Five-Part Series Will Explore West Hartford’s ‘Hidden History’
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Luna Park is one of the subjects of the Noah's Webster House's new history series. Submitted image
The 50th Anniversary of the Noah Webster House Museum will be celebrated with new programs, including a five-part series on West Hartford’s history.
Submitted by the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society
Luna Park is one of the subjects of the Noah’s Webster House’s new history series. Submitted image
In celebration of the museum’s 50th anniversary, the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society is teaming up with the Presidents’ College of the University of Hartford to bring you a five part series on the history of West Hartford. The first four lectures take place on Tuesdays, April 21 and 28, and May 5, and 12 at the Noah Webster House, 227 South Main St. West Hartford from 2-3:30 p.m. The final event, a bus tour of the town, leaves from the museum at 2 p.m. on May 19 and will return at 4:30 p.m.
On Tuesday, April 21 from 2-3:30 p.m., Jennifer DiCola Matos, the museum’s Executive Director will discuss how West Hartford evolved from a colonial parish to a cosmopolitan suburb. She will include population and demographic trends and historical buildings and sites. Using images and objects from the museum’s collection, Jennifer Matos will present a survey of West Hartford history from Native American settlement to the present.
The second lecture, Bungalows, Four-squares and Triple-deckers: West Hartford’s 20th Century Residential Architecture, will be presented by Mary M. Donohue, Assistant Publisher of Connecticut Explored magazine and member of the Historic District Commission. Trolley cars and new-fangled automobiles brought house buyers by the hundreds to West Hartford during the early part of the last century. Explore West Hartford’s neighborhoods and iconic house types with award-winning architectural historian Mary M. Donohue in an illustrated lecture that includes historic photographs from the museum’s collection as well as contemporary photos.
Lecture number three will feature Dr. Eugene Leach, History and American Studies Professor Emeritus at Trinity College. He will present The Scandalous Luna Park. The discussion of the short life of West Hartford’s own Luna Park will begin with the history of amusement parks in America. West Hartford’s “scandalous” Luna Park will be described in detail, including a description of the reaction of town residents who were outraged by its proximity to Charter Oak Racetrack and its outrageous dance hall!
The final lecture will be presented by Dave Corrigan, the Collections Curator at the Museum of Connecticut History. West Hartford’s Goodwin Pottery will feature utilitarian items such as gin jugs (for local distilleries) and plates to terra cotta designs and fine china. Seth Goodwin started his pottery works around 1798 and helped to establish a local pottery dynasty. The Goodwin Company employed up to 75 people in its heyday. The Noah Webster House staff will share artifacts and images from the museum’s collection.
On Tuesday, May 10, join Jennifer DiCola Matos & Sarah Mocko St. Germain from the Noah Webster House on a bus tour entitled History Drives Us. The tour of West Hartford will reveal the hidden secrets of West Hartford’s past and explore many of the sites discussed throughout the lecture series, including the Goodwin Pottery Factory in Elmwood and the area that was once Luna Park. The tour will weave its way through West Hartford neighborhoods to find examples of bungalows, four-squares, triple-deckers, and other notable pieces of architecture. Museum staff Jennifer Matos and Sarah St. Germain will be on hand to give information about the historic sites and structures that the bus passes, as well as the history that is now hidden from plain sight.
Registration is required. The series is $90 per person, or $70 for Fellows of the Presidents’ College and members of the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society. Registration is available by calling 860.768.4495 or online at http://library.hartford.edu/
The Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society is located in the restored birthplace and childhood home of Noah Webster. Webster was a national figure known not only for the first American dictionary and the Blue-Backed Speller, but also for being a federalist, an abolitionist and a cofounder of Amherst College. The historic house and exhibit spaces are open daily 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. Thursday through Monday. For information on the museum’s extensive school and public programs, please visit us at www.noahwebsterhouse.org or call (860) 521-5362.
