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SUMMER 2025: Celebrations! The history of Connecticut Pride, the whaling industry, and upcoming events you won't want to miss. Plus our September conference, free and open to the public.
“Present from the Start: People of Color in Connecticut’s Revolutionary Era, 1763-1836” conference is free and open to the public! To receive the included lunch, we request an RSVP. Register here.
The Latest From Grating the Nutmeg
Monstrous: The Business of Whaling
Whaling was big business. Connecticut and her sister New England states built ships, forged cast iron tools, produced wooden storage casks and outfitted sailors. Stonington, Mystic, New London, and New Haven were part of New England’s predominance in successful whaling. In our most recent episode, we’ll visit Mystic Seaport Museum’s new exhibition “Monstrous: Whaling and Its Colossal Impact” with curator Mike Dyer. The exhibit explores the sheer scale-physical, economic, and human-of the nation’s whaling industry and its legacy. Dyer is the Curator of Maritime History and an Instructor in the Frank C. Munson Institute of American Maritime History at Mystic Seaport Museum.
Listen: Monstrous: The Business of Whaling
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Out and About: Mary visits Mystic Seaport and shopping local at the Coventry Farmers Market
Earlier this summer, Executive Producer and Host of Grating the Nutmeg podcast, Mary Donohue, visited the Mystic Seaport Museum to view the current exhibition, Monstrous: Whaling and Its Colossal Impact, an exhibition that explores the history, significance, and social impact of the whaling industry. Opening on May 24, 2025, and on view until February 16, 2026, the exhibition will feature seldom seen historic artifacts from the Museum’s vaults including specimens, tools, documents, photographs, and ephemera all in dialogue with contemporary artist Jos Sances’s Or, The Whale, a massive 51-foot scratchboard mural of a sperm whale chronicling the evolution of American industrialization.
August in New England is filled with an abundance of fresh produce such as cantaloupes, celery, leeks, tomatoes, watermelons, and rutabagas. CT Explored Editorial Assistant & Ad Manager, Magdalena Pawlowski, stopped at the Coventry Farmer’s Market located on the grounds of the Nathan Hale Homestead this past Sunday. This unique market has become a CT favorite, and is known as one of the largest farmers’ markets in the state, featuring locally grown and locally made products. During market days, visitors can also enjoy tours of the Homestead, a CT Landmarks’ property. Bring your furry companion, enjoy live music, lunch from a food truck, and learn about life in 1776 at the birthplace of Nathan Hale, Connecticut’s State Hero.
Connecticut Pride: LGBTQ+ Joy as Resistance
Before it was a parade, Connecticut Pride was a protest—and its roots might surprise you. The state’s first official pride celebration was held in 1971, organized by the Kalos Society, an advocacy, psychological support, and social organization. Despite local opposition and Hartford authorities, the Connecticut Liberation Festival proceeded with activities focused on communal joy and a Sunday march to the state capitol. Galanis writes, “In addition to organizing social events and political protests, members of the Kalos Society also met with state and local representatives to draft legislation to protect gay men and lesbians from employment discrimination. The following year, the June celebration lasted a week. It included activities like church services, fundraiser dinners, theatrical performances, a march to the capitol, and a bus trip to the third annual march in New York City. Then in 1973, the Connecticut General Assembly introduced the first gay-rights bill; while it did not pass until 1991, activists petitioned every year until its passage.”
Read the entire story detailing Connecticut Pride from its beginnings in 1971 to now in our Summer 2025 issue.
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Programs and Exhibitions to Enjoy This Month
Marlborough Day 2025
On Sunday, August 24 th , the CT River Valley Chamber and Its So Ranunculus Flower Shoppe, will present the family friendly Marlborough Day. Taking place from 11 am to 4 pm at Blish Park, the day will feature live entertainment, over 40 vendor booths and civic organizations, kid friendly activities including the Roaming Railroad, face painting, and a photo booth. Performances by local favorites The Modern Riffs and Deejay Renee Prescott of Shaded Soul will be showcased, along with the Marlborough Fife and Drum, and the Marlborough Volunteer Fire Department. There will be a martial arts demo by Phoenix Martial Arts and an appearance by Alex the Mermaid will also be featured
Join us at Blish Park for a day of family fun, entertainment, local businesses, food trucks, and civic groups to celebrate Marlborough! More info here.
August 24, 2025, 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Blish Park, Park Road, Marlborough.
18th Annual Old-fashioned Flea Market
Join us this September at Lockwood-Mathews Mansion's old fashioned flea market in Norwalk. Flea Market enthusiasts will find the park brimming with vendors selling a treasure trove of unique items including antiques, repurposed furniture, upcycled collectibles, jewelry, crafts, household items, clothing, toys, specialty farm-to-table foods and more. Tasty treats and refreshments will be available at several food trucks. This event will be free to the general public.
The Mansion’s Volunteers will manage a White Elephant Table, selling items generously donated by supporters. The Gift Shop will be opened and feature museum-centric accessories and an eclectic mix of gift items including logo embroidered totes, vintage and designer jewelry, elegant scarves, and books relating to history and preservation. Mini-tours will be offered to the public for $5 on the first floor from 12–4 PM. All proceeds will benefit the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum’s educational and cultural programs.
September 14, 2025, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, 295 West Ave, Norwalk. lockwoodmathewsmansion.com; 203-838-9799
Discussion-Based Tours and Programs at Stowe
An immersive and thought-provoking experience: the Stowe Center for Literary Activism, formerly known as the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, shares a nuanced history of the 19th century by exploring Stowe’s legacy within the constellation of Black voices who influenced and inspired her to speak out against slavery. Our discussion-based tours and programs explore the issues that concerned Stowe—slavery, women’s rights, access to education, literature—and encourage discourse to help ensure all voices are heard. Civic engagement, literary activism, social justice, and historic contextualization help us better understand the systems that created and supported inequality and those systems that cooperated to begin to dismantle it. Because we continue to struggle with issues today that Stowe and those who influenced her wrote to protest in the 19th century, the relevance of our mission remains urgent. Join us and share your thoughts. Events include Salons at Stowe; Stowe Prize for Literary Activism series; and Reading for Change, a book group.
Stowe Center for Literary Activism, 77 Forest Street, Hartford. stowecenter.org; 860-522-9258
Here Comes the Bride!
The long-awaited display of Katharine Hepburn’s wedding dress is here! Her beautiful Babani gown from her 1928 wedding to Ludlow Ogden Smith is on view at the Katharine Hepburn Museum for the first time ever, alongside two costume wedding dresses from the play The Lake and the film The Sea of Grass. This stunning temporary exhibit showcases Kate’s bridal fashions both onstage and offstage, as well as on- and off-screen. On exhibit from May to November 2025 at the Katharine Hepburn Museum. The Katharine Hepburn Museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., plus Saturday and Sunday from 12 to 4 p.m. in July and August. No admission charged; suggested donation of $10 to support the care and preservation of the collection.
The Katharine Hepburn Museum, 300 Main Street, Old Saybrook. thekate.org/museum; 860-510-0473
Peeling Back the Layers of History at Webb Deane Stevens
This summer, visitors can celebrate historic preservation at its finest among the Webb Deane Stevens historic houses. Famous for hosting the meeting between Washington and Rochambeau that planned the victory at Yorktown, which ended the Revolution, the Webb House has peeled back the layers of history in an ongoing research and preservation project in the front parlors. On-site open houses and workshops with skilled tradespeople will offer rare opportunities to watch preservation in action and learn about the research and methodology that allow historians to review, question, and in some cases reframe the past to give us access to how our ancestors once lived, bringing their rituals and choices into dialogue with the present.
Webb Deane Stevens Museum, 211 Main Street, Wethersfield. wdsmuseum.org; 860-529-0612
Editor’s Picks:
Emily E. Gifford, “An Early Advocate for Connecticut’s Gay Community” Connecticut Explored, Summer 2014.
Jason R. Mancini, “New London’s Indian Mariners” Connecticut Explored, Spring 2009.
Dave Corrigan, “Round The Horn in Search of Seals and Fortune” Connecticut Explored, Summer 2013.