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Give Thanks for American Cooking
Widely accepted as the first cookbook written by an American, Amelia Simmons’s American Cookery was published by Hudson & Goodwin of Hartford in 1796.
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Daniel Curtiss: The Life of a 19th-Century Self-Made Man
Daniel Curtiss spent most of his life in Woodbury, thriving in business, pioneering the sale and distribution of commercial goods, and serving his town by holding political office.
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Connecticut’s Oldest Fire Department
The Wethersfield Volunteer Fire Department is the oldest continually operated fire department in Connecticut.
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New London’s Indian Mariners
In an era of dispossession and diminishing autonomy on land, Native American mariners learned to use Anglo-American structures and institutions to establish a degree of power and personal freedom for themselves.
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The Land of Nod Farm, East Canaan, Connecticut
The Land of Nod farm was an important agricultural and residential resource for both the people of East Canaan and the workers at the Beckley furnace.
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Seymour was Chusetown – Who Knew?
The town of Seymour was originally named Chuseville, before taking the name Humphreysville (after David Humphreys). It incorporated as Seymour in 1850.
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Foot Ball Match: Harvard vs. Yale – Today in History: November 13
On November 13, 1875, Yale and Harvard wore the first team uniforms in an American intercollegiate football game.
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A True Dog of War: Sergeant Stubby
The stray dog “Stubby” quickly became the mascot of the 102nd Infantry during WWI, despite an official ban on pets in the camp.
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Alfred Howe Terry Born in Hartford – Today in History: November 10
Alfred Howe Terry’s greatest achievement in the Civil War was his capture of Fort Fisher in January, 1865.
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Taking on the State: Griswold v. Connecticut
In the 1960s, Estelle Griswold challenged Connecticut’s restrictive birth control law, making it all the way to the Supreme Court.
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Samuel Foot: A Trader Turned Governor
Samuel Foot was a West India trader from Cheshire, Connecticut, who went on to a successful career in politics in the US Congress.
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The Articles of Confederation: America’s First Constitution
The Articles of Confederation loosely served as the nation’s first formal governing document, until ultimately being replaced by the US Constitution.
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The “Red Scare” in Connecticut
The Palmer Raids, launched in Connecticut in 1919, were part of the “Red Scare” paranoia that resulted in numerous civil rights violations committed by law enforcement officials.
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Drawing (on) the Connecticut Landscape: Benjamin Hutchins Coe Teaches Americans the Democratic Art
Benjamin Hutchins Coe helped teach Americans how to draw through the publication of numerous art manuals, many focused on Connecticut-inspired landscapes.
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Amy Johnson: A Mohegan Woman Who Survived Colonialism
Amy Johnson was a Mohegan woman who resisted living the life European settlers wanted her to live.
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New Haven’s Long Wharf
From the 17th through the 19th centuries, the economic prosperity of New Haven significantly depended upon Long Wharf.
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How the Wobblies Won Free Speech
Denied the right to free assembly in public spaces, Connecticut workers joined in a larger national movement of civil disobedience.
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Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut – Today in History: November 1
On November 1, 1961, Estelle Griswold and Dr. C. Lee Buxton opened the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut in New Haven.
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Past Hallowe’en Pranks Bemused Some and Frustrated Others
Jack o’ lanterns, witches, and ghosts—many of the holiday staples that we still associate with Halloween were familiar to Connecticut residents in the early 1900s.
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The White Plague: Progressive-Era Tuberculosis Treatments in Connecticut
Treatments for tuberculosis included everything from exposure to extremes in temperature to regimens involving access to the outdoors.
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West Indians in Hartford
A significant wave of immigration to the United States from the West Indies began in the 1940s, spurred by labor shortages during World War II.
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Yung Wing’s Dream: The Chinese Educational Mission, 1872-1881
In all, 120 Chinese students came to live and study in New England. When they returned home, they served as diplomats, engineers, naval officers, physicians, educators, administrators, and magistrates.
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Caleb Brewster: A Patriot Against Freedom
Caleb Brewster—Fairfield, Connecticut’s resident member of the Culper Spy Ring during the Revolutionary War—was also an active participant in the African Slave Trade.
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Yale University Art Gallery – Today in History: October 25
Also known as the Picture Gallery, the Trumbull Gallery holds the distinction of being the first art museum at an educational institution in the United States.
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A Memorial to General Hawley at the State Capitol
Although not a native of Connecticut, one would be hard pressed to find a man more committed to the people of Connecticut than Joseph Roswell Hawley. He became Brigadier General of the 1st Connecticut Infantry during the Civil War and served the state as both a senator and as Connecticut’s 42nd governor. Within months of his death, the Connecticut legislature authorized construction of a memorial in his honor.
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Old Saybrook Faces Down Threats to Its Water Supply
Shallow waterways and shifting sandbars made water navigation hazardous and prevented Old Saybrook from ever becoming a major port city.
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Notorious New-Gate Prison
A failed Simsbury copper mine is now a national historic landmark in East Granby.
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A Celebrated Artist and a Meaningful Space – Today in History: October 20
The Danbury Museum & Historical Society’s Huntington Hall honors the memory of a famed US sculptor, Anna Hyatt Huntington.
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A Revolutionary Book Designer: Bruce Rogers of New Fairfield
Bruce Rogers was a book designer who settled in New Fairfield. Considered one of the great typographers of his time, his masterpiece was the 1936 Oxford Lectern Bible.
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Map – Rochambeau’s Camp at Canterbury
This map, “Camp à Contorbery, le 7 Novembre, 10 milles de Windham,” is a page from the manuscript atlas Amérique Campagne 1782.
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Late 19th-Century Immigration in Connecticut
Immigration to Connecticut in the second half of the 19th century proceeded much as it had in earlier decades.
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Goshen’s Asaph Hall Becomes an Astronomical Success
Credited with discovering the moons orbiting the planet Mars, Asaph Hall became an international science celebrity in the 19th century.
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Byram River Flood – Today in History: October 15
A few minutes before 11:00 pm on October 15, 1955, Greenwich officials pulled the alarm signal and declared a state of emergency.
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The Storied History behind Connecticut’s Nicknames
Though Connecticut’s official nickname is the “Constitution State,” it has been known by many names throughout the centuries.
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Video – The Hindenburg Flies Over Hartford
This video, taken in October of 1936, shows the Hindenburg sailing over Hartford, a short seven months before its destruction.
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New Haven Gives the Lollipop its Name – Today in History: October 13
On October 13, 1931, the name “Lolly Pop” was officially registered to the Bradley Smith Company of New Haven by the US Patent and Trademark Office.
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Reckoning with the Dutch: the Treaty of Hartford, 1650
Hartford place names, such as Dutch Point, Huyshope Avenue, and Adriaen’s Landing, are reminders of a time when Connecticut was part of New Netherlands.
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Timothy Dwight Provides Religious, Military, and Educational Services for a Young Country
Timothy Dwight was an influential preacher, poet, and educator who served as a chaplain during the Revolutionary War and later as the president of Yale College.
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Calder’s Stegosaurus Dedicated – Today in History: October 10
On October 10, 1973, Alexander Calder’s sculpture, Stegosaurus, was dedicated in Hartford.
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The Great Danbury State Fair & Early 20th-Century Outdoor Advertising
In 1909, the Danbury Agricultural Society called attention to its upcoming fair in a most creative manner.
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Rising Tide: Steamboat Workers on the Connecticut River
For the deck hands, stevedores, and firemen who made the steamboats of the Hartford Line run, 18-hour days, dangerous conditions, and lousy food were the norm.
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Typing History
Home to companies such as Royal and Underwood, Connecticut became an important manufacturing center for typewriters in the early 20th century.
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Mighty, Mighty Hartford
In October of 1908, Hartford celebrated the opening of the Bulkeley Bridge, which connected Hartford and East Hartford, with a three-day extravaganza.
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Connecticut Origins Shape New Light Luminary Jonathan Edwards
One of the most significant religious figures in US history, this theologian, philosopher, pastor, revivalist, educator, and missionary spent his formative years in Connecticut.
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Unveiling of the Grant Memorial Tablet – Today in History: October 4
On October 4, 1916, the Ulysses Simpson Grant Memorial Tablet was officially unveiled in the north lobby of the Connecticut State Capitol building in Hartford.
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The Whitney Armory Helps Progress in Hamden
Eli Whitney later established an armory in Hamden that not only produced weapons for the US government during the early 19th century but also contributed to the evolution of mass-produced firearms.
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American Architect Ithiel Town Born – Today in History: October 3
On October 3, 1784, prominent American architect and engineer Ithiel Town was born in Thompson.
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BF Clyde and the Steam-powered Cider Mill – Who Knew?
In 1881, Connecticut resident Benjamin F. Clyde began producing and selling cider in Mystic.
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Site Lines: Monuments to Connecticut’s Lost County Government
County government operated in Connecticut in one form or another for nearly 300 years before the state abolished it in 1960.
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