By Corinne Swanson, Coordinator of Youth and Family Programs at the Connecticut Historical Society Do you have a childhood memory of visiting a museum with your class or family? During these visits, did you ever feel that if your voice rose above a whisper, or if you dared to try to touch something, that you…
Read More »
Inside the CHS
Education
Look, Listen and Touch: Kids and Museums
Colonel Hogan, Meet Major French
By Jill Padelford, Development Services Associate for the CHS Those of us of a certain age may remember the outrageous hijinks of the POWs in the 1960s comedy Hogan’s Heroes. (Some interesting trivia: Waterbury, CT native Bob Crane portrayed Colonel Hogan in that popular show.) Working from within a German stalag, the heroes of the…
Read More »
Decorative Arts Study Day with Dr. Philip Zimmerman
By Jenny Steadman, Adult Programs Manager of the Connecticut Historical Society On May 21, CHS welcomed a group of Decorative Arts enthusiasts who spent the whole day literally turning things upside down under the expert guidance of Dr. Philip Zimmerman, a museum and decorative arts consultant, author, and nationally recognized authority on early American furniture. Focusing…
Read More »
How Does CHS Preserve Its Historic Treasures?
By Tasha Caswell, Research and Collections Associate at the CHS Here at the Connecticut Historical Society, we do a lot of preservation work. Preservation is different from conservation – when an item is preserved, it is not altered; rather, steps are taken to protect it from deterioration. Conservation, on the other hand, involves physically treating the…
Read More »
CHS Hosts the Pewter Collector’s Club of America
On Saturday, May 16, the Connecticut Historical Society hosted 35 members of the Pewter Collector’s Club of America who have come from all over the U.S. to study the CHS’s remarkable pewter collection. Expert Wayne Hilt leads the discussion. For more information about the Pewter Collector’s Club of America, go to www.pewtercollectorsclub.org. About the Connecticut…
Read More »
191 Years of Telling Connecticut’s Story. A new era of community-fed interpretation.
by Jody Blankenship, executive director of the Connecticut Historical Society On May 30, 1825 thirty-one men from across the state of Connecticut met at the State House for the first meeting of the newly chartered Connecticut Historical Society. At this gathering The Rev. Thomas Robbins gave remarks on the “objects of the Society,” the members…
Read More »
Windham Textile & History Museum Teaches Us How to Share Connecticut’s History in Two Languages
El Museo Textil e Histórico de Windham Nos Enseña a Compartir La Historia de Connecticut en Dos Idiomas By Gerson Escobar-Arroyo, Member Relations Associate, Connecticut Historical Society Author’s Note: This blog is the first of what will be regular bilingual (English and Spanish) posts that share Connecticut’s diverse history with its Hispanic/Latino citizens. Is your…
Read More »
Lester Smith: Suffield’s Historian Extraordinaire
Curiosity comes naturally to an engineer, and that is what sparked Lester Smith’s passion for history. A former trustee of the Connecticut Historical Society and now the historian and curator for the Suffield Historical Society, Lester has dedicated decades to research and the preservation of Suffield’s history. Although his initial curiosity veered towards cartography (his…
Read More »
Exploring Connecticut’s Haute Fashion History
By Jenny Steadman, Adult Programs Manager, CHS The costume and textile storage on the CHS’s third floor is my favorite space in the Connecticut Historical Society museum. Every time I go up there, I get a shiver down my spine thinking of all the stories that go with all the dresses and uniforms and even…
Read More »
Put Yourself on the Map
By Corinne Swanson, Coordinator of Youth and Family Programs, Connecticut Historical Society I’m a huge fan of maps. When studying history, maps are essential for getting a visual, concrete understanding of the places where events take place. They can be incredibly powerful in influencing the way we think (Remember the episode of “The West Wing” where C.J….
Read More »
Inspired by Designs from Long Ago, Families Created Valentine’s Day Cards
On February 7th, the Connecticut Historical Society (CHS), with support from Berkshire Bank, hosted a program for children and their families to create personal and unique Valentine’s Day cards inspired by Valentines from long ago. With snow falling on the ground, this event was well attended with many creative designs made. …
Read More »
Pop goes the Popper
What can you do with three hundred toilet paper rolls?
Museum Educators On The Road
Don’t worry, the educators haven’t left – they’re just on the road teaching!
The Legend of the Charter Oak
The Legend of the Charter Oak can be a bit of an enigma for those who haven’t personally experienced this fantastic program.
Fun in the (Artificial) Sun
How to create sun on a rainy day – that was the question I dealt with last week in preparation for Saturday’s family program.
How to Play with Whirligigs
Children and parents got to experience what it would be like to go back to school during colonial times at our family program last Saturday.
Summer Time= Recharging Teachers
I usually talk about my past teaching experiences in the blog posts; so I thought I would switch it up and talk a little about the work here in the museum. Since I will doing a good deal of editing and writing for our new website this month, I decide to just to a quick…
Read More »
Switching Gears for the Summer
Summer is here, which means less teaching for the education staff. We still have summer programs, but we are not as busy in July and August. The lighter teaching schedule gives me a little down time to breathe, work on the website, and reflect on my teaching this year.
Flowers are Blooming!
Summer is right around the corner – the weather is getting warmer, the grass has turned a brighter green, and flowers are popping up in gardens all over the state! Perhaps one of the most amazing Connecticut gardens to view at this time of year is the Rose Garden at Elizabeth Park (Hartford, CT). The…
Read More »
Being a Teacher- Part Two
Teaching in a museum setting is such a different experience than teaching in a school. As a museum educator I have a chance to work off of lesson plans,with no homework or tests, to grade. The students are there to have fun and most of the time they are excited to be out of the…
Read More »
Not a Moment to Spare!
SO. BUSY. These two words sum up the schedule of our educators over the last few weeks. In April, the CHS Education Department served about 3,000 children, teachers, and parents through its educational programs. May is gearing up to be an even busier month for our department! So, please accept the following humorous photograph in…
Read More »
Being a Teacher- Part One
I have been working on a post about moving from the classroom to a museum setting, and my biggest issue has been how do you start, and how long of a post do I want to create? Without the past I can’t really compare the present, so I guess I will start at the beginning,…
Read More »
Being an Intern at CHS: Steve’s Story
“So that’s the broadsword John Brown’s son used in the raid at Harper’s Ferry? Are you kidding me??” ~A scene from my first day at CHS. From the moment I set foot inside the building, I knew I was in for a truly special experience working at CHS as an education intern. The behind the…
Read More »
Being an Intern at CHS: Sara’s Story
Our program at UConn requires all fifth-year Education Master’s students to participate in an internship. CHS is the only offered internship in the entire program that does not take place in a school. So when I found out I was assigned to CHS, I was excited about the chance to work in a museum and…
Read More »
Keeping Track of History
In the next few weeks I will be teaching a great deal of programs about immigration. The museum and outreach program focus on the stories of the people who have left their homes looking for a better, or different, life here in Connecticut. Being the son of an immigrant, the program has special meaning for me, and…
Read More »
Playing the Teaching Game
I teach by day and work with toys by night. If that opening did not give you a hint, yes I am a comic book fan. I’m always trying to figure out a way to bring that out in my teaching, whether is setting up my desk at work with fun action figures, or trying…
Read More »
Connecticut’s Modern Women Photographers and Their Fine Art Processes
On March 29, the temporary exhibition Through a Different Lens: Three Connecticut Women Photographers will be wrapping up, which means that the various events and presentations and tours that I’ve been doing are also just about over.
Welcome Home Schoolers!
In 2013 the CHS served over 17,000 school kids and teachers. The school audience makes up a big chunk of the overall audience of the CHS both here at the museum and around the state when our museum educators travel to school for classroom outreach programs. Up to this point, most of the school and…
Read More »
The More They Change……
Toys have been around for as long as parents needed a way to distract and entertain their kids. From the bone toys of the Native Americans, to the wooden toys of the Colonists, to the action figures of today; their meanings have not changed, just the complexity, maybe.
Celebrating Birthdays at the CHS!
This past week I celebrated my 31st birthday (not a milestone year at all!) – at home, in my pajamas all day, glued to hour after hour of non-academic television shows, and watching the snow fall outside. By the end of the day, my Connecticut yard was blanketed with about 10 inches of snow. I…
Read More »
Comparing Times
If you could not tell teaching students and talking about the concept of time, as it relates to history, has always been interesting to me. I think it all comes from watching Back to the Future when I was five years old, the concept found a spot in my head and never left. So when…
Read More »
Snowflakes and Resolutions at the CHS!
During our January FREE first Saturday family program, children and families were able to create their own indoor Winter Wonderland to take home. Our visitors revealed their creativity once again! Check out some of these awesome snowflakes:
Teaching Time
Museums bring up images of Indiana Jones and Warehouse 13; but museums are rarely that exciting. They tend to be places where you can look at really old stuff. So, how do you get kids excited about looking at a pot that is over 400 years old?
Giving Thanks!
It is that time of year (I can’t believe that November is already here) when everyone begins to think about the things that they are thankful for. I want to give a big thank-you to the following for making 2013 such a great year!
The Colors of Fall!
Fall is my most favorite time of the year – slightly cooler weather, fairs and festivals serving delicious pumpkin and maple flavored treats, and the changing of leaves from green to vibrant reds, yellows, and oranges. If it were up to me, (and I know a lot of you will be happy that it is…
Read More »
Let’s Go Huskies! Let’s Go Interns!
Fall is the time when students of all ages head back to school. It is also the time of year when the CHS Education Department welcomes two new interns through a partnership program with the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education. The interns from the program (this is our fifth year!) have earned their…
Read More »
Back to School and History Day!
For most students and teachers in Connecticut, the school year has already started, but for museum educators at the CHS, our crunch time is the end of August and first few weeks of September. During this time we are preparing for one of our busiest times of the year—October – December, when we have school…
Read More »
CHS Kids’ Choice Awards
Summer programs bring a lot of activity to CHS! By the end of August, we will have offered fourteen Story &Crafts at the Museum programs for toddlers and their caregivers. This has given me a lot of time to delve into the minds of 2, 3, and 4 year-old museum visitors. In an unofficial poll,…
Read More »
They Say It’s Your Birthday…
Since today is my birthday (34—woot woot!) it seemed like a great time to think about what we have at the CHS relating to birthdays… The challenge with birthdays is that what I consider the best parts (hello—the cake and the party) don’t leave a lot behind besides some crumbs and maybe a couple of…
Read More »
A Big Thank You!
Thanks! I cannot say this word enough to the handful of high-school and college volunteers that dutifully come in at least one Saturday of every month, giving up valuable weekend mornings that could be spent working additional hours at a paying job, hanging out with friends, or sleeping. Instead, my volunteers can be found engaging…
Read More »
More Articles
© 2021 Connecticut Historical Society. All Rights
Reserved.
