News & Updates

Marietta Canty

Marietta Canty House

Hartford’s Marietta Canty House is primarily significant for its association with actress Marietta Canty, who received critical acclaim for her performances in theater, radio, motion pictures, and television as well as for her political and social activities.

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To show the man, Richard Reihl, who was murdered in Wethersfield in a hate crime in 1988

Richard Reihl: The Hate Crime That Became a Turning Point for LGBTQ+ Civil Rights

The 1988 murder of Richard Reihl, a gay man from Wethersfield, galvanized and mobilized communities to organize and transform LGBTQ+ civil rights legislation in the state for decades to come.

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Venture Smith's headstone

Venture Smith, from Slavery to Freedom

Smith’s account sheds light on the experience of enslaved and free blacks in 18th-century Connecticut.

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Congressional pugilists

Roger Griswold Starts a Brawl in Congress – Today in History: February 15

On February 15, 1798, Roger Griswold, a US House Representative from Connecticut, attacked Matthew Lyon on the floor of the House of Representatives.

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History in a Heart

February 14, 2022 • Hide Featured Image, Everyday Life, Women

A set of old Valentine’s Day cards, kept safe in a cloth-covered scrapbook, provide a look back at the sometimes humorous art of expressing heartfelt sentiments.

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View of Wadsworth Street in 1877

The Lives of Addie Brown and Rebecca Primus Told Through their Loving Letters

Addie Brown and Rebecca Primus were two free Black women whose lives intersected in Hartford, Connecticut in the 19th century. Letters written between them imply their relationship was more than friendship.

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Edward Alexander Bouchet: The First African American to Earn a PhD from an American University

Edward Alexander Bouchet was a physicist who was among Yale’s first African American students, and reportedly became the first African American in the United States to earn a PhD.

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Barkhamsted Hollow Church

A Valley Flooded to Slake the Capital Region’s Thirst

From 1927 to 1948, the Metropolitan District Commission built the Saville Dam and flooded the valley to create the Barkhamsted Reservoir, displacing over a thousand people.

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“Free Bobby, Free Ericka”: The New Haven Black Panther Trials

In 1969, the Black Panther Trials brought national attention to New Haven as prosecutors charged members of the radical movement with murdering one of their own.

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Cheney Brothers Mills

The Cheney Brothers’ Rise in the Silk Industry

February 9, 2022 • Business and Industry, Manchester, Work

Building a business on the back of an insect may seem foolish but for Manchester’s Cheney Brothers silk mill, it became the ticket to global success.

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Headline of An Act concerning Operations for the Prevention of Procreation

LGBTQ+ Mental Health Treatment in the 20th Century

The simultaneous development of accepted mental health practices and LGBTQ+ visibility over the decades offers a chance to examine how psychological research contributed to the discrimination of LGBTQ+ individuals and communities.

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"Four Saints in Three Acts," an opera by Gertrude Stein

Four Saints in Three Acts Debuts – Today in History: February 7

On February 7, 1934, the Wadsworth Atheneum debuted the modernist opera Four Saints in Three Acts in its new Avery Memorial Theater.

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Lantern Hill

Breaking the Myth of the Unmanaged Landscape

Evidence of early Native land use is etched into the landscape and preserved in oral tradition as well as the historical and archaeological records.

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Underground Railroad Agents in Connecticut

New Britain Plays Part in the Underground Railroad

February 5, 2022 • New Britain, Slavery and Abolition

The Underground Railroad, developed in the early 19th century, was a system of safe havens designed to help enslaved people escape to freedom.

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Naugatuck Railroad Station

Henry Bacon Helps Beautify Naugatuck

Best known for the Lincoln Memorial, this architect also designed a railroad station, WWI monument, and a bridge for Naugatuck.

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Detail from a map of Hayt

Ebenezer Bassett’s Historic Journey

Ebenezer Bassett, an educator, activist, and associate of Frederick Douglass, served the US as its first African American ambassador.

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Uriah Tracy

Uriah Tracy Authors the Rules for Impeachment

Uriah Tracy was an attorney and politician who took up arms against the British after the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

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Ruins of the Upper Dam of the Kohanza Reservoir in Danbury

Frozen Reservoir Destroys Danbury – Today in History: January 31

January 31, 2022 • Danbury, Disaster, Weather

On January 31, 1869, Danbury’s Kohanza Reservoir froze.

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G. Fox and Co. Delivery Fleet, ca.1910-1950

G. Fox and the Golden Age of Department Stores

Founded by Gerson Fox in 1848, G. Fox & Co. went on to become the nation’s largest privately owned department store.

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Lattice Truss Bridge, Ithiel Town

Town Patents the Lattice Truss Bridge – Today in History: January 28

On January 28, 1820, architect Ithiel Town was granted a patent for a wooden truss bridge, also known as Town’s Lattice Truss.

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Colonel William Douglas

William Douglas: A Colonial Hero’s Sacrifice

William Douglas was a successful merchant and military leader who settled in North Branford just prior to the Revolutionary War.

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Improvement in Cards for Hooks and Eyes

Family Ties Bring Together North Branford Industry

In 1830, a resourceful industrialist opened a button making shop in what today is the Northford section of North Branford.

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Image showing the expanse of the Bigelow-Hartford Carpet mills

First Connecticut Carpet Mills Emerge in Simsbury and Enfield

In the 1820s, the first two notable carpetmakers emerged in the north central part of Connecticut—the Tariff Manufacturing Company and the Thompsonville Carpet Manufacturing Company.

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Norwich Free Academy, School Architecture: Pt. II. Plans for Graded Schools by Henry Barnard

Henry Barnard Advances State and National Education Initiatives

This 19th-century reformer sought to promote harmonious social and civic behavior by revamping the US school system.

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Trade card for Hill’s Archimedean Lawn Mower Co

Selling Connecticut Products Abroad

In the mid-1800s, manufacturers from Connecticut found new overseas markets for everything from clocks and firearms to lawn mowers and machetes.

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Pottery at Norwich, Norwich, ca. 1830.

From Kiln to Collection: Norwich Pottery and Its Makers

January 22, 2022 • Everyday Life, Norwich

Despite the lack of good local clay, Norwich potteries flourished, turning out jugs, jars, crocks, pie plates, dishes, and other utilitarian objects.

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Ashbel Woodward house, Franklin

Franklin’s Ashbel Woodward was a Battlefield Surgeon and Historian

Ashbel Woodward was a physician, historian, and farmer who spent most of his life serving the town of Franklin.

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Souvenir Book of the Hippodrome to show the connection to theater world

Hartford’s Charles Dillingham Discovered Broadway Stars

After growing up in Hartford, Charles Dillingham explored numerous career paths including newspaper publishing, politics, and—most famously—theatrical managing and producing.

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Section of page from the Report of the Commissioner of Patents for the Year 1852

Rubber Vulcanization and the Myth of Nathaniel Hayward

Colchester has a persistent myth that Hayward invented vulcanization—a process that helps make rubber useful for manufacturing—but did not receive the credit he deserved.

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The Surprising Prevalence of Earthquake Activity in Connecticut

Connecticut has experienced thousands of earthquakes since European settled the area, the most active site being the village of Moodus in East Haddam.

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Peddler E.H. Farrell with his cart, 1910

New Britain’s Yankee Peddlers Boost 18th-century Economy

While the rural economy of the North in the 18th century focused on local exchanges of goods within a community, Yankee peddlers used their mobility to bring finished products directly to the consumer.

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Patents – Bozrah’s Inventive Minds

From the time the federal government first began issuing patents in 1790, Connecticut was a national leader in patenting its abundant innovations.

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Obookiah’s gravesite, Cornwall

Hidden Nearby: Henry Obookiah’s Cornwall Grave

January 16, 2022 • Cornwall, Education

Heneri Opukaha’ia (Anglicized as Henry Obookiah in his lifetime) of Hawaii was a student of the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall.

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Andrus Field 1831–1911: Athletics and the Environment

The building of Andrus Field on the campus of Wesleyan University demonstrates changes made to the built environment to meet the changing needs of a local community.

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Hazard's Electric Gunpowder, Hazard Powder Company

Colonel Augustus G. Hazard, Gunpowder Manufacturer – Who Knew?

By 1843, Augustus Hazard and partner Allan Denslow formed a joint stock venture called the Hazard Powder Company.

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WPKN blocks on top of an on the air sign in the WPKN radio station

Bridgeport’s WPKN: Going Strong After Half a Century

Bridgeport’s community radio station, WPKN, is still going strong after half a century, offering unique and eclectic programming.

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Mambo for Cats by Jim Flora

Jim Flora Captures 20th-Century Pop Culture

From jazz album covers to magazines and children’s books, Rowayton artist Jim Flora created works that helped document life in 20th-century America.

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Hazardville Powder Company

Powder Hollow in Hazardville – Who Knew?

40% of all the gunpowder consumed in the Civil War came from Powder Hollow in Hazardville (a part of Enfield, Connecticut).

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Norwich Arms barrel room

Norwich’s “Volcanic” Past

With its water power, its location, and proximity to major port cities, Norwich has been attracting gun manufacturers since the American Revolution.

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Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys

Ethan Allen Born – Today in History: January 10

On January 10, 1738, future hero of the Revolutionary War Ethan Allen was believed to have been born in the frontier village of Litchfield, Connecticut.

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Jewett City, Conn, bird’s-eye map by Lucien R. Burleigh

Map – Bird’s-eye View of Jewett City, 1889

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

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The Smith Sisters and Their Cows Strike a Blow for Equal Rights – Today in History: January 8

Abigail and Julia Smith of Glastonbury (along with Isabella Beecher Hooker) fought for a woman’s right to speak at town meetings and have a say in government.

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Mohawk Ski Area

Mohawk Mountain Made Snow for Winter Sports Lovers – Who Knew?

In the 1930s, skiing became a popular pastime at Mohawk State Park in Cornwall and became famous for documenting the first artificial snow.

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Ida Tarbell: The Woman Who Took On Standard Oil

Ida Tarbell became one of the most famous “muckraking” journalists in 19th century America, thanks largely to her investigation of the Standard Oil Company.

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Can Opener, E. J. Warner, patented January 5, 1858

The First US Can Opener – Today in History: January 5

On January 5, 1858, Waterbury native Ezra J. Warner invented the first US can opener.

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“Tom Thumb” Born – Today in History: January 4

Charles Stratton, born in Bridgeport on January 4, 1838, toured the world with P. T. Barnum under the name, General Tom Thumb.

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Freedom to the Slave

From the State Historian: Connecticut’s Slow Steps Toward Emancipation

Slavery remained in the Land of Steady Habits until 1848, and it was not quick to advance suffrage for African Americans, either.

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Aerial view of Black Rock Turnpike Bridge and Vicinity

Overland Travel in Connecticut, from Footpaths to Interstates

By overcoming the limitation of distance, transportation makes possible the many economic and social interactions that allow a community, a people, an entire culture, to thrive

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Elizabeth T. Bentley, 1948

Elizabeth Bentley Born – Today in History: January 1

Elizabeth Terrill Bentley is best known for her role as an American spy for the Soviet Union—and for her defection to become a US informer.

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Soldiers with cannons, 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery

The Complicated Realities of Connecticut and the Civil War

Citizens’ dedication on the battlefield and home front did not always signal agreement on key issues of the day.

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