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Washington’s Sister Susie Society
The Sister Susie Society in Washington, Connecticut, started out as a reading circle but became a fundraising and World War I relief organization.
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Hall of Flags: Memorial to Connecticut’s Civil War Colors
Battle flags played an important strategic and ceremonial role in Civil War battles. The preservation of Connecticut’s Civil War colors has been a long, delicate, and expensive process.
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Lake Pocotopaug Shapes the Growth of East Hampton
East Hampton is home to one of Connecticut’s largest inland…
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Death and Mourning in the Civil War Era
The Civil War transformed traditional practices of death and mourning in Victorian-era Connecticut.
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Ralph Earl: Portrait of an Early American Artist
Among the number of 18th-century artists who resided in Bolton…
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Hope on the Wall: Connecticut’s New Deal Post Office Murals
Between 1934 and 1943, the federal government placed murals in twenty-three Connecticut post offices.
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An Old Saybrook Borough has a Stately History
The Borough of Fenwick, a well-known summer community in Old…
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Connecticut Valley Railroad’s First Train – Today in History: July 29
On July 29, 1871, a ceremonial train ran along the…
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A Baltic Mill Helps Found a New Town
The Baltic Mill was once the largest cotton mill in the United States and led to the founding of the town of Sprague.
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Artist Roger Tory Peterson, a Champion for the Natural World
“The philosophy that I have worked under most of my life is that the serious study of natural history is an activity which has far-reaching effects in every aspect of a person’s life,” said Roger Tory Peterson, an artist, author, and influential conservationist whose own life epitomized this belief.
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Hartford Wide-Awakes – Today in History: July 26
On July 26, 1860, the Hartford Wide-Awakes welcomed the Newark,…
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Connecticut Valley Style: Eliphalet Chapin Inspires a Tradition of Craft
Favoring local cherry and pine woods, this furniture maker introduced Philadelphia-style flair to New England consumers.
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Herbert Abrams Immortalizes the Nation’s Leaders
Herbert Abrams was an American painter whose portraits hang in…
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The Adventure of a Lifetime: John Ledyard and Captain Cook’s Last Voyage
Published in Hartford in 1783, this book by a Groton-born traveler captured a young nation’s imagination with its tales of discovery.
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A World in Motion: Artist and Sculptor Alexander Calder
Most renowned for his invention of the mobile, an abstract sculpture that moves, Calder is considered a pioneer of kinetic art.
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Aristocratic Dental Cream Gets Squeezed
Dr. Washington Wentworth Sheffield was born in North Stonington, Connecticut….
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A Unique Island Attraction in Bridgeport
When Bridgeport annexed the borough of West Stratford in 1889,…
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Orville Platt Helps Define International Relations after the Spanish-American War
Orville Platt was a powerful Republican senator from Washington, Connecticut. He presented the Platt Amendment to Congress.
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Reading, Writing, and the Great Outdoors: Frederick Gunn’s School Transforms Victorian-era Education
In 1850, this educator, prominent abolitionist, and outdoorsman founded The Gunnery, a school in Washington, Connecticut.
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Hiram Bingham IV: A Humanitarian Honored for Saving Lives during WWII
Career diplomat Hiram Bingham IV, whose family has lived in…
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The White Mountain Express Derails in Greenwich
On July 16, 1908, the gong of the ambulances on Greenwich Avenue broadcast one of the worst accidents on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.
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Creating Candlewood Lake – Today in History: July 15
On July 15, 1926, Connecticut Light & Power Company’s board…
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Did You Know a Connecticut Governor Was a US Spy?
In late 1943 James Lukens McConaughy became Deputy Director in Charge of Schools and Training for the precursor of the Central Intelligence agency.
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Gallows Lane and the Execution of Barnett Davenport
Tragic murders that shocked the town of Washington and revealed humanity’s dark side.
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The World’s Record for the Largest Muster – Who Knew?
…that Deep River holds the distinction of hosting the largest…
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Connecticut Suffragists Appeal to the President – Today in History: July 12
On July 12, 1918, Connecticut suffragists—men, women, and children—rallied in…
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Bridgeport’s Catastrophic 1911 Train Wreck
In the early morning hours of July 11, 1911, a train derailed in Bridgeport, killing fourteen people. Among the first responders were members of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.
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Continuity and Change along the Eightmile River
The history of the Eightmile River, nearly one-third of which…
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Erector Set Patented – Today in History: July 8
On July 8, 1913, the United States Patent Office issued…
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British Burn Fairfield – Today in History: July 7
On July 7, 1779, during the Revolutionary War, the British…
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The Hartford Circus Fire – Today in History: July 6
In the summer of 1944 the Ringling Brothers and Barnum…
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P. T. Barnum: An Entertaining Life
Once declared “the most widely known American that ever lived,” this showman’s life story is as colorful as the entertainments he provided to curiosity seekers in the mid-1800s.
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Silas Brooks, Balloonist
This Connecticut native earned fame as a crowd-pleasing musician, showman, and aeronaut.
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President Grant Celebrates Independence Day in Woodstock – Today in History: July 4
On July 4, 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant attended Independence…
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Pepperidge Farm Opens Bakery – Today in History: July 4
On July 4, 1947, Margaret Rudkin of Fairfield opened a…
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Mohegan Sacred Sites: Moshup’s Rock
Every nation has a spirit. The Mohegan Spirit moves and breathes within the very rocks and trees of the Mohegan Homeland in Uncasville, Connecticut.
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Buffalo Bill Cody Visits the Monument of Uncas – Today in History: July 2
On July 2, 1907, American adventurer and showman “Buffalo Bill”…
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An Artist’s Life in Hartford: The Early Career of Dwight Tryon
Hartford native Dwight Tryon njoyed a long, successful career as a landscape painter and teacher with studios in New York City and South Dartmouth, Massachusetts.
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Connecticut Attorney General John H. Light and His Fight for Woman’s Suffrage
Attorney General John H. Light made his pro-suffrage stance public at a time when such advocacy could still lead to criticism
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The Seth Wetmore House: A Storied Structure of 18th Century Middletown
Seth Wetmore was a merchant, judge, and deputy to the General Court of Connecticut. His house is one of Middletown’s oldest homes and one of thirty-three in the city listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Merritt Parkway Creates Scenic Gateway to New England
This Depression-era road improvement project sought to artfully balance the natural and built environments, and despite setbacks and scandal, achieved its aims.
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Greenwich Emergency Responders: On the Move Overtime
Horses, motorcycles, and boats are just a few of the modes of transportation that town emergency personnel have used over the years to get to where they’re needed.
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Stevan Dohanos Captures Connecticut Life
Westport resident Stevan Dohanos was one of America’s top realist illustrators, producing more than 125 popular magazine covers, and over 300 designs for commemorative postage stamps.
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Sarah Pierce’s Litchfield Female Academy
While several educational academies existed for girls in the years following the American Revolution, few proved more influential than Sarah Pierce’s Litchfield Female Academy. Over 3,000 young women—and about 120 young men—received instruction at Pierce’s school before it closed in 1833.
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Abundant Wildlife Drives the History of Rocky Neck State Park
Rocky Neck State Park is located on Long Island Sound…
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Henry Ward Beecher, a Preacher with Political Clout
This skilled orator championed woman suffrage, temperance, and the cause of anti-slavery but scandal nearly derailed his career.
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