For All Adult-Learners
Get a taste of the fall offerings of the President’s College at the University of Hartford with Showcase 2010, September 19, 2010. The President’s College is a non-credit program of short courses and programs in the arts, humanities, and technology for adult learners. Showcase 2010 is a day-long introduction with lectures by professors who will be teaching longer course offerings this fall, plus panel discussions, and lunch. For more information visit www.hartford.edu/presidentscollege.
Hartford Treasures On View Thru Sept. 30th
Hartford Public Library has a terrific exhibition from its historic Hartford Collection on view in the library’s ArtWalk Gallery, and in the Hartford History Center itself, an exhibition of the drawings of artists Richard Welling who passed away just last year. Welling chronicled Hartford’s buildings with pen-and-ink drawings for more than 40 years. Both exhibitions are free and open to the public. For more information visit www.hplct.org/hhc.
FALL ISSUE CELEBRATES CT’s 375TH
Join us as our Fall issue celebrates Connecticut’s 375th anniversary and some of the family businesses that helped it grow and prosper over nearly four centuries.
But is the state really 375 years old? Find out in State Historian Walter Woodward’s story “Celebrating Connecticut’s Founding.” Then read on about one of the state’s rare family-owned newspapers (founded 166 years ago); how one of Litchfield’s first families adapted their business when spinning wheels became obsolete; about the illustrious Trumbull family which counted governors, patriots, merchants, and an artist in its ranks; how three generations of the Liverant family developed a thriving antiques business beginning in the 1920s; and more! We’ve got stories from across the state and covering the 18th to the 20th centuries. Subscribe or purchase the current issue online.
Every issue, I learn something about our cultural heritage that enriches my life and deepens my appreciation for our state.
Your mouth will be watering after reading our photo essay on Waterbury’s Frankies Hot Dogs. Brothers Frankie and Paul Caiazzo founded the popular eatery in the midst of the Depression and built their success on the motto, “Come in and Eat or We’ll Both Starve.” You’ll learn about one business that found innovation in making square boxes (in the hat-making town of Danbury which only had use for round and oval hat boxes). And you’ll learn about the surprising role that Danbury played in the famous and enduringly popular children’s book series, Little House on the Prairie.
I invite you to join me by subscribing. Our readers are lifelong learners and avid “Connecticutophiles.” Readers have told us they value:
“The unique material presented in each issue! You just don’t find that anywhere else,”
and
“The human stories that have made our state what it is today. “
And, more big anniversaries are coming up that you won’t want to miss—notably Connecticut’s role in the Civil War and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 200th birthday. Begin your exploration of Connecticut history today. You’ll enjoy one good story after another!
Elizabeth Normen
Publisher
Don’t miss two special farmers markets and farm-to-table dinners
Connecticut Landmarks and Hill-Stead Museum, two of our partner organizations, host farmers markets on Sundays throughout the season and farm-to-table dinners. Ct Landmarks hosts theirs at the Nathan Hale Homestead in Coventry (the largest farmers market in the state visited by over 70,000 people each season) and Hill-Stead’s is at their site in Farmington. Ct Landmarks presents Dinner at the Homestead (also at the Nathan Hale Homestead) on September 11, 2010 and Hill-Stead’ presents Dinner on the Hill the following weekend, September 19, 2010. Both farm dinners are outstanding–no reason to choose–eat well two weekends in a row and go to both! To order tickets, click on the links or for more information on the farmers markets (free) visit www.ctlandmarks.org or www.hillstead.org.
CELEBRATE THE STATE’S 375th
The state’s historic museums are celebrating Connecticut’s 375th anniversary! Special tours are offered September 25 & 26 at the Henry Whitfield Museum in Guilford (the state’s oldest stone house). Learn about the Housatonic Valley iron industry at the Sloane-Stanley Museum in Kent on September 18 at 1 p.m.. Visit the Prudence Crandall Museum in Canterbury on October 10, 2 p.m., to learn about Crandall’s neighbors and on November 7, enjoy “Tea with Prudence and Sarah. For more information visit CCT’s web site.
Governor M. Jodi Rell kicked off the state’s official celebration of the 375th anniversary of the founding of Connecticut on February 17, 2010 with Executive Order No. 37 establishing a “375 Commission.” Though we’re facing hard times, she noted we need this celebration now. The Web site www.ct375.com is your go-to source of celebration information and anniversary mugs, hats, t-shirts and more!
Bruce Fraser. The End of a Life. The End of an Era.
By Walter Woodward, State Historian
For the last 30 years, virtually every history program of substance produced in Connecticut could have carried the credit line, “Brought to you in part by Bruce Fraser.” His June 13 death after a hard-fought battle with cancer leaves an unfillable void in the history community. It also marks the end of an era.
Bruce became executive director of the Connecticut Humanities Council in 1982, when both the organization and the concept of government support for the humanities were in their infancy. With boundless energy, rapier wit, a zealot’s passion for history, and an athlete’s stamina for the block and tackle of politics, Bruce transformed the little bastion of heritage funding that was the CHC into an organization recognized nationwide for the strength of its funding and the quality of its programs. In 1995, he secured one of the first state appropriations to any humanities council. Under his leadership, CHC support for Connecticut cultural activities grew to more than $2 million annually sustaining many organizations through difficult times and helping to improve institutions and their offerings at all times.
A Ph. D. in history from Columbia University, Bruce passionately believed in creating history that people enjoyed but that was also subject to the rigorous analysis of academic scholarship. In this regard, he led by example. His multi-year project The Connecticut Experience, a 19-part history series for public television, received four regional Emmys. His exhibit on Connecticut’s history at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford is a permanent reminder of history’s importance for citizens and legislators alike. Bruce’s final project, the Encyclopedia of Connecticut History Online, scheduled to launch in 2012, will be a remarkable marriage of technology and history, making the state’s past instantly available to all its citizens.
Under Fraser’s leadership, the CHC’s extraordinary performance was awarded on 10 different occasions by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Four times, Connecticut received the Schwartz prize for producing the “best state council initiative in the nation” from the Federation of State Humanities Councils.
Bruce’s death came at a time when economic imperatives put the question of public funding for the humanities under unprecedented scrutiny. The CHC he built will of course continue its important work, though it may be that the era of generous state support for history Bruce was instrumental in creating is passing. Our community will miss his unique ability to make the case for supporting history so compelling.
I will miss the brilliance and the humor of a man I deeply admired.
August 7: The Life and Times of Nathan Hale
On Saturday, August 7th, 10 am to 4:30 pm, Connecticut Landmarks invites you to a symposium on the life and times of Connecticut State Hero, Nathan Hale. Walter Woodward, Connecticut State Historian, will be the keynote speaker; other presentations are by Richard E. Mooney, Kevin M. Sweeney and M. William Phelps. Bruce M. Stave will moderate a panel discussion. The event will conclude with a reception and special tour of the Nathan Hale Homestead, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and evokes a sense of Connecticut’s legendary patriotic and agrarian heritage. The house, built in 1776, belonged to the parents and family of Nathan Hale and is located on the only site he ever called home.
LOCATION:
The morning portion of the symposium will take place at the First Congregational Church of Coventry, 1171 Main Street, followed by the tour and reception of the Nathan Hale Homestead, 2299 South Street, Coventry.
FEE: $50 per person, or $40 for CTL members, which includes lunch. Registration is required. To register call 860.247.8996 ext. 23, or email jamie.fontaine@ctlandmarks.org.
PROGRAM:
The Burning Issue About Nathan Hale
by Walter W. Woodward, Connecticut State Historian
Woodward is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Connecticut and author of Prospero’s America: John Winthrop, Jr., Alchemy, and the Creation of New England Culture, 1606-1676.
Nathan and Me: What I Learned from Nathan Hale
by Richard E. Mooney
Mooney is the former Executive Editor of The Hartford Courant, correspondent and member of the editorial board of The New York Times and curator of “Nathan Hale: Yale, 1773,” an exhibition commemorating the 250th anniversary of the hero’s birth ( www.library.yale.edu/mssa/exhibits/hale/).
Hale, His Life & Legacy: Separating Fact From Fiction
by M. William Phelps
Phelps is an investigative journalist and author of the recent biography, Nathan Hale: The Life and Death of America’s First Spy.
The Hales’ Homestead: Material Life in Colonial Connecticut
by Kevin M. Sweeney
Sweeney is a Professor of American Studies and History at Amherst College and author of Captors And Captives: The 1704 French And Indian Raid on Deerfield.
Panel Moderator:
Bruce M. Stave is Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History and Director, Oral History, at the University of Connecticut. Stave is a resident of Coventry and author of Mills and Meadows: A Pictorial History of Northeast Connecticut.
NEW THIS ISSUE!
In addition to our new name, we’ve added a new subscription level: Connecticut Explorer. For $50 you support the magazine, receive a subscription, AND special offers from our partner organizations valued at more than $50. It’s a great deal. Go the Subscribe page for details.
SUMMER ISSUE: Explore the Historic Connecticut Landscape
Join us as we explore the historic Connecticut Landscape in the summer issue. Find out where Tiffany’s found gems, where a cove disappeared, where Connecticut’s Chautauqua was, why mulberry trees caused some folks to make and lose a fortune, where two of our favorite historic lighthouses are (and how you can visit), and more!
This is our fourth issue under our new name (from 2002 to 2009 we were called Hog River Journal). The new name better reflects our mission to uncover and discover the Connecticut story–statewide. Every issue, I learn something about our cultural heritage that enriches my life and deepens my appreciation for our state.
In our photo essay, you’ll read all about Forestville, a campground in Plainville infused with religious fervor in the late 1800s that is now a charming secular cottage colony. Find out about the Civilian Conservation Corps’ good works in Connecticut parks in the 1930s (if you know a CCCer, our author wants to hear from him); the historic landscape under three of Connecticut Landmarks’s historic house and garden sites (and which one was waterfront 325 years ago); the speculative craze for mulberry trees—the food of choice for silkworms—that cause financial ruin in the 1820s and 30s; and the myriad uses for pegmatite, a rock made up of feldspar, mica, and quartz (including gem-grade tourmaline), and where it was mined. Plus, where to find a great barn, Hartford Parks history, and a couple of great lighthouses. And don’t miss the childhood memoir of retired Hartford fire chief Charles Teale’s summers at Camp Courant!
What’s up next? For fall, we’re taking a look at the family business and the State’s 375th Anniversary. From minding the store to inventing new products, Connecticut clans built the state’s economy—and continue to today!
I invite you to join me by subscribing. Begin your exploration of Connecticut history today. You’ll enjoy one good story after another!
Elizabeth Normen
Publisher
WINTER ISSUE WINS AWARD
Our Winter 2009/2010 Built It/Razed It III issue on Modern Architecture received a 2010 Award of Merit from the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation. The award ceremony took place in the Capitol’s Hall of Flags on April 7, 2010. The issue was supported, in part, by the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism. We thank CCT, Mary Donohue for her leadership on that issue, the editorial team, and all of our authors who helped make the issue a winner! And, of course, we thank the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation! The issue is available for order under here.
