Recently acquired at auction is this banner for the North Stamford Democratic Union Club. While more research needs to be done on this specific club or chapter, it’s likely this banner was made in the 1850s or early 1860s. Prior to the American Civil War, Democratic Union Clubs were formed by northern Democrats who wanted to preserve the Union, as illustrated by words “North” and “South” on the ribbon in the eagle’s beak. A different lettering style on each line, visible pencil guidelines, and evidence of a spelling mistake that was caught before the final painting all add to the charm of this large piece that is approximately 4 feet tall
by 4 feet wide. Because this item is so new to the collection, it was not possible to conserve the fragile banner in time for the opening of Wide Awakes, Campaigning for Lincoln , and a reproduction is on view.
The banner has a history of hanging in a restaurant in Greenwich, CT that has since closed, so if any members remember seeing it or know more about Democratic Union Clubs, please contact Chief Curator of Collections Andrea Rapacz at arapacz@connecticutmuseum.org.
Hand painted linen banner used in Stamford, CT, about 1856-1864. Connecticut Museum collection, The Newman S. Hungerford Museum Fund, 2024.22.0.
Book
10 MAKING HISTORY
Connecticut Museum is turning 200, and support our collection conservation efforts.
14 SENSORY EXPERIENCE: COFFEE: A CONNECTICUT STORY
New exhibition opens in November.
16 CULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY
Stories from the SNEAP program. 18 COMMUNITY
Visitors in and around the Museum.
Anne Mercer, Co-Owner, Victus Coffee by Defining Studios
FAMILY FUN
Cycle of Life: Día de Muertos Community Celebration
Saturday, November 2
11 am – 4 pm, FREE
This year, the Connecticut Museum will host its 7th annual Día de Muertos celebration with the theme of Cycle of Life. The vibrant tradition is celebrated widely across Mexico and around the world. “Day of the Dead” is about celebrating life, experiencing renewal, and appreciating the legacy that others have left for us.
The Museum welcomes visitors to share memories or photos of departed loved ones on the community ofrenda, taste pan de muerto, and partake in traditional crafts that you can take home.
Together with the Spanish Community of Wallingford and artist Carlos Hernández Chávez, the Connecticut Museum will present the youth ensemble Mariachi Laureles del Monte, Mexican folk dance ensemble Baile Folklórico Alma de México, and house favorite Mariachi México Antiguo. In addition, the Andrés Family of Wallingford will share their Indigenous Purépecha tradition of the Danza de los Viejitos with audiences for the first time this year. Bienvenidos, y nos vemos pronto!
This event is supported in part by the Greater Hartford Arts Council, the Roberts Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, Connecticut Humanities, and the Connecticut Office of the Arts/DECD.
While the weather outside may be frightful, activities inside the Connecticut Museum are delightful this season for fun family fun. Sponsored by CREC Museum Academy and Berkshire Bank.
FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT:
Sing!
Saturday, November 16 6 – 8 pm, FREE
Get ready to sing and dance along with a cast of musical animals! Bring some pillows and blankets, wear your comfiest pajamas, and enjoy a showing of the animated movie Sing. Free popcorn and juice boxes will be provided. Sponsored by CREC Museum Academy.
FAMILY PROGRAM:
Snow Many Snowmen!
Saturday, December 7 11 am – 2 pm, FREE
Through various artforms, including origami, painting, and collaging, families can make all kinds of unique snowmen. Then, get into the holiday spirit with holiday poppers, and decorate cards for loved ones. Sponsored by Berkshire Bank.
FAMILY PROGRAM: Cocoa and Crafts
Saturday, December 28 and Sunday, December 29 2 – 4 pm, FREE with admission
Sip hot cocoa and munch on treats while enjoying a special story time followed by a craft! On December 28, there will be a reading of The Coffeemonsters Book, written by Stefan Kunhigk. Visit again on December 29 for a reading of I am We: A Story of Community, written by Susan Verde.
CRAFT WORKSHOPS
$30 Non-Members / $25 General Members FREE for CT Museum NARM Member
The Connecticut Museum is pleased to offer three opportunities for visitors to engage in beginner-level workshops at the Museum during the holiday season. Each workshop will teach new skills that can be used to enhance holiday celebrations! All three workshops will be structured for beginners but all levels of expertise, ages 16+, are encouraged to register. Class sizes are limited, so be sure to reserve your space soon.
Calligraphy for the Holidays
Saturday, November 30, 2 – 4 pm
This workshop will be hosted by professional calligrapher Debby Reelitz. Reelitz has 25 years of experience as a professional lettering artist, creating awards, gifts, commissions, engraving, chalkboards, writing on walls, and teaching. She served as a mentor in the Museum’s Southern New England Apprenticeship Program. In this two-hour workshop, Reelitz will introduce participants to Modern Calligraphy techniques. Participants will learn where this style originated from, strategies on how to create this lettering style, and sample projects to apply the skills that are learned. In the session, participants will also create holiday gift tags and holiday envelopes.
Printmaking for the Holidays
Saturday, December 7, 2 – 4 pm
In this workshop, hosted by artist Lara Miller, participants will be guided through the “block print” process: from designing a pattern, transferring, carving, testing, and printing a greeting card to take home. No prior printmaking experience is required, and people of all artistic abilities are welcome to join this beginner’s workshop. Even if you think you can’t draw, you can print! All the tools and materials will be provided; however, participants are encouraged to bring any special print making tools they wish to use. Instructor Lara Miller is a non-profit professional, freelance artist and consultant, writer, and craftsperson. Her various art and craft forms consist of block printing, decorative carving, sewing, embroidery, painting, and pottery. Miller has taught classes in most of those artforms and crafts.
Stained-glass Ornaments
Saturday, December 14, 2 – 4 pm
Learn how to assemble a stained-glass ornament with stained glass and restoration artist Francis Barkyoumb of Glass Dance Studio. Barkyoumb will guide workshop participants through the step-bystep process of stained-glass. The workshop will provide participants with a pre-cut glass pattern to learn to foil and solder. By the end of the class, participants will have completed a stained-glass piece to take home! Barkyoumb previously was a mentor in the Museum’s Southern New England Apprenticeship Program.
Wide Awake: The Connecticut Youth Movement that Elected Lincoln
Thursday, October 17, 6 – 7:30 pm
$15 for non-members and general members
Free for CT Museum NARM level members and above
In the presidential election of 1860, just before the Civil War, young anti-slavery activists in Connecticut organized one of the largest and most consequential mass movements in American history. Marching in militaristic, torchlit rallies, these Wide Awakes launched a diverse grassroots campaign to defend democracy from slavery. Their incredible rise helped elect Lincoln, but also sparked the Civil War, exploring the boundaries between political speech and political violence, democracy and war.
Jon Grinspan is Curator of Political History at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, and frequent contributor to the New York Times. His recently published book, Wide Awake: The Forgotten Force that Elected Lincoln and Spurred the Civil War, has raised interest in this lesser-known political movement. His research included artifacts and documents at the Connecticut Museum that are included in our new exhibition, Wide Awake: Campaigning for Lincoln Dr. Grinspan also served as an advisor for the exhibition and will be at the Museum for a book talk and signing! Copies of his book are available for pre-purchase when you register online.
Making of an Exhibition
The Wide Awakes: Campaigning for Lincoln opened in September, however, the planning for the exhibition began over a year ago. At that point the Connecticut Museum knew three key things: the exhibition would be opening during the presidential election of 2024; it would tell a story about Connecticut’s central role in national politics; and it would be difficult to tell this story in our current political climate.
One of the first questions the Museum asked was, should it be doing an exhibition about politics? Everyone across the nation would be bombarded with political messaging during the campaign season through the election, and in the months that followed. Would visitors want to engage in a politically themed exhibition? After much conversation, the exhibition development team decided that what they had to offer was something different than what was being offered by other museums, cultural institutions, political organizations, events held on college campuses, and media that were homing in on the political moment.
During the presidential election of 1860, over 160 years ago, Hartford became home to the first Wide Awakes club. Despite many being too young to vote, these Connecticans harnessed an energy that would spark a nationwide grassroots movement. The Wide Awakes’ story is one of political action and how the nation responded. The Museum, and its visitors,
have something to learn from this moment in our state’s history.
When developing the exhibit, the Museum recognized that political parties, such as Republican and Democratic, would elicit strong reactions today. But these political parties didn’t have the same connotations in 1860. To avoid conflating the parties then and now, the exhibition labels provide historical context. The red, white, and blue exhibition color scheme emphasizes the political campaign culture, but the colors are distributed equally throughout the exhibition. Additionally, the Museum intentionally avoided the use of the terms Republican and Democrat in its marketing.
The Museum hopes visitors of all political viewpoints will visit the exhibition and come to their own conclusions about the actions and achievements of the Wide Awakes. The Wide Awakes: Campaigning for Lincoln will be on view from September 14, 2024 – March 16, 2025.
Disasters in Connecticut: Past, Present, and Future
2024 WOODWARD LECTURE SERIES
Thursday, January 16, 6 pm
$15 for non-members and general members
Free for CT Museum NARM level members and above
General Lafayette: The Hero
PRESENTED BY THE DANGREMOND INTERNS
Only a few months ago, several towns in Connecticut experienced severe flooding. This event has been classified as a billion-dollar weather disaster, becoming the 21st such disaster the nation has experienced in the past year. But what characteristics are needed to make an event, weather-related or a human-made, a disaster? To discuss this question, the Connecticut Museum has invited two speakers who specialize in studying American disasters as part of our Woodward Distinguished Speaker Series. Join us when Jacob A. C. Remes, Clinical Associate Professor of History at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study and Director of the Initiative for Critical Disaster Studies enters into conversation with Andy Horowitz, Connecticut State Historian and an Associate Professor of History at University of Connecticut. Horowitz is the author of Katrina: A History, 1915–2015, which won the Bancroft Prize in American history. Together, Remes and Horowitz edited the journal Critical Disaster Studies. MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
Behind the Scenes Tour
Thursday, December 12, 6 – 7:30 pm, FREE
This fall, the Connecticut Museum is offering two opportunities for Museum members to experience an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of our collection. The tours will take you through three of our main collection storage areas and give you a chance to see some of the Connecticut Museum’s “greatest hits!" It will include highlights from our costume, furniture, textile, and painting collections. Artifacts will range from the sublime, a masterpiece of Connecticut Valley furniture making, to the slightly ridiculous, a roll of toilet paper from Hartford’s most iconic department store. You’ll see the first article of women’s clothing the Museum acquired--all the way back in 1840--and hear the story of a long-lost treasure that was rediscovered in our vaults in 1998. After the tour, enjoy refreshments and conversation with the Education and Advancement department staff.
Each year, two college students are selected for the Dangremond Museum Studies Internship at the Connecticut Museum. For six weeks, these interns work with Collections, Education, and Exhibition staff on a variety of projects. In the Exhibition Department, they curate a small display for the Nawrot Nook located outside the Museum’s Research Center. The interns have six weeks to turn a concept into an installation. The Dangremond Interns, Madeline Borruso, American University, class of 2025, and Hana Greif, New York University, class of 2026, were assigned the topic of General Lafayette. 2024 marks the 200th anniversary of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour, a jubilant celebration of the United States and his role in forming it. Burruso and Greif conducted research, selected objects, wrote label copy, and made design decisions, gaining experience in every step of the exhibition development process. Their hard work and creative thinking produced a high-quality display that not only introduces visitors to Lafayette’s story but invites them to think about how the celebratory moment sparked creativity, unity, and debate. General Lafayette: The Hero is on display through October 27. Support for the Dangremond internship comes from the Dangremond Internship Endowment Fund.
Apply to be a Dangremond Intern: connecticutmuseum.org/job-internships/ dangremond-museum-studies-internship/
Interns installing the display on Lafayette.
Redefining Moments of Change
The Community History Project (CHP) was launched to record the thoughts, impressions, and memories of those residing in Connecticut. This project began in 2020 during the global pandemic to capture the reflections and experiences of Connecticut’s first responders and those most impacted by Covid-19. The project resulted in capturing 70 oral histories that are now part of the Connecticut Museum’s permanent historical collection. In the next two years, the CHP will focus on the theme, Redefining Moments of Change
stories and provide a good dataset when reviewing the projects' overall impact on higher education, which will conclude in September 2026.
The prompt of Redefining Moments of Change is specifically broad to allow various people to share their own stories. We all can speak to a person or event that shifted the direction of our lives.
For the CHP Program Manager, Lyle Cairdeas, his life was forever changed by the opportunity to be a part of a project in graduate school at the University of Oregon, where he recorded the
working in a museum setting. After his exhibition featuring C4C, Cairdeas was offered an opportunity to work as an intern in the exhibit department at the University of Oregon's Museum of Natural and Cultural History. Since then, he has worked at museums and galleries for nearly fifteen years. Cairdeas is so thankful to the members of C4C for being vulnerable, sharing their stories, and trusting him. “It truly changed my life,” he said.
Born and raised in Connecticut, Cairdeas is very grateful to be back in his home state and to help collect the diverse and
The Connecticut Museum is currently seeking Connecticut residents to share the stories of the people or the events that have changed the direction of their lives…
The Connecticut Museum is currently seeking Connecticut residents to share the stories of the people or the events that have changed the direction of their lives, shaping who they are today, and how that moment continues to influence the way they impact the world around them. The project is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, and the second phase of CHP will involve working with college student interns to train them on best practices for conducting and collecting oral histories within this theme. CHP will also work with faculty members at different colleges and universities across the state to find ways to incorporate some of the student-collected oral histories into their curriculums for at least one semester. The Museum's goal is to work with numerous colleges and universities across the state to collect a wide variety of
stories of Crocheting 4 Community (C4C), a crochet group made up of male incarcerated people “insiders” at the Oregon Correctional Institute in Salem, Oregon. There he helped create multiple exhibits in public spaces featuring excerpts of insider’s personal stories about how participating in this craft was so rewarding and healing for them. Along with their quotes and audio excerpts, Cairdeas displayed photos of the C4C group members. He also created mounts to exhibit many of their crocheted pieces and other artworks. The public response was overwhelmingly positive. The incarcerated people who made up C4C were deeply moved by the support and praise visitors shared in the notes left in the exhibit space. It was then that Cairdeas realized that he wanted to continue doing this kind of work, but had not previously considered
rich stories of the people who live here. He is also pleased to work with closely with Project Assistant Abbie Cowan, who previously worked on the first CHP project focusing on the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on CT residents, and Project Assistant Cinthia Zuniga, who is pursuing her master’s degree in public history at Central Connecticut State University. Cowen, Zuniga, and Cairdeas have all significantly benefited from outside opportunities in college to contribute to engaging work, leading them to their current positions at the Connecticut Museum. The CHP team is excited to pay that forward to the college students and institutions of higher education as they work with on this project, hopefully opening up unknown possibilities for them. Whether it be this time around or during a future undertaking, the CHP team will be honored to collect your story.
Above: Participants in the 2023 Community History Project gathered to share their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in Connecticut. Left: Project Assistant Cinthia Zuniga, Project Director Lyle Cairdeas, and Project Assistant Abbie Cowan.
Connecticut Museum turns 200!
In 2025, the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History will be 200 years old! Planning is underway to offer many exciting opportunities to celebrate with the Museum throughout the entire year.
The birthday year will kick-off in January with a public announcement of this important milestone for the organization. An exhibition that highlights the people, events, and collections will open in May. In the spring, a special Woodward Lecture Series will feature a discussion on how the history field has changed over the centuries. The Museum is
also excited to announce a collaboration with the publishers of Yankee Magazine to create a commemorative book focused on 200 years of the Museum and the state's history that will be released in the fall. And, for our young historians, the Connecticut Museum is launching its first children’s book in celebration of the bicentennial. In September, the Museum will throw a birthday party with Connecticut-themed foods and toast two hundred years of collecting and telling the stories of Connecticut. Be sure to subscribe to the Museum’s social media for regular updates and program schedules.
Above: The Connecticut Museum was originally located inside the Wadsworth Atheneum. Right top: Making Connecticut permanent exhibition. Right middle: Today the Museum hosts live cultural music. Right middle bottom: Patron John Byrnes with dedicated long-standing Board of Trustee members Paul Beach and Bichop Nawrot. Bottom: Families enjoy the Museum at interactive and engaging programs hosted all year.
Help us raise $10,000 to support the conservation efforts of the Wide Awakes iconic “eye” flag!
In 1860, during the presidential election of Abraham Lincoln in a country on the brink of the Civil War, a small group of young men in Hartford, Connecticut, started a movement that would sweep across the northern parts of the country. Donning makeshift capes and carrying torches to provide “security” to a candidate heading to a debate, they made an impression on locals. These young men, some not even old enough to vote, founded the first Wide Awakes club, later known as the Hartford Originals. The Wide Awakes quickly gained momentum, with groups organizing in cities across the northeast and spreading as far west as California -- mobilizing voters and capturing the public interest. Their name and their symbol, a stylized eye, were chosen in the hopes of encouraging people to see the perceived “true nature” of political opponents and to stir “slumbering” Northerners into action against the political power of Southern enslavers.
The Connecticut Museum is proud to share a new exhibition on the Wide Awakes: Campaigning for Lincoln that opened in September and runs through spring 2025. While the exhibition draws heavily from the Wide Awakes materials in the Museum’s collection, the 1889 Wide Awake flag created for President Benjamin Harrison’s inauguration is one of its prized objects. After over a century, the flag had deteriorated due to issues common to old textiles. It acquired surface dirt, stains, and darkened with age. The flag is made of silk, which is known to “shatter” as the years pass, especially along the gold bullion trim that provided stress points. Earlier this year, conservators removed the trim and the pole, then cleaned and stabilized the flag before the trim was reattached. The flag is now proudly displayed in the exhibition on view at the Museum today.
From climate-controlled storage to acid free boxes and tissue paper, the Connecticut Museum maintains the daily care for its over 4 million manuscripts, objects, and graphics in its culturally and historically important collections. This conservation work is only possible through the generous support of donors like you. Will you do your part today
SENSORY EXPERIENCE:
“Connecticut
doesn’t always get the recognition it deserves for our part in the U.S. coffee movement. There’s so much history here that hasn’t been talked out. And it will be really great to see it in the exhibit!”
– ANNE MERCER CO-OWNER, VICTUS COFFEE
A CONNECTICUT STORY
By Karen Li Miller, Ph.D., Research
Historian and Lead Exhibit Developer
How do you take your coffee? The answer is different for each of us, but one thing is certain: coffee culture in Connecticut is vibrant. Coffee is the focus of our upcoming exhibition, Coffee: A Connecticut Story, that opens in November 2024. The exhibition offers a glimpse into the history of coffee in our state, the ventures that inspired the beloved grind, as well as the roles that the roasted bean plays in supporting communities. Thanks to Connecticans’ love for coffee, a diverse of array coffee businesses have expanded across the state to include artisan roasters, Vietnamese and Yemeni cafes, and even coffee shops that offer tattoos.
But this is not simply a recent trend. Coffee: A Connecticut Story, will explore how coffee has played meaningful roles in developing Connecticut’s culture for more than 250 years. The exhibition will feature historical and contemporary moments of significant “coffee-ness,” when coffee helped shape the state’s businesses, social services, and innovative character.
Coffee: A Connecticut Story invites visitors into several gallery settings that suggest moments in history, from a trading port with ships sailing back from the West Indies in the 1700s, to a World War II campfire, to a café and drive-thru today. Coffee is a versatile bean with multiple meanings, and the exhibition showcases some robust coffee stories. In 1800s coffee houses, coffee was a symbol of refinement. Society and business leaders met in coffee houses, and their conversations led to the founding of major companies like Aetna. In the late nineteenth century, coffee was very
fashionable and commonly associated with respectability and dignity. It was used to encourage people in need to visit and connect with the newly-opened social service organizations, such as the Boys Club, which later became the Boys and Girls Club of America.
To tell these stories fully, the Connecticut Museum worked with a variety of community partners, such as coffee roasting experts and newcomers who brought their coffee practices from other countries to their new homes in Connecticut. The exhibition features audio segments called, “Coffee Talks” where visitors can listen
to our community partners discuss topics that are inspired by Connecticut’s coffee history. “Coffee Talks” pair a contemporary partner with a historical figure, drawn from the Museum’s collection. For example, Anne Mercer, co-owner of Victus Coffee in Hartford, reflects on the functions of coffee houses today. Mercer is paired with Jacob Ogden who owned coffee houses in Stratford Bridge and then New Haven in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
Coffee is a sensory experience for many. Video and scent stations in the exhibition offer visitors engaging ways to experience the coffee stories. One
Anne Mercer, Co-Owner, Victus Coffee pours an espresso for a customer.
“Here
at Gather55, coffee is essential to gathering our community. I am so glad the Museum is doing an exhibition on the history of coffee. It was so interesting to learn the place that coffee held both as a beverage and a gathering tool 100 years ago.”
video introduces Leon, Bruce, and Alex Goldsmith of Baronet Coffee Inc. in Windsor. They discuss the legacy of the coffee business from a multi-generational perspective. Some coffee businesses are rooted in family enterprise, like the William Boardman & Sons coffee company which started in the 1840s and operated for more than a hundred years in the state.
The exhibition will highlight current coffee businesses on a monthly rotating basis, including Omar Coffee Company in Newington, Great Minds Coffee Roasters in Oakville, J. René Coffee Roasters in West Hartford, Story and Soil Coffee in Hartford, Ovelle Jamaica Blue Coffee in West Hartford, and Redding Roasters in Bethel.
Coffee: A Connecticut Story draws inspiration from the Museum’s extensive collection of coffee wares and manuscripts. Visitors will have an opportunity to see a wide range of coffee mills, grinders, pots, makers, canisters, manuscripts, advertisements, cups—and even a World War II helmet. The helmet illustrates the coffee story of Wesley Smith, a 19-year-old infantryman from Hazardville. Coffee served as both fuel and comfort for soldiers like Smith who fought at the Battle of the Bulge (1944-45) during the coldest European winter on record at the time. Coffee impacts our lives in many ways. It can brew exciting conversations and ideas, increase our energy as well as our relaxation, and embolden us to meet for a date, or enhance the delight of meeting with friends. Most of all, Coffee: A Connecticut Story illustrates how coffee connects us in conversations and engages all our senses.
Thank you to exhibition sponsors, CT Public, Marketing Solutions, Stanley Black & Decker, Deborah Welling and Jack Intrator, Fiducient Advisors, Omar Coffee, Baronet Coffee and Trinity College.
“My grandparents took me to the Connecticut Museum when my mom was in the hospital about to give birth to my youngest sister. This is a full circle moment for Baronet to be on the exhibit walls. It is pretty sentimental.”
– ALEX GOLDSMITH
FOURTH-GENERATION COFFEE BUSINESSMAN
BARONET COFFEE INC.
Right/Opposite: J.Rene Coffee Roaster in West Hartford, photographed by Defining Studios.
CULTURE, COMMUNITY, CONTINUITY:
Stories from Southern New England Apprenticeship Program
by Philitha Stemplys-Cowdrey and Kate Schramm
Since 2015, the Connecticut Museum has worked with artists, artisans, and culture-keepers from diverse ethnic and workplace backgrounds to document, present, and sustain important living traditions, art forms, knowledge, and lifeways that are crucial to community well-being. Through the work of the Cultural Sustainability department, the Museum focuses on the people who enact, create, and keep the living—and frequently intangible--aspects of our state’s culture and history vibrant. In this way, the Museum works to support the cultural vitality of communities by addressing real cultural needs in the present, which bolsters community efforts to innovate and imagine their futures.
One of the Museum’s key initiatives is the Southern New England Apprenticeship Program (SNEAP), which provides stipends to experienced culture keepers and traditional artists so they can transmit their knowledge, skills, and craft to a dedicated apprentice within their communities. Our 2023-24 cohort, which ended in June, boasted twelve teams through the support of the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Connecticut Humanities, and the Connecticut Office
of the Arts/DECD. The Museum often witnesses how apprenticeships generate energy for new forms of learning and teaching beyond the program itself and support cultural forms that are of vital importance within their communities.
This past year, mentor Gideon Ampeire taught Chance Boas how to string, tune, and play the Inanga, a traditional single-stringed East African zither.
Below: Inanga, created by Gideon Ampeire. Right: Apprentice Melina Vang during dance practice. Far right, top: Boa Moua teaches junior students Hmong Dance. Far right, bottom: Gideon Ampeire (L) and Chance Boas (R) play inanga during the exhibition opening at the Olin Library. Photos by Philitha Stemplys-Cowdrey.
Gideon, a Ugandan instrument-maker and musician, helped Chance to reconnect with his own family heritage of inanga playing. Chance’s family had eleven generations of inanga players who learned how to play from their grandparents, but Chance’s opportunity to learn was interrupted due to political unrest affecting Burundi during his childhood. The apprenticeship helped deepen Chance’s connections to his cultural heritage and helped inform his research, which resulted in the curation of a yearlong exhibition at Wesleyan University’s Olin Library titled Finding the Spirit of Inanga: A Gallery of African Musical Instruments. While reaching a wider audience in Connecticut through the exhibition, Chance is already an active force in Rhode Island, where he is founder of PVD World Music Institute
in Providence, an organization that promotes and celebrates the traditional music of African refugees and immigrants in New England.
In Tolland County, mentor Boa Moua taught apprentice Melina Vang the art of Hmong Dance, a relatively contemporary tradition in Hmong culture that combines Hmong music and expressive gestures. Boa shared with the Museum that there is a renewed interest in the younger generations to reclaim and learn aspects of their culture. Through teaching, Boa was also able to strengthen her own knowledge of Hmong language by translating the songs that accompany the dances. Boa and Melina mark a new generation of Hmong artistic leaders who were children at the time of previous SNEAP apprenticeships in
their community, and it is inspiring to see Boa and Melina teaching dances to the children in the community now.
All apprenticeship teams have remarkable stories to share with the Museum about the meaning and importance of what they do. SNEAP is entering its 27th year of supporting cultural communities, with a new cohort beginning their work together now. Interest in the program continues to grow, thanks to our dedicated team of community partners, state agency partners, and SNEAP Manager Philitha Stemplys-Cowdrey.
For a complete list of all SNEAP teams and our 2024-2025 current cohort, visit: connecticutmuseum.org/sneaphistory
Community
AROUND THE MUSEUM
Museum visitors try out community sports from roller derby to
bowling.
during Beat the
Weekend!. 3. Visitors attending
concert during Beat the Heat Weekend. 4. Community History Project participants are celebrated with a special event. 5. Dr. Jason O. Chang teaches mahjong during our Lunar New Year Celebration held together with the Asian Pacific American Coalition of CT and UConn's Asian and Asian American Studies Institute, and UConn's Asian American Cultural Center. 6. Former Hartford Fire Chief Charles Teale shared the story of the Hartford Circus Fire with guests. 7. Members of Ju Long Wushu demonstrate during the Lunar New Year Celebration. 8. Craft workshops provide visitors with the opportunity to learn new skills like print making. 9. Southern New England Apprenticeship Program team demonstrates Puerto Rican vejigante mask-making at the Connecticut Museum Open House. From Left to Right, Apprentice MaLisa Blasini, SNEAP Manager Philitha Stemplys-Cowdrey, Mentor Rafael Feliciano-Roman, and Director of Cultural Sustainability, Kate Schramm. 10. Visitors dance and play during Beat the Heat. 11. Young visitor enjoys Kona Ice during Beat the Heat.
1.
lawn
2. Mikata Salsa performs
Heat
Mikata Salsa
Reflection
by Robert A. Kret Executive Director and CEO
Our collective experiences frame the fabric of what our state is today. In 2025, the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History will celebrate its 200th anniversary. This is not an insignificant achievement for a history and cultural institution, but one that required a painstaking commitment to active collection and sharing of Connecticut’s history. Since its founding, the Connecticut Museum has been very intentional in its commitment to preserving, remembering, and sharing the past. The institution’s founders believed that its citizens were “forgetting the stories of the American Revolution,” and that there was a need for an organization that captured, catalogued, and told these stories with the next generation.
Today, the Museum continues to advance this foundational work through our American Revolutionary War Papers digitization project made possible by a grant from the National Archives and Records Administration, with the support of U.S. Congressman John Larson, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, and U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy, that will make our collection available to the public online and accessible from anywhere across the globe. For the past two centuries, the Museum has continued to do history differently. Whether it was including women into its membership in the 19th century, amassing a large collection Civil War history, or presenting the history of the LGBTQ experience in Connecticut just years after it became the second state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage. This spirit of independence is at the root of the organization and continues to be amplified today throughout our work.
In rounding out our 199th year, the Connecticut Museum has proudly received the Award of Excellence for the major exhibition The Bicycle Game from the American Association of State and Local History for the exhibition’s research and the innovation that occurred in its presentation. The highly interactive exhibition explored the role that bicycles played in Connecticut’s transportation, innovation, and leisure time across the state.
Over the past year, Megan Griffin has served as the Connecticut Museum's Folk & Traditional Arts Community Impact Coordinator in eastern Connecticut. Megan served as an engagement leader with a focus on connecting to folk and traditional artists and communities across the northeast region. She worked closely with the partner organizations, such as the Cultural Coalition in Norwich, to identify various affiliation circles and creative networks in the region that are not being served. Through in-person outreach with individuals and organizations, she has enacted better ways to sustain cultural vibrancy more effectively in the area.
Lastly, we are tremendously pleased to share that the Museum audiences have returned post-pandemic to visitation levels. It’s wonderful to see familiar faces and new friends as I walk through the galleries each day. It is my hope that you will make the time to stop by with your family and friends to participate in some of the public programs and experience our exhibitions and celebrate with us in 2025 as we turn 200!
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OFFICERS
MICHAEL A. CANTOR Chair
SYLVIA B. KELLY President
FIONA VERNAL First Vice President
HENRY M. ZACHS Second Vice President
BICHOP J. NAWROT
Investment Committee Chair and Vice President
DAVID M. KLEIN
Treasurer
PORTIA CORBETT
Secretary
MEMBERS
ALAN ALEIA
HARRY ARORA
KERRY BRITLAND
SARA CHAMPION
Collections Steering Commitee Chair
GEORGE JEPSEN
BARBARA KIEFER
MARK F. KOHLER
DIXON MALLORY
JAY MALCYNSKY
DAVID MCCARY
ANDREW MCDONALD
DENISE MERRILL
JOANN H. PRICE
Development Committee Chair
JASON ROJAS
Governance Committee Chair
MANISHA SINHA
JAMES C. WILLIAMS
HONORARY TRUSTEES
SUSAN ALLER
DAVID DANGREMOND
MARY JEANNE JONES
LAWRENCE MOWELL
JUDITH WAWRO
One Elizabeth Street Hartford, CT 06105
860.236.5621
Museum Hours:
Tuesday - Saturday: 10 am - 5 pm, open late on Thursdays until 8 pm
Many museums across the U.S. face challenges of accessibility. However, the innovations at the Connecticut Museum revealed to intern Ian Ross, demonstrate that when and institution focuses on this, changes are possible. Ross is part of the Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship for Public Service intern program.
Over his three-week internship, he observed different types of public programming, worked on several educational projects, and was able to interview staff across multiple departments to see how they are handling accessibility.
On average, he met with at least one person per day in departments from Education to Collections, and Cultural Sustainability and more. Each department had different approaches to accessibility, such as small-scale access improvements like keeping up-to-date information on how to get to the Museum by bus, and larger scale improvements such as the ongoing efforts to digitize the collections of the Museum to make them accessible anywhere in the world, but all are working towards the collective goal of increasing access for visitors and Museum staff. To help coordinate these cross-department efforts, an Accessibility Committee was created to both help with current access
projects, as well as identify areas for improvement in future projects.
The four projects that Ross worked on this summer related to various aspects of accessibility at the Museum, with the core focus being on improving the quality of the overall visitor experience. These projects included: updating a Social Narrative, a very helpful document that can help families with access needs plan their visit to the museum; creating the July and August Inspire Center sensory panels that encourage visitors to experientially learn through touch; investigating and recommending new additions to the visitor Sensory Bags the Museum has created to provide visitors
with a set of calming tools that can help make the visit more enjoyable and less overwhelming; and creating a feedback form for the Sensory Bags.
Contributors: Natalie Belanger / Lyle Cairdeas / Ilene Frank / Robert Kret / Katerina Mazzacane / Karen Li Miller / Jamie O'Brien / Clare Nelson / Andrea Rapacz / Ian Ross / Kate Schramm / Samantha Skeels / Philitha Stemplys-Cowdrey / Andy West
COVER IMAGE: By Defining Studios taken at J.René Coffee Roasters in West Hartford.
