Connecticut Museum of Culture and History

Our Waterman Research Center is often thriving with visiting professionals, creatives, and community members working on many unique projects! Recently, embroiderer Heidi Lively consulted the Lucy Spalding sampler (Connecticut Museum collection 1859.18.2), to compare stitch work and colors for the reproduction piece she is creating. The sampler is an educational tool she will use for her work as an embroiderer with fellow 5th CT Regiment reenactors. The reproduction kit she is working with was made in collaboration with the Connecticut Museum and The Essemplaire company, and was purchased from our gift shop! Take a look at her work, and it's striking resemblance to the original below: #connecticuthistory #embroidery #connecticut #connecticutmuseum

Happy Friday from our Museum collection, just in time to celebrate National Picnic Month! These images highlight the timeless delight of a picnic here in Connecticut - although, based on their attire, it was likely not as hot (or rainy) for the Connecticans in the photos as it is for us today! The first image was likely take in the Mystic vicinity. Where are you headed for your next picnic? The map featured here shares the best picnic spots in Connecticut in 1946. After World War II ended, returning servicemen and their families took to the roads in their automobiles. The roadside rests shown on this map provided facilities ranging from simple picnic tables and pit toilets to fireplaces and running water. A remarkable number of these rest areas, maintained by the State Highway Department, were to be found along state roads throughout Connecticut. During the 1940s and 1950s, they were heavily used by daytrippers and picnickers. #ctvisit #connecticuthistory #nationalpicnicmonth #connecticutmuseum

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the Hartford Circus Fire. Thank you WFSB TV and Cailtin Nuclo for visiting us to uncover some of the details of this tragedy, including insight through some of the artifacts in our collection. Check out the full segment: https://lnkd.in/esjxEtTE

Happy 4th! The Connecticut Museum is closed today in observance of Independence Day, and will open again on Friday, July 5. Join us this weekend, July 6 & 7 to receive FREE admission for all ages! This includes access to all our galleries, the Inspire Center and Sunday's Family Program, English-Spanish Bilingual Story Time. From our collection: This image, based on the famous scene and popular painting by John Trumbull, was printed through a process called lithography. It was created with printer's ink and watercolor on wove paper, by E.B. and E.C. Kellogg in 1845. The emphasis on red and blue ink throughout the piece add a stylistic touch that makes it especially unique! Connecticut Museum Collection 1995.43.2 Plan your visit: https://lnkd.in/eZARR8WE #connecticutmuseum #fourthofjuly #connecticuthistory #americanhistory #hartfordct #connecticut

As we near the 80th anniversary of the Hartford Circus Fire, which occurred on July 6, this excerpt from today's CT Public "All Things Considered" episode features an interview with our own Public Programs Manager, who describes the cause of this tragic event, its causes, and the effects it left upon the city of Hartford and beyond. Thank you CT Public for having us. Link to listen below! https://ow.ly/sjjF50Stfzk Image: Connecticut Museum collection

Please note: the Connecticut Museum will be CLOSED on Thursday, July 4 ,in observance of Independence Day. We open once again on Friday, July 5! Looking for a fun way spend the upcoming holiday weekend? Visit the Museum this Saturday and Sunday for Free First Weekend, which includes free admission for all ages to the Museum galleries and the Inspire Center. Plan your visit: https://ow.ly/7nBe50SteTE

Are you a school staff or faculty member, or know someone who is? We're proud to partner with the Connecticut Digital Backpack Program to provide FREE Museum admission to all school faculty and staff (and up to three of their guests) from now through the end of August! Present your school ID at the Welcome Desk to take part in this promotion. Plan your visit today: https://lnkd.in/edEAsnQA https://lnkd.in/eaBZpPJd #connecticutmuseum #hartfordct #freeadmission #thingstodoct

Ready, set, swim! Connecticut Paralympic swimmer Matthew Torres is aiming for another year at the Paralympic Games, and we're cheering him on at the U.S. team trials happen now through Saturday! Matthew Torres is just one of the many incredible Connecticut athletes featured in our special exhibition, "We're Game! Sports and Community." Born in Ansonia, Connecticut, he began swimming in 2008 after being inspired by Michael Phelps, and earned his own bronze medal at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Join us in wishing him a successful race to the finish, and learn more about his story and other Connecticut sports throughout history by visiting "We're Game!" at the Connecticut Museum this summer, now through August 25. #paralympicgames #connecticutswimming #matthewtorres #connecticutsports #connecticutmuseum #hartfordct #ansoniact #thingstodoct #connecticut NBC Connecticut

"We are never really happy until we try to brighten the lives of others." - Helen Keller On this day in 1880, Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She lost both her sight and hearing from a fever the age of 18 months, and learned to communicate from her teacher, Annie Sullivan. Following Annie's death in 1936, Keller moved to Easton, CT, at a house she named Arcan Ridge, where she lived until her death in 1968. Among her many achievements, she was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union, recipient of a Medal of Freedom, firm believer in the suffragist movement, and in 2006 was inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame. This image from our collection depicts Helen Keller in her elder year in 1941. A label on the back identifies the location as Westport, CT. Connecticut Museum collection 2009.434.0 #helenkeller #connecticutmuseum #connecticuthistory #onthisday #connecticut #eastonct #westportct #hartfordct

The Connecticut Museum is thrilled to announce that last year's special exhibition, "The Bicycle Game," has been honored with a 2024 Award of Excellence for Leadership in History, awarded by the American Association for State and Local History! If you visited "The Bicycle Game" last year, you explored the surge of popularity of the bicycle in the 1890s through a series of interactive games and puzzles, and helped save bicycle history from an angry, time-traveling villain. It was both a challenge and a joy to develop unique new ways for our visitors to interact with the Museum through this exhibition, and we are honored to accept this national recognition. The AASLH Leadership in History Awards, now in its 79th year, is the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history. Read the full press release: https://lnkd.in/eCvNHYet