Susan Campbell will give a talk July 23 about her latest book, ‘Frog Hollow: Stories from an American Neighborhood,” at the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society.

Book cover: “Frog Hollow: Stories from an American Neighborhood.” Courtesy image

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The public is invited to a book talk on Tuesday July 23, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. at the Noah Webster House, 227 S. Main St., West Hartford, CT. Susan Campbell, author of “Frog Hollow: Stories from an American Neighborhood,” will discuss her newest book about the dynamic and interesting history of the region of Hartford commonly referred to as Frog Hollow.

This event is free and open to the public. No registration is required.

“Frog Hollow: Stories from an American Neighborhood” is a collection of colorful historical vignettes of an ethnically diverse neighborhood just west of the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford.

Its 1850s row houses have been home to a wide variety of immigrants. During the Revolutionary War, Frog Hollow was a progressive hub, and later, in the mid-late 19th century, it was a hotbed of industry.

Reporter Susan Campbell tells the true stories of Frog Hollow with a primary focus on the 19th and early 20th centuries: the inventors, entrepreneurs and workers, as well as the impact of African American migration to Hartford, the impact of the Civil Rights movement and the continuing fight for housing. Frog Hollow was also one of the first neighborhoods in the country to experiment with successful urban planning models, including public parks and free education.

From European colonists to Irish and Haitian immigrants to Puerto Ricans, these stories of Frog Hollow show the multiple realities that make up a dynamic urban neighborhood. At the same time, they reflect the changing faces of American cities.

Susan Campbell is a distinguished lecturer at the University of New Haven’s Department of Communication, Film and Media Studies. She is also a columnist for the Hartford Courant, and the website, Connecticut Health Investigative Team (www.c-hit.org). In addition, Susan is a frequent contributor to WNPR on issues of housing and homelessness, and the political website The Hill, as well as the newspaper, The Guardian. She is an award-winning author of “Dating Jesus: Fundamentalism, Feminism, and the American Girl,” and the biography, “Tempest-Tossed: The Spirit of Isabella Beecher Hooker.”

Campbell was born in Kentucky and raised in southwest Missouri. The mother of two adult sons, and the grandmother of seven, she has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, and a master’s degree from the Hartford Seminary.

The museum would also like to thank the Greater Hartford Arts Council and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving for their continued support.

The Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society is a cultural destination where citizens can learn to understand and appreciate the past. The museum preserves the birthplace of Noah Webster, the founding father, educator, author, and lexicographer who taught generations of Americans what it means to be American. This National Historic Landmark is also a repository for the history of West Hartford, the community that molded Noah Webster’s future and is still thriving over 250 years later. The historic house and exhibit spaces are open daily 1 until 4 p.m. For information on the museum’s extensive school and public programs, please visit www.noahwebsterhouse.org or call 860-521-5362.

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