ABOUT US

 

Welcome to

Connecticut Explored

In our pages, we discuss and debate: “What happened here?” Through compelling stories and intriguing images, Connecticut Explored explores the region’s cultural heritage with the aim of revealing connections between our past, present, and future.

Launched in Fall 2002, the first issue’s theme was A SENSE OF PLACE because our ultimate goal is to gain a greater sense of what makes Connecticut unique. We felt that with interest in the state’s cultural heritage on the rise, it was time for a publication that covers the depth and breadth of our state’s history in articles of high quality but with a dash of irreverence that make for lively reading and wide appeal.

Why was Hog River Journal the original name? As our photo essay reveals, A River Runs Under It: A Hog River History, the Connecticut River isn’t Hartford’s only waterway. The lesser known Hog River also flows through — well, under — the city.  It once meandered past tenements, factories, and grand mansions alike gathering pungent refuse along the way and then flooding them all without prejudice.  In response, civic leaders tore down the tenements, put in a park, and changed the river’s name.  But by any other name, the now “Park” River smelled just as — um — aromatic and continued to flood.  Only by burying it deep, deep down could it be tamed.  We’ve taken inspiration from this little river’s colorful history and dedicated our publication to uncovering the region’s “buried” treasures and lost tales.

Above all, Connecticut Explored is a meeting place in print — a place where readers encounter the fascinating, and often untold, stories of our state’s people, places, and events.  You’ll also encounter our authors’ ideas, their interpretations, their points of view.  And like the Hog River, it may not always be pretty. Our state has much to be proud of — and much to account for.  So while you may not agree with every article, we hope each and every issue of Connecticut Explored will inspire you to think more deeply about our state’s history.

We’d like to hear from you.  With your input, this publication will truly reflect the interests of the community.  We know there are many fans of local history out there and this is a magazine for you and by you.  Please suggest story ideas and writers.

And do subscribe.  Be a part of an important effort to raise awareness of our state’s rich cultural heritage.

Elizabeth Normen
Publisher

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Publication Information:

Published quarterly by
Hartford Public Library

In collaboration with its organizational partners:
Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism
Greater Hartford Arts Council
Trinity College
Connecticut Humanities Council
Connecticut Landmarks
Hartford Symphony
The Amistad Center for Art & Culture
The Connecticut Art Trail
Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution
Connecticut Historical Society
Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation
Florence Griswold Museum
Harriet Beecher Stowe Center
Hill-Stead Museum
Litchfield Historical Society
Mark Twain House
Presidents College, University of Hartford
Slater Memorial Museum
Connecticut Society of Genealogists
Mattatuck Museum Art & History Center

Editorial Team

Elizabeth Normen	Publisher Phone – (860) 233-5421 (home office, please call during business hours)
Matthew Warshauer	Chair, Editorial Board
Jennifer Huget	Editor
Diane Pflugrad Foley	Assistant Publisher
John Alves	Art Director
David Corrigan
Mary Donohue
Briann Greenfield
Mark H. Jones
Brenda Miller
Christopher Pagliuco
Alan O. Patterson

Editorial Board

Dawn C. Adiletta

Cynthia Cormier, Hill-Stead Museum

Catherine Fields, Litchfield Historical Society

Sheryl Hack, Connecticut Landmarks

Joan Jacobs, Hartford Studies Project, Trinity College

Katherine Kane, Harriet Beecher Stowe Center

Eugene Leach, Trinity College

Matthew Warshauer, Central Connecticut State University, Chair

Sally Whipple, Old State House

Walter Woodward, State Historian, University of Connecticut