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News & Updates
29th Connecticut Colored Infantry Regiment
The state’s first African American regiment of the Civil War distinguished itself by battling Confederate forces and 19th-century prejudices.
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The Forlorn Soldier
The Forlorn Soldier, a statue by James G. Batterson, survived years of neglect, punishing weather, and movements to tear it down, and yet still serves an important purpose in Civil War commemoration.
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A Soldier’s Welcome
In September of 2013, officials arranged for the statue of the Forlorn Soldier to be placed in its new permanent home at the Connecticut State Capitol.
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Hidden Nearby: Two Monuments to Sportsmen at Housatonic Meadows State Park
Two monuments in Housatonic Meadows State Park mark this area’s reputation as one of the finest fly fishing locales in the Northeast.
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An Overview of Connecticut’s Outdoor Sculpture
Public sculpture has punctuated the state for three centuries, reflecting the values of our communities, their times, and their funders.
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A Special Place to Honor Military Veterans in Plainville
On the corner of Maple and Whiting Streets in Plainville, Connecticut, is a special place where the town honors its war veterans.
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Middletown’s Nathan Starr Supplied Cutlasses for the War of 1812
On May 18, 1808, the Navy Agent Joseph Hull of New London negotiated a contract with Nathan Starr of Middletown for 2,000 cutlasses.
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Sheff v. O’Neill Settlements Target Educational Segregation In Hartford
This landmark case not only drew attention to inequalities in area school systems, it focused efforts on reform.
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Understanding the Environmental Effects of Industry by Examining the Starr Mill
The development of resources both in and around the Coginchaug River in Middletown were representative of prevailing attitudes about industrial expansion and environmental protection.
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Heart Pump out of an Erector Set – Who Knew?
Yale medical student William Sewell Jr. built the first artificial heart (partly out of Erector Set pieces), and conducted successful bypass experiments in 1949.
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The Hartford Courant: The Oldest US Newspaper in Continuous Publication
On October 29, 1764, New Haven printer Thomas Green began publishing The Hartford Courant (then known as The Connecticut Courant) in Hartford, Connecticut.
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Catharine Beecher, Champion of Women’s Education
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 an educator, reformer, and writer.
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Goshen Fairs Well with Agricultural Enthusiasts
In the mid-1980s, members of the Connecticut State Grange awarded Goshen the Connecticut Agricultural Fair.
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Martha Graham, Connecticut College, and the American Dance Festival
Martha Hill established the School of the Dance on the campus of the Connecticut College for Women in 1948, and hired such renowned instructors as Martha Graham.
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Miss Huntley’s School Opens – Today in History: August 1
On August 1, 1814, a young teacher named Lydia Huntley opened a school for young women in Hartford.
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Rock and Roll vs. Racism
The State Theater in Hartford brought residents of all different backgrounds together in the 1950s and ’60s through the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll.
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The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
Founded in 1842, this ever-evolving institution is the oldest, continuously operating public art museum in the United States.
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Hardcore Connecticut: Documenting the State’s Punk Rock Scene
Hardcore punk rockers occupied venue spaces, spectators became performers, pools became skate parks, and Xerox machines became the printing press in this underground renaissance.
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Connecticut’s “Woodstock” Canceled – Today in History: July 30
On July 30, 1970, Louis Zemel had to tell a crowd of thousands that the scheduled three-day rock festival they had come for in Middlefield was canceled.
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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 in the mid-1800s.
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Silas Brooks, Balloonist
This Connecticut native, Silas Brooks, earned fame as a crowd-pleasing musician, showman, and aeronaut.
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Farmington Canal’s Ground-Breaking – Today in History: July 4
On July 4, 1825, the ground-breaking ceremonies for the Farmington Canal took place at Salmon Brook village in Granby.
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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 Day celebrations at Roseland Cottage in Woodstock.
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New London’s Sound Defense
The use of privateers to supplement naval forces and wage war on an enemy was established European practice—and one the rebellious North American colonies readily adopted as they faced Britain, one of great military powers at sea, during the Revolutionary War.
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The War Connecticut Hated
For most Connecticans, the War of 1812 was as much a war mounted by the federal government against New England as it was a conflict with Great Britain.
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Connecticut’s War Governor, William A. Buckingham
Connecticut governor William Buckingham’s bronze statue at the Connecticut State Capitol honors his guidance of Connecticut through the Civil War.
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Ivory Cutting: The Rise and Decline of a Connecticut Industry
At one time, manufacturing facilities in the town of Deep River and village of Ivoryton in Essex processed up to 90 percent of the ivory imported into the US.
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Ivoryton Playhouse Opens – Today in History: June 17
On June 17, 1930, the Ivoryton Playhouse opened with a production of the play Broken Dishes, which had just closed in New York.
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Looking Back: the First “Aero Planes”
New flying machines drew excited crowds to the 1911 opening of a new bridge between Saybrook and Old Lyme.
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Wesleyan Hills Helps Redefine Suburbia
The design of the Wesleyan Hills community in Middletown, Connecticut, stands in stark contrast to the uninspiring, cookie-cutter suburbs of the Post-World War II era.
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Designed to Heal: The Connecticut General Hospital for the Insane
The design of this state facility in Middletown reflects 19th-century beliefs about the environment’s ability to influence mental health.
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The Frost House Once Offered Travelers a Warm Welcome
The Levi B. Frost House (or the Asa Barnes Tavern) represents over two centuries of Southington history.
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A Better Home and Garden in Bethlehem
The Bellamy-Ferriday House is a three-story, white clapboard house located in the center of Bethlehem, Connecticut.
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The Darlings Make Preservation a Family Affair
Thomas Darling was an 18th-century merchant, farmer, and politician and a member of the colonial elite.
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Diamonds of the Past: Hartford’s Lost Ball Parks
Erected in 1874, Hartford’s earliest baseball stadium was the Base Ball Grounds in Colt Park, on the corner of Wyllys Street and Hendricxsen Avenue.
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A First Amendment Lesson: Weaver High Students Teach Their Elders
In the 1960s, Hartford high school students published a controversial newspaper that sparked debates about freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
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George Washington Slept Here (Just Perhaps Not Well)
After his stay at the Perkins Tavern in Ashford, George Washington commented in his personal journal on the accommodations.
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Echoes of the Old World: The Architectural Legacy of Ithiel Town
Ithiel Town was one of the first professional architects in Connecticut and one of the first to introduce the architectural styles of Europe to the United States.
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100 Years of Workers’ Compensation
Early attempts to enact industrial accident protections for workers were ruled unconstitutional by US courts, but a New York tragedy paved the way to successful legislation in Connecticut and elsewhere.
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A Bird’s-eye View of New Britain
By depicting Walnut Hill Park and Reservoir, which was a new addition to the city at the time, this 19th-century print documented the growing public parks movement of the era.
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The Decorative Arts of Connecticut
Decorative Arts—or, household furnishings— reveal past lifestyles and showcase the state’s best-known craftspeople.
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Selma, Not So Far Away
Father Leonard Tartaglia was sometimes called Hartford’s “Hoodlum Priest.” Like the 1961 film of the same name, Tartaglia ministered to the city’s poor and disenfranchised.
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Connecticut 29th Mustered into Service – Today in History: March 8
On March 8, 1864, the state’s first African American regiment, the Connecticut Twenty-Ninth (Colored) Regiment, C.V. Infantry, mustered into service to fight for the Union’s cause in the Civil War.
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Early Anti-slavery Advocates in 18th-century Connecticut
Ideals advanced during the American Revolution inspired many of the state’s religious and political leaders to question and oppose slavery in the late 1700s.
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Charles Goodyear and the Vulcanization of Rubber
Obsessive dedication transformed rubber into a viable commercial material and made the town of Naugatuck one of its leading manufacturing sites in the 1800s.
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Connecticut in the French and Indian War
Connecticut troops sustained demoralizing losses before a reinvigorated British military turned the tide of the French and Indian War.
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Standing at Rest, at Last: The Story of the Forlorn Soldier
This story takes a look at the statue’s history, its care, conservation, and journey to the Connecticut State Capitol building where the Forlorn Soldier stands in all its glory.
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Textile Mills in Oxford Dominated Early Industry
Domestic wool production is one of the oldest industries in the United States. The first mill in Connecticut arrived in Hartford in 1788.
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Combined Rail-and-Water System Makes Norwich a Key Travel Hub in Mid-1800s
For waterfront towns like Norwich, early steamships offered opportunities for travel and commerce previously unthinkable to generations of local residents.
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