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SUMMER 2025: Celebrations! Celebrating Connecticut, community, and a new monument. Plus New Englanders and the History of Whaling, 4th of July festivities, the Bobolink and Wildlife Festival and more!
Photo Essay: Rooted and Growing: 300 Years of Community in Cheshire
How does one celebrate the 300th anniversary of a church that is more than a wooden structure, but also rich in history and a beacon of light for many? The First Congregational Church of Cheshire stands towering in the center of the town, its bright white steeple piercing the sky, reverberating its significance in the community and multi-generational impact.
Christine Pittsley, who grew up attending this congregation, and raised her daughter there, writes, “The committee began with Reverend Samuel Hall (1695–1776), who was ordained on December 9, 1724. He oversaw the congregation for an astonishing 52 years. His son-in-law, Reverend John Foot (1742–1813), joined as an associate in 1767 and served for 46 years. Together, they baptized 3,733 individuals; admitted 1,219 members; married 167 couples; and conducted 1,735 burials over 89 years. But how would we remember the rest of the congregation, the history we shared with the town of Cheshire, or our place in the community? That was a tall order. We decided to tell our history decade by decade, with historical facts and stories in every bulletin and a bell rung every Sunday to commemorate those years.”
View all the photos in our Summer 2025 issue.
Out and About: An impactful day at the Peter & Esther Jackson Monument Dedication Ceremony
Despite the heatwave, a large crowd gathered at the Eno Memorial Hall in Simsbury on June 19, 2025 to celebrate the unveiling of a new monument at Simsbury Cemetery honoring Peter and Esther Jackson, a historic Black couple and their family. Peter and Esther Jackson’s family were also in attendance, driving in from North Carolina. They had no prior knowledge of this history before President of the Alex Breanne Corporation, John Mills, contacted them last year.
Speakers included the Pastor of Simsbury United Methodist Church, Rev. Gene Ott, State Representative, Melissa Osborne, State Senator, Paul Honig, Director of Equity & Access, Simsbury Public Schools, Tayarisha Batchelor, and Executive Director of the Simsbury Historical Society, Jane McAlpine, among others. In addition to the ceremony, Mills presented the family with a wooden lineage tree, made by Erin Grignon, owner of Living Reclaimed.
A striking painting was also unveiled by Connecticut artist, Kern Bruce, of a reimagined portrait of Esther based on images of 3 of her Great Granddaughters. The portrait is the 2nd in a series of 6 portraits that the Alex Breanne Corporation is producing in preparation for Semiquincentennial celebrations next year. It is part of a collection called the William Downey Memorial Collection. The collection is meant to highlight Black individuals in Connecticut who have an alignment to the Revolution, but whose stories are untold and images are unknown.
To learn more about the Alex Breanne Corporation visit: alexbreanne.org
Watch a recording of the ceremony here!
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The Latest From Grating the Nutmeg
Leviathan: New Englanders and the History of Whaling
American whale oil lit the world. The Industrial Revolution couldn’t have happened without it. Connecticut was part of the whaling industry of the nineteenth century that sent thousands of American ships manned by tens of thousands of men to hunt whales across the world’s oceans. Stonington, Mystic, New London, and New Haven were part of New England’s predominance in successful whaling. In fact, New London, Connecticut is known today as the “Whaling City”.
Listen: Leviathan: New Englanders and the History of Whaling
Thanks to the Connecticut Museum of Culture & History and Preservation Connecticut for their financial sponsorship of Grating the Nutmeg, helping us bring you a new episode every two weeks.
Stay tuned: Grating the Nutmeg and Preservation Connecticut have teamed up to bring you a three-episode podcast series that pairs new research on LGBTQ+ identity and activism with accounts of the Connecticut places where history was made.
The first episode of the three-part series: Ingredients for Revolution: Feminist Restaurants Featuring Bloodroot Restaurant. Available to stream free July 1, 2025!
Programs and Exhibitions to Enjoy This Month
Institute for American Indian Studies Celebrates 50 Years
The Institute for American Indian Studies (IAIS) is celebrating 50 years since its founding in 1975 as the American Indian Archaeological Institute (AIAI). In this image of our groundbreaking, celebrated educator Adelphena Logan (Onondaga) and Irving Harris (Schaghticoke) dig the first hole with Edmund Swigart, a founding AIAI member, behind them.
During this year of celebration, we are complementing our exhibits that trace more than 12,000 years of Indigenous accomplishments with a special visiting exhibit of contemporary Indigenous artwork originally displayed at the Florence Griswold Museum. Curated by Connecticut’s five tribal nations, naqutiwowok/continuance: Connecticut’s Tribal Communities Create includes artists from the Schaghticoke, Golden Hill Paugussett, Eastern Pequot, Mashantucket Pequot, and Mohegan tribes. The introduction and tribal information for the exhibit are written by Wunneanatsu Lamb-Cason (Schaghticoke/HoChunk), the granddaughter of Trudie Lamb-Richmond (Schaghticoke), the first director of education and public programs for IAIS.
Check out iaismuseum.org, Facebook, and Instagram for information about upcoming events in celebration of our 50th year!
Institute for American Indian Studies, 38 Curtis Road, Washington. wigwamescape.org; 860-868-0510
A New Look at Our Vast, Beautiful, and Complex Landscape
From natural wonders to the open road, the landscape has long been a source of inspiration in American art. In (Un)Settled: The Landscape in American Art (June 12–September 14, 2025), artists working in a range of media bring us a textured vision of our country’s landscape, reflecting on national identity, land preservation, and the complexities of culture. Objects from the colonial era to the present suggest a new definition of the landscape genre as rich, complicated, and ever-evolving. Location shapes our sense of self as individuals and as a society.
Unexpected and thought-provoking, this project is the result of a multi-year and multi-institution partnership between the Wadsworth and great collections in the southern U.S. supported by the Art Bridges Cohort program.
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 600 Main Street, Hartford. thewadsworth.org; 860-278-2670
Connecticut Bobolink and Wildlife Festival
Birding for Pleasure has announced the dates of the second Connecticut Bobolink and Wildlife Festival in Durham. The Festival begins on Saturday July 12, 2025 with a nature walk at 8:00 AM followed by presentations and displays by partner organizations at the Durham Community Center. Youth activities are planned for Sunday July 13 at Allyn Brook Park pavilion from 1 - 4 PM for students grade 5 and up.
This free festival brings together some of the best experts and artists in Connecticut. It is a celebration of the rich grasslands of Durham that is home to a number of endangered birds and butterflies. Experience the thrill of listening to the songs and counting the grassland Bobolinks!
Bonus: CT Explored Publisher and Executive Director, Kathy Hermes, will be presenting on The Wangunk Tribe, plus come meet staff at our table!
Find more info and register for a session here!
Barkhamsted Lighthouse Tribe 2025 Family Reunion
Join the festivities on July 4, starting with the Barkhamsted parade followed by lunch at Matthies Grove Pavilion. Guest speakers, Kathy Hermes and Gary O’Neil, will present on “A Digital Farmington Project” and “The Wangunk Tribe of CT” at 2:30 PM. On Saturday, July 5, take a tour of the lighthouse and Barkhamsted Historical Society.
To RSVP click here.
Editor’s Picks:
Jason R. Mancini, “New London’s Indian Mariners” Connecticut Explored, Spring 2009.
Elizabeth J. Normen, “Two If By Sea: New London’s Harbor Light & Stonington’s Old Lighthouse Museum” Connecticut Explored, Summer 2010.
Tamara Verrett, “Faith Congregational Church: 185 Years–Same People, Same Purpose” Connecticut Explored, Summer 2005.