Grating the Nutmeg
200 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 days ago - ★★★★★ - 42 ratingsConnecticut is a small state with big stories. GTN episodes include top-flight historians, compelling first-person stories and new voices in Connecticut history. Executive Producers Mary Donohue, Walt Woodward, and Natalie Belanger look at the people and places that have made a difference in CT history. New episodes every two weeks. A joint production of Connecticut Explored magazine and the CT State Historian Emeritus.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
185. Connecticut Industries Unite for WWII Victory: Pratt, Read & Co Gliders
April 15, 2024 21:47 - 39 minutes - 90.8 MBIn this episode, we uncover a Connecticut World War II story that features airplanes without engines. Sound crazy? You’ll learn how these engineless gliders helped beat the Nazis. Executive Producer Mary Donohue will also talk to the author of a new book that details the role that over 45 Connecticut companies played in producing the ammunition, weapons and machines that the United States needed as part of the massive war effort during World War II. Her guests today are Connecticu...
184. The Borinqueneers: Puerto Rico’s Men of the 65th Regiment
April 01, 2024 17:49 - 30 minutes - 69.9 MBIn this episode, we celebrate and commemorate National Borinqueneers Day coming up on April 13th. It recognizes the bravery, service, and sacrifice of the 65th Infantry Regiment, a United States Army unit that consisted mostly of soldiers from Puerto Rico and the only segregated Latino unit in the United States Army. But the honor and fidelity of the men of the 65th came into question in 1952 during the Korean War when 91 regiment members were arrested and tried for desertion and...
183. Margaret Rudkin of Pepperidge Farm
March 16, 2024 00:35 - 26 minutes - 59.7 MBOne of the most recognizable food brands in the world got started in a kitchen in Fairfield, Connecticut. In this episode, Natalie Belanger chats with historian Cathryn J. Prince about Margaret Rudkin, the woman who founded Pepperidge Farm. Read Prince's full-length article about Rudkin on the Connecticut Explored website here: https://www.ctexplored.org/pepperidge-farm-healthful-bread-builds-a-business/ Natalie Belanger is the Adult Programs Manager at the Connecticut Muse...
Celebrate Women’s History Month with Grating the Nutmeg
March 06, 2024 12:36March 1st marks the start of Women’s History Month. To celebrate, we’ve gathered a sampling of five episodes that share the incredible stories of Connecticut women throughout history. Click on the links below, and then press play on the next page for your next good story. We hope you enjoy these episodes and are inspired by the great women of Connecticut history! 113. Yale Needs Women: In 1969, women were permitted entry to undergraduate study at Yale for the first time. However, they...
182. Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution
March 01, 2024 17:53 - 50 minutes - 114 MBAre they pirates, profiteers or legitimately authorized extensions of George Washington’s almost non-existent American Navy? We’ll find out with guest historian Eric Jay Dolin, author of Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American RevolutIon. Dolin will underscore an element missing from most maritime histories of the American Revolution: a ragtag fleet of private vessels — from 20-foot whaleboats to 40-cannon men-of-war helped win the war, including some 200 from Connecticut. Armed with ...
181. Hartford and the Great Migration, 1914-1950
February 15, 2024 17:34 - 28 minutes - 66.2 MB181. Hartford and the Great Migration, 1914-1950 In the February 4, 2024 issue of the New York Times, journalist Adam Mahoney describes the Great Migration as a time when millions of Black people left the South to escape segregation, servitude and lynching and went North in search of jobs and stable housing. In this episode, host Mary Donohue will discuss Hartford and the Great Migration with Dr. Stacey Close. Connecticut Explored’s book African American Connecticut Exploredpublis...
180. Colonial Connecticut: Sugar, Slavery and Connections to the West Indies
February 02, 2024 19:13 - 40 minutes - 93.8 MBAlthough Connecticut sometimes seems like such a small, isolated place on the map, it was connected to the far-flung, complex, cosmopolitan British empire even in the 17th century. This year on Grating the Nutmeg, we’re going to explore Connecticut’s maritime history with episodes on Colonial Connecticut’s trade with the British colonies of the Caribbean, privateering during the American Revolution and the whaling ships sent around the globe in the nineteenth century. Connecticut’s mar...
179. Connecticut’s Benedict Arnold: America’s Most Hated Man
January 15, 2024 18:36 - 36 minutes - 83.5 MB179. Connecticut’s Benedict Arnold: America’s Most Hated Man This is our first new episode for 2024 and we’ve got some big news! Thanks to you-our listeners-we had 30,106 downloads in 2023! That’s our best year ever! We have brand new Facebook and Instagram pages under Grating the Nutmeg-please follow us and you’ll get behind the scenes photos, sneak peeks of new content, and info on how to purchase our new merchandise! In today’s episode, we discuss one of the most well-known s...
Top 10 Most Streamed GTN Episodes of All Time
January 04, 2024 17:23Top 10 Most Streamed GTN Episodes of All Time Grating the Nutmeg enters its ninth year in 2024. Wow! We have covered many different topics over the course of our nearly 200 episodes–from Connecticut’s trees, to witches, to our more recent CTE Game Changers Series–and we are excited for what’s in store for 2024. Thank you to everyone who has made our podcast possible! We shared the top five episodes from 2023, now we want to celebrate the top ten most listened-to GTN episodes of all ...
HOLIDAY EPISODES
December 14, 2023 15:12What better way to spend the holidays than curled up next to the fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate and your favorite Grating the Nutmeg episode! To celebrate, we’re spreading history cheer for all to hear. Just click on the episode links below, press play on the next page, and enjoy our holiday episodes of Grating the Nutmeg past. Soup and Stories. What do the Shroud of Turin and a world renowned nuclear physicist, a beer-drinking donkey, a walking catfish, Farmall tractors, t...
178. Mark Twain, Spiritualism and Ghost Stories
December 01, 2023 18:24 - 39 minutes - 90 MBDid you ever think the universe was trying to tell you something? I just finished reading Anderson Cooper’s book on the Vanderbilt family. In it, he describes family patriarch Commodore Vanderbilt’s interest in Spiritualism and clairvoyance. Cooper writes “Evidence suggests that the Commodore had begun attending seances as early as 1864, but given the mainstreaming of Spiritualist practices in the 1860s and ‘70s, this was not as unusual as it may sound. The period immediately after th...
177. Murder on Prospect Street
November 15, 2023 18:09 - 39 minutes - 89.7 MBIn this episode of Grating the Nutmeg, Natalie Belanger sits down with acclaimed crime writer M. William Phelps to get to the bottom of a notorious early 20th century Connecticut murder story. In the 1910s, Amy Archer Gilligan operated an innovative business in Windsor: a convalescent home for the ill and elderly. Her benevolent facade, however, hid a deadly purpose: a business plan that depended on constant inmate turnover, aided by arsenic poisoning. You'll hear all about how the case was...
176. Witchcraft Uncovered: New Discoveries and Exonerations
November 01, 2023 16:07 - 33 minutes - 76.3 MBWitchcraft accusations began in Connecticut in May, 1647, with the trial and execution of Alice Young of Windsor, 45 years before the better-known witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Connecticut had witchcraft accusation outbreaks in the early 1660s in Hartford and again in Fairfield in 1692, with criminal trials ending in 1697. In colonial Connecticut, dozens of women, and some men associated with them, were accused of witchcraft. The colony hanged eleven people. In May, 2023, Co...
175. Sleeping with the Ancestors in Connecticut
October 15, 2023 19:03 - 42 minutes - 98 MBPodcast host and historic preservationist Mary Donohue started following a project on Facebook four or five years ago. It was based on a very simple idea-sleeping overnight in historic buildings-but it was also genius. The project was the Slave Dwelling Project. Joseph McGill,Jr., a Black historic preservationist and Civil War reenactor based in South Carolina, had begun this groundbreaking project to sleep overnight in the countless and very underappreciated former slave dwellings that sti...
174. Asher Benjamin, Connecticut’s Early Builder and Architect 1773-1845
October 01, 2023 22:32 - 33 minutes - 76.8 MBFrom the rural backwater of Hartland, Connecticut in 1773, Asher Benjamin would rise to become one of the most important figures of early American architecture. In addition to training as a skilled finish carpenter, he published the first architectural guidebooks-how-to books by an American-born author. These went through many editions and left a lasting record of how Federal-period craftsman could build the many stunning churches and homes from the earliest years of our country. He m...
173. Baseball Runs in the Springer Family
September 15, 2023 18:26 - 39 minutes - 89.7 MBThis fall the Connecticut Museum is hosting the Smithsonian traveling exhibition ¡Pleibol! In the Barrios and the Big Leagues / En los barrios y las grandes ligas. It explores the historic role that baseball has played as a social and cultural force within Latino communities across the world, and how Latinos in particular have influenced and changed the game. You can’t find a better local story about baseball, family, and community than that of the Springer family of New Britain. In ...
172. Connecticut Lighthouses: Lifesaving Beacons Along the Shore
September 01, 2023 14:13 - 33 minutes - 75.9 MBIn any gift shop in New England, you’ll probably find lighthouses pictured on tea towels and tee shirts and in snow globes. Lighthouses are fondly thought of as community landmarks and icons. Connecticut has fourteen active lighthouses, two of which are maintained as private aids to navigation; six are standing but inactive. Some are located on dry land but a significant number are located in the waters of the Long Island Sound. Some are now private homes, but many can be enjoyed by t...
171. Connecticut’s Very Pink House-Roseland Cottage
August 15, 2023 15:56 - 35 minutes - 80.4 MBIt’s the summer of Barbie. Barbiecore, an homage to the stylish doll, is everywhere in fashion and home furnishings. It’s time to think pink! So this episode is on Connecticut’s own Victorian Barbie Dream House - Roseland Cottage in Woodstock. How many shades of pink has Roseland Cottage been? We’ll find out! Executive Producer Mary Donohue talks to Laurie Masciandaro, site manager of Roseland Cottage museum owned by Historic New England. Laurie holds a Masters Degree in Ame...
170. Connecticut Senator George McLean Protects America’s Wild Birds
August 01, 2023 16:26 - 27 minutes - 61.8 MBConnecticut Senator George P. McLean’s crowning achievement was overseeing passage of one of the country’s first and most important wildlife conservation laws, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. The MBTA, which is still in effect today, has saved billions of birds from senseless killing and likely prevented the extinction of entire bird species. In this episode, Executive Producer Mary Donohue interviews Will McLean Greeley. He grew up with a deep interest in American history, pol...
169. Connecticut’s 17th Regiment Volunteer Infantry at the Battle of Gettysburg
July 15, 2023 18:05 - 37 minutes - 85.5 MBThis episode was recorded on July 5th, 2023 just two days after the 160th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg-the turning point of the American Civil War. With more than 50,000 estimated casualties, the three-day engagement was the bloodiest single battle of the conflict. It’s been said that there are over 5,000 books written about the three-day battle-what more can be uncovered? GTN Executive producer Mary Donohue interviews Bridgeport historian Carolyn Ivanoff, author of We Fought...
168. Connecticut’s Cape Verdean Community
July 01, 2023 14:17 - 44 minutes - 102 MBIn this episode of Grating the Nutmeg, Natalie Belanger of the Connecticut Museum of History and Culture chats with some members of Connecticut’s Cape Verdean community to learn about the culture’s deep roots in the state. Roberta Vincent has been a passionate advocate for the Cape Verdean community in her home town of Norwich, Connecticut for decades. Educator Koren Paul grew up in Stratford and is President of the Cape Verdean Women’s Club of Bridgeport. Both women describe the origins ...
167. New Lives for Old Factories: Cheshire’s Ball & Socket Arts
June 15, 2023 03:00 - 31 minutes - 71 MBWhat’s being done to save the state’s industrial history? In today’s episode, Producer Mary Donohue talks to Renee Tribert, Preservation Services Coordinator for adaptive reuse and redevelopment for industrial buildings at Preservation Connecticut. Podcast audio engineer Patrick O’Sullivan and Donohue share some of their favorite places to go around the state where you can see old mills and factories that are being used for fun new uses and we hear from Ilona Somogyi, co-founder of Ball & S...
166. Connecticut at the 1964 New York World’s Fair
June 01, 2023 16:11 - 31 minutes - 71.7 MBIt’s almost summertime and kids everywhere are already dreaming about their summer vacation. In 1964, Jimmy O’Sullivan of Cheshire, Connecticut had his heart set on a family outing from Connecticut to the see the World’s Fair in New York City’s Flushing Meadows Park with its futuristic, space-themed exhibits and “Peace Through Understanding” overarching theme. A short drive down Connecticut’s Merritt Parkway and over to Flushing Meadow Park put the O’Sullivan family squarely into the heart ...
165. Connecticut's Would-Be Woodstock: The Powder Ridge Festival
May 15, 2023 15:55 - 34 minutes - 77.9 MBIn this episode of Grating the Nutmeg, Natalie Belanger of the Connecticut Historical Society takes you back to the greatest rock concert that never happened. 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. Belanger speaks with filmmaker Gorman Bechard, who's working on a documentary about Powder Ridge. Gorman peels bac...
164. Philip Johnson’s Glass House
May 01, 2023 01:20 - 42 minutes - 97.1 MB“Lifestyle site Thrillist set out to find the most beautiful building in each state and Philip Johnson's New Canaan Glass House got the nod for Connecticut,” reported CT Insider. The Glass House, internationally famous for its design is also a landmark in the history of historic preservation and the history of the LGBTQ community. To celebrate May as historic preservation month and June as LGBTQ Pride month, here’s the story of its owner and designer Philip Johnson and his Glass House in Ne...
163. How Connecticut Got Zoning (CTE Game Changer Series)
April 15, 2023 13:01 - 29 minutes - 66.4 MBYou may have heard the phrase “it’s not zoned for that” as in “Can I build a factory next to my house?” or “Can I put a trailer park in my north forty?” But we may not understand the difference between the town’s master plan, land use requirements and zoning regulations. So let’s break that down. The State of Connecticut mandates that every ten years each community adopt its master plan as a blueprint for aspirations for growth, preservation, and sustainability. The master plan details in ...
162. Picturing Puerto Rico in Conceptual Art: The Museum of the Old Colony by Pablo Delano (CTE Game Changer Series)
March 31, 2023 21:18 - 35 minutes - 82 MBConnecticut and Puerto Rico have strong ties. The guest for this episode is Pablo Delano, a visual artist, photographer, and educator recognized for his use of Connecticut and Puerto Rican history in his work, including his 2020 book of photography Hartford Seen published by Wesleyan University Press, a Connecticut Book Award 2021 “Spirit of Connecticut” finalist. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, he is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Fine Arts at Trinity College in Hartford. His work ha...
161. Carbonated Connecticut
March 14, 2023 22:57 - 28 minutes - 64.9 MBIn this episode of GTN, Natalie Belanger and Elena Peters of the Connecticut Historical Society take a look at the beginnings of our national obsession with soft drinks. Here in Connecticut, people have been drinking carbonated drinks for a long time, maybe longer than you’d expect. Today, the soda industry is dominated by just a couple of corporations, but a hundred years ago, Connecticut was home to an astonishing number of soda bottlers. Listen to their conversation to learn about the or...
160. Saving Jewish Farming History in Chesterfield
March 01, 2023 18:26 - 49 minutes - 112 MBAs a preservationist, I have always believed that if you knew about the history of a place, it would make you care more about it. And if you uncovered the history, you’d feel inspired by the stories of the people who came before you. This episode reveals the importance of “citizen historians” - people who are dedicated to saving a historic place’s story as well as preserving the site for future generations. Masses of Eastern European Jews began immigrating to the United States in the ...
159. Stories from Connecticut’s Western Reserve in Ohio
February 15, 2023 21:16 - 38 minutes - 88.4 MBWhy did the State of Connecticut feel entitled to part of Ohio? Where was Connecticut’s Western Reserve and how was it settled? The Litchfield Historical Society is opening a new exhibition on Connecticut’s Western Reserve on April 22, 2023 entitled “Come to a Land of Milk and Honey”. Here’s what they say about the exhibit: “The story of the Western Reserve can be told through any number of historical lenses, but it is primarily a story of people: the people who felt compelled to ...
158. Theodate Pope Survives the Sinking of the Lusitania
February 01, 2023 17:04 - 35 minutes - 81.3 MBThe book Dead Wake, The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by New York Times best-selling author Erik Larson is a gripping account of the sinking of the British transatlantic luxury liner the Lusitania during World War 1. Theodate Pope, the architect and owner of what is now the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, Connecticut, who was a passenger on the Lusitania. Why did she sail on a British ship when Britain was at war? The ship was hit by a German submarine torpedo and sank within an hour. Wh...
157. Journeys: Boys of the Chinese Educational Mission
January 16, 2023 01:16 - 39 minutes - 47.3 MBJourneys 旅途: Boys of the Chinese Educational Mission is on view at the Connecticut Historical Society (CHS) through July 2023. This exhibition honors the 150th anniversary of the Chinese Educational Mission (CEM), a cultural and educational exchange program from 1872 – 1881. Headquartered in Hartford, the CEM enabled 120 Chinese boys, most of whom were barely teenagers, to study in New England with the goal of modernizing China by educating its future leaders abroad. It is a story of hopes,...
156. The Legendary Toad’s Place Nightclub in New Haven
January 09, 2023 17:49 - 24 minutes - 57.1 MBWall-to-wall posters, sticky floors, a small stage and the stale-beer smell give Toad’s Place its enduring character as a live-music shrine. Authenticity can’t be faked. Opened as a restaurant in 1975, Toad’s has welcomed hundreds of musical acts from the pioneers of the Blues like B.B. King, to today’s megastars Drake and Cardi B. But what does it take to run a nightclub? And have it be successful for almost half a century? Author and historian Mary Donohue interviews Randall Beach, c...
155. Celebrating Hartford’s Black Firefighters (CTE Game Changers Series)
December 02, 2022 00:38 - 42 minutes - 96.5 MBConnecticut Explored magazine is celebrating its 20th anniversary and our Grating the Nutmeg podcast it’s 7th anniversary. Neither of these milestones could have been reached without your support! Please make a gift to our new Fund for Excellence in Publishing at https://www.ctexplored.org/subscribe/friends-of-connecticut-explored/ We need to ask our listeners for your help! This podcast is part of our “20 for 20: Innovation in Connecticut History” series, and we’d like your feedback...
154. Numbers to Names: Restoring Humanity to CT Valley Hospital Cemetery
November 15, 2022 18:25 - 37 minutes - 86.4 MBConnecticut Explored magazine is celebrating its 20th anniversary and our Grating the Nutmeg podcast it’s 7thanniversary. Neither of these milestones could have been reached without your support! Please make a gift to our new Fund for Excellence in Publishing at https://www.ctexplored.org/subscribe/friends-of-connecticut-explored/ For over a century, almost 1700 people buried in the cemetery at the Connecticut Valley Hospital were identified with gravestones bearing only a number ins...
153. Saving Connecticut’s World War 1 History-Here and in France (CTE Game Changers Series)
October 31, 2022 16:28 - 28 minutes - 32.9 MBHow did 15 Connecticut high school students find themselves in French World War 1 trenches and what were they doing there? Find out in today’s episode! This podcast is part of our “20 for 20: Innovation in Connecticut History” series, and we’d like your feedback. Take our 5-minute survey and get a free copy of Connecticut Explored magazine. You’ll find the survey link below. Thank you! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CTWW1 My guests for this episode are Christine Pittsley, Special ...
152. Hartford and Puerto Rico: A Conversation with Elena Rosario and Pablo Delano (CTE Game Changer Series)
October 15, 2022 01:14 - 53 minutes - 123 MBIn this episode, recorded at the Park Street Library@the Lyric on Sept. 21, 2022 to a full house, two of our Connecticut History Game Changer Honorees discuss their work. The conversation was hosted by Jasmin Agosto, Community Outreach Coordinator for the Hartford History Center at the Hartford Public Library. Before we go to our new episode, I need to ask our listeners for your help! We need your thoughts and ideas about the podcasts that highlight our 20 Connecticut History Game Cha...
151. Little Liberia: The Mary and Eliza Freeman Center (CTE Game Changer Series)
September 30, 2022 16:59 - 27 minutes - 62.3 MBConnecticut Explored is celebrating its 20th anniversary with “20 for 20: Innovation in Connecticut History,” a series of articles, podcasts, and public programs that highlight 20 "Game Changers" in the field of Connecticut history. The insights and ideas we gather through this five-minute survey will help individuals and organizations who are committed to keeping Connecticut history vibrant and relevant. Thank you for your time! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OCT1FREEMAN ------------...
150. Common Struggle, Individual Experience: How Can Museums Talk About Mental Health? (CTE Game Changer Series)
September 15, 2022 03:10 - 33 minutes - 76.8 MBConnecticut Explored is celebrating its 20th anniversary with “20 for 20: Innovation in Connecticut History,” a series of articles, podcasts, and public programs that highlight 20 "Game Changers" in the field of Connecticut history. The insights and ideas we gather through this five-minute survey will help individuals and organizations who are committed to keeping Connecticut history vibrant and relevant. Thank you for your time! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CHS915 ----------------...
149. New London and the Middle Passage (CTE Game Changer Series)
August 30, 2022 18:24 - 35 minutes - 81.1 MBConnecticut Explored is celebrating its 20th anniversary with “20 for 20: Innovation in Connecticut History,” a series of articles, podcasts, and public programs that highlight 20 "Game Changers" in the field of Connecticut history. The insights and ideas we gather through this five-minute survey will help individuals and organizations who are committed to keeping Connecticut history vibrant and relevant. Thank you for your time! Visit: www.surveymonkey.com/r/PODCAST1 ------------------...
148. Rediscovering the Battle of Ridgefield
August 15, 2022 04:01 - 45 minutes - 62.6 MBThe discovery of four 18th century male skeletons thought to be possible soldiers in the April 27, 1777 Battle of Ridgefield, prompted the most in-depth research into that crucial Revolutionary War conflict ever undertaken. In this presentation to the town sponsored by the Ridgefield Historical Society earlier this year, state historian Walt Woodward, historian Keith Jones, state archaeologist emeritus Nick Bellantoni, state archaeologist Sarah Sportman, archeologist Kevin McBride, and His...
147. The Hindenburg Flies Over Connecticut
July 31, 2022 22:23 - 37 minutes - 86.5 MBThe airship Hindenburg passed over Connecticut 21 times during its 17-month service between 1936-37. In the 1930s, air travel across the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and North America was in its infancy. The vast airships of the German Zeppelin Company, zeppelins or dirigibles, took an early lead, competing not with airplanes but luxury ocean liners. In this episode, Asst. Publisher Mary Donohue, talks to historian Alexander Rose, author of Empires of the Sky, Zeppelins, Airplanes, and ...
146. Votes (and Markers) for Women!
July 14, 2022 23:28 - 37 minutes - 85 MBFor this episode of Grating the Nutmeg, Natalie Belanger of the Connecticut Historical Society talked to Joanie DiMartino, Connecticut state Coordinator for the National Votes for Women Trail. They discussed the origin of the marker program, and the criteria that went into choosing the Connecticut people and places honored with a marker. In addition, Joanie shares her thoughts on why the markers matter, and what the story of the suffrage movement can teach us about social justice movement...
145. Activists Paul and Eslanda Robeson in Connecticut
June 30, 2022 20:45 - 38 minutes - 89 MBIn the Summer 2022 issue of Connecticut Explored, author and historian Steve Thornton of the Shoeleather History Project brings us the story of the internationally-renown activist, actor, and singer Paul Robeson and his wife Eslanda, an anthropologist, author and activist in her own right. The Robeson’s home from 1941 to 1953 in Enfield, Connecticut is on the Connecticut Freedom Trail as well as the National Register of Historic Places. The Hartford Courant reported on April 1, of 1941 tha...
144. A Visit to the Katharine Hepburn Museum at "The Kate" in Old Saybrook
June 15, 2022 04:01 - 34 minutes - 32.3 MBPainting by Everett Raymond Kinstler, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery Join Walt Woodward on a visit to the Katharine Hepburn Museum at "the Kate" in Old Saybrook. His interview with Executive Director Brett Eliott and Director of Community Relations Robin Andreoli about this gem of a museum for America's most Oscar-winning actor (and long-time Saybrook resident) should convince you to put both the Katharine Hepburn Museum and "the Kate" on your must-see-this-summer list. It's a m...
143. The Need for Speed on the Connecticut River
May 31, 2022 18:28 - 31 minutes - 71.5 MBIn this episode, CTExplored publisher Elizabeth Normen talks with Connecticut River Museum curator Amy Trout about the museum’s summer exhibition Speed: Hydroplane Racing on the Connecticut River, 1900 – 1940. Trout tells us what a hydroplane is and why racing them became popular in the midst of the Great Depression. As opposed to yachting, she explains, hydroplane racing was an everyman’s sport that people flocked to the riverfront to watch. She talks boat design, which outboard engines we...
142. The Institute of Living at 200
May 16, 2022 14:01 - 47 minutes - 109 MBIn 1822, the Hartford Retreat for the Insane was chartered as one of the first mental health centers in the United States, and the first hospital of any kind in CT. In 2022, the CHS is exploring of the story of mental health in our state. Recently, the CHS invited Dr. Harold I (Hank) Schwartz to talk about the history of the Hartford Retreat, renamed the Institute of Living in the 20th century. His presentation took us through the state of mental health care in the early 1800s, the reasons ...
141. Saving the Merritt Parkway
May 03, 2022 02:03 - 30 minutes - 69.5 MBMost people in the tri-state area have driven the Merritt Parkway with its extraordinary bridges and landscaped vistas. But can a roadway built in the 1930s during the Great Depression survive today in the 21st century without losing its charm? In celebration of Historic Preservation Month, we will learn how the Merritt Parkway, the state’s most heavily visited National Register historic district, was saved from modernization and restored to its original design. In this episode, Asst. P...
140. New Hope For a Connecticut Champion
April 15, 2022 04:01 - 40 minutes - 37.5 MBFor over 2000 years, the American chestnut was the tallest, largest, and most omnipresent tree in all Connecticut. It’s a tree for which a hundred hills, countless streets, and at least one Connecticut town were named, a tree whose nuts we sing about on the holidays, and a tree which helped frame our houses, shape our furniture, fence and feed our livestock, make tracks for our trains, and hold our utility lines. In this episode, Jack Swatt, President of the Connecticut chapter of the Ameri...
139. Architect Donn Barber Designs Hartford’s Early Skyscrapers
April 01, 2022 04:00 - 29 minutes - 34.6 MBIn this episode, architectural historian Mary Donohue and podcast engineer Patrick O’Sullivan explore the Hartford work of early twentieth century architect Donn Barber especially his magnificent Connecticut State Library building and two of the city’s early skyscrapers. Her guest, retired Connecticut State Librarian Ken Wiggin, explains how Barber got the plum commission to design the Connecticut State Library. Donn Barber, born in 1871, a New York City architect, could be called the ...