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SPRING 2025: The Power of Words. Welcome to your bi-weekly newsletter from Connecticut Explored with the latest stories, the newest Grating the Nutmeg podcast, and programs from our partners.
Sponsored Post
Judges Needed for CT History Day State Contest!
Dear Friends of Connecticut History Day,
We are seeking 20 judges for First Round Judging (8 a.m.-2 p.m.) and 20 judges for the Second, Runoff Round (12-2:30 p.m.) at the State History Day Contest on May 3, 2025. We need YOUR help provide an educational and enjoyable experience for the 400 participating students. Get started HERE.
QUESTIONS? or for more information, please contact:
Rebecca Taber, Director of Secondary Education Programs Connecticut Democracy Center rebecca.taber@ctdemocracycenter.org (860) 240-5342 or email info@historydayct.org
Dr. Benjamin Foster Jr.: A Powerful Voice for Quality Public Education
“He had a goal to be somebody, although he wasn’t sure what.” Read the incredible story of a man from humble beginnings in segregated North Carolina who shaped legislation in Connecticut, and through the power of his words remade Connecticut education for the better. From revitalizing Bloomfield Public High School to helping ensure that Black history is taught statewide, Benjamin Foster made his mark. Learn about how his interactions with the likes of Muhammed Ali and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. along with local mentors shaped his life.
Benjamin Foster Jr. remains a champion of good public schooling, and his journey makes evident the power of his words.
Discover more Connecticut history by subscribing to Connecticut Explored!
The Latest From Grating the Nutmeg
Hartford’s Rural Cemetery: Cedar Hill
Established in 1864, Cedar Hill Cemetery encompasses 270 acres of landscaped woodlands, waterways, and memorial grounds. The urban oasis serves as a sanctuary for Connecticut history, impressive funerary art, and natural beauty. In this episode, Host Mary Donohue interviews Beverly Lucas, Director of the Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation.
Listen: Hartford’s Rural Cemetery: Cedar Hill
Thanks to the Connecticut Museum of Culture & History for their financial sponsorship of Grating the Nutmeg, helping us bring you a new episode every two weeks.
Kids’ Page: A Letter from a Friend
Letters are special things. Not many people write letters anymore, but maybe they should. Aside from being a fun way to talk to a friend, they can tell us a lot about history. They also last a lot longer than an email or a text message, and you don’t need a device to read them!
Have you ever written a letter?
Read the entire issue here!
Programs and Exhibitions to Enjoy This Month
Florence Griswold Museum
The FloGris Museum presents its first solo exhibition by a contemporary Black artist. Their Kindred Earth: Photographs by William Earle Williams, on view February 22 through June 22, 2025, makes visible little-known sites across Old Lyme (as well as the state and nation) significant to enslavement, emancipation, and African Americans’ contributions to Connecticut history and culture. Williams’s poignant images prompt viewers to consider familiar landscapes in a new light and to imagine, perhaps for the first time, the presence of enslaved people in the Connecticut landscape and what life was like for them here 200 years ago. An array of educational programs helps participants unpack these stories and grapple with their ramifications.
96 Lyme Street, Old Lyme. florencegriswoldmuseum.org; 860-434-5542
Connecticut Museum of Culture and History
The Connecticut Museum of Culture and History proudly celebrates a legacy of 200 years. For two centuries, this organization has served the community as Connecticut’s premier historical society and cultural institution, striving to cultivate a deep understanding of Connecticut’s place in the United States and the world through collections, research, exhibitions, educational programs, and events. Today, the Connecticut Museum continues to promote community engagement and inclusive history in its mission to collect, preserve, and share the rich stories and diverse cultures that help define the state. In addition to the unique events and exhibitions on view all year, communities across Connecticut and beyond are invited to partake in the museum’s 200th-anniversary festivities, including a special exhibition opening reception in May, a celebratory affair in September, and more! Visit the museum online at connecticutmuseum.org/200years for more information.
1 Elizabeth Street, Hartford. connecticutmuseum.org; 860-236-5621
Preservation Connecticut
Join Preservation Connecticut in celebrating our 50th anniversary at the 2025 Connecticut Preservation Awards ceremony on Thursday, May 8, at the New Haven Country Club in Hamden. We will honor outstanding efforts in preserving and enhancing historic places throughout Connecticut. These awards recognize projects that bring new life to distressed historic places, revitalize sites associated with the history of minority or overlooked communities, make significant contributions to environmental, economic, or social sustainability, or develop innovative new perspectives or methods to historic preservation. It’s our biggest event of the year!
PreservationCT.org
Editor’s Picks:
Hilary Moss, “‘Cast down on every side’: The Ill-Fated Campaign to Found an ‘African College’ in New Haven” Connecticut Explored, Summer 2007.
Carol Ivanoff, Mary Mycek, and Marian O’Keefe, “Ebenezer Bassett’s Historic Journey” Connecticut Explored, Winter 2011-2012.
Walter W. Woodward, “Women’s Letters Kept Family Connected” Connecticut Explored, Winter 2020-2021.
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