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Aldrich Free Public Library: Dedicated to the Dissemination of Knowledge
Residents of the Moosup section of Plainfield organized a free public library “for the promotion and dissemination of useful knowledge” to its local citizenry.
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Soldier, Patriot, and Politician: The Life of Oliver Wolcott
Oliver Wolcott served in military in the Seven Years’ War and the American Revolution, but was also a popular member of the Continental Congress and governor of Connecticut.
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Road Signs of the Air
In the 1920s, most pilots navigated using road maps and by following highways, rivers, and other landmarks that they could see from the air.
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Humble Beginnings of the Dow Jones: How a Sterling Farmer Became the Toast of Wall Street
The life of Charles Dow, in many respects, follows the storyline of the prototypical self-made man.
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George Griffin: “Devoted Friend” to Samuel Clemens
Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and used his “good-natured” and “devoted” servant, George Griffin, as a likely model for one of literature’s most memorable figures—Jim, the runaway enslaved man.
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Abraham Ribicoff: Kennedy Confidant and Connecticut’s First Jewish Governor
Abraham Ribicoff rose from a New Britain tenement to become Connecticut’s first Jewish governor and a confidant of President John F. Kennedy.
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The Park Movement in Hartford
The Hartford City Parks Collection comprises a rich archive, documenting Hartford’s pioneering effort to establish and maintain a viable system of municipal parks and connecting parkways between them.
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Mad about Shad: Connecticut’s Love Affair with an Oily Fish
Some Connecticut River towns continue to hold an annual shad festival, replete with a “Shad Queen” and a feast known as a “shad planking.”
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Mounds Candy Bar Involved in Espionage – Who Knew?
A storied Naugatuck business had its own “navy” and that it performed espionage services for the United States government during World War II.
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Muzzy Field: A Historic Ball Park Survives in a Post-Industrial City
After over one hundred years, Bristol’s Muzzy Field continues to welcome ball players and fans of sports history.
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Samuel Waldo Born – Today in History: April 6
Samuel Lovett Waldo was an early 19th-century portrait artist who worked among such famous colleagues as John Trumbull, Benjamin West, and John Singleton Copley.
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Connecticut’s Naval Contributions to the Civil War
Companies across Connecticut helped keep the Union navy afloat while sea-savvy leaders and sailors from the state kept it in fighting form.
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The Slaters Go Round the World
In 1894, a well-to-do Norwich family set sail from New London on a ship outfitted with Persian rugs, oil paintings, a library, and 75 cases of champagne.
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The Lebanon Grange Followed a Different Tune than National Movement
Music played a central role in fraternal rituals and sense of community.
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Where the Wild Things Are: Maurice Sendak
Authoring and illustrating dozens of books, such as ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ and ‘In the Night Kitchen,’ Maurice Sendak redefined children’s literature throughout the 20th century.
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Benjamin Silliman and Soda Water – Who Knew?
Yale’s first professor of chemistry, Benjamin Silliman, was also the first American to produce soda water in bulk.
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Women of the Prison Brigade
These women from all walks of life had one thing in common: they had been jailed for demonstrating in support of women’s right to vote.
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Elizabeth Fones Winthrop Feake Hallett Helps Found Greenwich
In the middle of the 17th century, Elizabeth Fones Winthrop Feake Hallett played an integral part in purchasing the land that became Greenwich, Connecticut.
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A Night to Remember: When the Steamboat Took on the Railroad—and Lost
A case of mistaken identity causes a vessel to crash into a bridge and results in new a rule for marking safe passage with red lights.
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Emily Holcombe Pioneered to Preserve Connecticut’s Colonial Past
Emily Seymour Goodwin Holcombe was an activist and preservationist who took pride in the state’s history, particularly its colonial past.
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Aetna Helps Make Hartford “The Insurance Capital of the World”
Aetna started out as fire insurance company in Hartford in 1819, but spread into life insurance and is now a global leader in the health insurance industry.
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The Unsteady Meaning of “The Land of Steady Habits”
Connecticut’s description as “the land of steady habits” has been used to stand for a wide list of subjects, from beer drinking to sushi to hair bobbing.
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The Story Trail of Voices
Mohegan history and religion have been preserved by many different voices in many different families through Mohegan Oral Tradition. However, since before the American Revolution, four women in particular have passed on Mohegan stories.
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Hartford’s Sex Trade: Prostitutes and Politics
Union organizer Rebecca Weiner was among the few who proposed to address the social and economic conditions that enabled the world’s oldest profession to thrive in the capital city during the 1800s.
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Helen F. Boyd Leads the Charge for Better Public Health
A long-time Connecticut resident, Helen F. Boyd Powers was a national advocate for greater public access to nursing and healthcare education.
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A Voice for Veterans: A Civil War era ‘Whistle-Blower’ – Who Knew?
Her obituary stated that “Mrs. Ambler was always expected to say something” on behalf of those who had fought for the Union.
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The Industrial Might of Connecticut Pegmatite
Connecticut has a complex and compelling geologic legacy with substantial mineral riches, including pegmatite that has historically been a boon to industry.
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Faith Trumbull: The Artist Was a Young Girl
Her younger brother may be the better-known artist today, but it was her accomplished needlework pictures that inspired his youthful imagination.
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Early 20th-Century Immigration in Connecticut
Connecticut played host to new, vast populations of Italian, Polish, and French Canadian immigrants who helped reinvent the state’s cultural identity.
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Benedict Arnold: America’s Most Famous Traitor
Benedict Arnold of Norwich was one of the great Continental army heroes of the American Revolution before committing treason and joining the British army.
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The Reader’s Feast: A Bookstore Ahead of Its Time
For over two decades, The Reader’s Feast was the most progressive independent bookstore in the Hartford area and provided a space for literature, community, food, and affirmation.
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The Pie Man from Georgetown and the Connecticut ~ Copperthite Pie Company
More than just a wagon driver and Civil War veteran, Henry Copperthite built a pie empire that started in Connecticut.
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Playing with Time: The Introduction of Daylight Saving Time in Connecticut
Despite both formal and informal attempts to regulate the observance of Daylight Savings Time in Connecticut, it still remains a controversial topic for many state residents.
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The Sole of New Canaan’s Shoe Industry
New Canaan, now largely a residential suburb of New York City, was once a leading producer of US footwear.
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Ezra Stiles Captured 18th-Century Life on Paper
Among Ezra Stiles’ greatest contributions to history are the journals and records he kept detailing daily life in 18th-century New England.
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Miss James, First Woman Pharmacist in CT Right in Old Saybrook
Remembering Anna Louise James, the first woman pharmacist in the state of Connecticut.
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Medicine Woman Gladys Tantaquidgeon and Mohegan Cultural Renewal
Gladys Tantaquidgeon dedicated her life to perpetuating the beliefs and customs of her tribe and championed the protection of indigenous knowledge across the United States.
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A Feeling of Solidarity: Labor Unions and Suffragists Team Up
The voting booth and the shop floor were two important arenas in the fight for women’s equality.
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Connecticut Pocketknife Firms
Connecticut pocketknife production began around 1840. Over the next two decades, Connecticut became the earliest state to have a burgeoning craft.
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America’s First Ordained Woman Minister: Olympia Brown and Bridgeport’s Universalist Church
Long-time Bridgeport resident Olympia Brown was the first woman ordained as a minister in the United States and campaigned vigorously for women’s suffrage.
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Providing Bundles for Britain and News for America
Janet Huntington Brewster Murrow was a Middletown native who grew up to be one of America’s most trusted news correspondents, philanthropists, and the wife of Edward R. Murrow.
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Hannah Bunce Watson: One of America’s First Female Publishers
Hannah Bunce Watson was one of the first female publishers in America and helped the Hartford Courant survive one of the most challenging times in its history.
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Nellie McKnight Promotes History and Literacy throughout Ellington
Nellie McKnight was a teacher, librarian, and historian who served the town of Ellington for most of her life.
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Katharine Houghton Hepburn, A Woman Before Her Time
This Hartford suffragist and reformer fought for women’s rights in the first half of the 20th century.
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Mary Townsend Seymour: Hartford’s Organizer, Activist, and Suffragist
Mary Townsend Seymour was a leading organizer, civil rights activist, suffragist, and so much more in Hartford during the early 20th century.
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Marking Time: Early Connecticut Innovations Transform Clock Making
During the 18th and 19th centuries, Connecticut played a major role in transforming clock making from a time-intensive handcraft into a mass-production industry.
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Charles Ritchel and the Dirigible
An entrepreneur’s design for a lighter-than-air vehicle takes flight in the late 1800s and inspires a new state industry.
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The Corbin Cabinet Lock Company and Patent Law: A Lesson in Novelty from a CT Perspective
New Britain, fondly known as the “Hardware City,” had numerous companies that contributed to modern industrialization.
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James Mars’ Words Illuminate the Cruelty of Slavery in New England
Mars’ landmark memoir of the mid-1800s reveals how enslaved men and women suffered—and resisted—the injustices of bondage.
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Emma Hart Willard: Leader in Women’s Education
Berlin-born Emma Hart Willard used her passion for learning to create new educational opportunities for women and foster the growth of the co-ed system.
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