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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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Apostle of Peace: Elihu Burritt’s Quest for Universal Brotherhood

Elihu Burritt, a blacksmith by trade, became an advocate for peace around the world throughout the 19th century.

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Mayor's Council Armenian Group, Hartford, 1920

Building an Armenian Community in New Britain

Since the late 19th century, Armenian immigrants and descendants have created a community and shaped New Britain history.

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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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Gerald Chapman: America’s First “Public Enemy Number One”

October 12, 2022 • Crime and Punishment, New Britain

On October 12, 1924, in New Britain, Connecticut, Gerald Chapman became America’s first “Public Enemy Number One.”

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Governor Ribicoff

Abraham Ribicoff: Kennedy Confidant and Connecticut’s First Jewish Governor

Abraham Ribicoff rose from a New Britain tenement to become Connecticut’s first Jewish governor and a confidant of President John F. Kennedy.

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P. & F. Corbin hardware shipping crate

The Corbin Cabinet Lock Company and Patent Law: A Lesson in Novelty from a CT Perspective

New Britain, fondly known as the “Hardware City,” had numerous companies that contributed to modern industrialization.

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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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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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Elihu Burritt

Elihu Burritt Born – Today in History: December 8

On December 8, 1810, Elihu Burritt was born in New Britain, Connecticut, to a farming family and became a leading pacifist of his time.

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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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The 1909 seven passenger limousine

The Hardware City Could’ve Been the Motor City – Who Knew?

In 1903 the Russell & Erwin Company and the American Hardware Corporation purchased the Bristol Motor Car Company of Bristol, Connecticut.

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Witamy to Little Poland! – A Thriving Neighborhood in New Britain

April 14, 2021 • Immigration, New Britain

A bustling ethnic neighborhood along Broad Street in New Britain is home to such a vibrant Polish population that it earned the nickname “Little Poland.”

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The “Father of American Football” is Born – Today in History: April 7

A native of New Britain, Walter Camp helped revolutionize the game of American football while a student and coach at Yale and for several years afterward.

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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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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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Elihu Burritt

Elihu Burritt Dies – Today in History: March 6

On March 6, 1879, Elihu Burritt “the learned blacksmith” died in New Britain.

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Martha A. Parsons House

A Pioneering Woman in Business: Martha Parsons of Enfield

Enfield’s Martha Parsons broke new ground in her pursuit of employment opportunities for women. Her family home now belongs to the Enfield Historical Society.

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Hat-factory With Hose-house On The Hill, Danbury

Rivers of Outrage

Pollution of Connecticut’s waters by industrial waste and sewage in the decades after the Civil War was arguably the state’s first modern environmental crisis.

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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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Hamilton Wrecks Aeroplane – Today in History: April 22

On April 22, 1911, aviation pioneer Charles Hamilton crashed his brand new, all white, biplane the “Moth” at Andrews Field in New Britain.

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Governor Ribicoff

Abraham Ribicoff dies – Today in History: February 22

On February 22, 1998, the first Jewish governor in Connecticut’s history, Abraham Ribicoff, died.

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Charles K. Hamilton

Hamilton Breaks Air Records – Today in History: June 13

Charles Keeney Hamilton completed the first round-trip journey ever made between two large cities in an airplane in the United States.

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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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Products from New Britain’s Past

In the early 20th century, New Britain produced a variety of housewares popular with the American public, including cutlery, toasters, waffle irons, pocketknives, food choppers, and eggbeaters.

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Stanley Works for New Britain

In 1843, Frederick Stanley founded a small shop in New Britain to manufacture bolts, hinges, and other hardware products for sale to local residents.

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Over Time: New Britain’s Historical Population

January 11, 2014 • Hide Featured Image, New Britain

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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Philip Corbin

Philip Corbin: Manufacturing A Legacy for New Britain

The P&F Corbin Company manufactured builders’ hardware, including hooks, sash fasteners, picture nails, locks, and knobs, and coffin trimmings.

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Video – Connecticut’s Cultural Treasures: New Britian Museum of American Art

November 19, 2012 • Hide Featured Image, Arts, New Britain

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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