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Hartford


Industrial scene where several men are working at a manufactured gas plant

Early Connecticut Gas Light Companies

The first private gas light companies in Connecticut appeared just before 1850 in New Haven, Hartford, and Bridgeport.

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Newspaper headline that reads "Girl Flyer Gets License, Aviation Writer's Paper Gets Story By Hard Work"

“Girl Pilot”: Mary Goodrich Jenson Breaks Barriers in Aviation and Journalism

Blending her aviation and journalism careers, Wethersfield’s Mary Goodrich Jenson pushed the boundaries of both fields.

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Two photos stitched together. Left photo is a three story house with an extension. Right photo is an Italianate Victorian building.

The Amos Bull House and Sterling Opera House: The First Connecticut Listings on the National Register of Historic Places – Who Knew?

The Amos Bull House in Hartford and the Sterling Opera House in Derby are tied for Connecticut’s first listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Detail of a fire insurance map with outlined and labeled structures

Connecticut’s First Roman Catholic Church

Hartford’s Holy Trinity Church became the first Roman Catholic church in Connecticut in 1829 and served the community for over 20 years.

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Large room with many people sitting in rows facing a man speaking at a podium

Connecticut and the Armenian Genocide

The Armenian genocide during the early 20th century had a profound impact on Armenian communities and their descendants in Connecticut.

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Fuller Brush building following collapse of tower

Fuller Brush Tower Collapses – Today in History: March 31

On March 31, 1923, a 56,000-gallon water tank dropped through 4 concrete floors of the Fuller Brush Company Tower.

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Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Best remembered for her short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” this Hartford author’s larger legacy is a life dedicated to women’s issues and social reform.

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Hartford Street Railway Company Electricians, ca. 1907. Electrifying the railroad created new jobs

A Revolution in Horse Power: The Hartford & Wethersfield Horse Railroad Goes Electric

In 1888, Hartford commuters and city-goers zipped down Wethersfield Avenue in a horseless trolley car for the first time.

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Artwork of a ship close to shore with people in rowboats. There is a large flag protruding from the mast of the ship. There is text at the bottom of the image.

Connecticut’s French Connections

From Huguenots to French Canadian mill workers to modern immigration, Connecticut has always been a place shaped, in part, by a steady French influence.

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The Trailblazing Bessye Bennett

In 1974, Connecticut finally admitted its first African American female lawyer, Bessye Bennett.

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Gwen Reed, circa 1950's

Actress Gwen Reed Best Remembered for Dedication to Childhood Literacy

Gwen Reed was an actress and educational advocate who grew up in Hartford in the early 20th century.

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William Gillette’s Last Performance – Today in History: February 27

On February 27, 1936, William Gillette made his last appearance on any Connecticut stage at the Bushnell Memorial auditorium in Hartford.

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Phoenix Life Insurance Building, Hartford

The Phoenix Building, Hartford

January 26, 2023 • Architecture, Hartford

The Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Building is a significant example of the modernist architectural style that was prevalent in urban renewal projects in the 1950s and 1960s.

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Civic Center Collapse

Civic Center Roof Collapses – Today in History: January 18

On January 18, 1978, at about 4:20 in the morning, the Hartford Civic Center roof collapsed.

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Boot Blacks and the Struggle to Survive in Hartford

January 17, 2023 • Everyday Life, Hartford, Work

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, young boys who shined shoes (sometimes 70 hours per week) were the primary breadwinners for many struggling families.

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The Fundamental Orders

The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

The Fundamental Orders, inspired by Thomas Hooker’s sermon of May 31, 1638, provided the framework for the government of the Connecticut colony from 1639 to 1662.

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Illumination of Old State House, Hartford, December 31, 1900

A Turn-of-the-Century New Year’s Eve

December 31, 2022 • Everyday Life, Hartford, New Britain, Windham

Hailed as the “Century Celebration,” the evening of December 31, 1900, saw revelry and reflection as individuals throughout the state welcomed the New Year.

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The Austin House

Hartford’s “Façade House”: The Unique Home of Chick Austin

December 16, 2022 • Architecture, Arts, Hartford

A. Everett “Chick” Austin Jr. and his wife, Helen, designed one of the most unique homes of the 20th century in Hartford.

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The Old State House, Hartford

The Hartford Convention – Today in History: December 15

On December 15, 1814, delegates to the Hartford Convention met in secret at the Old State House in Hartford.

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Map of the 1761 transit of Venus

Transit of Venus: German Scientists Visit Hartford

December 6, 2022 • Hartford, Science

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the transit was an important opportunity for scientists to calculate the distance between the earth and the sun—the basis for the astronomical unit.

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Wadsworth Atheneum, Morgan Memorial, and Municipal Building, Main Street, Hartford

The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

November 9, 2022 • Ithiel Town, Architecture, Arts, Hartford

Founded in 1842, this ever-evolving institution is the oldest, continuously operating public art museum in the United States.

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Election day, Main Street, Hartford

When Elections in Hartford Were a Piece of Cake

Unlike today, in the 18th and 19th centuries, Election Day met with great celebration.

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Gravestones, Old Burying Ground, Hartford

The Art of Burying the Dead: Exploring Connecticut’s Historic Cemeteries

From winged death’s heads to weeping willows, gravestone carvings in Connecticut’s historic cemeteries reflect changing attitudes toward mourning and memorialization.

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Illustration of "The Connecticut Courant", Oct. 29, 1764

The Oldest Continuously Published Newspaper – Today in History: October 29

On October 29, 1764, New Haven printer Thomas Green established a weekly newspaper, the Connecticut Courant, in Hartford.

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Yankee Ingenuity: Curtis Veeder, a Mechanical Genius and Shrewd Businessman

Curtis Veeder patented a bicycle seat he sold to the Pope Company, and later invented a cyclometer for measuring distances traveled by bicycles.

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Black and white photograph of a woman painting a man

Laura Wheeler Waring: Renowned African American Portrait Artist and Educator

Born in Hartford, Laura Wheeler Waring was an eminent portrait artist of prominent African Americans of the Harlem Renaissance.

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Vietnam Protests in Connecticut

Opposition to the war in Vietnam manifested itself in Connecticut in many of the same ways it did across the country.

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General Joseph R. Hawley

General Joseph R. Hawley Helps Commemorate Connecticut’s Civil War Soldiers

“Let monuments be raised in every town, let songs be sung and orations delivered,” urged this state politician and skilled speechmaker.

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Henry Deming: Mayor of Hartford and New Orleans

Henry Deming served as mayor of Hartford and then as the provisional mayor of New Orleans during the Civil War before writing a biography of Ulysses S. Grant.

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The Colt's Manufacturing Company float for the parade dedicating the Bulkeley Bridge, October 7th, 1908

Hartford’s Industrial Day – Today in History: October 7

Hartford celebrated the 1908 opening of the Bulkeley Bridge, which connected Hartford and East Hartford, with a three-day extravaganza.

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A Different “Type” of Connecticut Industry

In the middle of the 1800s, the invention of the typewriter revolutionized the way Americans communicated, including in Connecticut.

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Paper dresses

Get Out Your Paper Dress, Gal! – Who Knew?

October 4, 2022 • Hartford, Popular Culture, Who Knew?

In 1966, the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford was featured on the popular TV show, I’ve Got a Secret.

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April 18, 1991 Headline after State Senate approved gay-rights bill - Hartford Courant

Eighteen Years in the Making: Connecticut’s 1991 Gay Rights Law

Connecticut’s 1991 “gay-rights law” was one of the state’s first LGBTQ+ civil rights laws and prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, employment, and credit.

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Education/Instrucción Combats Housing Discrimination

September 26, 2022 • Law, Hartford, Social Movements

This group’s bilingual name reflected its educational mission as well as its dedication to unified, multicultural cooperation for the common good.

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The Smith-Worthington Saddle Company

Saddles Fit For a Shah

Since 1794, Hartford-based Smith-Worthington Saddlery has made tack for horses—along with the occasional ostrich harness and space suit prototype.

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Black and white photograph of a large ship next to a dock full of hundreds of people. There are people standing on the ship and streamers coming off the boat

Helen James Chisholm: A Hartford Teacher in Hawaii

Originally from Hartford, Helen James Chisholm’s career took her all the way to the Pacific to teach and run an orphanage.

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Newspaper clipping from 1898

At the Sign of the Yellow Dragon: Hartford’s First Chinese Restaurants

The first Chinese restaurant opened in Hartford in 1898 and evolved as immigrants from different parts of China introduced new tastes.

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State Representative William A. O'Neill and State Senator David M. Barry

William O’Neill: Climbing Up the Political Ladder

Connecticut’s 84th governor, William Atchison O’Neill, was born in Hartford on August 11, 1930 but grew up in East Hampton.

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Front facade of a multi-story building with three arches over doorways.

Connecticut’s First Mutual Savings Bank Opens in Hartford

On June 1, 1819, Governor Oliver Wolcott Jr. approved a legislative charter for the Society for Savings in Hartford—the first mutual savings bank in the state.

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Elisha K Root, President of Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company

Elisha Root Changes Industry – Who Knew?

Elisha Root standardized production and made the Colt revolver the first handgun in the world with fully interchangeable parts.

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Suffragette Helena Hill Weed of Norwalk, serving a 3 day sentence in D.C. prison for picketing July 4, 1917

19th Amendment: The Fight Over Woman Suffrage in Connecticut

In Connecticut, Frances Ellen Burr and Isabella Beecher Hooker took up the cause by forming the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association (CWSA) in 1869.

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Putting History on the Map

While maps serve a utilitarian function at the time of their production, they become snapshots in time of the memories of those who designed them.

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Birth of a Nation Advertisement

Hartford’s Challenge to “The Birth of a Nation”

D. W. Griffith’s silent movie, the racially charged “Birth of a Nation,” initially played to large audiences in Hartford before meeting with official resistance after World War I.

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L. B. Haas & Company address label, 1958

Cash Crop: L.B. Haas & Co. and the History of Tobacco in Connecticut

Louis B. Haas was a Dutch immigrant who opened a retail cigar store, Essman & Haas, on Central Row in Hartford in the late 1840s.

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Black and white photograph of the profile of a woman wearing a hat and sheer veil over her face

Emmeline Pankhurst’s “Freedom or Death” Speech Energizes Connecticut Women in 1913

In 1913, a famous British suffragist, Emmeline Pankhurst, gave a powerful and memorable speech on the steps of the Parsons Theater in Hartford.

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A fire swept through the tent at the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus in Hartford, July 6, 1944

Hartford Circus Fire: “The Tent’s on Fire!” – Who Knew?

The Hartford Circus Fire on July 6, 1944, may be the worst human-caused disaster ever to have taken place in Connecticut.

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Maria Sanchez and Alejandro La Luz, Puerto Rican spokesmen, Hartford

Maria Sánchez, State Representative and Community Advocate

The first Latina elected to the Connecticut General Assembly started as a grassroots activist for Hartford’s Puerto Rican community.

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Advertisement for harness racing at Charter Oak Park, West Hartford

Connecticut’s “The Legend of the Charter Oak”

Charter Oak Bridge. Charter Oak State College. Charter Oak Park. Why are so many places and things in Connecticut named after a tree?

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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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Black and white Logo for WDRC Radio station

WDRC AM/FM – Connecticut’s Oldest Commercial Radio Station

WDRC is the oldest continuously operated commercial radio station in Connecticut that uses both AM and FM transmissions.

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Elizabeth Park, Hartford

Oldest Rose Garden – Who Knew?

The Elizabeth Park Rose Garden in Hartford is the oldest municipally operated rose garden in the country.

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Harriet Beecher Stowe's residence

Hartford’s Nook Farm

This small enclave in the capital city’s west end became home to many of the 19th century’s most celebrated and creative personalities.

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Black and white photo of a group of people. Two people are holding a large banner that says "Kalos Society"

Kalos Society: Connecticut’s First Modern LGBTQ+ Activist Organization

The Kalos Society emerged in the late 1960s as the first gay activist organization in Connecticut

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Boy Scouts carrying World War I banners

Hartford’s Commemoration of World War I Servicemen and Women

At the end of the First World War, Hartford found a variety of ways to honor the sacrifices of its servicemen and women.

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The Black Panther Party in Connecticut: Community Survival Programs

The Black Panthers had a significant presence in Connecticut in the 1960s and ’70s, particularly through community programs aimed to serve minorities living in the state’s more urban areas.

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Pope Automobile Model S, Seven Passenger Car, 1909

Albert Augustus Pope, Transportation Pioneer

Pope’s bicycles and automobiles not only gave 19th-century consumers greater personal mobility, they also helped propel social change.

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Breaking the Mold: Tradition and Innovation in the Work of Elbert Weinberg

Elbert Weinberg was a Hartford-born sculptor who earned international fame for his works, many of which were influenced by his Jewish faith.

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Sophie Tucker - World-Telegram photo by Dick DeMarsico

Sophie Tucker, The Last of the Red-Hot Mamas

Hartford’s own leading lady was a lively entertainer whose career spanned over five decades and whose generosity spilled over to various and numerous charities.

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Nurses getting water at Base Hospital No.21, Rouen. This unit supported the British Expeditionary Force

Ruth Hovey: Heroic Battlefield Nurse

A 28-year-old nurse from Hartford, Ruth Hovey served on the battlefields of World War I.

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Portrait of an older man wearing a black suit and a white clerical collar. He is also wearing glasses and has a white handkerchief in his breast pocket

Canon Clinton Jones: A Revolutionary Figure in Connecticut’s LGBTQ+ History

Canon Clinton Jones was a central figure in Connecticut’s LGBTQ+ community and a pioneer for compassionate care, queer visibility, and gender affirmation.

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Hoffman Wall Paper Company in Hartford

Tradition and Transformation Define Hartford’s Jewish Community

May 2, 2022 • Belief, Immigration, Hartford

From the mid-1800s to the present, Jews have called Connecticut’s capital city home and enriched it with their cultural traditions and civic spirit.

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Chinese Educational Mission: the college, Hartford

Yung Wing, the Chinese Educational Mission, and Transnational Connecticut

In their respective tragic but inspiring final American acts, Yung and the Mission reflect the worst and best of the Chinese Exclusion Act era.

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Frances Laughlin Wadsworth: Sculpting the Past

April 24, 2022 • Thomas Hooker, Arts, Hartford, Women

Her statues honor the famous, from Thomas Hooker and Helen Keller to Alice Cogswell, the first pupil of what became The American School for the Deaf.

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Black and white photo of a large brick and wood house. The house is asymmetrical and has many gables. There are large trees surrounding the house.

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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Keney Park Meadow, ca. early 1900s

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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Self portrait Samuel Waldo Lovett

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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Emily Holcombe presenting deeds of Gold Street to Mayor Miles B. Preston

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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Detail from a glass plate negative showing the rear of one of the tenements that lined the Park River

Hartford’s Sex Trade: Prostitutes and Politics

March 23, 2022 • Hartford, Social Movements, Women, Work

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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Shelves of books in the interior of a bookstore

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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Detail of an advertisement for Connecticut Pies, 1913

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

March 13, 2022 • Agriculture, Everyday Life, Law, Hartford

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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Civil Rights picket, US Courthouse, Hartford

“U.S. Troops in Viet Nam, but none in Selma” – Today in History: March 9

On March 9, 1965, protesters held an all-night vigil in front of Governor John Dempsey’s residence in support of the voter registration marchers in Selma, Alabama.

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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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Katharine Houghton Hepburn

Katharine Houghton Hepburn, A Woman Before Her Time

March 1, 2022 • Hartford, Social Movements, Women

This Hartford suffragist and reformer fought for women’s rights in the first half of the 20th century.

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To show an image of Mary Townsend Seymour

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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Inventor Charles F. Ritchel

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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James Mars

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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A Different Look at the Amistad Trial: The Teenager Who Helped Save the Mende Captives

James Benajmin Covey, a former slave, was only 14 years old when asked to serve in one of the most publicized trials in American history.

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Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company

Samuel Colt: From Yankee Peddler to American Tycoon

Hartford native Samuel Colt built a financial empire on his design and automated production of the revolver.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Ice Skates, ca. 1965

Skating Through Winter

By the 1850s, better-designed skates and interest in healthful outdoor activities made ice skating an increasingly popular leisure activity.

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Chick Austin as the magician, The Great Osram, in 1944

Chick Austin Modernizes a Connecticut Institution

December 18, 2021 • Arts, Hartford, Popular Culture

Arthur Everett “Chick” Austin Jr., director of the Wadsworth Atheneum from 1927 to 1944, put Hartford on the cultural map.

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Horace Wells

Horace Wells Discovers Pain-free Dentistry

This Hartford dentist played key role in the development of anesthesia but competing claims to discovery obscured his accomplishment.

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Billhead and bill from John Olmsted.

An Inconvenient Season: Charlotte Cowles’s Letters from December 1839

Letters between a sister in Farmington and a brother in Hartford reveal details about daily life at a time when the distance between the two communities wasn’t so easily traveled.

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The Revolution of 1817

The Connecticut gubernatorial election of 1817 transferred power from the Federalists to the Republican Party, ending the Congregational Church’s domination.

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Emile Gauvreau and the Era of Tabloid Journalism

Emile Gauvreau, former managing editor of the Hartford Courant, became a pioneer in the rise of tabloid journalism.

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American Cookery, Amelia Simmons, Hartford

Give Thanks for American Cooking

November 21, 2021 • Food and Drink, Hartford, Popular Culture

Widely accepted as the first cookbook written by an American, Amelia Simmons’s American Cookery was published by Hudson & Goodwin of Hartford in 1796.

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Alfred Howe Terry Born in Hartford – Today in History: November 10

November 10, 2021 • Civil War, Hartford, New Haven, War and Defense

Alfred Howe Terry’s greatest achievement in the Civil War was his capture of Fort Fisher in January, 1865.

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Taking on the State: Griswold v. Connecticut

In the 1960s, Estelle Griswold challenged Connecticut’s restrictive birth control law, making it all the way to the Supreme Court.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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The Rise of the Black Panther Party in Connecticut

The Black Panther Party in Connecticut fought for an end to discriminatory legal and regulatory practices, often clashing with authorities to achieve their goals.

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Panorama of Bushnell Park, 1920s

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch – Today in History: September 17

September 17, 2021 • Architecture, Civil War, Hartford

In 1886, the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch was dedicated to honor the 4,000 Hartford residents who served, and the nearly 400 who died, in the Civil War.

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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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Hartford County Jail, 1915

The Deplorable History of Hartford’s Seyms Street Jail

September 10, 2021 • Crime and Punishment, Hartford

Abhorrent conditions characterized life in Hartford’s Seyms Street Jail for much of its century-long service to the county.

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Hiram Percy Maxim

A Diversified Mind: Hiram Percy Maxim

No matter his field of endeavor—from automotive design to wireless radio—this multitalented creator had a hand in key developments of the early 1900s.

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The Importance of Being Puritan: Church and State in Colonial Connecticut

Connecticut Protestants wanted to cleanse the church of what they saw as corruption, and to return to the simplicity and purity of early Christian worship.

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Workingmen's Restaurant, 129 Market Street, Hartford.

Serving Up Justice: Hartford’s Black Workers Organize

The earliest labor union for African American workers in Hartford appeared in 1902 with the birth of the Colored Waiters and Cooks Local 359.

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Connecticut Revolutionized Geography – Who Knew?

August 30, 2021 • Education, Hartford, Science, Stratford, Union

In 1828, Jesse Olney published A Practical System of Modern Geography, which revolutionized the way the subject was taught in schools during the 19th century.

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Hartford classroom, 1957

Five Minutes that Changed Connecticut: Simon Bernstein and the 1965 Connecticut Education Amendment

“There shall always be free public elementary and secondary schools in the state. The general assembly shall implement this principle by appropriate legislation.”

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President Roosevelt and his entourage in Hartford

Roosevelt Rides in an Electric Car – Today in History: August 22

On August 22, 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt rode through the streets of Hartford in an electric automobile.

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The Charter Oak before its fall

The Charter Oak Fell – Today in History: August 21

August 21, 2021 • Environment, Folklore, Hartford

On August 21, 1856, the Charter Oak, a noted landmark and symbol of Hartford and Connecticut, fell during a severe wind and rain storm.

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Connecticut Valley R. R. schedule

Connecticut Valley Railroad’s First Train – Today in History: July 29

On July 29, 1871, a ceremonial train ran along the new 44-mile track built by the Connecticut Valley Railroad.

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Wide Awakes banner

Hartford Wide-Awakes – Today in History: July 26

On July 26, 1860, the Hartford Wide-Awakes welcomed the Newark, New Jersey, Wide-Awakes to a banquet and ratification meeting at Hartford’s City Hall.

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Connecticut Votes for Women

Connecticut Suffragists Appeal to the President – Today in History: July 12

On July 12, 1918, Connecticut suffragists rallied in Hartford and Simsbury to appeal to President Woodrow Wilson for help in getting women the right to vote.

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Clown with bucket

The Hartford Circus Fire – Today in History: July 6

July 6, 2021 • P.T. Barnum, Disaster, Hartford

Called the worst disaster in Hartford’s history, the fire killed 168 and injured 487, including many children.

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Winter: Connecticut Valley by Dwight William Tryon

An Artist’s Life in Hartford: The Early Career of Dwight Tryon

Hartford native Dwight Tryon enjoyed a long, successful career as a landscape painter and teacher with studios in New York City and Massachusetts.

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J. P. Morgan’s Connecticut Roots

One of the great financiers of the late 19th and early 20th century, J. P. Morgan was born (and spent much of his youth) in Hartford, Connecticut.

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Hooker and Company Journeying through the Wilderness from Plymouth to Hartford

Hooker’s Journey to Hartford

In early June 1636, Puritan religious leader Reverend Thomas Hooker left the Boston area with one hundred men, women, and children and set out for the Connecticut valley.

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Rose Arches, Elizabeth Park

Elizabeth Park’s Rose Garden: June is Busting Out All Over

Boasting 15,000 bushes and about 800 varieties of roses, it is the oldest municipally operated rose garden in the country.

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An English woodcut of a Witch

Alse Young Executed for Witchcraft – Today in History: May 26

On May 26, 1647, Alse Young of Windsor was the first person on record to be executed for witchcraft in the 13 colonies.

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Oliver Wolcott Library

Modernism in Connecticut through Photographs

A creed as much as a style, Modernism rejected the forms of the past in favor of an architecture that reflected a new spirit of living.

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Home of Charles Dudley Warner. Hartford, Conn.

Charles Dudley Warner: 19th Century Writer and Social Commentator

Author Charles Dudley Warner penned significant volumes of work, leaving an impact through his enduring social commentary in the second half of the 19th century.

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Hooker and Company Journeying through the Wilderness from Plymouth to Hartford

Artist Frederic Church Born – Today in History: May 4

May 4, 2021 • Arts, Hartford

On May 4, 1826, the great American landscape painter Frederic Edwin Church was born to a wealthy Hartford family.

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Crisis Management during the American Civil War: The Hartford Soldiers’ Aid Society

The Hartford Soldiers’ Aid Society was one of the most important relief organizations during the Civil War and provided new opportunities for women in the public sphere.

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A receipt for two prints of John Trumbull paintings

Jeremiah Wadsworth, “foremost in every enterprise”

Jeremiah Wadsworth was a sea-going merchant, commissary general to the Continental army, and founder of the nation’s first banks.

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American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, Hartford

Gallaudet’s Vision Advances Deaf Education

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet is acclaimed today for pioneering education for the deaf in the US and establishing the American School for the Deaf in Connecticut.

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Landscape Architect Frederick Law Olmsted, early 20th century

Landscape Architecture Helps in Healing – Who Knew?

Frederick Law Olmsted re-designed the grounds on the campus of the Hartford Retreat for the Insane to help induce healing and serenity.

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Child Labor in Connecticut

While Connecticut proved to be one of the more progressive states when it came to child labor laws, it still took federal legislation to protect children in the workplace.

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Carl Sandburg, Poet from the Grassroots, Reaches Connecticut Audiences

Popular poet, singer, and activist Carl Sandburg had numerous connections to Connecticut and promoted social reform in the early 20th century.

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Hartford Whalers Logo

The Hartford Whalers: Connecticut’s Last Major League Sports Franchise

Major league hockey debuted in Hartford in 1975 and the Hartford Whalers remained a staple of the Connecticut landscape for twenty-three years.

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Battling Bat Battalino: One of Hartford’s Heroes

A tenacious and long-lasting boxer, Battalino went on to win the world professional featherweight championship.

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African American baseball team, Danbury

Swinging for the Fences: Connecticut’s Black Baseball Greats

In Connecticut, African Americans played organized baseball as early as 1868, some of the game’s biggest stars played for teams throughout the state.

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Anna E. Dickinson

Anna Elizabeth Dickinson at Touro Hall – Today in History: March 24

On March 24, 1863, Anna Elizabeth Dickinson, a 20-year-old Quaker and abolitionist from Pennsylvania, spoke at Hartford’s Touro Hall.

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Joseph Taborsky and the “Mad Dog Killings”

Joseph “Mad Dog” Taborsky earned his nickname for the brutal methods he employed robbing and murdering his victims.

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Looking Back: Tempest Tossed, the Story of Isabella Beecher Hooker

Isabella Beecher was a suffragist and spiritualist who shunned traditional female roles while alienating large parts of her family during her brother’s adultery scandal.

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Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln’s Republican Rally – Today in History: March 5

On March 5, 1860, Abraham Lincoln addressed the Republicans of Hartford at City Hall.

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Holmes at Home: The Life of William Gillette

William Gillette was an American actor, playwright, and stage director most famous for his stage portrayal of Sherlock Holmes and for the stone castle he built in East Haddam.

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A return of the number of inhabitants in the State of Connecticut

Connecticut’s Black Governors

For approximately one hundred years, Connecticut’s “Black Governors” were used by white authorities to help maintain order among the black population.

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The Old State House, Hartford

Jackson v. Bulloch and the End of Slavery in Connecticut

Nancy Jackson sued for her freedom in 1837. Her victory helped further the abolitionist cause in a state slowly moving toward outlawing slavery.

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Malcolm X in Hartford: “Our Mission is Not Violence but Freedom”

In addition to helping found Nation of Islam Temple No. 14 in Hartford, Malcolm X spent considerable time in Connecticut rallying supporters to his cause.

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Portrait of Dr. Charles Johnson

Hartford’s Great Migration through Charles S. Johnson’s Eyes

During the Great Migration of the early 1900s, African Americans from the rural South relocated to Hartford and other Northern cities in search of better prospects.

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The Language of the Unheard: Racial Unrest in 20th-Century Hartford

Race riots in Hartford during the 1960s came about thanks to a century of frustration and political inaction surrounding disparate standards of living among different races and ethnicities,

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Advertisement from The Hartford Daily Courant, October 8, 1852

Augustus Washington (1820 – 1875): African American Daguerreotypist

Though his work depicts people of different classes and cultures, ironically, no portraits of African Americans survive from his years in Hartford.

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Fire at G. Fox & Co., Main Street, Hartford

G. Fox & Co. Destroyed by Fire – Today in History: January 29

On January 29, 1917, watchmen discovered a fire on the ground floor of the G. Fox & Co. building complex located on Main Street in Hartford.

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Ernest Borgnine: Breaking the Hollywood Mold

Ernest Borgnine, a native of Hamden who served ten years in navy, became one of the world’s most recognized and revered actors.

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Placard commemorating the adoption of the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

The Fundamental Orders: Connecticut’s Role in Early Constitutional Government

The Fundamental Orders represent what many consider to be the first written constitution in the Western world.

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Sam Colt

Sam Colt’s Funeral: The Day Hartford Stopped

The funeral of America’s first great munitions maker was spectacular—certainly the most spectacular ever seen in the state’s capital city.

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Portrait of James Williams from his biography

James Williams, More than Trinity College’s Janitor

James Williams was an escaped slave who became a janitor at Trinity College from the institution’s founding in 1823 until his death in 1878.

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Map of the West Indies, 1717

Connecticut and the West Indies: Sugar Spurs Trans-Atlantic Trade

This profitable exchange brought wealth and sought-after goods to the state but came at the price of supporting slavery in the bargain.

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Starr Mill

Buckling Up For Auto Safety

Connecticut joined several other states and the District of Columbia mandating seat belt usage for children and adults in automobiles in 1985.

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Wagonload of Christmas trees, Hartford

O Christmas Tree!

December 25, 2020 • Belief, Everyday Life, Hartford, Popular Culture

On December 25, 1890, The Hartford Courant reported that Christmas Eve had seen crowded stores and train delays of up to an hour due to heavy travel.

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Spillway and bridge near Saville Dam, Barkhamsted

Barkhamsted Reservoir Construction Washes Away a Community

While the Barkhamsted Reservoir project proved successful, it cost 1,000 displaced residents their homes and livelihoods.

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Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, December 1947

The Atheneum Joins War Effort – Who Knew?

December 8, 2020 • Arts, Hartford, Who Knew?, World War II

The Wadsworth Atheneum contributed to home front morale and fundraisers during World War II.

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Just Pour Over Ice – Who Knew?

The Heublein Restaurant served its thirsty customers pre-mixed cocktails that became so wildly popular they had to build a distillery just to meet demand.

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Mark Twain with his friend, John Lewis

A Life Lived in a Rapidly Changing World: Samuel L. Clemens

November 30, 2020 • Mark Twain, Literature, Hartford, Redding

Samuel Clemens experienced America’s rapid change—from westward expansion to industrialization‚ the end of slavery‚ advancements in technology‚ and foreign wars.

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Beatrice Fox Auerbach meets with the department heads of her store, G. Fox & Company

Beatrice Fox Auerbach: Retail Pioneer Led Iconic Family Department Store

Beatrice Fox Auerbach was pioneering retail executive who ran the G. Fox & Co. department store and numerous philanthropic benefiting people in Hartford and around the world.

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Replicas of the 1636 church and house built by Reverend Thomas Hooker

What’s a Puritan, and Why Didn’t They Stay in Massachusetts?

November 22, 2020 • Belief, Hartford

Mean-spirited, repressed souls or persecuted refugees and rugged egalitarians? Connecticut’s state historian sets the record straight.

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An Oyster Supper

Any Month with an “R” in It: Eating Oysters in Connecticut

Lack of refrigeration and higher bacteria counts in tidal waters once made summer months a dangerous time to eat oysters.

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Witchcraft in Connecticut

Well before the Salem trials, Connecticut residents were executing “witches.” Connecticut is home to what was most likely the first execution of its kind in colonial America.

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Currier & Ives, The drunkards progress. From the first glass to the grave

The Temperance Movement in Connecticut – Today in History: October 27

On October 27, 1841, the steamboat Greenfield traveled down the Connecticut River, transporting people to the Temperance Convention in Middletown.

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Hartford and New Haven: A Tale of Two Capitals

Before the expense of having two capital cities became too great, both Hartford and New Haven served that function. Hartford became the sole capital in 1875.

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Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Take a giant step." New York Public Library Digital Collections.

Hartford’s Louis Peterson, Groundbreaking African American Playwright

Hartford’s Louis Peterson was a groundbreaking African American playwright in the 20th century.

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Martha Graham Dance Company, 1937 - The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley Library Digital Collections

Hartford’s Anna Sokolow, Modern Dance Pioneer

Hartford’s Anna Sokolow became one of the most important figures in modern dance during the 20th century.

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Vegetable cart in Charles Street Market, Hartford

Hartford’s “Little Italy”

October 6, 2020 • Everyday Life, Immigration, Hartford

In the early 1900s, Italians made new lives for themselves in Hartford.

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Armsmear, Wethersfield Avenue, Hartford

Elizabeth Jarvis Colt Born – Today in History: October 5

October 5, 2020 • Samuel Colt, Hartford, Women

On October 5, 1826, Elizabeth Jarvis was born in Hartford.

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Smoke billows from Hartford Hospital

The 1961 Hartford Hospital Fire

On December 8, 1961, the casual disposal of a cigarette spread raging flames and deadly smoke through Hartford Hospital.

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President Richard Nixon visits Hartford

The 42-Day Income Tax

In 1971, to eliminate the state’s budget deficit, Connecticut legislators approved a tax on income. Just forty-two days later, they repealed it, instead voting to increase the state’s sales tax.

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Battle Flag Parade, Hartford, Connecticut, September 17, 1879

A Day of Celebration – Today in History: September 17

September 17, 1879 was a day of celebration in the City of Hartford when more than 100,000 people came to the city to celebrate Battle Flag Day.

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Sol Lewitt, Certificate of Ownership and Diagram Wall Drawing #614

Painter, Muralist, Sculptor Sol LeWitt born – Today in History: September 9

September 9, 2020 • Chester, Arts, Hartford

Sol LeWitt, whose work includes drawings and sculptures, is identified with the late 20th century Minimalist and Conceptual art movements.

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Hartford’s Les Payne, Trailblazing Journalist

September 2, 2020 • Literature, Hartford, Social Movements

Les Payne grew up in Hartford and became one of the best-known African-American journalists in the United States.

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Trinity College, Hartford, CT

Trinity College – Scholarship and Community Engagement

August 23, 2020 • Education, Hartford

Founded in 1823, Trinity College has evolved alongside the city of Hartford for nearly 200 years.

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The Entrance to Pope Park

Pope Park – Yesterday and Today

Once the proposed site of Albert Pope’s industrial village, Pope Park has served the recreation needs of the Hartford community for over one hundred years.

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Wallace Stevens

Poet Wallace Stevens Dies – Today in History: August 2

August 2, 2020 • Literature, Hartford

On August 2, 1955, the great American poet Wallace Stevens died at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford.

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Mrs. Lydia H. Sigourney

Miss Huntley’s School Opens – Today in History: August 1

August 1, 2020 • Education, Literature, Hartford, Women

On August 1, 1814, a young teacher named Lydia Huntley opened a school for young women in Hartford.

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Joel Barlow

The Hartford Wits

Eventually taking the name the “Hartford Wits,” influential figures of the 18th century got together to write poetry that documented the state of the times.

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Dr. Eli Todd

Medical Pioneer Eli Todd born – Today in History: July 22

On July 22, 1769, Eli Todd was born in New Haven and in 1824 became the first director of the Connecticut Retreat for the Insane in Hartford.

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A Revolution On Two Wheels: Columbia Bicycles

Albert Pope’s company not only played a prominent role in developing improved bicycle designs, it also developed the market for them.

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Colt Park and the Magical Summer of 1976

In the summer of 1976, Colt Park offered rock and roll fans an escape from troubled times through a series of concerts by some legendary acts.

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Joseph Hopkins Twichell: Asylum Hill’s Religious Leader and Mark Twain’s Closest Friend

Inspired by his friendship with Mark Twain, Joseph Twichell took up such causes as labor rights, immigration, education, and interfaith advocacy.

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Hartford Jai Alai players, 1976

“The Basque Game in Town”: The Heyday of Jai Alai in Connecticut

Organized jai alai came to Connecticut in the 1970s, but charges of corruption soon brought the sport to an end in the Nutmeg State.

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Monument to Capewell, the inventor of the famous horseshoe nail

Horseshoe Nail Capital of the World – Who Knew?

In the late 19th century, George Capewell formed the Capewell Horse Nail Company, which mass produced horseshoe nails.

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Early Civil Rights and Cultural Pioneers: The Easton Family

June 21, 2020 • Arts, Belief, Hartford, Social Movements

For a variety of reasons, the Eastons were one of New England’s most notable 19th-century African American families.

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Mark Twain's Interactive Scrap Book

Samuel L. Clemens Receives Scrap-book Patent – Who Knew?

Writer and humorist Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, invented more than tall tales and novels.

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Flying Machine patent

Flying High with Early Dirigible

In what would later be described as “the first flight of a man-carrying dirigible in America,” aeronaut Mark Quinlan piloted a machine designed and patented by Charles F. Ritchel.

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The Hartford Insurance Investigator With the Action-Packed Expense Account

Based in Hartford, “Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar” was one of America’s most popular radio shows during the 15 years it aired.

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Mayor Insists Air Terminal to Aid Idle

“Something to Show for Our Work”: Building Brainard Airport

At the height of the Great Depression, unemployed men living around Hartford, became a cheap source of labor to help build Brainard airport.

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First Meetinghouse in Hartford

The Free Consent of the People: Thomas Hooker and the Fundamental Orders

Government formed with the consent of the people was a radical idea in the age of nations ruled by monarchs, emperors, and tsars.

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Josephine Bennett: Hartford’s City Mother

By linking disparate social and political movements of the early 20th century, activist Josephine Bennett was “intersectional” well before the term was invented.

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Cornerstone Set – Today in History: May 25

May 25, 2020 • Architecture, Hartford, The State

On May 25, 1909, the cornerstone was laid for the new State Library and Supreme Court building in Hartford.

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Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch, Hartford

The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, Hartford

Situated in Bushnell Park, the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch honors the more than 4,000 Hartford men who fought for the Union during the Civil War.

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Columbia Bicycle Model 105, 1903

Albert Pope Pioneered Bicycles for Women

Hartford-based inventor Albert Pope saw his first bicycle at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and was so impressed that he went to Europe to study how bicycles were made.

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Katharine Hepburn’s Love Affair (with Connecticut)

One of the most popular actresses of the 20th century, Katharine Hepburn was born in Hartford and lived much of her later life in Old Saybrook.

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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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Frederick Law Olmsted

Frederick Law Olmsted Born – Today in History: April 26

On April 26, 1822, Frederick Law Olmsted was born in Hartford and became the founder of landscape architecture in America,

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The Hartford Wheel Club, Hartford

The Hartford Wheel Club: Disparity in the Gilded Age

Despite the wealth found in some sections of the city, the economic volatility of the Gilded Age produced hard times for residents of Hartford.

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Teacher and student, American School for the Deaf

The American School for the Deaf – Today in History: April 15

April 15, 2020 • Education, Hartford

On April 15, 1817, the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons opened with seven pupils in Hartford.

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The Northern Student Movement

The Northern Student Movement motivated college students to contribute their energies to important social causes such as literacy and civil rights.

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Frederick Douglass

Speaking under the Open Sky: Frederick Douglass in Connecticut

The famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass had several connections to Connecticut, including run-ins with a number of the state’s vocal slavery proponents.

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Offices of HELCO at 266 Pearl Street, Hartford

Let There Be Light: An Early History of the Hartford Electric Light Company

As cities switched from gas lamps to electric lighting, one observer noted that Hartford was “far in the lead of any other city in the world in the use of electricity for light and power per capita.”

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1920s photo of the Fuller Brush plant in Hartford

Hartford’s Fuller Brush Company Goes Door-to-Door Across US

Founded in 1906 by Alfred C. Fuller, the Fuller Brush Company was one of Connecticut’s most notable corporations.

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Triangle Shirtwaist Fire: Connecticut Lessons from a Tragedy

While the Triangle Shirtwaist fire in New York City is one of the most famous tragedies behind the organized labor movement, Connecticut had its share of equally dangerous work environments in the early 20th century.

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Are you a goop? by Caroline Hewins

The Public Library Movement: Caroline Hewins Makes Room for Young Readers

March 13, 2020 • Hartford, Social Movements, Women

This Hartford librarian played a leading role in national efforts to transform libraries into public centers that welcomed patrons from all walks of life.

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The Old State House, Hartford

Where It All Happened: Connecticut’s Old State House

Connecticut’s Old State House is a memorial to many of the legislative advances made in Connecticut during the most formative years of the United States.

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Detail from the front page of The Woman Voter's Bulletin, 1923

A Day for Women – Today in History: March 8

Women’s fight for the right to vote in the Constitution State may be dated to 1869, when the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association (CWSA) was organized.

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Gideon Welles Appointed Lincoln’s Secretary of the Navy – Today in History: March 7

On March 7, 1861 Gideon Welles was officially appointed into Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet as Secretary of the Navy.

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

Today in History – Fales & Gray Explosion Underscores Need for a Hartford Hospital

At 2 pm on March 2, 1854, the power of steam incorrectly managed and harnessed wreaked havoc at the railroad-car factory Fales & Gray Car Works in Hartford.

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Colt Revolver display case

The Revolving Gun – Today in History: February 25

On February 25, 1836, Samuel Colt received a patent for a “revolving gun” US patent number 138, later known as 9430X.

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Union Station during the Fire of February 21, 1914

Fire and Ice: A Very Bad Week in 1914

Hartford’s Union Station and Allyn Hall caught fire on two different days in February. Only one still stands today.

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Park Central Hotel disaster

Park Central Hotel Boiler Explosion – Today in History: February 18

In the pre-dawn hours of February 18, 1889, the Park Central Hotel in Hartford was ripped apart by a steam boiler explosion.

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Constitution Plaza Then and Now

Hartford’s first major redevelopment project, Constitution Plaza was built as part of the urban renewal initiatives in the 1950s and ’60s.

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The Interstate Highway System Comes to Hartford

February 11, 2020 • Hartford, Transportation

The building of I-84 and I-91 may have increased interstate transportation, but city planners and special interest groups continue to grapple with the legacy of these projects.

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Armory Fire

Colt Armory Burns – Today in History: February 4

On February 4, 1864, most of Colt’s East Armory, located in Hartford, burned to the ground.

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Racial Change Map displaying the Non-White Population in 1970

How Real Estate Practices Influenced the Hartford Region’s Demographic Makeup

February 3, 2020 • Bloomfield, Everyday Life, Law, Hartford

Persistent segregation is the historic legacy of steering and blockbusting, two discriminatory tactics that played a role in shaping suburban neighborhoods.

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Portrait of James Mars

1850s Equal Rights Activist James Mars

James Mars became one of the most prominent African Americans in the region, and a leader of Hartford’s African American community.

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Hartford Times – Voices of Change

1960’s photographs from The Hartford Times offer a look back at a decade of protest that focused local and national attention on the civil rights of African Americans, the war in Vietnam, and the inequalities facing women.

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Total eclipse by Frederick E. Turner, Willimantic, January 24, 1925

The Astronomical Event of the Century

Church bells chimed and factory whistles blew and automobiles, trains, and trolleys throughout the state came to a standstill.

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View of the Hartford Civic Center roof, which collapsed on January 18, 1978

Almost a Tragedy: The Collapse of the Hartford Civic Center

In the early morning of January 18, 1978, the roof of the sports coliseum collapsed onto 10,000 empty stadium seats.

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Panoramic view of Bushnell Park, Hartford

Land Purchase Becomes Bushnell Park – Today in History: January 5

On January 5, 1854, Hartford voters approved spending over $100,000 in public funds for land that would become a municipal park.

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Detail from the broadside an "Address to Miss Phillis Wheatly" composed by Jupiter Hammon

Hartford Publishes the First Literary Work by an African American – Who Knew?

Jupiter Hammon, who endured life-long enslavement, became the first African American writer to be published in America when his 88-line poem, “An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ with Penitential Cries”, was published.

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Paul Robeson by Gordon Parks, 1942

“Negroes Who Stand Up and Fight Back” – Paul Robeson in Hartford

November 15, 2019 • Arts, Enfield, Hartford, Social Movements, Work

Called the “greatest mobilization of police in the city’s history,” the event that brought law enforcement out in force to Keney Park was not a riot, not a strike, but a concert by this singer-actor and activist.

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Honor and Duty: The Life of Alfred Howe Terry

Born in Hartford, Alfred Howe Terry studied law before heroically capturing Fort Fisher during the Civil War.

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Charles De Wolf Brownell, Charter Oak

The Legend of the Charter Oak

This Charles D. Brownell painting from the mid-1850s epitomizes the importance that the Charter Oak tree held in the hearts and minds of Connecticut citizens.

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The Hartford Circus Fire

As a result of the Hartford Circus Fire of 1944, Connecticut enacted new, strict fire safety regulations for public performances.

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Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman Born – Today in History: July 3

On July 3, 1860, Charlotte Anna Perkins (Charlotte Perkins Gilman) was born in Hartford, Connecticut.

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View of the Colt Factory from Dutch Point

The Colt Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company

Samuel Colt, the man who revolutionized firearms manufacturing in the United States, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on July 19, 1814.

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Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford

Where Mr. Twain and Mrs. Stowe Built Their Dream Houses

This bucolic oasis on Hartford’s western edge became home to great literary talents, social reformers, politicians, and other nationally-regarded luminaries of the mid-to-late 1800s.

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Sarah Bernhardt

Sarah Bernhardt Performs in Hartford – Today in History: June 8

June 8, 2019 • Arts, Hartford

On June 8, 1906, French stage and film actress Sarah Bernhardt appeared at Foot Guard Hall in Hartford.

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An Orderly & Decent Government: Making Self-Government Work, 1888-1905

Connecticut’s ancient system of town-based representation ensured the continuation of small town values and perspectives.

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An Orderly & Decent Government: Making Self-Government Work, 1634-1776

In 1698 the General Court reorganized itself to deal more effectively with Connecticut’s complex new problems.

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An Orderly & Decent Government: Searching for the Common Good, 1819-1865

During the early 19th century, the General Assembly was slow to deal with rising crime, poverty and the other social costs of a rapidly changing society.

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An Orderly & Decent Government: Making Self-Government Work, 1819-1865

In the mid-19th century, Connecticut looked toward changing its electoral processes as well as its civil rights record.

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An Orderly & Decent Government: Significant Events & Developments, 1905-1929

Early 20th century life in Connecticut was marked by the election of 1912, US entry into World War I, and the Great Depression.

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An Orderly & Decent Government: Making Self-Government Work, 1866-1887

The late 1800s witnessed significant challenges to Connecticut’s voting and taxation laws.

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An Orderly & Decent Government: Significant Events & Developments, 1929-1964

The era of Wilbur Cross and the Great Depression transitioned into World War II and state control by Democrat mastermind John Bailey.

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An Orderly & Decent Government: Significant Events & Developments, 1965-Now

Connecticut recast its constitution, reapportioned its House and Senate, and struggled with providing equal rights to all races and socio-economic classes in the state.

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An Orderly & Decent Government: Searching for the Common Good, 1965-Now

The state generated revenue for urban renewal and social programs through gaming and income tax initiatives.

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Detail of Sam Colt Memorial

The Colt Memorial, Cedar Hill Cemetery

Commissioned by Samuel Colt’s wife, Elizabeth Jarvis Colt, and James G. Batterson designed the Colt memorial monument in Hartford’s Cedar Hill Cemetery.

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Video – Hidden History: Bushnell Park

Your Town’s History in Video: Bushnell Park

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Video – Dotha Bushnell Hillyer Tribute Film

The Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame pays tribute to philanthropist Dotha Bushnell Hillyer, patron of a living memorial to her father, the Reverend Horace Bushnell.

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Video – Barbara McClintock Tribute Film

The Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame pays tribute to Hartford native Barbara McClintock, a famed geneticist and Nobel Prize winner.

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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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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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Video – Hidden History: Keney Tower

Your Town’s History in Video: Keney Tower

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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 – 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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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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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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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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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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Tomlinson Cottage, Retreat for the Insane, Hartford

Hartford Retreat for the Insane Advanced Improved Standards of Care

In the 1800s, this Connecticut hospital stood at the forefront of medical practice in the US in its new approaches to the treatment of mental illness.

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Laurel Street bridge construction, Hartford

From Frontier Town to Capital City: Collection Traces Hartford’s Transformation

How does a colonial town become a modern city? A unique collection, with documents dating to the 1630s, helps provide answers.

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HOLC Residential Security Map of Hartford Area 1937

The Effects of “Redlining” on the Hartford Metropolitan Region

March 18, 2014 • Business and Industry, Law, Hartford

Historical data reveals long-term patterns of inequality that can be traced back to now-illegal practices adopted by federal and private lenders in the 1930s.

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Colt workers in front of the Armory, 1876

Workers at the Colt Armory, Hartford 1867

Colt Firearms has been one of the most prominent industries in Hartford for over 150 years.

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Dedication of the New State Capitol, 1876

New State Capitol 1878

By the 1870s, the State’s practice of having dual capitols in Hartford and New Haven was considered awkward and ineffective.

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Mayor's Council Armenian Group, Hartford, 1920

Welcoming Armenian Immigrants, Hartford, 1920

This naturalization ceremony in Hartford demonstrates the importance of the immigrant community in Connecticut.

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Hartford's Wadsworth Atheneum

Hartford’s Wadsworth Atheneum Est. 1842

February 1, 2014 • Imagining Connecticut, Arts, Hartford

Art and culture have always played an important role in Connecticut’s long and diverse history.

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Puerto Rican Festival, Hartford

Park Street Festival, Hartford 1978

The Park Street Festival is an annual Puerto Rican celebration held in the heart of Hartford’s Puerto Rican community on Park Street.

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View in Batterson, Canfield & Co.'s Monumental Works

James G. Batterson, Stone Contractor

James G. Batterson was an artist, inventor, and businessman. He helped commemorate the Civil War through his proficiency with stone.

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Over Time: Hartford’s Historical Population

December 14, 2013 • Hide Featured Image, 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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Capital Community College Students Explore Hartford’s Immigrant History…In Their Own Words

Capital Community College students explored important figures from Hartford’s history and their immigrant, migrant, or ethnic communities that culminated in semester-long research projects.

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Video – Connecticut’s Cultural Treasures: Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

June 25, 2013 • Hide Featured Image, Arts, Hartford

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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PROJECT CONCERN youngsters, 20 of them from Hartford, arrive at Spaulding School, Suffield

Connecticut Takes the Wheel on Education Reform: Project Concern

April 10, 2013 • Education, Hartford, Social Movements

As one of the earliest voluntary busing programs in the US, Project Concern sought to address educational inequalities.

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Video – Connecticut’s Cultural Treasures: Old State House

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: Mark Twain House

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 – Hidden History: Old Hartford State House

Your Town’s History in Video: Old Hartford State House

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Video – Hidden History: Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch

Your Town’s History in Video: Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch

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Video – Hidden History: Hartford’s Ancient Burial Ground

August 19, 2012 • Hide Featured Image, Belief, Hartford

Your Town’s History in Video: Hartford’s Ancient Burial Ground

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Video – Hidden History: Connecticut Historical Society

Your Town’s History in Video: Connecticut Historical Society

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