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World War II


Poster with a blue and red flag and several people underneath cheering

Army-Navy “E” Award Honors Connecticut for Support Against the Axis Powers

During WWII, the US military bestowed 175 Connecticut war plants with the Army-Navy “E” Award for outstanding production contributions to the army and navy.

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A car with one person driving and a man with a camera standing on the back bumper and a woman kneeling on the roof with a camera.

Photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White: “No Picture Was Unimportant to Her”

Margaret Bourke-White photographed some of the 20th century’s most significant people and events, but spent her later years in Darien, Connecticut.

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Connecticut Agricultural College coeds gathering maple sap for war effort

A New Source of Farm Labor Crops Up in Wartime

During times of war, in Connecticut, as in many other states, women became an increasingly important resource in food production.

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Airmen returning home, Bradley Field, Windsor Locks

Bradley Airport’s Military Origins

In 1941, the United States government anxiously pursued opportunities to establish an air base in Connecticut to bolster defenses along the East Coast.

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Oakwood Acres temporary housing

The Debate Over Who Could Occupy World War II Public Housing in West Hartford

In the 1940s, African American war workers eligible for government-funded housing found access restricted to some properties despite vacancies.

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German American Bund parade

Southbury Takes On the Nazis

When the Nazis moved into Southbury, however, local citizens reacted forcefully, eventually pushing the anti-Semitic settlers out of the state.

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Woman in military outfit standing between two men who are pinning something to her shoulders.

Colonel Ruth A. Lucas: Literary Advocate

In 1968, Ruth A. Lucas became the first African American woman in the air force to attain the rank of colonel and advocated for literacy her whole career.

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Guyton flying the V-173, November 23, 1942

Boone Guyton Tested the Limits of World-Famous Aircraft

A long-time resident of Woodbridge, Boone Guyton was one of the most prolific test pilots in US aviation history.

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Detail of the Bethany Airport Hanger from the Aerial survey of Connecticut 1934

A Busy Airfield in Bethany

In its first few years, the airfield in Bethany served the interests of small-time aviation enthusiasts.

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Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury

Danbury Prison Protest – Today in History: August 11

On August 11, 1943, conscientious objectors and other prisoners staged a 135-day hunger strike to protest racial segregation in the Danbury prison’s dining hall.

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Joseph Alsop - Hennepin County Library

Joseph Alsop: Cunning Political Columnist of Mid-Century America

Joseph Wright Alsop was one of the country’s most well-known political journalists of the 20th century and was drawn into some of the most influential power circles in the world.

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A US Army Air Force Waco CG-4A-WO glider

Daring World War II Escape of a Bethany Soldier

A member of the glider service, Rollin Booth Fowler crash landed in Normandy during World War II and was captured, only to execute a daring and dramatic escape.

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D-Day – Today in History: June 6

On the WWII homefront, night watchmen in Naugatuck’s factories heard the news of D-Day first.

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The Gilbert clock model is on the right

Papier-Mache Clocks – Who Knew?

The William L. Gilbert Clock Corporation of Winsted was one of the few clock-making firms in Connecticut allowed to continue the manufacture of clocks during World War II.

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photo of Dave Brubeck, jazz musician

“Take Five” with Dave Brubeck

Dave Brubeck was one of the leading jazz pianists and composers of the 1950s and 60s and made his home in Wilton.

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Deep River, 1934 aerial survey

Road Signs of the Air

In the 1920s, most pilots navigated using road maps and by following highways, rivers, and other landmarks that they could see from the air.

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Mounds Candy Bar Involved in Espionage – Who Knew?

A storied Naugatuck business had its own “navy” and that it performed espionage services for the United States government during World War II.

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Providing Bundles for Britain and News for America

Janet Huntington Brewster Murrow was a Middletown native who grew up to be one of America’s most trusted news correspondents, philanthropists, and the wife of Edward R. Murrow.

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A Godmother to Ravensbrück Survivors

Philanthropist Caroline Ferriday aided women whose internment at a German concentration camp during WWII left them scarred, physically as well as psychologically.

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Chief G’tinemong/Ralph W. Sturges

This Mohegan Chief is remembered for successfully guiding the Tribe through the final stages of Federal Recognition, which it obtained in 1994.

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The Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company in East Hartford

The Early Years of the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company

Wasp and Hornet engines secure the reputation and success of this 1920s start-up venture.

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Reporting News of Pearl Harbor – Today in History: December 7

On December 7, 1941, Mansfield resident and UConn history professor Andre Schenker took to the airwaves to report on the attack on Pearl Harbor.

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Advertising leaflet for the "Cal" Pistol, J. & E. Stevens Co., Cromwell

Cromwell’s Iron Men Made Toys for Boys and Girls

The J & E Stevens Company eventually became the largest manufacturer of cast-iron toys in the country.

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American troops of the 28th Infantry Division march down the Champs-Élysées

Connecticut Servicemen in the “Bloody Bucket” Division

Nicknamed the “Keystone Division,” the United States Army’s 28th Infantry Division came together in 1917 by combining units of the Pennsylvania National Guard.

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Hiram Bingham IV

Hiram Bingham IV: A Humanitarian Honored for Saving Lives during WWII

July 17, 2021 • Salem, World War II

Career diplomat Hiram Bingham IV, whose family has lived in Salem, Connecticut, for generations, was born in 1903.

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Vonsiatsky and the German American Bund in the 1940s

The Vonsiatsky Conspiracy Case

In 1942, Anastase Vonsiatsky of Thompson, Connecticut, was convicted of conspiring to betray state secrets to Nazi Germany.

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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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Guy Hedlund playing Guy Frances in Fortune's Pet

Portland’s Guy Hedlund: Actor and Activist

December 29, 2020 • Popular Culture, Portland, World War II

Guy Hedlund was a Connecticut native made famous through his roles as a theater and motion picture actor.

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Leroy Anderson at home in the 1950s

Leroy Anderson Composed Iconic Music in Woodbury

Leroy Anderson, a long-time resident of Woodbury, was one of the most popular composers of light concert music in the 20th century.

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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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World War II scrap metal drive, Hartford, ca. 1941-1944

Women and Defense: World War II on the Connecticut Home Front

Women who stepped into civil defense positions managed and implemented programs that educated the public, promoted war bond sales, and aided emergency preparedness.

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A Connecticut Nazi Spy Has a Change of Heart

A Connecticut-born Nazi spy, William Colepaugh, had a change of heart and turned himself in to the FBI on December 26, 1944.

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Thomas Dodd (at podium), Nuremberg trial, ca., 1945-46

Connecticut Lawyer Prosecutes Nazi War Criminals at Nuremberg

In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Thomas Joseph Dodd served on the United States’ prosecutorial team as Executive Trial Counsel at the International Military Tribunal (IMT).

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Two A-10 Thunderbolt IIs from the Connecticut Air National Guard's 103rd Fighter Wing fly in formation behind a KC-135

Connecticut’s “Yankee Watch” Squadron Protects the Skies Here and Abroad

Based in Orange, Connecticut, the 103rd Air Control Squadron of the Air National Guard is one of the oldest of its kind.

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Adeline Gray at the Pioneer Parachute Company, Manchester

First Human Test of a Nylon Parachute – Today in History: June 6

On June 6, 1942, Adeline Gray made the first jump by a human with a nylon parachute at Brainard Field in Hartford.

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Hometown Hero: Wallingford Remembers Stanley Budleski

Stanley Budleski was the first serviceman from Yalesville to be killed in World War II.

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World War I Poster

War and the Fear of Enemy Aliens – Who Knew?

…that Greenwich had a special police unit trained to handle suspected foreign agents operating in Connecticut.

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Waterbury’s Radium Girls

In the early 20th century, girls working at the Waterbury Clock Company faced death and disease from exposure to radium in the workplace.

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The Boston Braves playing during spring training

Spring Training Baseball Comes to Wallingford

During World War II, travel restrictions limited the distance baseball teams traveled to begin their training; the National League’s Boston Braves trained in Wallingford.

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Assembly of parachute flare casings

Munitions Assembly Line 1943

Because so many men enlisted in the military during WWII, women were recruited to take their places in the all-important factory jobs that kept the forces abroad supplied.

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Hopkins Street Center once known as the Pearl St. Neighborhood House

A Woman Who Developed Tolerance: Leila T. Alexander

November 18, 2019 • War and Defense, Waterbury, Women, World War II

As a member of the War Council, Leila T. Alexander served on several Council committees including education, employment, advisory, social service, and welfare.

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USS Bexar tour, bazooka demonstration

The Bazooka Changes War – Today in History: June 14

On June 14, 1942, the General Electric Company in Bridgeport finished production on the “Launcher, Rocket AT, M-1,” better known as the bazooka.

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An Orderly & Decent Government: Searching for the Common Good, 1929-1964

Organized labor grew strong during wartime while discriminatory practices in housing and education persisted throughout the state.

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

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

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Andrew Mamedoff

Connecticut Daredevil Andrew Mamedoff Joins Royal Air Force

Andrew Mamedoff was a daredevil, pilot, and war hero who became one of the first Americans to join England’s Royal Air Force.

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Video – Home Front: Connecticut During World War II – Civil Defense

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

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Video – Home Front: A State Divided as War Looms in Europe

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

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