Inside the CHS

Like many people, I always used to drive home for Thanksgiving. Home was always Connecticut, even when I lived in Massachusetts or New Jersey or New York.

When was the last time you saw a bootblack—or shoe shiner—anywhere?

Kids in the 1940s were not all that different from kids today. They don’t always get along with their parents, don’t always want to go to school, want to go to the movies (or play on their X-boxes today) instead of doing homework. Most of all, though, girls get crushes on boys!

Hundreds of families and dozens of businesses were moved out to make way for urban renewal projects in Hartford.

What would Hartford have looked like if three proposed building developments had been realized in the 1980s? See Richard Welling’s depictions of these modern edifices that were sure to bring added vibrancy to our capital city’s downtown core.

Don’t worry, the educators haven’t left – they’re just on the road teaching!

How do we mark where things come from in our storage areas….read on to find out!

CHS has an extensive array of account books ranging in date from the early 18th century to the later 19th century and covering every part of the state.

It’s comforting to think that certain basic things don’t change and to a certain extent it’s even true.

The CHS is proud to once again host Open Studio Hartford on November 15 &16, 11:00 am–5:00 pm, when we will welcome 17 local artists to display their work and offer it for sale.

Book your dinner reservations. We’ve just installed a new exhibit at Firebox Restaurant.

Connecticut has had a long and close association with this type of aircraft, harkening back to Igor Sikorsky’s pioneering work in the 1930s.

Monday, October 27, was World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, sponsored by UNESCO. We did nothing to publicly mark the occasion, but we are taking an inventory of our audiovisual collections in preparation for writing a grant proposal to get them digitized.

The plaza was considered a model for urban renewal in the 1960s, replacing the Front Street neighborhood, which consisted of 18th- and 19th-century buildings, housing mostly Italian immigrants.

The Legend of the Charter Oak can be a bit of an enigma for those who haven’t personally experienced this fantastic program.

This years fall line looked a little familiar….and the reason why was awaiting me right in my office.

CHS is a member of the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium, a group of research institutions in New England that pool their resources to offer grants to scholars so they can spend several weeks at repositories in the region.

Richard Welling loved to draw and he loved to share his enthusiasm for art with others.

As I was pondering this week’s blog I started to think about some of the tasks we undertake to ensure that the examples of material culture in our collection remain available for future researchers.

When new manuscript materials, whether a single item or a whole collection, come to CHS, I need to spend time getting to know the individuals whose names appear in the documents in order to put things into context.

I-84 cut through downtown Hartford, demolishing historic neighborhoods. I-91 traveled along the riverfront, blocking downtown from the Connecticut River.

This familiar tagline may not only describe the travelling circus; it could aptly describe the man behind the entertainment.

Customs surrounding the mourning of deceased loved ones were prominent in the 19th century and the objects created around these practices tell quite a story.

I wrote about the lace pattern book several years ago when we first acquired it and admitted I knew little of its history. Now I know more, thanks to William Blore’s descendant.

Nobody had anything good to say about the old Hartford Post Office. I thought surely when it was first erected it must have been much admired.

Last Thursday, October 2, was the opening of three awesome exhibitions here at the CHS, including the one that displays some of the work I’ve been cataloging for almost a year.

How to create sun on a rainy day – that was the question I dealt with last week in preparation for Saturday’s family program.

We’re inviting CHS members, Hartford residents, and everyone from around Connecticut to join us thinking about Hartford from a variety of perspectives, from street level to neighborhood scope to bird’s eye view.

Disease was the prime source of fatalities among soldiers in the American Civil War. The story of Private Myron D. Webster provides a more personal glimpse of this reality.

On Monday, October 6, CHS hosted home-schooled children and their parents for a day of workshops. I offered a session called “Shadow an Archivist” which 10 students attended. They were given a “collection” to review and process. These were copies of documents in a real collection from the Root family of Farmington, Connecticut.

Three new exhibits open today, including “Hartford Seen: Photographs by Pablo Delano”

Documentary photographer Pablo Delano talks about the challenges of photographing the urban environment. His show opens here on Friday…

Do you remember the 5″ floppy disc, 8-track tape and VHS? The technology that created these and other forms of media is now obsolete. That is why we are moving our digital assets to the Connecticut Digital Archive hosted by the University of Connecticut.

Bridgeport was originally a parish of Stratford and only became a separate town in 1821. An 1824 map shows its streets lined with houses—including several sea captains’ houses—and a few small businesses.

I’ve spent the last couple of days helping Pablo Delano lay out the photographs for his upcoming show…

Two Talcott account books, and several manuscript maps and documents went with archivist Barbara Austen to North Andover, Mass. for conservation.

Connecticut has used radio and television to cover everything from Americans on the moon to treasures “from the vault” in a fun and historic way.

Home School Day is nearly upon us. A new offering this year is a workshop discussing the point where textile history and textile science converge!

Documentary photographer Pablo Delano talks about the process behind organizing his upcoming show, “Hartford Seen: Photographs by Pablo Delano”

One of the things I like best about my job at CHS is the opportunity to network with other museum professionals throughout the state….