The trivia competition on May 14 is a fundraiser for the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society.

War of the Words 2025. The event will return to the Pond House Cafe for 2026. Courtesy photo

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The Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society is pleased to announce the return of “Webster’s War of the Words” on Thursday, May 14, 2026, from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Pond House Café at Elizabeth Park in West Hartford.

The museum’s signature fundraiser will feature dinner and drinks from the Pond House catering team, a silent auction, and the popular trivia competition, in which all the guests battle against the other tables in the room. Prizes – and medals – will be awarded to the top three teams!

2025 War of the Words medals. Courtesy photo

Returning as event host is Peter Sokolowski, editor-at-large at Merriam-Webster, Inc. of Springfield, MA. The museum and the publisher have a long history; upon Noah Webster’s passing in 1843, George & Charles Merriam secured the rights to publish the American Dictionary of the English Language, which Webster had completed in 1828, after 22 years of work. He was the last person to write a dictionary by himself, compiling over 70,000 words and their definitions. Webster’s original work lives on in present day as the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Tickets are $125 each and are for sale now. All proceeds benefit the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society.

You don’t need to be present at the event to get in on the action! The auction is available online and will be live after April 15 through May 14. You can even help the Noah Webster House by making a donation to the event. Find all the information for “War of the Words ‘26” on the museum’s website at www.noahwebsterhouse.org.

2025 War of the Words auction. Courtesy photo

This year’s “War of the Words” event is sponsored by Tsunami Tsolutions, Merriam-Webster, Bergenn Financial Group, WealthSpire Advisors, Reid & Riege Attorneys, Thomas Fahy Insurance Associates, Robinson + Cole, Gerber Ciano Kelly Brady, LLP and Tracing Branches Genealogy Services. If your company would like to help support this event, please contact Jeffrey Mainville, Executive Director at 860-502-3246.

About the Noah Webster House: 

The Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society champions the life & legacy of West Hartford-born Noah Webster; an American lexicographer, schoolteacher, lawyer, newspaper editor, and political writer. This National Historic Landmark was originally constructed in 1747; the nonprofit Noah Webster House, Inc. has operated his boyhood home since 1965.   

The West Hartford Historical Society is the repository of three centuries of artifacts and archives from the town’s storied past. The Historic House and exhibit spaces are open for public hours each Monday through Friday, 1-4 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

For more information, call the museum at 860-521-5362.   

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