News & Updates

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

November 5, 2021 • Arts, Hartford, Middlefield

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

Amy Johnson: A Mohegan Woman Who Survived Colonialism

Amy Johnson was a Mohegan woman who resisted living the life European settlers wanted her to live.

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Map of Plan of the city of New Haven - Connecticut Historical Society Museum & Library

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

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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US District Court, New Haven

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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Results of Halloween pranks, Windsor

Past Hallowe’en Pranks Bemused Some and Frustrated Others

October 31, 2021 • Everyday Life, Popular Culture

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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State Tuberculosis Sanitarium, Norwich, Conn.

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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The Caribbean American Society float in the West Indian Parade

West Indians in Hartford

October 27, 2021 • Arts, Everyday Life, Immigration, 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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The Chinese Educational Mission Building in Hartford, 1887

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

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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Trumbull Gallery

Yale University Art Gallery – Today in History: October 25

October 25, 2021 • John Trumbull, Architecture, Arts, New Haven

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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Connecticut River, 2011

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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New-Gate Prison courtyard

Notorious New-Gate Prison

A failed Simsbury copper mine is now a national historic landmark in East Granby.

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Gershom Bartlett, Winged Face

The Art of Life and Death in Colonial Bolton

October 21, 2021 • Bolton, Arts, Belief, Everyday Life

Bartlett was the first gravestone carver in the upper Connecticut River Valley, and his headstones tell historians much about early life in the northeastern colonies.

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Anna Hyatt Huntington

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

October 20, 2021 • Danbury, Arts

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

October 19, 2021 • Arts, Belief, Literature, New Fairfield, Work

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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Camp à Contorbery, le 7 Novembre, 10 milles de Windham

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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German American workers from the buff room

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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Asaph Hall, August 1899

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, Pemberwick, October 16, 1955

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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Dry Nutmegs

The Storied History behind Connecticut’s Nicknames

October 14, 2021 • Popular Culture, The State

Though Connecticut’s official nickname is the “Constitution State,” it has been known by many names throughout the centuries.

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Hindenburg over The Travelers Tower

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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Bradley Smith Co., Inc., Grand Avenue, New Haven

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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New Netherlands and New England map

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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Alexander Calder at Stegosaurus sculpture dedication

Calder’s Stegosaurus Dedicated – Today in History: October 10

October 10, 2021 • Arts, Hartford

On October 10, 1973, Alexander Calder’s sculpture, Stegosaurus, was dedicated in Hartford.

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Main Street, During Fair Week

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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The crew and passengers of the steamboat Sunshine

Rising Tide: Steamboat Workers on the Connecticut River

October 8, 2021 • Transportation, Work

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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Illuminations at the entrance to the Bulkeley Bridge

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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Henry Augustus Loop, Jonathan Edwards

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

October 4, 2021 • Civil War, Hartford

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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Whitneyville Armory, Whitney's Improved Fire-Arms, from an advertisement, ca. 1862

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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Residence and Library of Ithiel Town, New Haven

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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Steam-powered cider press at BF Clyde's in Mystic

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

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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World War I broadside referencing Kaiser Wilhelm's Willing Helpers, ca. early 1900s from the Connecticut War Exhibit

Winning the Great War without Some Books

In April 1918, Governor Holcomb designated English as the only language to be used in teaching and prohibited schools from employing “alien enemies.”

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Pulling Down the Statue of King George II, New York City

Mariann Wolcott and Ralph Earl – Opposites Come Together and Make History

The story of Mariann Wolcott and Ralph Earl captures much of the complexity the Revolutionary War brought to the lives and interactions of ordinary citizens.

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Map of the Freedom Trail Sites

Site Lines: Connecticut’s Freedom Trail

Sites along the Connecticut Freedom Trail mark key events in the quest to achieve freedom and social equality for African Americans in the state.

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Evelyn Beatrice Longman Commemorates the Working Class

September 27, 2021 • Hide Featured Image, Arts, Hartford, Windsor, Women, Work

“Industry,” also known as “The Craftsman,” by Evelyn Longman, resides in Hartford and is a celebration of the working class and their contribution to society.

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When the NFL Played in Connecticut: The Hartford Blues

In 1926, the Hartford Blues became the first and only NFL team to call Connecticut home. After a disappointing season, the NFL voted them out of the league.

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A Monument Memorializes the Fallen

In front of the state capitol is a mortar commemorating the service of the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery Regiment. The mortar may or may not be the original “Petersburg Express” used at the famous siege of Petersburg, Virginia, during the Civil War.

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Charcoal Kiln, Union

1938 Hurricane Fuels Charcoal Business – Who Knew?

The hurricane of 1938, which devastated the Quinebaug Forest, ended up driving the development of the charcoal industry in Union.

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Walt Dropo, Boston Red Sox

Walt Dropo Stars Throughout New England

Few major league baseball players had rookie seasons as good as Walt Dropo’s while playing for the Boston Red Sox in 1950.

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Nathan Hale Statue, Hartford

Nathan Hale Hanged in New York – Today in History: September 22

On September 22, 1776, the British hanged Revolutionary War soldier Nathan Hale, a school teacher from Coventry, Connecticut, for spying.

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Senator William Wallace Eaton

William Eaton, a Peace Democrat and Civil War Opponent

This 19th century Connecticut politician took a controversial stand against a war that would divide the Union and decrease states’ rights.

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Thomas Hooker: Connecticut’s Founding Father

A powerful and popular preacher, Thomas Hooker led a group of Puritans out of Massachusetts in 1636 to settle new lands that eventually became the city of Hartford.

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