Attributed to Solomon Jones & Thomas K. Bush, Carter’s Inn sign, Clinton, ca. 1823 – Connecticut Museum of Culture and History. Used through Public Domain.
How did the people of Connecticut’s past live their daily lives? What did they cook and eat, wear and own, gossip about, celebrate, and mourn? Such details are the concerns of social history and reveal much about the economic conditions, class disparities, shared values, and other characteristics of a given time. Joshua Hempstead’s diary, for example, provides a detailed account of life in colonial Connecticut, as experienced by an Anglo-American businessman and public servant. James Mars’ memoir, on the other hand, traces the path from slavery to freedom under the state’s Gradual Emancipation Act of 1784. Personal accounts, along with photographs, artifacts, songs, and other historical evidence, help bring the experience of the everyday to light.
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Connecticut Poor Law Aimed to Care for the Needy
Connecticut instituted a Poor Law in the 17th century to comply with a directive from the British government that the colony ensure for the care of the poor within its borders …[more]
