Welcome to your free bi-weekly newsletter from Connecticut Explored with the latest stories, the newest Grating the Nutmeg podcast, programs and exhibitions from our partners to see/watch this month, and more! In this issue, we bring you public parks, community-engaged archaeology, & Rock 'n' Roll.
Sponsored Post
Hubbard Park, Meriden’s Crown Jewel
Photo Essay
In 1869, just two years after Meriden was incorporated as a city, wealthy industrialist Walter Hubbard acquired his first parcel of land within the city’s Hanging Hills area. Over the next 25 years he continued to acquire land at a fast pace, planning to shape this space into an urban recreation area. In the late 1890s Hubbard initiated the construction of a park and financed the work of the architects and builders who realized his vision of naturalistic roads, pathways, waterways, structures, and buildings
In April 1897 land was cleared to begin construction and to develop the park’s centerpiece, Mirror Lake. The famous Castle Craig Tower was completed in 1900. At a dedication ceremony, Hubbard officially donated the park to the town of Meriden October 19th of that year.
Read the entire story with your print subscription and learn about how Hubbard consulted with John Charles Olmsted (son of Frederick Law Olmsted) to help him design this park.
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Game Changer: Eastern Pequot Archaeological Field School
The Eastern Pequot Archaeological Field School formed in 2003 as a collaborative venture between the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation and the department of anthropology at the University of Massachusetts Boston. This community-engaged archaeology project developed to advance Eastern Pequot initiatives in cultural and historic preservation, land management, education, community development, and heritage activities. The project takes place on the Eastern Pequot’s historic reservation in North Stonington, one of the oldest in the U.S., which has been continuously occupied by the Eastern Pequot since before the reservation was established in 1683.
Over the last 20 years Eastern Pequot community members (including elders, youth, and tribal government officials), archaeology professors, and more than 120 university students have conducted extensive archaeological surveys and excavations on the reservation, documenting Native life both during the reservation period and for thousands of years prior. In their article, UMB Professor Stephen W. Silliman and Vice-Chairwoman of the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, Brenda Geer, describe the importance of community-engaged archaeology
“An overarching objective was to further transform archaeology into more of a giving rather than a taking practice and align it with Indigenous community needs and practices. This was almost unheard of for most of archaeology’s history as a discipline, as archaeologists and museums took regularly from Native American communities and refused to give back. However, the tide began to turn more than 30 years ago with the passage of federal repatriation legislation and the emergence of a growing number of archaeologists who wanted to remake the field into a more responsive and responsible one. Part of that remaking was to acknowledge that Native American voices and practitioners in the discipline were few and far between and to commit to correcting that.”
Read the full story at ctexplored.org.
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The Latest From Grating the Nutmeg
Connecticut's Would-Be Woodstock: The Powder Ridge Festival
In 1970, a planned 3-day rock concert at Powder Ridge in Middlefield was cancelled after an injunction by the town. But tens of thousands of young people showed up anyway and proceeded to have one hell of a party.
Natalie Belanger speaks with filmmaker Gorman Bechard, who's working on a documentary about Powder Ridge. Gorman peels back the many layers of this story, including a shady promoter, the town's grudge against a property owner, and the one famous musician who braved the police to show up and perform -- with an amp hooked up to a Mister Softee truck.
Listen: Connecticut's Would-Be Woodstock: The Powder Ridge Festival
Click here to watch a trailer for the film and support its completion!
Programs and Exhibitions to Enjoy This Month
🎉June 10th is Connecticut Open House Day!🎉
Scenic boat and trolley rides. Farm animal encounters. Beer and wine tastings. Behind-the-scenes tours. These are just a few of the activities that Connecticut residents and families can enjoy on Connecticut Open House Day, Saturday, June 10, 2023.
More than 200 tourism attractions across the state, including museums, arts and cultural venues, historical sites, farms and restaurants, will welcome visitors with free or discounted admission or special offers.
See the full line-up - select your county and choose your own adventure!
Candlesticks and Candlestands on Display
Kent Historical Society (KHS) staff and trustees are excited to announce the summer exhibition at Seven Hearths Museum. Sticks & Stands: An Exhibition of Candlesticks and Candlestands from Private Collections opens on June 10, 2023, and the exhibition will run weekends this summer from 11am-4pm and by appointment. Admission is free for KHS members with a suggested donation of $5 for non-members.
Kent Historical Society, 4 Studio Hill Road, Kent; kenthistorialsociety.org
Juneteenth Family Day in Hartford
Join The Amistad Center for Art & Culture and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art for Juneteenth Family Day on Saturday, June 10 from 12 to 4 pm.
Outdoors festivities include a performance by Hartford's Proud Drill, Drum, and Dance Corp, live music from Nekita Waller, crafting with Jacqueline Bright, African drumming and storytelling by Our Culture is Beautiful, and Anne Cubberly's famous giant puppets. FREE and open to the public. Bring the family! Fun for all ages!
More information on this event
Exhibition Opens at Florence Griswold Museum
The exhibition features more than seventy examples of Euro-American, African American, and Native American art created between the eighteenth century and today. The traveling exhibition, on view June 3 through September 10, asks fundamental questions about artistic significance and how meaning changes across time, place, and context.
Florence Griswold Museum, 96 Lyme Street, Old Lyme; florencegriswoldmuseum.org/
Editor’s Picks
Want to explore the topics featured in this edition of the e-Newsletter? Check out these stories!
Read: “Connecticut’s Historic Trails,” Connecticut Explored, Summer 2008.
Here’s an irony: without cities and cars, Connecticut may not ever have developed its hundreds of miles of hiking trails.
Listen: The Legendary Toad’s Place Nightclub in New Haven, Grating the Nutmeg.
Watch: “Listen to Their Voices,” UMass Boston Archaeology, 2021.
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