The West Hartford lecture series on the town’s history continues in 2016, beginning with a presentation on Tuesday, Jan. 26.

Noah Webster House. Photo credit: Deb Cohen

Submitted by Sarah M. St. Germain, Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society

The Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society will continue its West Hartford History Series in 2016. Each month will feature a local history topic presented by a local expert. The lectures take place at the museum (227 South Main St., West Hartford) at 7 p.m. A $5 donation is suggested for attendees. Programs are free for museum members.

On Tuesday, Jan. 26, West Hartford Town Historian Tracey Wilson brings back her popular “10 Documents that Changed West Hartford” program by sharing ten new documents that changed the course of West Hartford’s history. In 2015, she focused on the minutes of the first town meeting, the Beach family, the Great Depression, and others. What will she dig up for 2016?

Architectural Historian Mary Donohue will present an overview of the architecture of the Golf Club and Prospect Avenue Historic Districts on Tuesday, Feb., 23. Hartford’s movers and shakers built new homes in West Hartford’s northern neighborhoods at the beginning of the twentieth century. Stockbroker Tudors and Colonial Revivals were designed by the region’s most talented architects using the best of materials. This illustrated lecture that will provide a glimpse into the history and architecture of some of West Hartford’s most prestigious neighborhoods.

On Tuesday, April 26, journalist Anne Farrow will discuss her new book, The Logbooks: Connecticut’s Slave Ships and Human Memory. Farrow explored three long-neglected logbooks and dove into the tale of a Connecticut slave trader who sailed to Sierra Leone to take on water and human cargo. With research coinciding with her mother’s battle with dementia, Farrow focuses on human memory and collective forgetting.

The Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society is grateful to 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 West Hartford history, 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 p.m. 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.