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A Connecticut Store Becomes a Revolutionary War Office
When Connecticut Gov. Jonathan Trumbull got word of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, he went to his store and began collecting supplies for the men marching off from his hometown of Lebanon. In...
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New England Places To Take Mom on Mother’s Day
Everyone knows about historic New England places like the Freedom Trail or Robert Frost’s Farm. But the New England Historical Society can take you to historic sites that you may not even realize are...
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The Hitchcock Chair Craze of 1825
Beginning in 1825, American middle-class families were seized by desire for the latest furniture fashion. They simply had to have a Hitchcock chair. ‘Fancy chairs’ made in a factory in northwest...
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New England Places To Visit Now That It’s May
May is a wonderful month to visit New England places of historic interest. The dreary rain of April is behind us and the hordes of tourists are not yet here. This week the story of John Hull, the...
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Leonard Black, A Suffering Slave Who Clung to Hope
Leonard Black couldn’t read or write when he escaped slavery in Maryland, but he found a way to pay for his education. He told the story of his cruel masters in a booklet printed by a New Bedford...
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In 1947 Marion Donovan Defeats Diaper Rash
Marion Donovan was always destined to be an inventor – it was in her blood. Her brothers, father and uncle were all ingenious inventors of factory machines. But Donovan’s inventions would come in a...
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Frederick Law Olmsted Plans A Cemetery or a Hundred
Chances are good you have encountered the work of Frederick Law Olmsted more than once in your lifetime. You’ve probably set foot in his parks or on his school campuses, or maybe you read his...
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How the Poles Came to New England
Before the Poles came to New England they had already made it to the Jamestown colony in Virginia as craftsmen. Over the centuries the Poles came to New England in waves, the first from 1870 to 1914,...
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New England Places To Visit … Free!
This weekend is a great time to get out and see New England without paying an admission fee, as it is both National Park Week and the Little Poland Festival. But first -- libraries! This week the New...
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The 1773 Old Librarians Almanack and the Colonial Literary Life
In 1773, librarian Jared Bean published his Old Librarians Almanack in New Haven, Conn., following the traditional format of Poor Richard’s almanac. On one page it contained weather predictions and...
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Benjamin Franklin’s Son Spent the Revolutionary War in Connecticut – In Jail
The American Revolution created rifts in many families who counted both patriots and loyalists among their members, and none was more disruptive than the divide between Benjamin Franklin’s son and his...
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Boston Marathon Trivia, or 7 Things You Didn’t Know About the Big Race
Like so many New England sports traditions, the Boston Marathon is surrounded by lore and legend. Here are seven things you may not know about the big race: Tarzan Brown wouldn’t have run the 1939...
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Isaac Bissell Spreads the Lexington Alarm
Isaac Bissell electrified the colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticcut with the news of the Battle of Lexington in April 1775. He rode farther, faster and harder than Paul Revere, but is not so...
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New England Places To Visit on Patriots Day Weekend
Last week was the 104th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. There is a Titanic Musum in the Indian Orchard neighborhood of Springfield, Mass. Displayed are artifacts from the great ship and its...
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The King Tut Ticket Scam of 1979
Once the Metropolitan Museum of Art discovered the King Tut ticket scam in 1979, the fakes were easy to detect. A careless counterfeiter spelled the name of the Egyptian pharaoh. The traveling King...
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New England Places To Visit From Central Vermont to the Tip of Cape Cod
Let history be your guide to a weekend outing this spring. The New England Historical Society every Saturday offers tips on New England places to visit based on our recent stories. This week’s efforts...
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William Kidd, the Pirate Who Was Framed
William Kidd was said to have buried treasure off the Connecticut coast before sailing to Boston on a false promise of clemency for his piratical deeds. The treasure was never found – nor were the...
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New England Places To Visit: Museums, Cemeteries, Battlefields and a Rummage...
Even during the dreariest spring, New England holds a wealth of places to visit for history lovers. There are battlefields for the war buffs, museums for the art lovers, cemeteries for the...
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Flashback Photos: Edie Sedgwick, Poor Little Rich Girl
In 1965, Edie Sedgwick appeared in one of Andy Warhol’s underground films in 1965 and said, “I’ve never been anywhere where I haven’t been known.” The New England landscape is cluttered with the...
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The Mickey Mouse Watch Is Born in Connecticut
The Mickey Mouse watch put thousands of people to work in Waterbury, Conn., during the depths of the Great Depression. By 1932, the once-dominant Waterbury Clock Company was struggling. The...
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