News & Updates

Video – Mary Townsend Seymour Tribute Film

Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame pays tribute to Hartford native Mary Townsend Seymour, a pioneering advocate for equal rights for African Americans and co-founder of Hartford’s chapter of the NAACP.

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Horse pistol ca. 1799, Simeon North

Government Orders Horse Pistols – Today in History: March 9

On March 9, 1799, the government issued its first contract for 500 horse pistols to Simeon North of Berlin at $6.50 each.

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Video – Florence Griswold Tribute Film

The Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame pays tribute to Florence Griswold, an Old Lyme native who fostered the impressionist art movement in Connecticut.

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WTIC-TV filming airplane

Oldies But Goodies – Order DVDs from the Vaults of the Connecticut Humanities

February 14, 2017 • Hide Featured Image, The State

YouTube – CTHPrograms – Co-produced by Connecticut Public Television and…

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Video – Connecticut’s Cultural Treasures: American Clock & Watch Museum

Connecticut’s Cultural Treasures is a series of 50 five-minute film vignettes that profiles a variety of the state’s most notable cultural resources.

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Over Time: West Hartford’s Historical Population

January 15, 2017 • Hide Featured Image, West Hartford

Census data, from colonial times on up to the present, is a key resource for those who study the ways in which communities change with the passage of time.

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Advertising label for Fine Old Bourbon Whiskey, 1855

Video: No Booze for You – Who Knew?

During Prohibition, many Connecticut residents found it easy to obtain alcohol illegally, though violations of Prohibition led to an increase in violent crime.

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View of Ansonia, Conn. 1875

Map – Bird’s-eye View of Ansonia, 1875

November 28, 2016 • Ansonia, Environment

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries panoramic or perspective maps, also known as bird’s-eye views and aero views, were used to depict many of Connecticut’s town and cities.

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Detail view of the 29th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers

29th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers Fought More than One War

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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Video – When Disaster Struck: The 1938 Hurricane, Part I

The CPTV Original, When Disaster Struck Connecticut, provides an in-depth look at the four major natural disasters that befell Connecticut between 1888 and 1955.

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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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Video – William Gillette’s Railroad

Actor William Gillette is featured in this two-minute newsreel, “Sherlock Holmes Turns Engineer,” filmed by Fox Movietone News in 1927.

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Video – Free-for-all Race at Charter Oak Park

A crowd of some 25,000 to 30,000 people turned out to see John R. Gentry compete for a $6,000 purse.

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Camp Cross Housatonic State Forest

Hidden Nearby: Two Monuments to Sportsmen at Housatonic Meadows State Park

June 20, 2016 • Cornwall, Environment, Sharon, Work

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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Henry Austin, Grove Street Cemetery Entrance, 1845, New Haven

An Overview of Connecticut’s Outdoor Sculpture

June 19, 2016 • Arts

Public sculpture has punctuated the state for three centuries, reflecting the values of our communities, their times, and their funders.

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Perry Memorial Arch, Entrance to Seaside Park, Bridgeport

The Park City – Who Knew?

Bridgeport’s nickname is the “Park City” due to its public parks.

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Defenders of the Flag Monument, Soldiers Monument, Plainville

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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Nathan Starr Cutlass

Nathan Starr’s Cutlass Fought 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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Video – Hidden History: Keney Tower

Your Town’s History in Video: Keney Tower

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Video – Connecticut’s Cultural Treasures: Hill-Stead Museum

Connecticut’s Cultural Treasures is a series of 50 five-minute film vignettes that profiles a variety of the state’s most notable cultural resources.

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Video – Connecticut’s Cultural Treasures: Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum

Connecticut’s Cultural Treasures is a series of 50 five-minute film vignettes that profiles a variety of the state’s most notable cultural resources.

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Bridgeport, Conn., 1882

A Bird’s-eye View of Bridgeport

The lower perspective of this 1882 example is somewhat atypical of most of the bird’s-eye views of the era, but its emphasis on industrial accomplishment is a hallmark of the genre.

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Map of school busing and integration in the greater Hartford area, 1966

Sheff v. O’Neill Settlements Target Educational Segregation In Hartford

April 27, 2016 • Education, Law, Hartford, Social Movements

This landmark case not only drew attention to inequalities in area school systems, it focused efforts on reform.

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Video – Rudolph Zallinger’s Masterpiece, “The Age of Reptiles”

The Yale Peabody Museum is home to one of the world’s largest murals, which illustrates changes in the earth’s flora and fauna between the Devonian and Cretaceous periods.

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Starr Mill

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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Video – Martha Parsons Tribute Film

The Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame pays tribute to Enfield native Martha Parsons, the first female business executive in Connecticut to earn her position based on merit.

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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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Video – Haunted History: Harriet Beecher Stowe House

Your Town’s History in Video: Harriet Beecher Stowe House

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Connecticut Courant building

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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Video – Home Front: Connecticut During World War II – Migration and Housing

This excerpt from the Connecticut Experience series provides a glimpse into the people, places, and events that have shaped our state’s history.

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Mayor's Council Russian Class

A Month-Long Look at Immigration

October 8, 2015 • CTH Insider, Immigration

Immigration plays such a vital role in the story of Connecticut’s evolution and in the formation of its identity.

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Captain Nathaniel Shaw Mansion, New London

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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Detail from a Map of the survey for a canal route for manufacturing purposes from the head of Enfield Falls to Hartford

Windsor Engineers Success

In recognition of the importance of the canal and the village in fostering local economic development, the area was given the name Windsor Locks in 1854.

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Harriet Beecher Stowe

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin Published 1852

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s most famous book is Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which was published in 1852.

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Hamilton making adjustments to his biplane, 1911

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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Over Time: Redding’s Historical Population

June 10, 2015 • Hide Featured Image, Redding

Census data, from colonial times on up to the present, is a key resource for those who study the ways in which communities change with the passage of time.

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Over Time: Ridgefield’s Historical Population

Census data, from colonial times on up to the present, is a key resource for those who study the ways in which communities change with the passage of time.

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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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Levi B. Frost House, Southington

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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Preserving an All-American Downtown in Torrington

Torrington’s unique and historically significant buildings are the foundation on which local businesses and civic leaders built a revitalized economy.

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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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Thomas Darling House and Tavern, Woodbridge

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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Photograph of the Hartford Dark Blues

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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George Washington Slept Here

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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Video – Mark Twain at Stormfield

This rare footage is thought to be the only film of famed author Samuel Clemens.

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The boiler that fed the machinery at the Fales & Gray Car Works in Hartford exploded

100 Years of Workers’ Compensation

April 18, 2015 • Business and Industry, Law, Work

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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Map detail of H. Knecht, View of New Britain, Conn.

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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Over Time: Orange’s Historical Population

April 3, 2015 • Hide Featured Image, Orange

Census data, from colonial times on up to the present, is a key resource for those who study the ways in which communities change with the passage of time.

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