a key factor in the North’s Civil War victory. Also, he was instrumental…
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Civil War Soldier Dies of Gangrene – Today in History: July 10
On July 10, 1864, Civil War soldier Curtis Bacon of Simsbury died of gangrene from injuries he suffered in combat nearly two months earlier. On May 15, 1864, Bacon’s regiment,…
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War of 1812
…and Stonington garnered increased support for the war. Arms, munitions, and textile manufacturers in the state benefited, as did privateers, by meeting wartime needs. Connecticut also supplied a national hero:…
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Laura Wheeler Waring: Renowned African American Portrait Artist and Educator
By Louisa Talucci Iacurci Marian Anderson painting by Laura Wheeler Waring – National Portrait Gallery Laura Wheeler was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1887. Her father was the pastor of…
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The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, Hartford
…the first permanent triumphal arch erected in the United States and, unlike other war memorials around the state, does not list the names of those individuals who served or died…
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John Rogers was a 19th-Century Sculptor for the Common Man
…enough success to give him the confidence to put his skills on display in New York City (just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War). Sculpting the Civil War…
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Orville Platt Helps Define International Relations after the Spanish-American War
…Assembly where he played an instrumental part in passing a bill that provided voting rights to Connecticut soldiers serving out of state during the Civil War. A Powerful Member of…
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Jack Brutus, Connecticut War Dog – Who Knew?
… that although Jack Brutus’s military status was unofficial, he became the official mascot of Company K of the First Connecticut Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish-American War. Jack Brutus, or…
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New London Harbors a German Submarine During World War I – Who Knew?
…the German navy acquired the Deutschland and converted her into a warship. In her navy tenure, she successfully sank 42 ships. At the war’s end (in November of 1918) Germany…
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The Peace Movement in Litchfield
…founding families of Litchfield. The Civil War Disrupts the Town’s Tranquility The peace of this historic community was shattered with the tumultuous start of the Civil War. Residents’ sentiments varied…
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Bridgeport Women Answer the Call – Today in History: April 15
…Connecticut, and just as quickly, Connecticut’s women mobilized for war. The Ladies’ Soldiers’ Aid Society in Bridgeport initially supported the Sixth Connecticut Regiment, but the needs of the war effort…
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A Patriotic Legacy in Print
…who felt the country had won a “Second War of Independence.” Despite its indecisive conclusion, the war’s outcome was seen as a validation of the freedom the United States had…
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The Old Brownstone Soldier
…part of the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission’s efforts to study and inspire awareness of the American Civil War and Connecticut’s involvement in it. << Previous – Home – Next…
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The Bazooka Changes War – Today in History: June 14
…penetrate the heavy armor of enemy tanks in World War II, and when Army Major General L.H. Campbell Jr. briefed the press, he described the bazooka as “so simple and…
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A Memorial to General Hawley at the State Capitol
…at the paper that Hawley got word of Lincoln’s call to serve in the Union army at the onset of the Civil War. It has been reported that in April…
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Connecticut Servicemen in the “Bloody Bucket” Division
…training in Wales and England. The 28th Infantry Division Enters the War On July 22, 1944, the 28th Division entered the war with a landing on the beaches at Normandy….
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UConn and the Evolution of a Public University
…in World War II, the university’s female students took leadership in campus organizations, but only for the duration of the war. In factories such as the Cheney Silk Mills in…
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Where Mr. Twain and Mrs. Stowe Built Their Dream Houses
…in 1867, merging the two papers. He was a general in the Civil War and a war hero and narrowly won election as governor of Connecticut in 1866. He later…
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Morton Biskind Warned the World About DDT
…enterprise encourages men to invent, create, and improve… – World War II Posters, Office of War Information, National Archives Dr. Morton Biskind In the late 1940s, however, a Westport physician…
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The Vonsiatsky Conspiracy Case
…city of Warsaw (then ruled by Russia). In 1910, a Polish nationalist assassinated his father, an officer in the Russian imperial gendarmerie. As a young man, Vonsiatsky enrolled in a…
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Civil War
Civil War (1861-1865) Some 55,000 Connecticut men served during the Civil War and, of those, roughly 10 percent lost their lives. Those troops were divided into 33 units including separate…
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Connecticut: Home to the Boxcar Children Mysteries – Who Knew?
…that Gertrude Chandler Warner, a lifelong resident of Putnam, Connecticut, authored the popular series The Boxcar Children Mysteries? In 1924, Warner, a first-grade school teacher at the Putnam Grammar School,…
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Apostle of Peace: Elihu Burritt’s Quest for Universal Brotherhood
…the Mexican War in the mid-1840s, the devastating crisis of the Civil War in the 1860s, and the Spanish-American War at the end of the 1890s. In between there was…
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One of the Honored Dead: General J. K. F. Mansfield
…E. Lee. An Engineer in the War with Mexico Major General Joseph King Fenno Mansfield – Courtesy of Middlesex County Historical Society Advancement came slowly in the peacetime army, and…
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The Hartford Convention – Today in History: December 15
…1812, Britain and the United States were at war. The New England states did not support the war. They feared a land invasion and refused to place their militias under…
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A Voice for Veterans: A Civil War era ‘Whistle-Blower’ – Who Knew?
By Diane Hassan for the CTPost.com Almira Ambler, Civil War Nurse – Danbury Museum & Historical Society …that Almira Ambler, wife of the anti-slavery Baptist minister Edward C. Ambler was…
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The Forlorn Soldier
…public history from Central Connecticut State University and as a part of the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission’s efforts to study and inspire awareness of the American Civil War and…
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29th Connecticut Colored Infantry Regiment
…States War Department created the Bureau of Colored Troops to manage the increasing numbers of Black volunteers. Throughout the war, President Abraham Lincoln depended on individual states to recruit regiments…
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Cornelius Bushnell and His Ironclad Ship
…and 1862, the Monitor went on to defeat the Confederate frigate CSS Merrimac in perhaps the most famous naval battle of the Civil War. After the war, Bushnell looked to…
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Connecticut’s “Yankee Watch” Squadron Protects the Skies Here and Abroad
…before moving to Hartford’s Brainard Field in 1923, the Flying Yankees saw action in France during World War I. The 103rd also contributed in World War II by flying submarine…
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Saddles Fit For a Shah
…saddles for both the Union and Confederate armies during the American Civil War and secretly outfitted Cuban revolutionaries during an insurrection against Spain in 1895. But it was World War…
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Postwar United States 1945-1970s
Postwar United States (1945–1970s) Struggles over social, moral, military, and environmental conflicts dominated headlines across the country in the decades following World War II, as Americans took a stand on…
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An Orderly & Decent Government: Significant Events & Developments, 1776-1818
…subject which can engage our attention.” – Governor Oliver Wolcott Jr., 1818 A Second War with Britain The Connecticut ship, Arbula Many in Connecticut opposed the War of 1812 and…
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The Rise and Fall of Silas Deane, American Patriot
…of friendship and alliance. Deane returned to the United States aboard a French warship in July 1778 and learned that he was to report directly to Congress about his actions…
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Wallingford Native Son Signed the Declaration of Independence
Lyman Hall was a doctor, minister, and statesman from Connecticut who traveled throughout the original 13 colonies during the latter half of the 18th century. Hall served in the Second…
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A Willington Visionary Preserves the Nation’s Colonial Past
Jared Sparks was a Unitarian minister, editor, and historian who went on to serve as President of Harvard University in the middle of the 19th century. Perhaps the greatest contribution…
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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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A Remarkable Signature – Who Knew?
….that Roger Sherman, Connecticut merchant, lawyer, and statesman, was the only person to sign all four documents of the American Revolution: the Continental Association of 1774, the Declaration of Independence,…
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The White Pine Acts – Who Knew?
…that cutting down a white pine tree was once a punishable offence. The British Crown instituted the first White Pine Act in Massachusetts in 1691, but extended it to all…
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Nathan Hale: The Man and the Legend
By Nancy Finlay He never lived in the Nathan Hale Homestead. There is no credible proof he ever said, “I only regret that I have but one life to give…
Read Jackson v. Bulloch and the End of Slavery in Connecticut
by Andy Piascik In 1784, as the American Revolution drew to a close, the new government of Connecticut passed the Gradual Abolition Act to address the issue of slavery in…
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Roger Sherman Dies – Today in History: July 23
On July 23, 1793, Roger Sherman—a Connecticut merchant, lawyer, and statesman—died in New Haven. Roger Sherman moved to Connecticut as a young man and applied himself to a number of…
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Derby
…nineteenth century, it produced a wide-variety of goods, including hoopskirts and corsets. Derby is the state’s smallest municipality and is also the birthplace of famous Revolutionary War hero David Humphreys….
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Ansonia
…Ansonia produced copper, brass, rubber, and plastics, among other manufacturing industries. It was the home of the well-known Ansonia Clock Company and the birthplace of Revolutionary War Colonel David Humphreys….
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Brooklyn
…of Prudence Crandall, a schoolteacher charged with the crime of educating black students. Brooklyn was also home to Revolutionary War General Israel Putnam and abolitionist Reverend Samuel May. America’s oldest…
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Danbury
…Revolutionary War, Danbury was a supply depot for the Continental army. The British, led by Major General William Tryon, raided the town in 1777. Nicknamed Beantown early on for the…
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Fairfield
…earliest towns established in the Connecticut Colony by the English in the 1600s, Fairfield was largely a farming community. During the Revolutionary War, a British fleet anchored off Black Rock…
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Glastonbury
…the Revolutionary War, Glastonbury produced gunpowder, and in the eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, Glastonbury was a shipbuilding town. In the 1840s, the J.B. Williams Company opened a commercial soap manufactory…
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Guilford
…escape British attack in the Revolutionary War, Guilford citizens organized a raid on British provisions stored at Sag Harbor, Long Island. Stone quarried from Leete’s Island has been used in…
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Ledyard
…Colonel William Ledyard, a Revolutionary War soldier killed at the Battle of Groton Heights. Predominately a farming community in the 19th century, Ledyard in the 20th century became a bedroom…
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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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Ridgefield
…A battle site during the Revolutionary War, a British cannonball can still be seen in a corner post of Keeler’s Tavern. Today, Ridgefield is home to Weir Farm National Historic…
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East Granby
…part of Simsbury, the town still boasts a storied site from that era: an 18th-century copper mine that became America’s first prison. During the Revolutionary War, its inmates included British…
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Morris
…it was not until 1859 that Morris incorporated and became a separate town from Litchfield. Named for Revolutionary War soldier James Morris, the town had opened its homes during the…
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Norwalk
…During the Revolutionary War British forces under General Tryon nearly destroyed the entire town. By 1880, oyster farming dominated local industry and Norwalk had the largest fleet of steam-powered oyster…
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Putnam
The Windham County town of Putnam is located in the northeast corner of the state and borders on Rhode Island. Its name honors one of Connecticut’s revolutionary war heroes, General…
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Business and Industry
…Provision State” for its aid to the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The 19th century brought mills and factories, manufacturing everything from textiles to edge tools and cars. Now,…
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Osborn Correctional Institution
…to rehabilitation. Prior to 1827, the infamous New-Gate prison site in East Granby had served the state. New-Gate had been in operation since before the Revolutionary War, but as Connecticut’s…
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American Painter John Trumbull Born – Today in History: June 6
…He later returned, becoming the ambassador to London from 1794 to 1804. Trumbull painted historical and Revolutionary War subjects and was commissioned by Congress to paint the four large paintings…
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The Smith Sisters, Their Cows, and Women’s Rights in Glastonbury
…of Abby and Julia Smith and their cows garnered public interest in the civil rights of women. By associating their story with the Boston Tea Party and other Revolutionary War…
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Miss James, First Woman Pharmacist in CT Right in Old Saybrook
…visit with old Revolutionary War friends. Evidence of his purchase seems to be lost and various stories claim that he bought wool stockings, or gloves, or saddle soap. The sign…
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Breaking the Myth of the Unmanaged Landscape
…from native communities’ first contact with Europeans to the present. That history is complicated by episodes of disease, warfare, colonialism, and land loss. But it also offers examples of native…
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Site Lines: Fortresses of Faith, Agents of Change
…in 1830, under the leadership of Reverend Jehiel Beman. Beman, the son of a Revolutionary War soldier and the father of Amos Beman, led the congregation in the antislavery cause….
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A Photographer with a Painter’s Eye: The Story of Nelson Augustus Moore
…in 1864, N.A. & R.A. Moore published The Last Men of the Revolution, illustrated with their photographs of surviving Revolutionary War veterans. Unlike some artists, who abandoned painting for photography,…
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North Stonington’s Randall House, Nothing Ordinary about It
…roasted meats, such as goose and venison, using pre-Revolutionary War recipes and wore period-style clothing to enhance the diners’ experience. Interior, west front room, John Randall House, North Stonington, ca….
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Summer Crowds Flocked to New Canaan and Stayed
…the demographics and the landscape in New Canaan. New Canaan in the 19th Century Hanford Davenport house built circa 1820, New Canaan – National Register of Historic Places Revolutionary war…
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Nathan Hale
Nathan Hale (1755-1776) Nathan Hale was a Connecticut patriot and spy during the Revolutionary War. Born in Coventry in 1755, Hale attended Yale College before becoming a schoolteacher in East…
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The World’s Record for the Largest Muster – Who Knew?
…gathering in Deep River was for a Field Day on May 13, 1879, when musicians came together to honor the history of the fife and drum in America’s Revolutionary War…
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“Gentleman’s Farming” Comes to Waterford
…history. Walnut Grove began as the estate of William North, a resident of New York City who served as aide-de-camp to Baron von Steuben during the Revolutionary War. The estate…
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William Pinney Does It All for Ellington
…Pinney, born in Ellington on December 21, 1865, was the great grandson of an Ellington soldier famous for fighting the Hessians during the Revolutionary War. A member of the 7th…
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John Trumbull
…in 1756, Trumbull was the son of Connecticut governor Jonathan Trumbull and graduated from Harvard College in 1773 before briefly serving as George Washington’s aide-de-camp during the Revolutionary War. In…
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Eli Terry
…sophisticated brass-geared clocks for sale overseas, Eli Terry helped make the area later renamed Terryville the leading clock-making center in the United States by the time of the Revolutionary War….
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Yale University Art Gallery – Today in History: October 25
…paintings included everything from The Battle of Bunker’s Hill to miniature portraits of persons distinguished during the Revolutionary War including Oliver Ellsworth and John Adams. Trumbull agreed to give his…
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The Scoville Memorial Library
…Christians to promote and encourage Christianity and its morals and values in their community, and Smith purchased books with this in mind. When the Revolutionary War broke out, Smith remained…
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Hidden Nearby: John Brown’s Torrington Birthplace
…military spirit from his namesake grandfather, a Revolutionary War officer. His religious fervor was likely acquired from his maternal grandfather, a preacher. The combination of these traits would set Brown…
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The Adventure of a Lifetime: John Ledyard and Captain Cook’s Last Voyage
By Ben Gammell In 1783, as Americans adjusted to peace time following the Revolutionary War, a young man’s incredible adventure story was published in Hartford. John Ledyard’s Journal of Captain…
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Echoes of the Old World: The Architectural Legacy of Ithiel Town
…are also to be found in Town’s work. His monument in Groton, commemorating the Revolutionary War Battle of Groton Heights, is a massive obelisk, evocative of Egypt and Renaissance Rome….
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Timothy Dwight Provides Religious, Military, and Educational Services for a Young Country
…new American nation. Dwight became a minister and, when the Revolutionary War broke out, Congress appointed him chaplain to General Parsons’s First Connecticut Brigade. It was at this time that…
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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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New Canaan
…and northeastern Stamford, and in 1801 the town was incorporated. Primarily an agricultural community until the Revolutionary War, New Canaan shifted to shoe making as its major industry in the…
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Groton
…1954 launch of the USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine. Key attractions include Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park (a Revolutionary War site) and the Submarine Force Library & Museum….
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Lisbon
…the first railroad tunnel built in the US. Lisbon notables include Ebenezer Tracy, a Revolutionary War-era craftsman known for his Windsor chairs that are today prized by museums and collectors….
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Newtown
…stronghold for Tory sentiment during the Revolutionary War. Although primarily a farming community, Newtown saw local industry flourish in the 19th century and factories in town produced various items including…
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Wilton
…separate township from Norwalk. In 1777 the Revolutionary War made its mark on the town when the British set fire to several homes after they retreated from their raid on…
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Watertown
…century, the Watertown Manufacturing Company, which produced plastic shatterproof dinnerware, and the Princeton Knitting Mills that produced the first high-nap imitation fur. John Trumbull, Revolutionary War poet, lawyer, and judge,…
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Trumbull
…Stratford, Trumbull was incorporated in 1797 and took as its namesake the Revolutionary War Governor Jonathan Trumbull. Throughout the 1800s, farming and light industry provided the town’s livelihood, but by…
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Silas Brooks, Balloonist
…the balloon exploded in mid-air, “being converted into a pyramid of Flame at its greatest Height” that became “a grand and pleasing object to the spectators.” Following the Revolutionary War,…
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Early Civil Rights and Cultural Pioneers: The Easton Family
…moved the family to Eastern Massachusetts and worked actively in the early movement for black freedom. James was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and possessed Native American (Wampanoag)…
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The Litchfield Law School: Connecticut’s First Law School
…James Gould) with performances on weekly informal tests and moot court sessions. Litchfield Expands James Gould – Litchfield Historical Society After the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783, both…
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The Storied History behind Connecticut’s Nicknames
…Provisions State Another early moniker originated during the Revolutionary War when Connecticut provided generous “provisions” in the form of men, food, cannons, and other supplies to the Continental army, which…
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Brass City/Grass Roots: The Persistence of Farming in Waterbury, Connecticut
…place both as a type of work and a way of life in which whole families have been involved. Farming did not disappear after the Revolutionary War or when the…
Read Brass City/Grass Roots: The Pierponts of East Farms
…other parts of the exhibit. “Farming isn’t a job. It’s a way of life.” —Bill Pierpont Revolutionary War veteran Ezra Pierpont came to Waterbury’s East Farms district, eventually splitting…
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Linonian and Brothers in Unity: The Societies that Built Yale University’s Library
…during the Revolutionary War. Linonian and Brothers in Unity Donate to Yale Library Yale’s Sterling Library’s L&B Room – Wikimedia Commons, Jaredjonker Before the Civil War, when so few libraries…
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Early Anti-slavery Advocates in 18th-century Connecticut
By Peter P. Hinks Advertisement for a runaway slave, 1753 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Illustrated The American Revolution espoused great democratic ideals: liberty, equality, freedom for self,…
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Vietnam War
Vietnam War (1956 to 1975) The Vietnam era was as divisive in Connecticut as it was in the rest of the United States. Over 600 Connecticut servicemen lost their lives…
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Civil War and Reconstruction 1850-1877
Civil War and Reconstruction (1850–1877) The mid-nineteenth century was a period of massive upheaval in America. The country’s battles over race, slavery, and state’s rights ultimately degenerated into Civil War….
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Laboring in the Shade
…moved to sorting sheds and warehouses, where processing continues throughout the rest of the year. World War I Diversifies Tobacco Workforce Until the advent of World War I, Hartford-area whites,…
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Health Department Fights Unseen Enemies During World War I
By Karen Frederick and Anne Young In the years after World War I broke out in Europe, Greenwich, like the rest of the United States, faced the menace of two…
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The Colvocoresses Oak
…George graduated in 1831. The elder Colvocoresses enjoyed a distinguished career in the United States Navy, achieving some fame for his exploits on blockading duty during the Civil War. While…
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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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Gideon Welles Appointed Lincoln’s Secretary of the Navy – Today in History: March 7
…War – National Archives, Pictures of the Civil War On March 7, 1861 Gideon Welles was officially appointed into Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet as Secretary of the Navy. Welles was born…
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Vietnam Veterans Against the War – Today in History: April 19
Vietnam Veterans Against the War – Operation Dewey Canyon III On April 19, 1971, Vietnam veterans groups from Hartford, New Haven, and Stamford joined demonstrations in Washington, DC. Calling for…
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Collections: Battle Flags
…the Second Congress, First Session, they instructed all states to create a state and regimental flag as the “legislature of the respective states directed.” During the Civil War Connecticut units…
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A Woman Who Developed Tolerance: Leila T. Alexander
On Saturday, November 18, 1944, at noon after the meeting of the Connecticut War Council in the Senate Chambers of the State Capitol, Governor Raymond E. Baldwin, Jr. awarded certificates…
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Alfred Howe Terry Born in Hartford – Today in History: November 10
…and Photographs Division, Brady-Handy Photograph Collection At the outbreak of the Civil War, Terry was appointed Colonel of the 2nd Connecticut Infantry Regiment. He fought in the first battle of…
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The Early Years of the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company
…the Pratt & Whitney manufacturing process. Pratt & Whitney engineers continued to innovate, increasing the power of their engine designs throughout the war years. By the end of the war,…
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Army-Navy “E” Award Honors Connecticut for Support Against the Axis Powers
By Sharon L. Cohen During World War II, the US military bestowed the top five percent of United States war plants with the Army-Navy Excellence in Production (“E”) Award for…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Searching for the Common Good, 1776-1818
…than a thousand times in the “war office” in Lebanon to direct the war effort. Connecticut’s repeated contributions of provisions and foodstuffs to the Revolutionary cause earned it the nickname…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: A New State, A New Constitution, 1776-1818
…remained in the hands of the same political and religious elite that had governed Connecticut for decades. The General Assembly emerged from the war a far stronger institution. The great…
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Airborne Pioneers: Connecticut Takes Flight
…The focus of commercial air travel in post-war Connecticut was Windsor Locks’ Bradley Field, an active Army air base during the war that was turned over to state ownership in…
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World War I
World War I (1917-1918) When the United States entered Europe’s Great War in 1917, Connecticut manufacturers provided the military with munitions, clothing, and other goods. From Manchester silk and Waterbury…
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Great Depression and World War II 1929-1945
Great Depression and World War II (1929–1945) Governor Wilbur Cross helped navigate Connecticut’s course through the Great Depression. After a devastating collapse in the stock market that led to massive…
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The Welcoming Warmth of Kent’s Seven Hearths
…the hearth is universal in its meaning: comfort, warmth, and welcome. When John Beebe Jr. created seven of them in Flanders, keeping warm posed a significant challenge during the winter…
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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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Reporting News of Pearl Harbor – Today in History: December 7
…and Italy declared war on the United States. The United States was now at war on two fronts. “History in the Headlines” transcript, December 7, 1941 – Andre Schenker Papers,…
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Defending Connecticut: Fortifying New London Against the British in 1812
…Great Britain on June 18, 1812. That summer, as the war got underway, Secretary of War William Eustis wrote to Captain C. D. Wood in New London, Connecticut: Sir, You…
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Electric Boat: From Innovation Trials to WWII Submarine Leadership
…on becoming an industry leader. Electric Boat began building submarines during World War I. It was the decade between the Cuttlefish launch in 1934 and the end of World War…
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Commemorating the USS Hartford at the Connecticut State Capitol
By Eric Cruanes The Connecticut State Capitol building is home to many artifacts of the Civil War, each one a reminder of the honor and sacrifice of those who fought….
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Hartford’s Nook Farm
…the winding Park River. The men built their homes and parceled out land to family members and friends. What evolved in the years after the Civil War was Nook Farm,…
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The “Red Scare” in Connecticut
…the First World War (ironically, some of those arrested were war veterans themselves). Postmaster General Albert Burleson attempted to clarify the laws’ purpose: “For instance, papers may not say that…
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Emmeline Pankhurst’s “Freedom or Death” Speech Energizes Connecticut Women in 1913
…left the field of battle in order to explain . . . what civil war is like when civil war is waged by women.” The Guardian named her 90-minute “Freedom…
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Charles Stratton and Lavinia Warren Wed – Today in History: February 10
…Grace Episcopal Church in New York City, Charles Stratton of Bridgeport married Lavinia Warren of Middleboro, Massachusetts. The cover of Harper’s Weekly showed Mr. Stratton in a formal morning coat…
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The Industrial Might of Connecticut Pegmatite
…in vacuum tubes, capacitors, and other electronic devices. During World War II muscovite was extremely important to the war effort, and many of the pegmatite mines in Connecticut were prospected…
Read Charles Stratton and Lavinia Warren Wed – Today in History: February 10
…Grace Episcopal Church in New York City, Charles Stratton of Bridgeport married Lavinia Warren of Middleboro, Massachusetts. The cover of Harper’s Weekly showed Mr. Stratton in a formal morning coat…
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Connecticut’s French Connections
…on the northern frontier and took part in attempts to invade Canada in 1690 and again in 1709, during Queen Anne’s War. During King George’s War in 1745, eight Connecticut…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Crisis and Recovery, 1929-1964
…limited government, and one-party rule were gone forever. World War II brought a cascade of war orders into Connecticut and ended the Great Depression. Women found their lives transformed by…
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Road Signs of the Air
…“roofs of factories, lumber sheds, garages, warehouses, state armories, freight stations and other buildings advantageously located.” Bridgeport had 7 markings, Meriden had 6, and Hartford had 5. None were painted…
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Portland’s Guy Hedlund: Actor and Activist
…only a $5 stake in return, Hedlund pleaded with Koppleman to do everything in his power to keep the US out of the war. By the war’s end, Hedlund lived…
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Roger Griswold: A Governor Not Afraid To Challenge Authority
…the spring of 1812, Griswold’s administration faced the difficult task of charting Connecticut’s course through the political debates surrounding war with Great Britain. Griswold personally opposed the war and refused…
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Early 20th-Century Immigration in Connecticut
…work dropped off significantly in the 1930s, women often joined men in the factories. World War I and Great Depression Breed Anti-Immigrant Sentiments By the start of World War I,…
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A Day of Celebration – Today in History: September 17
…of Connecticut’s Civil War veterans. In early 1879 officials decided that Connecticut’s Civil War battle flags would be transferred from the State Arsenal into cabinets in the new State Capitol…
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A Soldier’s Welcome
…the Civil War generation. The Forlorn Soldier, now protected from the elements, joined other relics commemorating the Civil War. These artifacts include a statue of Civil War Governor William Buckingham…
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Connecticut Residents Did Not Let Veterans Day “Go Commercial.”
…contributions of veterans from World War II and Korea, as well as World War I. Veterans Day always fell on November 11, until 1968, when President Johnson signed the Uniform…
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Rosamond Danielson: Windham County Suffragist and Community Leader
…contributing to other state and regional activism. War Work and Philanthropy Connecticut State Council of Defense during World War I – Connecticut State Library, Dudley Photograph Collection, Connecticut History Illustrated…
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DN-1: The US Navy’s First Airship
…German cartoon of a zeppelin over London with a panicked crowd below. Source: H. Pearl Adam, International Cartoons of the War (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1916), n.p.,…
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Ruth Hovey: Heroic Battlefield Nurse
By Emily Clark During the Great War, heroes could be found on the battlefields and in the trenches across Europe, fighting to protect freedom in one of the deadliest conflicts…
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The Forlorn Soldier Conservation Ceremony, July 2013
…There it stood amidst an industrial, urban backdrop. On July 19, 2013, the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission held a ceremony to honor another relocation of the statue. Before being…
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Joseph Alsop: Cunning Political Columnist of Mid-Century America
…Photo taken at the Wood Ford Farm at 27 Nod Road in Avon the weekend before Joseph Alsop left to serve in World War II. Left-right: John, Corrine, Stewart &…
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Mary Townsend Seymour: Hartford’s Organizer, Activist, and Suffragist
…war was not limited to the newspaper; she also joined the Red Cross and helped form a local chapter of The Circle for Negro War Relief in 1918 which helped…
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Hebron’s Josephine Sophia (White) Griffing and a Vision for Post-Emancipation America
…not end with emancipation. Even before the Civil War, a number of Northern female abolitionists formed aid societies to educate and provide personal support to formerly enslaved people. These organizations…
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Powder Hollow in Hazardville – Who Knew?
…that 40% of all the gunpowder consumed in the Civil War came from Powder Hollow in Hazardville (a part of Enfield, Connecticut). Not only that, but during the attack on…
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The First Battle of Bull Run: Connecticut Troops Stand Firm When the Battle Turns Against Them
…American Civil War, involving over 50,000 participants on both sides, and was a military fiasco for the North. The State of Connecticut did not suffer terribly on this particular field,…
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Leroy Anderson Composed Iconic Music in Woodbury
…utilizing his language skills as a translator and interpreter for the US Counter Intelligence Corps in Iceland during World War II. In all, Anderson spoke ten languages and his abilities…
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The 29th First to Enter Confederate Capital When It Surrenders – Today in History: April 3
…as part of a semester-long graduate student project at Central Connecticut State University that examined Civil War monuments and their histories in and around the State Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut….
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Reading, Writing, and the Great Outdoors: Frederick Gunn’s School Transforms Victorian-era Education
…(center) Girls’ camp, Milford, 1863 – The Gunnery Archive Camping at Point Beautiful on Lake Waramaug, New Preston, ca. 1870s – The Gunnery Archive The success of the Civil War…
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Emergence of Modern America 1890-1930
Emergence of Modern America (1890–1930) The arrival of the 20th century accompanied revolutionary change in America. The conclusion of a successful war with Spain brought controversial new territories such as…
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Henry Ward Beecher Born – Today in History: June 24
On June 24, 1813, Henry Ward Beecher was born in Litchfield. The Beechers were already well-known because Lyman Beecher, Henry’s father, was a nationally renowned clergyman, and Henry, too, became…
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A Hip Road Trip
…the turnpike after World War II. As the major thoroughfare from Boston to New Haven, by 1947 the turnpike saw on average about 11,000 cars daily. By 1953, that number…
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Monumental Bronze Company
…make gun mounts and munitions for World War I and the firm never produced another grave marker. After the war, Monumental Bronze executives realized that public demand had significantly shifted…
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The First US Can Opener – Today in History: January 5
…with a saw-like action, which, unfortunately, left quite a jagged edge. Though never a big hit with the public, Warner’s can opener served the US Army during the Civil War…
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Joseph Hopkins Twichell: Asylum Hill’s Religious Leader and Mark Twain’s Closest Friend
…and studied for the ministry before seeking greater adventure and becoming a chaplain for a Civil War regiment. He eventually became the pastor of Asylum Hill Congregational Church in Hartford;…
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Middletown’s Beman Triangle: A Testament to Black Freedom and Resilience
…neighborhood. Although African Americans bought property and formed neighborhoods throughout the pre-Civil War North, some as close to Middletown as Little Liberia in Bridgeport and Jail Hill in Norwich, the…
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Kensington Soldiers Monument Dedicated – Today in History: July 28
…Civil War Monument in US As 2013 and the monument’s 150th anniversary approached, the Kensington Congregational Church, which owns and cares for the memorial, joined with the Connecticut Civil War…
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The Legend of Old Hayfoot, the Forlorn Soldier
…of the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission’s efforts to study and inspire awareness of the American Civil War and Connecticut’s involvement in it. << Previous – Home – Next >>…
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Henry Deming: Mayor of Hartford and New Orleans
…War, as colonel of the Twelfth Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers. The Twelfth Regiment served as part of a force of 15,000 troops under the command of General Benjamin F. Butler…
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Benjamin Spock: Raising the World’s Children
…a Sane Nuclear Policy. He was an early opponent of the Vietnam War and a featured speaker at anti-war demonstrations beginning in 1967. In 1968, he and four other activists…
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Cromwell’s Iron Men Made Toys for Boys and Girls
…local competitors, found their way to store shelves all over the country by the start of the Second World War. World War II production needs, however, created an iron shortage…
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Illuminating Connecticut’s Past: The Bradley & Hubbard Legacy
…the United States entered World War II, prompting the Parker Company to focus on the war effort. The intensification of the conflict diverted most metal production to war-related goods, leaving…
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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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From the State Historian: Connecticut’s Slow Steps Toward Emancipation
…War emancipation were mixed: While Connecticut Republican Governor William Buckingham personally traveled to Washington to urge President Lincoln to emancipate enslaved people months before Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, other…
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Did You Know a Connecticut Governor Was a US Spy?
…McConaughy’s rhetoric in the first gubernatorial campaign of the post-war era also highlighted the start of the Cold War in its emphasis on the threat from communism. In his acceptance…
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Connecticut Daredevil Andrew Mamedoff Joins Royal Air Force
…the first Americans to join England’s Royal Air Force. From Airshows to World War II Fighter Pilot Born in Warsaw, Russian Empire (today, Poland) in 1912, Mamedoff grew up in…
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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…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Searching for the Common Good, 1819-1865
…the repression of immigrants. Repeatedly, the Assembly had to elect a governor by joint ballot when no candidate in the multi-party statewide election won a majority. Civil War soldiers mustering…
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Anna Elizabeth Dickinson at Touro Hall – Today in History: March 24
…in support of the reelection campaign of wartime governor William A. Buckingham. As a woman, Dickinson did not have the right to vote, yet she was allowed to use her…
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Lion Gardiner Helps to Fortify Early Old Saybrook
…for parts of what would become modern-day Old Saybrook. Birth of a Colony In 1631, the Earl of Warwick, who was president of the Council for New England, signed a…
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Battle of Goshen Point
…small gunboat fleet over a larger and more powerful British force. During the War of 1812, the United States relied heavily on gunboats to protect its shores. Gunboats usually measured…
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Colonel Ruth A. Lucas: Literary Advocate
…the Tuskegee Institute and graduated in 1942 with a degree in education. In July of 1942, during the middle of World War II, Lucas joined the newly formed Women’s Army…
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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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Ivory Cutting: The Rise and Decline of a Connecticut Industry
…prior to the Civil War, these men moved into that field. Their firms, however, were generally underfinanced, which limited production. Yet, what occurred in 1862 and 1863 made Deep River…
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The Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918
…with pigs a likely intermediary. The pandemic coincided with another devastating event: the Great War, more commonly known today as World War I. During the late winter and spring of…
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The Slaters Go Round the World
…to serve as a convoy escort during World War I and conveyed relief supplies after the war. She participated in at least one dramatic rescue during the war and remained…
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The Steady Evolution of a Connecticut Family Business
…he was elected to the Connecticut legislature. He served on a committee to raise troops when the Civil War began in 1861. The younger Toy obtained a captain’s commission in…
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The Prospect Green as a Historical Narrative
…of 2000, the Prospect Green Historic District contains 16 buildings, sites, and objects that include churches as well as a police station, volunteer fire station, grange, and Civil War monument….
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Metal Homes for the Atomic Age
By Stacey Vairo for Connecticut Explored A visitor to Connecticut’s suburbs can count on seeing an assortment of typical post-war houses in styles such as the ubiquitous Ranch or ever-present…
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Eighty-Five Hundred Souls: the 1918-1919 Flu Epidemic in Connecticut
…the disease, which was further facilitated by the movements of soldiers. World War I Hastens Spread of the Disease Ward 83, American Red Cross Military Hospital Number 1, ca. 1918….
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Constance Baker Motley: A Warrior for Justice
By Andy Piascik The cover photo of Equal Justice Under Law, Constance Baker Motley’s 1998 autobiography, captures Motley, James Meredith, and Medgar Evers exiting a federal courthouse in New Orleans….
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Bradley International Airport Transforms Windsor Locks into Regional Gateway
…area for overseas deployment and, toward the end of the war, as a camp for German prisoners of war. The field was deactivated in 1945 and returned to state ownership…
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Charles Grandison Finney Spreads Revivalism and Education throughout the Mississippi Valley
Charles Grandison Finney was a revivalist preacher and educator born in Warren on August 27, 1792. He was the seventh child of Josiah Finney and Sarah Curtiss—two of Warren’s earliest…
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Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch – Today in History: September 17
…War. The life-sized terra cotta frieze depicts scenes of war on the north side and scenes of peace on the south. On the south frieze, Hartford is represented by the…
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Charles Ritchel and the Dirigible
…during the war and pioneered the use of the inflatable life raft. After World War I, however, the company was unable to find new peacetime customers. In 1921, it was…
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Oldest Cavalry Unit – Who Knew?
…to such notables as George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and William Tecumseh Sherman. The unit’s duties, however, have not been limited to official state ceremonies. During the Civil War, the unit…
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The Hartford Convention or Leap no Leap
…December of 1814. Historical Background The Hartford Convention, as it came to be known, met during the War of 1812 in reaction to the rise to power of the rival…
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Reverend James Pennington: A Voice for Freedom
…eventually received more than 10 offers from white ministers to preach from their pulpits. New York and the War Years Three years later, in 1847, the First Colored Presbyterian Church…
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Spring Training Baseball Comes to Wallingford
…donated all of the revenue they generated while in Wallingford to the Red Cross war effort. After the war and the lifting of travel restrictions in the US, baseball readily…
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Hammonasset State Park Serves the State and its Residents
…from treaties and transactions to the fallout of war and disease, brought the land increasingly into European hands. From Firing Range to Public Beach The area around Hammonasset served a…
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Boone Guyton Tested the Limits of World-Famous Aircraft
…serving on board the aircraft carriers Saratoga and Lexington prior to World War II. After completing his naval training, Guyton accepted a position with a commercial airline but United Aircraft,…
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Waterbury’s Radium Girls
By Nicole Fontaine The Waterbury Clock Company experienced an increased demand for watches after the First World War, and to turn a profit, they hired women at low wages to…
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Samuel Colt: From Yankee Peddler to American Tycoon
…sustain his business, Colt had to fold his company in September of 1842, leaving him in debt. A War with Mexico Renews Demand The outbreak of the war with Mexico,…
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Papier-Mache Clocks – Who Knew?
…that the William L. Gilbert Clock Corporation of Winsted was one of the few clock-making firms in Connecticut allowed to continue the manufacture of clocks during World War II. Why?…
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The Great Remedy: Picturing the Emancipation Proclamation
…Civil War. While the war would drag on for two more years and it would be another century before African-Americans achieved full equality under the law, the Emancipation Proclamation was,…
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Southbury Takes On the Nazis
In the late 1930s, in an attempt to avoid a second world war, countries around the globe worked to curb increasingly hostile Nazi aggression through policies of appeasement. The United…
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Hometown Hero: Wallingford Remembers Stanley Budleski
…Historical Society. Gift of Mary Jane Dapkus. Yalesville Memorializes World War II Pilot Growing up, Stanley—known as “Bing” to his friends—was fascinated by airplanes, and he became an airplane mechanic…
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Connecticut Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home
…Civil War. Closed in 1875 and sold soon after, the former orphanage became the site of Storrs Agricultural School (now the University of Connecticut) in 1881. According to university historian…
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Freighter Worcester Launched – Today in History: April 5
…The freighter was built at the Groton Iron Works in support of the war effort for the Emergency Fleet Corporation of the United States Shipping Board. Groton Iron Works, formed…
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Sanitary Fair – Today in History: July 25
On July 25, 1864, the Stamford Ladies Soldiers’ Aid Society held a Sanitary Fair. Sanitary Fairs were established in response to the needs of Civil War soldiers beyond what the…
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Connecticut 29th Mustered into Service – Today in History: March 8
…regiment, the Connecticut Twenty-Ninth (Colored) Regiment, C.V. Infantry, mustered into service to fight for the Union’s cause in the Civil War. The United States government allowed African American soldiers to…
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The Stonington Battle Flag
…Ghent in December 1814, ending the war. The flag remained in the care of Francis Amy, orderly sergeant of the 8th Company, until his death in 1863. The flag then…
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D-Day – Today in History: June 6
…warned in the first bulletins that the news could be German propaganda. Not until 3:32 am did General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s London headquarters issue a statement confirming that the invasion,…
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Modernism in Connecticut through Photographs
…architecture that reflected a new way of living. After World War II thousands of veterans returned home. With a growing economy, need for affordable housing, and a desire for a…
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The Language of the Unheard: Racial Unrest in 20th-Century Hartford
…conditions that, some warned, were bound to spark uprisings. Black families lived in the “worst housing conditions in the country,” according to a 1908 report. Child mortality was almost three…
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Timeline: Settlement of the Colony of Connecticut
1614 Dutch explorer Adriaen Block sails along the Connecticut coastline and up the Connecticut River. 1631 The Earl of Warwick signs the “Warwick Patent,” a deed of conveyance granting land…
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Forlorn Soldier Oral History Interviews
…the monument for over a century, Matthew Warshauer, co-chair of the Civil War Commemoration Commission, and Francis Miller, proprietor of ConservArt, the company contracted to preserve and relocate the statue….
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The USS Nautilus: The World’s First Nuclear Submarine
…of this revolutionary vessel. The building of the Nautilus helped Groton sustain its title of “Submarine Capital of the World.” Launching the World’s First Nuclear Submarine On January 21, 1954,…
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The Revolving Gun – Today in History: February 25
…be fired multiple times without reloading. Committed to his revolutionary idea but lacking the funds to patent and produce it, young Sam Colt had tried to raise money touring Canada…
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Hooker’s Journey to Hartford
…made a revolutionary statement and declared that this colony would not be governed by kings but by colonists. “The foundation of authority is laid, firstly, in the free consent of…
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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…
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Noah Webster and the Dream of a Common Language
…blend of revolutionary spirit and Old World traditionalism, and he played a critical cultural role in defining America’s national identity. On his paternal side, Webster’s great-great-grandfather, John Webster, had journeyed…
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Amelia Simmons Adds a Uniquely American Flavor to Cooking
…of leavening agents believed to be the precursors to modern baking powders. This revolutionary practice avoided the need to beat air into the dough or add yeast. Additionally, Simmons’s recipe…
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Clarence Dickinson Carries Printing Innovation into the 20th Century
…among his possessions at his Main Street home was a framed print of his revolutionary 1908 Mary Garden lithograph. Dickinson passed away May 28, 1960, at the age of 84….
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Connecticut and American Impressionism
…in the aftermath of the Civil War, when an intense longing for order and stability led artists to favor quiet, peaceful views over awesome wilderness vistas. Connecticut, with its longtime…
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Family Ties Bring Together North Branford Industry
…celebrated families, the Maltbys and the Fowlers. In the 19th century, Northford’s Fowler family were inventors and machinists. They designed a wide variety of revolutionary industrial products including a press…
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The Pike Family Lived a Life of Dyeing
…his father to make chemicals at the Sterling Manufacturing Company. What his father did for the production of white cloth James soon did for black, developing a revolutionary process that…
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Sarah Pierce’s Litchfield Female Academy
…1803, sat at a site on North Street indicated today by a stone marker. Here Pierce introduced young women to her revolutionary ideas about education—namely, that girls should be taught…
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“Free Bobby, Free Ericka”: The New Haven Black Panther Trials
By Tasha Caswell In 1969, New Haven, Connecticut, attracted national attention when Black Panther Alex Rackley was killed by fellow Panthers Warren Kimbro, Lonnie McLucas, and George Sams Jr. after…
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Typing History
…of the 20th century, demand for typewriters soared and Connecticut became an important manufacturing center for this revolutionary new business machine. Underwood Typewriters (with its factory in New Jersey) first…
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Theodate Pope Riddle: Connecticut’s Pioneering Woman Architect
…of age in the late 19th century, this was revolutionary. Effie “Theodate” Pope was born in Ohio in 1867. Her father, Alfred Pope, was a self-made millionaire and a serious…
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Charles Goodyear’s Machine for Making Rubber Fabrics
…process, Charles Goodyear never profited from the revolutionary changes he brought to the rubber industry. Goodyear spent years battling expensive patent-infringement cases, here and abroad, and died heavily encumbered by…
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Danbury Hangings: The Executions of Anthony and Amos
…the death of a convicted black rapist. Reports of black-on-white rapes in post-Revolutionary America often focused on the “ruined innocence” of white women. This not only fueled the “myth of…
Read Expansion and Reform 1801-1861
Expansion and Reform (1801–1861) The early 19th century witnessed America struggling to forge a post-revolutionary identity. Having come off success in its battle for independence, the explosive growth of cotton…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Searching for the Common Good, 1634-1776
…banned traveling preachers and even deported one. Revolutionary Voices “Bare naked power is an awful thing and very unamiable to a people that have been used to be free.” –…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Making Self-Government Work, 1866-1887
…the state constitution. African Americans were about 2 percent of the state’s population in the 1870s. Invoking the Revolutionary theme of “taxation without representation,” the Smith sisters of Glastonbury refused…
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Venture Smith, from Slavery to Freedom
…and trade that extended not just to England but also to the West Indies and West Africa. His story is a reminder that alongside the war over political principles and…
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Past Perfect: Wallace Nutting Invents an Ideal Olde New England
…Nutting’s rise to national prominence is an unlikely narrative and one that the minister put to good use as he marketed his personality. Left fatherless by the Civil War, Nutting…
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The Ghost Ship of New Haven Sets Sail Shrouded in Mystery
…of Europeans to settle permanently in Connecticut. In fact, the tale of the Ghost Ship is one of dozens of its type from the pre-Revolutionary era. In such tales one…
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LGBTQ+ Mental Health Treatment in the 20th Century
…hospitals such as The Institute of Living also implemented LGBTQ+ treatment programs to cater to the unique needs of the community. While there have been revolutionary advances in the treatment…
Read![[[File:Members of Girl Scout Troop -2019 of Portland, Connecticut, Presenting a Bicentennial Quilt They Made to Milt Mitler on the North Lawn of the White House - NARA - 30805973.jpg|Members of Girl Scout Troop -2019 of Portland, Connecticut, Presenting a Bicentennial Quilt They Made to Milt Mitler on the North Lawn of the White House - NARA - 30805973]]](https://connecticuthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/07/1024px-thumbnail.jpg)
Call for 250 Content
…States’ Semiquincentennial (250th) anniversary. Proposed content does not need to be strictly about the American Revolutionary period, but should consider how its questions of freedom, representative democracy, and societal change…
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Homer D. Babbidge, Leader in Education
…“ten outstanding young men of the nation” in recognition of his work administering the National Defense Education Act of 1958. The NDEA reacted to Cold War fears of Soviet ascendancy…
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Hidden Nearby: Camp Columbia State Park in Morris
…In the years prior to World War I, a boathouse was built on Bantam Lake. Future expansion was halted by the coming of war, and in 1917, officers’ training for…
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James Lindsey Smith Takes the Underground Railroad to Connecticut
Last Updated: May 2, 2024 By Nancy Finlay In the years before the Civil War, the Underground Railroad enabled thousands of Americans of African descent to escape from slavery. In…
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The Importance of Being Puritan: Church and State in Colonial Connecticut
…population—adult male householders and landowners—was qualified to vote. Connecticut Feels the Effects of the English Civil War Increasing conflict back in England between Charles I and his Puritan subjects marked…
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Sloan Wilson, the Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, is Born – Today in History: May 8
…set in Westport, Connecticut, examines the life of a returning World War II veteran in post-war suburbia and his subsequent angst-ridden struggle to maintain his family’s upper-middle-class lifestyle. Many consider…
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Connecticut Pocketknife Firms
…tariffs led to a drastic decline in European imports, which all but ceased during World War I. Before the conflict, tariffs encouraged skilled Europeans to migrate to America, but the…
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The Connecticut Poll Tax
…Connecticut and New Haven colonial governments, stipulated that “all charges of the war be born by the poll.” Although no war ensued, Massachusetts enacted a law in 1646, which included…
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Preserving an All-American Downtown in Torrington
…Arts Center. Perhaps the most famous preservation project in Torrington is the Warner Theater. Built as a movie palace by Warner Brothers Studios in 1931, and capable of seating 1,700…
Read Brass City/Grass Roots: Struggles and Decline
…and other farmers before World War II, it began to work against them in the post-War era. Increased efficiency of production meant, paradoxically, overproduction leading to lower prices for farm…
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A Shipping and Railroad Magnate Remembers His Connecticut Roots
…throughout the South, Morgan’s vessels faced harassment and seizure by both Union and Confederate forces during the Civil War, but he still managed to turn a profit from lucrative wartime…
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Gerald MacGuire and the Plot to Overthrow Franklin Roosevelt
…Legion’s Connecticut commander. MacGuire was born in Rhode Island on May 10, 1897, served in the First World War, settled in Darien, and worked at a prominent Wall Street brokerage…
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Hartford’s Anna Sokolow, Modern Dance Pioneer
…Her contemporaries inspired and challenged her and Sokolow explored serious themes in Strange American Funeral, Inquisition ’36, Anti-War Trilogy and Excerpts From a War Poem in a series of critically…
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WDRC AM/FM – Connecticut’s Oldest Commercial Radio Station
…on these developments, unregulated amateur and experimental broadcasts commenced until a ban during World War I. Recognizing a need for regulation after the war, the US Department of Commerce issued…
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John Brown Born – Today in History: May 9
On May 9, 1800, the man who became a catalyst for the Civil War was born in an 18th-century saltbox house in Torrington. John Brown, who would spend most of…
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Danbury Prison Protest – Today in History: August 11
…1940 the Federal Correctional Institution, also known as the Danbury prison, became a site of political protest. During World War II, the prison was one of several facilities nationwide to…
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Franklin’s Ashbel Woodward was a Battlefield Surgeon and Historian
…he purchased property from the estate of Dr. Reuben Burgess, where Woodward lived for the remainder of his life. Civil War Service and Civic Spirit For the better part of…
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The Platt Amendment – Today in History: June 12
On June 12, 1901, the Cuban Constitutional Convention agreed to the terms of the Platt Amendment. Drafted by United States Secretary of War, Elihu Root, the Platt Amendment was a…
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Helen F. Boyd Leads the Charge for Better Public Health
…forces during World War I. Boyd claimed: The battle to keep up the highest standard of public health must not be delayed for one moment. There must be women to…
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Hartford’s Challenge to “The Birth of a Nation”
By Steve Thornton Can a movie change history? The Birth of a Nation did. The original 1915 film fomented racial bigotry and consciously distorted the history of the post-Civil War…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Significant Events & Developments, 1905-1929
…on to Washington. War in Europe greatly stimulated the Connecticut economy as contracts from the European combatants flooded into the state’s brass industry and arms makers. American entry in the…
Read Chief G’tinemong/Ralph W. Sturges
…in administration and criminology. That training prompted his service as a security and intelligence officer for the United States Government during the Second World War. After the war, he worked…
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Maritime History: The Founding of the United States Coast Guard Academy
…the aftermath of World War II, the United States claimed the vessel as a war reparation and brought it to Connecticut where it remains in use today. In addition to…
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Norwich’s “Volcanic” Past
…Company, and the Norwich Arms Company, all provided armaments used during the Civil War. James Mowry, the founder of the Norwich Arms Company, won a contract in 1862 for 30,000…
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A Busy Airfield in Bethany
…from enemy attack during World War II). By the 1960s, encroaching land development projects, increased government regulation, and skyrocketing costs placed tremendous pressure on the airport’s operations. In 1965, the…
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“An Admirable Portrait” of Frederick Douglass
…paid less than their white counterparts for their Civil War service. Douglass had been active in recruiting young men to serve in the so-called “colored” regiments, including Connecticut’s 29th Regiment…
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Evaporated Milk’s Connecticut Connection – Who Knew?
…Company. The company’s first major orders came from the US Government which used condensed milk to feed the troops during the Civil War. The company changed its name to the…
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“Take Five” with Dave Brubeck
…army during World War II. While in the army, Brubeck led a band that traveled into combat areas to play for troops, and while he was close to the front…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Searching for the Common Good, 1929-1964
…militant. Organized labor grew enormously in strength and influence in the 1930s and helped mobilize legislative support for the minimum wage, worker’s compensation, and unemployment insurance. The lure of wartime…
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Ironclad Commissioned – Today in History: April 21
On April 21, 1862, the USS Galena was commissioned. New Haven businessman Cornelius Bushnell submitted the design for the Galena by naval architect Samuel H. Pook to the United States…
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Standing at Rest, at Last: The Story of the Forlorn Soldier
…part of his master’s studies at Central Connecticut State University, Roy along with Dr. Matt Warshauer, found not just a story, but a great story of a cast-away statue that…
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Salisbury Iron Forged Early Industry
…the thousands of muskets made in Norfolk; Salisbury’s Horatio Ames made the largest Civil War cannon—which weighed in at 19,500 pounds—from it; and Thomas Alva Edison used the local iron…
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The Last Wolf in Connecticut
By Emily Dunnack Israel Putnam is a name that stands out in the colonial history of Connecticut as a war hero of the French and Indian War and the American…
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Meriden
…Silver City. In 1944, the War Manpower Commission named Meriden “The Nation’s Ideal War Community,” for its industrial and patriotic contributions during World War II. Today’s economy is primarily service-based….
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Tradition and Transformation Define Hartford’s Jewish Community
…Washington for refugee relief. Both before and after the war, Hartford Jews fought to bring in the refugees, many of whom were members of their own families. World War II…
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An Old Saybrook Borough has a Stately History
…Warwick signed the Warwick Patent, which was a deed of conveyance granting 11 of his contemporaries land rights in what is now southeastern Connecticut. Included in this group were the…
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The Wearing of the Green: 19th-century Prints of Irish Subjects by Hartford’s Kellogg Brothers
…of the Cross and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, were also mostly recent Irish immigrants. Prints of Irish War Heroes and Political Slogans Target New Market “The Battle of Bull’s…
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Murder on the Map: The Mysterious Death of Captain George M. Colvocoresses
…Society Captain George M. Colvocoresses, naval officer, Pacific explorer, Civil War hero, and survivor of kidnapping, yellow fever, and various wars, was killed in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1872. Colvocoresses, or…
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The Most Famous American in the World
…book of the 19th century, second only to the Bible, and galvanized the abolition movement, leading to the outbreak of the Civil War. It changed public opinion, created characters still…
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The Sole of New Canaan’s Shoe Industry
…Benedict from History of Fairfield County, Connecticut with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers Prior to the Civil War and the growth of machine stitching, little…
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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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Orange Seeds Yield Corn, Alfafa, Soy, and More
…beginning his operation, Everett put his career on hold to join the Union army and served in the Connecticut Volunteer infantry during the Civil War before being taken prisoner in…
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Rising Tide: Steamboat Workers on the Connecticut River
…the war ended, however, the labor supply was plentiful and wages were periodically slashed. Over the next 15 years, steamboat workers earned 30% less than they had during the war….
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Herbert Abrams Immortalizes the Nation’s Leaders
…in World War II as a pilot and flight instructor. After the war, he graduated from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and studied at the Art Students League in New…
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A Life Lived in a Rapidly Changing World: Samuel L. Clemens
…Boer War in South Africa and the Boxer Rebellion in China fueled his growing anger toward imperialistic countries and their actions. With the Spanish-American and Philippine War in 1898‚ Sam’s…
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The Interstate Highway System Comes to Hartford
…government looked for ways to improve transportation in the event the United States went to war. War broke out before workers accomplished much in Hartford, but by 1945 a multilane…
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Clare Boothe Luce Changed Perceptions about Women in Business and Politics
…upon her earlier journalistic experience to provide Life readers with in-depth first-hand accounts of her travels across the different theaters of war. Her wartime writings presented a marked criticism of…
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Looking Back: Tempest Tossed, the Story of Isabella Beecher Hooker
…minister Henry Ward Beecher, when he stood accused of adultery. Isabella Beecher’s Formative Years Isabella Beecher was born February 22, 1822, in Litchfield, then home to a progressive girls’ school,…
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Playing with Time: The Introduction of Daylight Saving Time in Connecticut
…cost them an hour of daylight, making farm workers an hour late getting to the fields. Connecticut patriotically supported Daylight Saving during the war, but once the war was over,…
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Understanding the Environmental Effects of Industry by Examining the Starr Mill
…Constitution Museum Construction of the Starr Mill After obtaining a substantial war department contract in 1812, Nathan Starr Jr. constructed a brick factory on the land his father purchased in…
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The Great Atlantic Hurricane Hits Connecticut
…War Council and the establishment of a storm headquarters at the office of Hartford Mayor William H. Mortensen. Additionally, state officials activated the War Emergency Radio Service (the first time…
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Map – Connecticut Landmarks of the Constitution
…Office And the scene of an early challenge to a “more perfect union” 17. Hartford: Old State House, NHL THE HARTFORD CONVENTION during the War of 1812 brought together New…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Significant Events & Developments, 1866-1887
The Rise of the Factory The Civil War propelled Colt, New Haven‘s Remington Arms, and other Connecticut weapons producers to new heights of production. The state’s munitions industry maintained its…
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The Rogerenes Leave Their Mark on Connecticut Society
…late 1880s – Mystic River Historical Society, Stinson Collection By the middle of the 1800s the Rogerenes became firmly anti-war and anti-military. The Quakertown Rogerenes invited Quakers to join them…
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Votes for A Woman: Sara Buek Crawford
…sisters. In 1861, a sixteen-year-old Charles enlisted with the 41st New York Volunteer Infantry to fight in the Civil War. Branded the DeKalb Zouaves, the regiment was comprised of German…
Read Brass City/Grass Roots: From Farmers to Developers: The Rasmussens of Town Plot
…his land into half-acre parcels for house lots. The Depression and World War II stalled development, but Hans’ sons Floyd and Wesley continued their father’s project post-War, creating housing at…
Read Brass City/Grass Roots: What Makes a Farm a Farm? Other Sites of Food Production in Waterbury
…War I and Victory Gardens during World War II, encouraged and aided not just by local government but also by the large brass factories. Like many cities, Waterbury established a…
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Connecticut’s Official State Flag – Who Knew?
…standard version. In 1895—after asking the legislature for a state flag to decorate their new meeting space—the Anna Warner Bailey Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) from…
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Alexander Calder and Making Art Political
…notables to sign anti-draft petitions and anti-war advertisements in national newspapers. In 1972, Calder joined a group of about one hundred high-profile artists—including Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg—to support Senator…
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The Explosion of the Redding Baptist Meeting House
…taken captive during conflicts with white settlers. Most notable was the enslavement of Pequots after the Pequot War in the late 1630s. With family close by and an extensive knowledge…
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Edward Hopkins: Connecticut’s 2nd Governor
…considered the first lawyer to try a case in court in Connecticut in 1639. The Pequot War and the Treaty of Hartford (1638) Copy of the first page of the…
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Hamden’s Literary Legend
…After briefly leaving school to serve as a corporal in the Coast Artillery Corps during World War I, he graduated from Yale in 1920. From there he went on to…
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Putting Cleveland on the Map: Lorenzo Carter on the Ohio Frontier
…Environs:The Heart of New Connecticut by Elroy M. Avery, 1918 Carter was born in Warren, Connecticut, in 1766. His father, a Continental army soldier, died when Lorenzo was 11, forcing…
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Beatrice Fox Auerbach: Retail Pioneer Led Iconic Family Department Store
…She made contributions to civilian relief efforts during World War II by establishing a unit of the Red Cross in the G. Fox store tasked with providing wound dressings. She…
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Waterbury Clock Company Saved by Mickey Mouse – Who Knew?
…was the largest clock maker in the United States. With the advent of World War I, Waterbury Clock continued to place itself at the forefront of innovation when they modified…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Significant Events & Developments, 1929-1964
…ready, the State Capitol begins a black-out test on December 12, 1941, five days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. During the War the General Assembly granted the governor broad…
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Cornfield Point: Old Saybrook’s Forgotten Scenic Alcove
…significance to the Pequot War. Fewer state residents realize that another key historical location exists on the opposite end of the coastline just a short ride down the street. Cornfield…
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Colonel Augustus G. Hazard, Gunpowder Manufacturer – Who Knew?
…as Hazardville. During the Civil War, the company supplied 40% of all the gunpowder used by the Union army. Success, however, did not increase safety in an inherently dangerous business….
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Hiram Bingham IV: A Humanitarian Honored for Saving Lives during WWII
…At the start of World War II, Marseilles, along with numerous other European port cities, received an influx of refugees (many of them Jewish), fleeing from the advancing German armies….
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Disaster at Cold Harbor: Connecticut’s Second Volunteer Heavy Artillery Regiment
…and guard duty. In November 1863, the War Department ordered the Nineteenth to be reorganized as the Second Connecticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery Regiment, and officers were sent back to Connecticut…
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Samuel Foot: A Trader Turned Governor
…to New Haven and found employment in the West India trade, traveling on numerous voyages before the War of 1812 brought an end to his commercial prosperity. Cheshire Politician Becomes…
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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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A Connecticut Nazi Spy Has a Change of Heart
…academy in Annapolis, William attended MIT where he openly expressed his desire to settle in Nazi Germany at the conclusion of World War II. William Colepaugh Learns German Spycraft Increasingly…
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John Brown: A Portrait of Violent Abolitionism
…decade before the Civil War. Considered by pro-slavery Southerners as “a damned black-hearted villain,” abolitionists met Brown’s radical exploits with a combination of admiration and revulsion. John Brown was born…
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Ernest Borgnine: Breaking the Hollywood Mold
…the Second World War, Borgnine retuned to Connecticut and, with nothing in particular to do, heeded a suggestion from his mother to study acting. At the rather advanced age of…
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North and South: The Legacy of Eli Whitney
…War. Nancy Finlay grew up in Manchester, Connecticut. She has a BA from Smith College and an MFA and PhD from Princeton University. From 1998 to 2015, she was Curator…
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The “Father of American Football” is Born – Today in History: April 7
…War I. Walter Camp as Yale’s Team Captain from the book Football Days Memories of the Game and of the Men Behind the Ball by William H. Edwards, 1916 The…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: A Society in Ferment, 1819-1865
…tragic war fell upon Connecticut. This article is a panel reproduction from An Orderly and Decent Government, an exhibition on the history of representative government in Connecticut developed by Connecticut…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Significant Events & Developments, 1819-1865
…voting, and expelled Irish units from the state militia. A War to Set Men Free Advocated first by a small group of ministers and other abolitionists, the anti-slavery cause took…
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Connecticut and the Armenian Genocide
…Ottoman Empire and oppression and violence against Armenians rose for decades. With the outbreak of World War I, Ottoman authorities viewed the Armenians as an increasing threat to their security….
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The Education of Ella Grasso
…arrived in Windsor Locks early in the 20th century, they followed tens of thousands of Europeans who immigrated to the United States in the decades after the Civil War. By…
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Orange
…when residential building began after World War II. During the Cold War the town served as a Nike Missile deployment area for the defense of Greater New Haven. Today, Orange…
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Music Vale Seminary in Salem Credited as Being First in US
…outbreak of the Civil War. Enrollment at Music Vale Seminary declined precipitously in the 1860s as many of its southern students dropped out to return home. Then, in 1868, the…
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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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The Life of Chauncey Jerome: An Insider’s Look at What Made Early Bristol Tick
…Making Becomes an Industry Like other artisans, Eli Terry and associates first made their wares one at a time by hand. The clocks they crafted had moving parts, or movements,…
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Connecticut’s Oldest English Settlement
…perhaps most importantly, to a 17th-century war between Native peoples of the region made complicated by new European interests in the fur trade. The Lure of Trade and Land In…
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The Fight Over Slavery Reaches Torrington
In the years prior to the Civil War, Torrington, like many towns in New England and the rest of the country, found itself divided by the issue of slavery. Abolitionist…
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Selling Connecticut Products Abroad
…of the industrial, artistic, and agricultural products of many of the world’s nations. Colt set a precedent for Connecticut manufacturers who would show their wares at European expositions and fairs….
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Savin Rock Park: “Connecticut’s Coney Island”
…Haven, 1906, 1981.136.1 – Connecticut Historical Society Kelsey served with the 6th Regiment of the Connecticut Volunteers during the Civil War. An entrepreneur at heart, Kelsey spent his postwar years…
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From the State Historian: Discovering the Explorer Hiram Bingham III
…aviation training center in France during World War I. Explorer Turned Politician After the war, Bingham flew into politics. A Republican favorite, he became lieutenant governor of Connecticut in 1922…
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Surveying Connecticut’s Borders
…the lands within Connecticut’s charter (between the Mystic and Pawcatuck Rivers) as payment for assistance during the Pequot War. Lucky for us, Connecticut prevailed and kept that valuable piece of…
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Site Lines: Monuments to Connecticut’s Lost County Government
…Hall Willimantic grew rapidly after the Civil War. Early on, the town, which served as county seat, was more concerned with fulfilling the county’s basic needs than with building a…
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A Bird’s-eye View of East Haddam
…by a billowy plume of black smoke penetrating the skyline, was the L. Boardman & Son Britannia Ware Manufactory and Silver Works (upper left, upper center, and vignettes). Two prominent…
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Plainville Has Been Flying High for Over 100 Years
…unimaginable to those remaining earthbound. In addition, the airport’s strategic location made it an ideal base for the Civil Air Patrol during times of war and for small businessmen in…
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A World in Motion: Artist and Sculptor Alexander Calder
…Spanish Civil War. After the end of World War II, the Calders began to spend more of their time in Europe, particularly France. In 1953, they acquired a house in…
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Mighty, Mighty Hartford
…which showed every type of military equipment used by Connecticut soldiers from the Pequot War to the Spanish-American War. There was a water carnival of 300 decorated yachts on the…
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Paradise on the Sound: The Summer Colony at Fenwick
By Anne Guernsey for Your Public Media John Warner Barber’s 1834 drawing of Saybrook Point shows the area that would later be known as Fenwick, located where the Connecticut River…
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William O’Neill: Climbing Up the Political Ladder
…insurance for Prudential. He then joined the United States Air Force, serving as a combat pilot during the Korean War. His political career began when he returned home from the…
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Greenwich Emergency Responders: On the Move Overtime
…38-foot Blackhawk, 22-foot Seafin, 18-foot and 14-foot skiffs and an amphibious duck. 1943 During World War II, Greenwich Police and Fire Departments work to eliminate the number of high explosive…
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Living Rituals: Mohegan Wigwam Festival
…by hunters and warriors. It was light to carry and nourishing. We have been told that a small quantity was placed in a deerskin sack to be placed at the…
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P. T. Barnum’s Lottery
…in the hall to the mummy, from the circus posters to the Civil War uniforms, all the artifacts point back to one man and his lasting impression in Connecticut. P….
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Thomas J. Dodd and the Gun Control Act of 1968
…Dodd’s most notable accomplishments was serving as Executive Trial Counsel in 1945 and 1946 for the United States’ prosecutorial team at the Nuremberg trials, which held Nazi war criminals accountable…
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A Beautiful and Goodly Tree: The Rise and Fall of the American Elm
…shade trees and to line village and city streets. In the early 1830s, when John Warner Barber documented the appearance of every town in Connecticut for his book, Connecticut Historical…
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Henry Bacon Helps Beautify Naugatuck
…a sea of magnificent public buildings of polished stone. Evelyn Beatrice Longman assisted by Henry Bacon, Great War Memorial, ca. 1920, pink granite, town green, Naugatuck – Smithsonian American Art…
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Capital Punishment in Connecticut: Changing Views
…offenses and death for a third. The preferred method of execution during this time was hanging. Executions as Public Spectacle and Warning Public hangings were a part of Connecticut culture…
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Designed to Heal: The Connecticut General Hospital for the Insane
…plan. Patients able to comply with hospital regimens occupied the wards closest to the central building, while the hospital reserved the rooms at the ends of the wings—farthest from the…
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A Revolution On Two Wheels: Columbia Bicycles
…Civil War veteran who continued to use the honorific “Colonel” after the war, was one of the visionaries who recognized the potential for the bicycle. The early postwar years saw…
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Scandal in the Beecher Family
By Karen DePauw The story reads like a soap opera. In 1870, Theodore Tilton accused his wife of being unfaithful to him with the popular preacher Henry Ward Beecher, and…
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Eighteen-hundred-and-froze-to-death: 1816, The Year Without a Summer
…the weather, his activities that revealed the weather. In the first days of March 1816, Robbins planted peas. A week later he noted that the day was “quite warm.” Three…
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Carl Sandburg, Poet from the Grassroots, Reaches Connecticut Audiences
…spoke frequently at Wesleyan University and received an honorary degree there in 1940, the year he won his first Pulitzer Prize (for Lincoln: The War Years). Sandburg shared the stage…
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Intertwining Family Businesses
…and Southerners erupted in civil war, Johnson sold his interest in the lower mill and erected a third twine mill located between the original two. His business acumen brought the…
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Wesleyan Hills Helps Redefine Suburbia
…and wartime manufacturing slowed, Americans wanted to find homes outside of overcrowded cities. Additionally, the increased wartime production pulled the country out of the Great Depression and more people had…
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Hope for the West: The Life and Mission of Lyman Beecher
…he warned against what he deemed to be the increasingly pervasive influence of the Roman Catholic Church. He argued that if the Catholic Church became a major influence in the…
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A Different Look at the Amistad Trial: The Teenager Who Helped Save the Mende Captives
…Covey from John Warner Barber’s book A History of the Amistad Captives:…” On July 2, 1839, the Africans seized the schooner Amistad from Portuguese slavers who planned to sell these…
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Evelyn Beatrice Longman Commemorates the Working Class
By Steve Thornton Connecticut has no shortage of war memorials or statues featuring prominent business and political leaders. The celebration of the state’s ordinary working people, however, is almost nowhere…
Read A Separate Place: The New Haven Colony, 1638-1665
…vessel, which unfortunately sank in the North Atlantic on its way to England. The English Civil War New Haven colonists welcomed news of the outbreak of the English Civil War,…
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Boot Blacks and the Struggle to Survive in Hartford
…paper money was a show of faith in the US government, both during and after the Civil War, and those who hoarded gold and silver were waiting for the North…
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The Thimble Islands – Little Islands with a Big History
…to the Thimble Islands. Only a $1.00 for a round trip. The area’s resort industry declined during the Civil War, but by the war’s end, tourism once again boomed. Residents…
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Malcolm X in Hartford: “Our Mission is Not Violence but Freedom”
By Steve Thornton On a warm summer day in 1955, 15 domestic workers—maids, cooks, and chauffeurs—packed into a small apartment in a Hartford public housing project. It was a Thursday,…
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The Pie Man from Georgetown and the Connecticut ~ Copperthite Pie Company
…79th Highlanders of New York in the Civil War. After the war, Henry returned to Connecticut where he put his highly prized wagon-driving skills to work for a pie maker….
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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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Revolution and the New Nation 1754-1820s
…experienced British raids and town burnings. When hostilities erupted with Great Britain again during the War of 1812, the state survived blockades on New London and assaults on Essex and…
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The Revolution of 1817
…Puritan,” became governor of Connecticut in 1814. During these troubled times, the Federalists opposed the Embargo Act of 1807 and the War of 1812. Leading Connecticut Federalists played a prominent…
Read An Orderly & Decent Government: Significant Events & Developments, 1965-Now
A New Constitution President Johnson declared war on poverty following his election in 1964, and federal funds soon flowed into urban renewal and anti-poverty programs across the state. President Lyndon…
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A Public Responsibility: Conservation and Development in the 20th Century
…under a single park administrator (Hawes retired early) and with the same primary purpose: “public enjoyment.” World War II also slowed conservation efforts save for the acquisitions of what became…
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Catharine Beecher, Champion of Women’s Education
By Michael Sturges Sister to two of the most famous figures of the 19th century–Harriet Beecher Stowe and Henry Ward Beecher–Catharine Esther Beecher achieved fame in her own right as…
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Windsor Tobacco: Made in the Shade
…produce and Windsor and the surrounding areas soon exhausted the supply of local help. With the onset of the immigration restrictions that accompanied World War I, local farmers resorted to…
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Celia Burleigh, Connecticut’s First Female Minister
…Church. Her ordination was such a momentous occasion that Julia Ward Howe (author of “Battle Hymn of the Republic”), read a letter of support for Burleigh written by Henry Ward…
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Albert Augustus Pope, Transportation Pioneer
…Quincy Market. In 1871, Pope married Abby Linder, with whom he had six children. By then he was a Civil War veteran, having joined the 1st Company, 35th Massachusetts Volunteer…
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The Danbury Fair, 1869-1981
…and then from 1942-1945, during World War II— the yearly event was eagerly awaited by fair-goers. Danbury saw its last fair in 1981 and the grounds were sold. In 1986,…
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