Connecticut in the Civil War
April 2011 to 2014
April 12, 2011 marked the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War, and the state of Connecticut is paying tribute to the four-year conflict with a commemoration period of equal length. The war cost more American lives--620,000--than every previous and current war combined. The commemoration period kicked-off with seven canons firing on April 12th from the lawn of the state capitol. Find out here how you can participate in commemoration activities and learn more about Connecticut’s role in the Civil War. Check organization's Web sites for admission fees, updates, and additional details.
E-Mail your event listings to publisher@ctexplored.org and we'll add them to our page.
BUS TRIP TO ANTIETAM!
Connecticut Day at Antietam National Battlefield, April 20-22, 2012. Take a bus trip to Antietam National Battlefield, Arlington Cemetery, and the Lincoln Memorial with the Connecticut Civil War Round Table and the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission. For more information visit www.ccsu.edu/civilwar
CIVIL WAR MOVIES FEATURED IN FEBRUARY AND MARCH!
As part of their respective exhibits, Colts and Quilts and War Prizes, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art and The Amistad Center for Art & Culture host Civil War movies. For more information visit or call (860) 278-2670. FREE.
COLD MOUNTAIN. Based on the best-selling novel by Charles Frazier and set in the waning days of the American Civil War, a wounded soldier embarks on a perilous journey back home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina to reunite with his sweetheart.Oscar Award Winner. 2003. 154 min. Rated R. Starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renée Zellwegger.
Show Times: Thursday, February 23 at 7 p.m. /Saturday, February 25 at 7 p.m. /Sunday, February 26 at 2 p.m.
THE CONSPIRATOR. Mary Surratt is the lone female charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination trial of Abraham Lincoln. As the whole nation turns against her, she is forced to rely on her reluctant lawyer to uncover the truth and save her life. 2010. 122 min. Rated PG-13.Starring Robin Wright, James McAvoy, Tom Wilkinson.
Show Times:Thursday, March 1 at 8 p.m./Saturday, March 3 at 7 p.m./Sunday, March 4 at 2 p.m.
GONE WITH THE WIND. Based on Margaret Mitchell’s novel—this American classic tells of a manipulative woman and a roguish man who carry on a turbulent love affair in the American south during the Civil War and Reconstruction.Winner of 8 Oscars.1939. 238 min. Not Rated. Starring Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable.
Show Times:Saturday, March 10 at 1 p.m./Sunday, March 11 at 1 p.m.
PLAY ON THE CIVIL WAR AT HARTFORD STAGE!
THE WHIPPING MAN. In the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, three men are at a crossroads- a Jewish Confederate soldier who has returned from battle, and two former slaves who were raised as Jews in the household. As the men reunite to celebrate Passover, they uncover a tangle of secrets that might cost each his freedom. By Matthew Lopez. Directed by Hana S. Sharif. February 23rd through March 18th, 2012 at Hartford Stage. www.hartfordstage.org
Exhibitions:
"The Hour of Conflict," April 13, 2012 to November 2012. This exhibit explores how the Civil War affected the men and women of Litchfield in the 1860s. By examining letters, diaries, artifacts and participating in hand-on activities, visitors will understand how Litchfield families dealt with the anxiety of war, and how they mourned, celebrated and coped. The Litchfield Historical Society, 7 South Street, Litchfield. (860) 567-4501 www.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org
“War Prizes: the Cultural Legacy of Slavery & the Civil War," on view from September 10, 2011 through March 11, 2012. The exhibition follows the trajectory of activists, religious leaders, entertainers, and others who committed themselves to tackling and transforming segregation, inaccurate depictions in popular culture, economic inequities and other difficult legacies of the Civil War. Amistad Center for Art & Culture, 600 Main Street, Hartford. For more information visit
"Colts & Quilts: The Civil War Remembered," November 16, 2011 - May 6, 2012, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 600 Main Street, Hartford. Costumed vignettes, paintings, sculpture, Colt firearms and decorative arts from the Atheneum's collection narrate stories of the anti-slavery movement, war-time volunteerism, mourning and reconciliation. For more information visit.
"Within these Walls: One House, One Family, Two Centuries," an exhibit depicting the story of the Middlesex County Historical Society's headquarters at the General Joseph Mansfield House, a brick, five bay Federal home that has stood at 151 Main Street since 1817, and the family who lived there. The Middlesex County Historical Society, 151 Main St, Middletown. (860) 346-0746
"Hard & Stirring Times: Middletown & the Civil War," a permanent exhibition exploring the Civil War at home and on the battlefield. The Middlesex County Historical Society, 151 Main St, Middletown. (860) 346-0746
Online Exhibitions:
“Stamford’s Civil War On-line Exhibition,” www.stamfordhistory.org/cw_intro.htm . Based on a 2003 exhibition, about the impact of the Civil War on their town. Visit the website to find regimental histories, maps, essays about how the war changed funeral customs, and the Stamford Ladies Soldiers’ Aid Society, among other topics.
“Heroes of the Home Front: Life North of the Battlefield” an on-line exhibition organized by The Barnum Museum and launching in April 2011. To view the exhibition visit www.barnum-museum.org
Connecticut Freedom Trail:
Programs
"They Did Their Best, Army Doctors And Staff Fight Their Own War," a slide show presentation about the injuries and diseases encountered by the medical profession during the mid-19th century. The presentation will focus on the advances in medicine made before and after the Civil War that became part of the foundation of modern medicine and nursing. Free Admission. Presented by the New England Civil War Museum. Located at the Rockville "Memorial" (Town Hall) Building, Second Floor G.A.R. Hall, 14 Park Place, Rockville. www.newenglandcivilwarmuseum.com
NEW BOOK ON CT IN THE CIVIL WAR
Dr. Matthew Warshauer’s new book, Connecticut in the American Civil War: Slavery, Sacrifice, and Survival, will be published by Wesleyan University Press in 2011. His book delves deeper than previous accounts into Connecticut’s contribution to the war. Warshauer considers the complexities of the state’s past that we, today, have lost sight of (Did you know, for example, that William Lloyd Garrison called the Connecticut the “Georgia of New England” and that multiple historians have referred to Connecticut as “the most inhospitable” to abolition in comparison to her sister states?) Visit to learn more about the events or to purchase Warshauer’s book.
Warshauer noted that “Because Connecticut was such a quintessential northern state, and because it was, especially in regard to arms and munitions, instrumental to the Union's survival, it seems particularly fitting that we mark the start of the war with a series of academic history, public history, social studies, and humanities initiatives.”
Other Publications:
“Connecticut Genealogy News,” profiles the 36 Connecticut residents awarded the Medal of Honor for service in the Civil war. The quarterly news magazine is available to members and to subscribing libraries and organizations. For more information call (860) 569-0002 or visit www.csginc.org.
Connecticut History’s special Civil War Issue. Included in the issue are a variety of intriguing articles that offer new insights into the state’s struggle for Union. For more information about this issue and about the Association for the Study of Connecticut History, an organization devoted to recording and presenting Connecticut’s unique history on a scholarly level, visit
Strong in their Devotion: Stories of Connecticut's Irish in the Civil War, coming Summer 2011, Connecticut Irish-American Historical Society at the Ethnic Heritage Center. www.southernct.edu/ethnic_heritage_center, (203) 392-6126
OTHER NEWS:
CT Explored Publisher Appointed to Commemoration Commission
In September 2010 by Executive Order No. 44A, Governor M. Jodi Rell established the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission and among distinguished academics and historians, Connecticut Explored publisher Elizabeth J. Normen was appointed to serve on the Commission. The Commission is chaired by Dr. Matthew Warshauer and Dr. Booker DeVaughn. Warshauer is professor of History at Central Connecticut State University and DeVaughn is President Emeritus of Three Rivers Community College.
The Commission is charged with leading efforts to commemorate the many ways in which Connecticut’s participation in the Civil War was instrumental to the war effort. The Executive Order notes that, throughout the four-year battle, one-tenth of the state’s population served as soldiers—that is, 54,000 men representing 47 percent of men aged 15 to 50. It further states, “It is important for Connecticut residents to better understand the Civil War’s legacies as they relate to issues of service, sacrifice, and slavery.”
Visit for more information.
