Category: Local History

Save America’s Treasures Spotlight: New Shelves for the History Room

Posted on by Tina Panik

As we work on our Save America’s Treasures Project, we’ll showcase items we’ve scanned, carefully repackaged with archival products, or discovered within the collection here.

October 2024: New History Room Shelves

Our old history room shelves were a bit short, length wise, when it came to supporting archival boxes; we couldn’t fill both sides with records, as they’d pop out constantly. (This Jenga, but with boxes…)

Our new shelves allow for two sides of archival boxes, essentially doubling our storage space! Special thanks to Public Works for assembling everything for us.

     

August 2024: Inventorying Pine Grove Schoolhouse

August always signals back-to-school, and in this case we filled the month with the inventorying, photographing, and listing of items in Pine Grove School on CT Collections.     This local tourism site is listed on the National and State Register of Historic Places. Learn more here. 

 

July 2024: Pierced Tin Foot Warmer

What’s better than thinking about cool fall nights in the middle of summer?  “If you were travelling in cold weather you would hope to have a foot warmer of some kind in your unheated carriage, sleigh, or train compartment. In the 17th and 18th centuries a pierced metal carrier for hot coals was a common solution for anyone who could afford one. They went on being used in the 19th century, while other styles of foot warmer came along too.” (Learn more here) View the full listing of this item here

 

June 2024: Northington Town Records

Before Avon incorporated in 1830, it was called Northington, and was part of Farmington.  We’re digitizing the oldest records of Northington, 1752-1831, and uploading them to the CT Digital Archive. The Farmington Libraries maintain the originals; our librarians are sorting through the data to find patterns, common names, and overlapping details. The first United States census didn’t occur until 1790–so these records give us a snapshot of Northington’s population before then.  Explore the collection here

 

Late April 2024: Hadsell’s Violin

Listen to Michael of Seery Strings (https://seerystrings.com/) play the Hadsell violin, restored by his company after years of disrepair. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xILapGgg5dI) This violin is an Amati copy, post WWI, and it belonged to Clinton Hadsell (1871-1947), Avon resident. Donated by a descendant in 2006, the violin is one of many items from the Hadsell family. Learn more about their family by viewing our digital collection here: http://hdl.handle.net/11134/150002:19842. The violin is on display in the history case of the Avon Free Public Library, 281 Country Club Rd., Avon, CT, 06001 through the month of May, 2024.

Photos of the violin before:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos after restoration:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 2024: Moving Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

After months of work, the Avon Historical Society’s collection of items from 1800-1900 were moved out of storage and into their permanent location at the Avon History Museum.  Special thanks to the Avon Public Works Department, who helped move over 100 boxes into their new home.  All of the items in the collection can be viewed here. 

March 2024: Let’s play checkers, let’s play chess

One of the coolest examples of recycling, repurposing, and crafting (all modern words, we know) that we’ve come across is this wooden box lid that doubles as a gameboard. One side says, “Hadsell, Avon, Conn” and the other side is painted with black boxes to allow for chess or checkers. We can date it to the late 1800’s/early 1900’s, based on what we know about Clinton and Frank Hadsell. Which would you play?

 

January 2024:  Care to have lunch in a porringer?

If you lived in Colonial New England, your main meal may be served in a porringer, a round bowl made of pewter or silver, with a handle on one side.

Learn more about the history of this unique item here, and view the entry from our collection here

 

December 2023:  Ice skating, anyone?

It’s winter, it’s cold, and the local ponds have frozen over. If it’s the 1800’s, the options for ice skates include styles like these:

In the late Victorian Era,  “people were advised to “not carry a stick, a muff, or anything that will impede the use of your arms while skating [and to] never throw stones onto the surface of a sheet of ice on which you are anyone else can possibly wish to skate.” Read more about the rules of skating, including the use of skating sleds by new skaters, click here.  This is just one of the many items in the Avon Historical Society’s collection. 

 

November 2023:  Coffee Grinder

It’s an everyday activity that crosses time: preparing a cup of coffee.  This everyday object was donated by Miss Susie Wilcox, and was presumably owned by the Wilcox Family.  It’s painted white (not original), and says “Golden Rule Blend Coffee, the Finest Blend in the World” Citizen’s Whole. Co., Columbus, Ohio, on the front.  One can smell the beans and hear the crunch of the grinder, and imagine what the family is discussing as they enjoy their first cup of the day. View the listing here.

 

July 2023: 1901 Signature Pillow

1901 Signature Pillow

We’ve been busy entering items from the Avon Historical Society’s collection into CT Collections, the new online catalog system that they’ve joined.  ConnecticutCollections (CTCo) is a project of the Connecticut League of History Organizations (CLHO). A customization of CollectiveAccess software, CTCo provides heritage and arts organizations of any size with a tool to help them to both privately manage and publicly share their museum and archival collections. Learn more here

One of the treasures in the Avon Historical Society’s collection is this pillow dated March 4, 1901.

This pillow contains over 50 signatures, from names we all recognize: Bishop, Case, Chidsey, Ellsworth, Miller, North, and Woodford.  Over a dozen of the names are male; the rest are female.  Each person signed their name; then it was embroidered. Bits of personality show through: bold loops, dramatic capital letters, and clusters of family members who autographed together.

What was the event? Was it a wedding, a birth, or an anniversary? Was someone moving, and this was a keepsake to remember Avon? We’re curious about the stories this pillow has to tell.

Multiple pictures are of the pillow are available here.

 

April, 2023: Guy Thomson’s (1791-1845) Recipe Book

Hand written, with few measurements and no baking times (or temperatures), this collection of recipes also includes home remedies, making it snapshot of home economics in the 1800s.  The recipe for “Measles, to draw out” says to scrape the husk from the peach tree. Simmer it in cider. To be given hot or can be taken… and then the entry just ends.

The remedy for asthma is to “put salt into a bottle of brandy as much as can be dissolved. Use from the bottle for an adult; one tablespoonful with two spoonfuls of boiling water three times a day.” There are no instructions for children!

There’s a recipe for rusk, which none of us had ever heard of.  Rusk is a hard, dry biscuit or twice-baked bread (think of biscotti, croutons, or melba toast).

There are at least eight entries involving lemon or citron. Citron is a large fragrant citrus fruit that resembles a “huge, rough lemon”. There are a dozen or so entries for cake, including an eggless one, which sounds appealing given our 2023 egg prices…

If anyone wants to attempt these recipes, the reference librarians will be happy to taste test them! View the entire recipe book here.

Let us know if you decide to knit the cape, as well….

The Avon Library has scans of this item; the original is retained by the donor. Ephemera found in the recipe book was also scanned, and appears after the actual notebook pages. (#2022-016)

The table to contents/headings of Guy Thomson’s recipes and entries:

Loaf cake, Lady cake, Sponge cake, Coffee cake, Rusk, Poor man’s cake, Orange cake, Family [?] cake, Silver cake, Lemon Tart, Cream Pie, Cream Lemon Pie, Orange Pie, Cream Cake, Mrs. Stove’s Layer Cake, Sweet pickles, Lemon tarts, Eggless cake, Taffy, Butter Scotch [sic], Plain rice pudding, Graham Bread, Pop Corn Balls [sic], Remedy for Asthma, White mixture, Measles—to bring them out, Washing fluid, Liquid ammonia, H [?] soup, Dyes: yellow, Watermelon pickle, Citron, Insect pickle, Scalloped oysters, Citron preserves, Frosting for cake, Salad dressing, Corn patties, Biscuits, Sweet apple pickle, Crab apple pickle, Citron preserves, Citron sweet pickles, Grape [?], Polished furniture, Blue on cotton, Green on cotton, Red on cotton, [to color] crimson, Sore throat, Cramp in legs, Feet-ache, Delicate cake, Royal Baking Powder insert, Recipes from Egg-o-Gene, Duryeas’ improved corn starch recipes, Cape (yarn), Tapioca, [?] dumplings, Lemon Custard Pie, Fleishman’s selected recipes brochure

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February, 2023:  On Saturday, February 18, 2023, the Avon Historical Society and Avon Congregation Church showcased the recent donation of a quilt from the Woodford family. What started as a showcase for one textile became a “Quilt Reunion”, as shown in the pictures below.  We’re excited to showcase the textile work of women in Avon during the mid 1800’s. Full details/history on the quilt from Sophia, including all of the names of the women who worked on it, are available here. 

This quilt was a gift to Sophia Woodford, and has been donated to the Avon Historical Society by descendants of the Woodford family.

Pictured left to right: Peter Morgan, Eleanor Morgan, Chris Kraus, Mary Ann Antoniazzi, Martha Petrovick, Dave Petrovick, during the “Quilt Reunion”.

This quilt was a gift to Adaline Woodford; notice the star in the center:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adaline also quilted this pink and orange quilt:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sophia created this quilt out of dress fabrics; the back says, “To Ellen Bill from Aunt Sophia 1897”

Visitors used magnifying glasses to view the signatures within each quilt block:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After an audience of 85 had viewed the quilts, they were carefully repackaged by Terri Wilson, Avon Historical Society President, for storage:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January, 2023: Using our new overhead scanner, we scanned a delicate sketchbook from the 1800’s that belonged to Carrie Woodford.  Her name appears inside the front cover, C.A. Woodford.  She is the daughter of CR and Harriet Woodford, and lived from 1857-1921. Carrie is the youngest of six children, and according to Janet Carville, one of our favorite Avon residents, she “was the “housekeeper”, as the others had either died or gone on with their professions. She was a brilliant artist, but never sold her paintings as far as Janet knows. 

Peruse Carrie Woodford’s sketchbook by clicking here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Avon Library receives a Save America’s Treasures Grant, in the amount of $50,016

Left to right: Michael Howser and Greg Colatti, CT Digital Archive; Rob Berman, Avon Library Board member; Lisa Berman, Friends of the Avon Library President; Donna Gianini, Avon Library Board member; Joan Resikin, Vice President, Friends of the Avon Library; Tina Panik, Reference & Adult Services Manager, Avon Library; Heddy Panik, Avon Historical Society Board member and history room volunteer; CT U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal; Glenn Grube, Avon Library Director; State Representative Eleni Kavros DeGraw; Terri Wilson, Avon Historical Society President; Nora Howard, Town Historian; Brandon Robertson, Avon Town Manager; Barbara Ausiello, Avon Town Council.

Connecticut U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal and Connecticut State Representative Eleni Kavros DeGraw visited the Avon Free Public Library today (10/17/22) to congratulate them for their 2022 Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Save America’s Treasures Grant. This grant, in the amount of $50,016, will cover a two year project, beginning in November 2022.  This award is part of $24.25 million in Save America’s Treasures grants to fund 80 projects in 32 states and the District of Columbia.  Save America’s Treasures, funded through the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), provided $356 million to more than 1,326 projects between 1999 and 2020. Requiring a dollar-for-dollar private match, these grants have leveraged more than $500 million in private investment and contributed more than 16,000 jobs to local and state economies. 

The Avon Free Public Library will use this federal grant to preserve and digitize objects relevant to the agrarian history of Avon. Their existing collection consists of 298 linear feet of historical material and includes cataloged books, as well a map cabinet with over 276 geographic maps. Nearly 20,000 items have been digitized for the CT Digital Archive .  This two year project will focus on digitizing collections of the Avon HIstorical Society from the National Register’s  Pine Grove Historic District consisting of four 19th-century farmsteads, a late 18th century house, and a restored Gothic Revival schoolhouse, and the separate National Register’s Avon Congregational Church, designed by local architect David Hoadley. 

This agrarian grouping is representative of Avon, Connecticut’s history, as reflected in the artifacts held within the archives, which contain ledgers, tools, clothing, household items, and photos from the Thompson and Woodford families who settled this area. The Woodford farm was established in 1666 and is one of the oldest farms still operating in Connecticut. Other names associated with Avon’s dairy, poultry, and tobacco farms were Alsop, Buckland, Colton, Delbon, Distin, Gold, Silver, Stone, Strong, Thompson, Watson, Westerman, and Viti.  

Farms, mills, blacksmith shops, taverns and dry goods stores began to punctuate Avon’s landscape during the mid 19th century. In the heart of this historic district is the Pine Grove Schoolhouse, built in 1865, which remained in use until 1949. The students and families from West Avon’s Pine Grove area comprise the majority of this project. Their photos, ledgers, journals, land deeds, books, household items, tools, and ephemera showcase the connections between residents and detail daily life during this era. 

 “The goal of this project is to connect all of the artifacts within our collection digitally, so that patrons and researchers can experience 24/7 access to Avon’s complete story as they explore life in the 19th century,” said Tina Panik, Project Director. 

The federal grant will expand the organization’s capacity by hiring an archivist to help assess, organize, store and digitize approximately 1,000 items from the Avon Historical Society’s collection, integrating access to materials within both the library and historical society’s collections.  

“These 1,000 items need professional archival assessment, storage, conservation, and digitization. These artifacts are temporarily housed in a climate controlled storage facility, as their home location, Schoolhouse #3, is in the process of a renovation, making this the perfect time to complete the work,” said Terri Wilson, Avon Historical Society President. 

Glenn Grube, Avon Library Director and Grant Administrator added, “The same dozen or so names populate our archives throughout the 1800-1900s, framing Avon as a New England town with a deeply interconnected social history.  Previously neglected from our archive projects, this segment of Avon’s history that incorporates the Pine Grove Historical District and Avon Congregational Church deserves our attention, preservation, and digitization focus.” 

Those interested in loaning items for scanning or donating items from the agrarian history of Avon to enhance the collections of the Avon Free Public Library or the Avon Historical Society can email historyroom@avonctlibrary.info for further instruction. 

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)  is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s libraries and museums. We advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. Our vision is a nation where museums and libraries work together to transform the lives of individuals and communities. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov 

Unearthing History: 2024 Virtual Lecture Series

Posted on by Tina Panik

Unearthing History: The discovery of a 12,500 year old Paleo-Indian site along the Farmington River in Avon. Join us for a virtual series of lectures, sponsored by a grant from the Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook Wild and Scenic Committee that will cover the many aspects of archaeology, with a focus on the Brian D. Jones Paleo-Indian discovery in Avon, Connecticut. All events begin at 7:00pm EST on Zoom.

This 2024 VIRTUAL HISTORY SERIES is sponsored by Avon Historical Society, Avon Free Public Library and Avon Senior Center, in partnership with the Avon Land Trust, Farmington River Watershed Association, and the Institute of American Indian Studies in Washington, CT.

Times are EST: Eastern Standard Time.  Events are free to attend. Webinars will be recorded; links appear at the end of this post and are available on the Avon Library’s YouTube Channel.

View the full 2024 series flyer here

Completed programs:

March 7  – The History of Archaeology in CT with Emphasis on Native Americans, presented by Nicholas Bellantoni, serves as the emeritus state archaeologist with the UCONN State Museum of Natural History and is adjunct associate research professor in the Department of Anthropology. He will take the audience through the history of archaeology in CT bringing it up to present day with new discoveries and the process during the work at the BDJ Site.   Watch the recording here

April 11  – Bioarchaeology in North America: Ethics, Issues and Where the Field Stands in 2024, presented by Alex Garcia-Putnam, PhD, University of New Hampshire.  He will talk about the field, basics of bioarchaeology, the lack of skeletal remains found in the United States and some of the reasons for, and implications of, that lack of data.  Watch the recording here

May 9  – Foraging in the Paleoindian Period: A Macrobotanical Analysis (tentative title), presented Katharine Reinhart, Project Archaeologist/Botanical Analyst, Archaeological and Historical Services, Inc, Storrs, CT. She will focus on the analysis of plant evidence from different sites to learn what they ate and where they found it.   Register here

September 19 –– Use and Sources Of Ohio Hopewell Fossil Shark Teeth, presented by Katherine Sterner, Ph.D., RPA; Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, & Criminal Justice; Director, Baltimore Community Archaeology Lab.  Learn more about Katherine here.  

Fossil shark teeth recovered from Ohio Hopewell sites represent a quintessential example of an exotic good representative of the Hopewell Interaction Sphere. As with most artifacts, the primary questions asked of fossil shark teeth in archaeological contexts are (1) what were they used for and (2) where did they come from? View the recording here.

October 10 – Paleoindian Discoveries in America

Presented by Brad Lepper, Senior Archaeologist, World Heritage Program, Ohio History Connection. The Paleoindian discovery America was the last great human migration into an unpeopled world. It is the foundation of all that came after it across the Indigenous Americas. Archaeologists are still seeking the answers to many of the most important questions about this first chapter in American history. When did people first arrive in this hemisphere? How did these people so quickly occupy and adapt to the many varied environments of North and South America? What effect did the arrival of humans have on the many large species of mammals living across these two continents? The answers to these and other questions will be explored in this presentation. View the recording here. View the handout Lepper handout from lecture

 

Questions? Email Terri Wilson, President Avon Historical Society, president@avonhistoricalsociety.org

Unearthing History: 2023 Virtual Lecture Series

Posted on by Avon Adult Reference

Unearthing History: The discovery of a 12,500 year old Paleo-Indian site along the Farmington River in Avon. Join us for a virtual series of lectures, sponsored by a grant from the Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook Wild and Scenic Committee that will cover the many aspects of archaeology, with a focus on the Brian D. Jones Paleo-Indian discovery in Avon, Connecticut. All events begin at 7:00pm EST on Zoom.

This 2023 VIRTUAL HISTORY SERIES is sponsored by Avon Historical Society, Avon Free Public Library and Avon Senior Center, in partnership with the Avon Land Trust, Farmington River Watershed Association, and the Institute of American Indian Studies in Washington, CT.

Times are EST: Eastern Standard Time.  Events are free to attend. Webinars will be recorded; links appear at the end of this post and are available on the Avon Library’s YouTube Channel.

View the full 2023 series flyer here

Completed 2023 webinars:

March 23 – The LIDAR Revolution in Earth Surface Mapping, presented by Will Ouimet, Assoc. Professor, Departments of Geosciences and Geography, Univ. of Connecticut.  Prof. Ouimet participated in the discovery of the Brian D. Jones (BDJ) site and has since produced LIDAR images of the dig site and extending out farther to show where the potential whole site is located. He also will explain the techniques used by LIDAR for locating historic human settlements and land use patterns. LIDAR = Light Detection and Ranging using lasers for 3D scanning. View the recording here  Two handouts are available: CT LiDAR and Geology ArcGIS Online Web Viewer Instructions

CT LIDAR Point Clouds in ArcGIS – WebApp Instructions

April 20 – Hunting Techniques of the Paleoindian, presented by Richard Boisvert, retired New Hampshire state archeologist, who is very familiar with the discovery and analysis of the BDJ site and other Paleoindian sites in northern New England. View the recording here. 

May 11 – The Big Importance of Small Things:  Microscopic and Blood Residue Analysis of Ancient Stone Tools, presented by Heather M. Rockwell, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Cultural and Historic Preservation, Noreen Stonor Drexel Cultural and Historic Preservation Program, Salve Regina University. This presentation will examine the process and limitations of blood residue and use-wear analysis, and how they have contributed to our understanding of ancient people. View the recording here. 

September 21 –– Paleoindian Sites, Site Patterning and Travel Corridors along the Southern Arm of the Champlain Sea, presented by Jess Robinson, Vermont State Archaeologist, Vermont Archaeology Heritage Center, Barre, VT. The Champlain Sea was an inland arm of the Atlantic Ocean that existed in portions of the St. Lawrence valley, Ontario lowlands, and Champlain Valley from approximately 13,000 – 9,500 years ago. Robinson will first summarize the emergence, tenure, and important aspects of this waterbody. Thereafter, he will discuss the locations of documented Champlain Valley Paleoindian sites relative to the former margins of the Champlain Sea. Finally, he will explore some of the implications of the site patterning for subsistence, settlement, and travel and how the Champlain Sea may have facilitated it. View the recording here

October 12 – Update on the Brian D. Jones site in Avon, CT since discovery in 2019 presented by Eric Heffter, Senior Prehistoric Archaeologist, Archaeological and Historical Services, Storrs, CT.  October is Archaeology Month in Connecticut, so his presentation will be 90 minutes with time after for Q&A. View the recording here.

Questions? Email Terri Wilson, President Avon Historical Society, president@avonhistoricalsociety.org

Unearthing History: 2022 Virtual Lecture Series

Posted on by Avon Adult Reference

Unearthing History: The discovery of a 12,500 year old Paleo-Indian site along the Farmington River in Avon. Join us for a virtual series of lectures, sponsored by a grant from the Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook Wild and Scenic Committee that will cover the archaeology, genetics, ice age mammals, trade routes and food ways of early life along the Farmington River, with a focus on the Brian D. Jones Paleo-Indian discovery in Avon, Connecticut.

This 2022 VIRTUAL HISTORY SERIES is sponsored by Avon Historical Society, Avon Free Public Library and Avon Senior Center, in partnership with the Avon Land Trust, Farmington River Watershed Association, and the Institute of American Indian Studies in Washington, CT. 

Times are EST: Eastern Standard Time.  Events are free to attend. Webinars will be recorded; links appear at the end of this post and are available on the Avon Library’s YouTube Channel.

Questions? Email Terri Wilson, President Avon Historical Society, president@avonhistoricalsociety.org

View the full Paleo 2022 FLYER

Completed 2022 programs:

Thursday, April 7, 2022, 7:00 pm. Ice Age Animals of New England presented by Dr. Sarah Sportman, CT State Archaeologist & Dr. Nathaniel Kitchel, Dept. of Anthropology, Dartmouth College.  They will present the Pope Mastodon (found in Farmington, CT on the grounds of Hill-Stead Museum) and the Mount Holly (VT) Mammoth, among other animals of the Ice Age. Watch the recording here

Thursday, March 10, 2022, 7:00 pm. What Genetics Teaches Us About the Peopling of North America  by Dr. Jennifer Raff, anthropological geneticist at the University of Kansas.  Presentation is based on her May 2021 Scientific American cover story “Journey into the Americas” and her new book, Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas being released Feb. 2022. Watch the recording here

Thursday, May 12, 2022, 7:00 pm. Paleo-Indian Peoples in the Northeast: Survival in the Ice Age and After, presented by Dr. Jonathan Lothrop, Curator of Archaeology, The New York State Museum. His focus is on the Pleistocene (Ice Age) into the Holocene period where Natives colonized 11,000-8,000BC. His research is on their technology, settlement and subsistence. He is a consultant on the Brian D. Jones site analysis.

According to Dr. Lothrop, the earliest indigenous peoples of the glaciated Northeast migrated  into the region shortly after 13,000 years ago, while this landscape remained in the grip of the last Ice  Age. Today, their ancient campsites are marked by small scatters of fluted points and other flaked  stone artifacts. This scant material record of these first peoples – known to archaeologists as  Paleoindians – testifies to an amazing story of ingenuity and perseverance in the face of daunting  challenges as they spread across the eastern Great Lakes and New England-Maritimes. How and when  did that peopling process happen? How did these people survive on this late glacial landscape? And  how did they interact with each other across these subarctic regions? In this presentation, we’ll review current evidence from recent and ongoing archaeological research that helps to answer some  of these questions. Finally, with the end of the Ice Age roughly 11,600 years ago, we’ll examine tentative indicators for how this abrupt climate change event may have affected these early peoples. Watch the recording here

Saturday, June 25, 2022, 1:00-4:00 pm. In-Person Event: Artifact Identification Day. Bring your artifacts for identification! Free event, open to the public. Presented by staff and volunteers of the Institute of American Indian Studies, Washington, CT. Paul Wegner, Co-Director; Craig Nelson, Member and Secretary of the Board of Trustees; Nancy Najarian, Collections Volunteer. The Institute will have selected items, from various time periods, on display for viewing. Event held at the Avon Senior Center, 635 West Avon Rd., Avon, CT 06001.

Thursday, September 15, 2022, 7:00 pm. Looking into the Past with Ancient DNA. Presented by Christina Balentine and Samantha Archer, PhD candidates and research scholars at the UConn Dept. of Anthropology. They will present a broad overview of ancient DNA (aDNA) research past and present, discuss the ethical considerations of working with priceless aDNA samples, and highlight their own dissertation research using aDNA. View the recording here

Thursday, October 13, 2022, 7:00 pm. Update on the scientific analysis of the Brian D. Jones site in Avon, CT since its discovery in 2019. Presented by David Leslie, Dir. of Archaeological Research, Heritage Consultants, Berlin, CT & Eric Heffter, Senior Archaeologist, Archaeological and Historic Services, Storrs, CT.  They will present will present new findings based on artifacts and new analysis techniques. October is Connecticut Archaeology Month! Register here

Avon Library marks its 230th anniversary!

Posted on by Glenn Grube

Avon Free Public Library traces its roots back to September 1791 when Rev. Rufus Hawley rode to New Haven to purchase books for a public library, open to subscribers from around Northington, as Avon was then known.  A portion of that original collection of books is housed in the Marian Hunter Local History Room here at the library.  Read more about the history of Avon Library in the September issue of Today Magazine or on the local history section of this website.  Happy Anniversary!

Unearthing History: 2021 Virtual History Series

Posted on by Avon Adult Reference

Unearthing History: The discovery of a 12,500 year old Paleo-Indian site along the Farmington River in Avon. Join us for a virtual series of lectures, sponsored by a grant from Farmington Bank Community Foundation, that will cover the archaeology, geology, and anthropology of life along the Farmington River, including the Brian D. Jones Paleo-Indian discovery in Avon.

This 2021 VIRTUAL HISTORY SERIES  is sponsored by Avon Historical Society, Avon Free Public Library and Avon Senior Center.

Events are free to attend. Webinars will be recorded; links appear at the end of this post and are available on the Avon Library’s YouTube Channel.

THIS SERIES WILL CONTINUE IN 2022!

Questions? Email Terri Wilson, President Avon Historical Society, president@avonhistoricalsociety.org

View the full PDF here

Completed events:

Thursday March 4, 7:00 pm  -Digging into Deep History: Archaeology, Artifacts and Avocation. Presented by Scott Brady, President, Friends of the State Archeologist & Paul Wegner, Assistant Director, Institute for American Indian Studies Museum (IAIS), Washington, CT.  They will provide answers to questions such as what does an archaeologist actually do? How do they find the things they find, and what happens to these objects once they are recovered? They will discuss archaeology, its practice, and how avocational archaeology helps to involve the public while bringing much needed assistance to archaeologists in the field. Scott and Paul will share stories of excavations and important finds that contribute to Connecticut’s deep history. View the recording here

Thursday, April 8, 7:00 pm  – A Rift, not the River, made the Farmington Valley: the Geology of western Connecticut along US RT 44.  Presented by Howard Wright, Renbrook School Science Department Head.  This will be a first ever photographic journey focused on the geology of Route 44 in western CT and adjacent areas.  Understanding the geology of the area will help everyone “read” the local landscape with greater awareness and appreciation of why early people came here. View Part 1 here. View Part 2 here

Thursday, May 6, 7:00 pm – Connecticut Before History: The Deep Story of Human Settlement of the Farmington Valley.  Presented by Dr. Ken Feder, Archaeologist, Central Connecticut State University.  The Farmington Valley was originally settled by human beings more than 10,000 years ago. The Farmington River Archaeological Project, led by Feder, has revealed remains of the villages, hunting encampments, and quarries used by these first settlers. Much in the way the police investigate the scene of a crime, archaeologists locate, recover, and examine evidence that reveals the scene of a life lived in the past. Feder will discuss some of the sites his crews have excavated and share the stories that can be told of the lives of the people who lived, worked, and died in those ancient Farmington Valley communities. View the recording here

Thursday, September 9, 7:00 pm – Connecticut Native American Communities Past and Present. Presented by Dr. Lucianne Lavin, Director of Research and Collections, Institute of American Indian Studies, Washington CT.  She is author of Connecticut’s Indigenous People. What Archaeology, History and Oral Traditions Teach Us About Their Communities and Cultures, Yale University, 2013. She will explain how these indigenous communities were the first environmental stewards, astronomers, mathematicians, zoologists, botanists and geologists.  In reality these “pre-contact” tribes have been, and still are here, for more than 10,000 years. View the recording here.

Thursday, October 7, 2021, 7:00 pm.  Connecticut’s Paleo-Indian Sites. This final webinar will feature Dr. Zachary (Zac) Singer, Research Archeologist, Maryland Historical Trust and Dr. David Leslie, Archeological and Historical Services, Storrs, CT. Dr. Singer will present the excavations at the Templeton Paleo-Indian site in western Connecticut and Dr. Leslie will provide an update on the Brian D. Jones Paleo-Indian site in Avon as they begin their fourth year of analysis of the artifacts found there. Note: this event will run for 90 minutes with Q&A to follow.  October is Connecticut Archaeology Month! View the recording here.

DEEDS NOT WORDS: 100 Years of the Vote for Women

Posted on by Tina Panik

Series sponsored by CT Humanities

Presented by: Avon Historical Society, Avon Free Public Library and Avon Senior Center, November 2019 – November 2020

The trio of Avon’s Historical Society, Library and Senior Center has received a $4,030.00 grant from CT Humanities to help fund the first half of a year-long series entitled DEEDS NOT WORDS: 100 Years of the Vote for Women. This series will focus on events that contributed to the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  It will run from November 2019 to November 2020 with events at the Library and Senior Center; this grant funds the first six months of events.

POSTPONED: Due to concerns related to COVID-19, the events for March and April 2020 have been postponed indefinitely

 

 

POSTPONED: Due to concerns related to COVID-19, this event has been postponed indefinitely. Dramatic Performance! 1:00 pm, March 28, 2020: Meet Susan B. Anthony: Failure is Impossible! Dramatic performance by Sheryl Faye. Susan B. Anthony was a women’s rights activist, and she devoted her life to racial, gender, and educational equality. She is one of the most famous women in American history, she played a prominent role in the women’s suffrage movement; the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote and she also was in support of women’s labor organizations and for a woman’s right to own property. In 2020 we celebrate not only 100 years since the ratification of the 19th Amendment, we’re also celebrating Susan B. Anthony’s 200th birthday! The show is 45 minutes plus questions.

Sheryl Faye is a full-time actress, a goal she has worked her whole live to achieve. Besides performing a variety of historical women for schools, libraries, historical societies, senior centers, and others, she also writes and performs with StageCoach Improv. She has been the voice of several characters for Sony Play Station games and for a variety of medical CD ROMS. She recently shot a national print ad for Vicks cold/flu and continues to keep busy working on films, television and theater throughout Boston and New York.

CANCELED: Debate! Suffrage is the BEST idea/Suffrage is the WORST idea: Which side would you have picked 100 years ago? Monday, March 30, 2020  4:30 pm pizza & soda; Debate begins at 5:00 pm. “Because 90% of the women either do not want it, or do not care.“ –National Association Opposed to Women Suffrage vs. “Because it is fair and right that those who must obey the laws should have a voice in making them, and that those who must pay taxes should have a vote as to the size of the tax and the way it shall be spent.“ –Alice Stone Blackwell. These are just two of the arguments for and against suffrage for women during the early part of the 20th century. These and other arguments will be presented in a brief debate format by the “History of Women in America” class from Tunxis Community College, taught by Cynthia Riccio, Adjunct Professor of History.

CANCELED: Movie! 1:30 pm, April 1, 2020: Susan B. Anthony Archival photographs and dramatic recreations of Anthony’s fight for women’s rights (1995 ; NR ; 50 min.)

POSTPONED: Lecture and Book Signing! 2:00 pm, Saturday, April 4, 2020: The Suffragents: How Women Used Men to Get the Vote. The story of how and why a group of prominent and influential men in New York City and beyond came together to help women gain the right to vote. Special lecture and book signing with Brooke Kroeger.  The Suffragents is the untold story of how some of New York’s most powerful men formed the Men’s League for Woman Suffrage, which grew between 1909 and 1917 from 150 founding members into a force of thousands across thirty-five states. Brooke Kroeger explores the formation of the League and the men who instigated it to involve themselves with the suffrage campaign, what they did at the behest of the movement’s female leadership, and why. She details the National American Woman Suffrage Association’s strategic decision to accept their organized help and then to deploy these influential new allies as suffrage foot soldiers, a role they accepted with uncommon grace. Led by such luminaries as Oswald Garrison Villard, John Dewey, Max Eastman, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, and George Foster Peabody, members of the League worked the streets, the stage, the press, and the legislative and executive branches of government. In the process, they helped convince waffling politicians, a dismissive public, and a largely hostile press to support the women’s demand. Together, they swayed the course of history. Books will be for sale at this event.

Lecture! 7:00 pm, May 5, 2020: The 19th Amendment in Connecticut, by Honorable Henry Cohn.

In the late 19th Century, the women’s rights movement split between those favoring a time-consuming, state-by-state legislative approval, and those who took to the streets and risked arrest, to obtain a federal law on votes by women, mandatory for every state. The divisions among various factions did not resolve until after World War I, when all factions committed to the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The U.S. Constitution required ratification by 36 states, and the suffragists were faced with objections in several states.

This talk will focus on the ratification effort and will rely on historic documents from our state archives. It will describe the role that Connecticut played in this effort as opposed to other states, such as Tennessee. This fascinating story includes descriptions of government officials both “pro” and “anti” suffrage, as well as the confrontations between the suffrage and anti-suffrage movements. The talk ends on a happy note with the 19th Amendment in effect for the vote for president in 1920.

Read Weiss’s book, The Woman’s Hour ahead of time to learn more about this state-by-state process.

Lecture presented by Honorable Henry S. Cohn. Judge Henry Cohn was appointed to the Connecticut Superior Court in 1997, and is presently a Judge Trial Referee.  He has served as elections attorney, deputy secretary of the state (briefly secretary of the state) as well as an assistant attorney general and adjunct professor at UConn Law School.  He is co-author of a legal history of the Hartford Circus Fire and has written and spoken extensively on a variety of topics.

Movie! 1:30 pm, May 6, 2020: America’s Victoria: Remembering Victoria Woodhull Chronicles the life of one of the most important and unrecognized women in US history (2007 ; Rated G ; 2 hrs.)

Movie! 1:30 pm, June 3, 2020: Mary Poppins  Walt Disney’s classic film provided the first exposure to the suffrage movement for many children (1964 ; Rated G;    2 hrs. and19 min.)

All events in the DEEDS series are free and open to the public.  A full listing will be posted on the Library’s website, www.avonctlibrary.info and throughout social media of all three organizations.  In addition, all Avon events will be posted on the Connecticut Commission on Women’s Suffrage (www.votesforwomenct.com) & CT Humanities (www.cthumanities.org) websites.

Call for original suffrage items!  If anyone has any original suffrage items they are willing to share for our exhibits, please let us know.  We are looking for personal items such as sashes, signs, letters, photos, etc. In 2020 there will be space available in locked exhibit cases in the Library for two suffrage exhibits.  Please let the Avon Free Public Library (860-673-9712) or Avon Historical Society (860-678-7621) know if you are willing to loan items for display.

Completed programs:

Wednesday, October 16, 2019  9AM – 4PM: Tour and Lunch at Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, Norwalk, CT. Trip via motorcoach to visit their “From Corsets to Suffrage: Victorian Women Trailblazers.”  The lunch will be at the Post Road Diner. Cost is $55.00 per person with lunch paid on your own. RSVP as soon as possible to www.avonrec.com Any questions, please call:  860-675-4355. 

Wednesday, October  23, 2019, 6:30 PM: A presentation entitled “Taverns, Temperance, Teetotalers, and Tommy Guns: The Long History of Prohibition” by Dr. Francis Coan of Tunxis Community College and Stephen McGrath, adjunct history professor at Central Connecticut State University. This event is designed to give background and context as to what was happening nationally that gave rise to women’s concerns about society. Learn about the ubiquity of alcohol consumption in early America, the rise and influence of the temperance movement during the nineteenth century, and the progressive roots of Prohibition.  

Prohibition was one facet of old-stock American, rural, Protestant rule in the 1920’s that brought about severe restrictions on immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, and the rise of organized crime. By the election of Franklin Roosevelt in 1932, the nation acknowledged prohibition to have been a colossal failure; against this backdrop rose the suffrage movement. 

Movie! 1:30 pm, November 6, 2019: Suffragette  In 1912 London, a young working mother is galvanized into radical political activism supporting women’s right to vote. Starring Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep, and Helena Bonham Carter (2015 ; PG-13 ; 1 hr. 46 min)

Movie! 1:30 pm, December 4. 2019:  Iron Jawed Angels  The story of Alice Paul and Lucy Burns played by Hillary Swank and Frances O’Connor (2004 ; NR ; 2 hr. 3 min.)

December 9, 2019 6:30 PM:  A lecture entitled “Fashioning Women’s Suffrage,” a discussion on how suffragists used dress and other outward symbols to promote their cause, by Professor Heather Prescott, History Department, Central Connecticut State University and member of the Connecticut Commission on Women’s Suffrage.

In addition, the art gallery of the Avon Library will offer an exhibit from November through December 2019 showcasing highlights of the suffrage movement. 

“DEEDS” SERIES LAUNCH EVENT – Saturday, November 16, 2019 3:00 PM – A distinguished lecture presentation by Susan Ware, author of Why They Marched: Untold Stories of the Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote (May 2019). A pioneer in the field of women’s history and a leading feminist biographer, Susan Ware, an Organization of American Historians (OAH) Distinguished Lecturer, is the author and editor of numerous books on twentieth-century U.S. history.  Her newest book, Why They Marched, uncovers a broader and more diverse story of suffrage, providing a fresh account of one of the most significant moments of political mobilization in American History. Feminism and women’s rights are an ongoing struggle with no clear endpoint in sight and the women’s suffrage movement is a vital part of that story.  Books will be available at this event. Additional sponsorship for this event is provided by the Connecticut Bar Association. 

Movie! 1:30 pm, January 8, 2020: The Divine Order  The Suffrage movement in Switzerland where women got the right to vote in 1971 (2017 ; NR ; 1 hr.36 min.)

Lecture! 2:00 pm, January 30, 2020: “The 19th Amendment: A Tale of Suffrage, Sacrifice & Success” presented by Mariann Millard.  The grass-roots story of women’s suffrage is a fascinating and a remarkable one: how it happened, who the players were, the obstacles they faced, the setbacks and personal hardships they endured, and the nail-biting race in the final state necessary to ratify the amendment. Lively and engaging, this presentation is designed to better understand and appreciate how difficult and how long the fight was for all women to become fully-fledged citizens of America.

Movie! 1:30 pm, February 5, 2020:  Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan  B. Anthony  Two women, one allegiance (1999 ; NR ;  3 hrs.)

Music! 2:00 pm, February 21, 2020: From Seneca Falls to the 19th Amendment: Songs of the Woman Suffrage Movement. Held at the Avon Senior Center, 635 West Avon Rd., Avon, CT 06001. Music presented by Rick Spencer and Dawn Indermuehle.  The struggle for woman suffrage was an important and hard-fought step toward gender equality. Music  was one of the significant tools used in the crusade for a woman’s right to vote. Songs were composed to advance (and to oppose) the agenda that culminated in the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. This program presents some of the most engaging and interesting songs of the movement, with historical commentary, in commemoration of the approaching centennial of a woman’s right to vote. Please note that due to the 72 year struggle for woman suffrage, (1848-1920) this program runs 70 minutes.  (snow date: Friday, February 28. 2020, 2:00 pm). A sign language interpreter will be present at this event.

Lecture! Wednesday February 26, 2020 at 6:30 pm, Meet Isabella Beecher Hooker: one of Connecticut’s suffragettes. 

Tempest-Tossed is the first full biography of the passionate, fascinating youngest daughter of the “Fabulous Beecher” family—one of America’s most high-powered families of the nineteenth century. Older sister Harriet Beecher Stowe was the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Brother Henry Ward Beecher was one of America’s most influential ministers, and sister Catherine Beecher wrote pivotal works on women’s rights and educational reform. And then there was Isabella Beecher Hooker—”a curiously modern nineteenth-century figure.” She was a leader in the suffrage movement, and a mover and shaker in Hartford’s storied Nook Farm neighborhood and salon. But there is more to the story—to Isabella’s character—than that.

Susan Campbell is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, a widely read Hartford Courant columnist, and the author of three books. She’s worked across the media landscape as an award-winning print journalist, a regular commentator on WNPR, and a guest on CBS’ “Sunday Morning,” the BBC, WTNH-TV, and the local news show “Face the State.” She is also part of the Connecticut Health Investigative Team, an award-winning health and safety website.

Her work at The Courant – where she was a staff writer and columnist for 25 years and is currently a freelance columnist – has been recognized by the National Women’s Political Caucus, the New England Associated Press News Executives, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, and the Society for Professional Journalists, among numerous other organizations. She’s also written for Connecticut Magazine, Salon.com, the Ms. Foundation blog, and Patheos.com. A sign language interpreter will be present at this event.

Movie! 1:30 pm, March 4, 2020: One Woman, One Vote  PBS documentary chronicles the 70 year struggle leading up to the passage of the 19th Amendment   (2005 ; NR ; 1 hr.) shown with : Equality Contemporary women introduce women of the past (2007 ; NR ; 30 min.)

The Avon Newsletter, a World War II collection, is now available online!

Posted on by Jessica Noble

The Avon Newsletter- WWII newsletter headlineExplore 14 pieces of WWII history.

Thanks to the generosity of the Friends of the Avon Library, Katie Kukiolczynski, CCSU MA History graduate, was hired to process, scan, and summarize the World War II newsletter collection with the Marion Hunter History Room of the Avon Library.

This collection consists of 14 resident-created newsletters spanning the years 1943-1946. The newsletters were intended for Avon soldiers, and were sent to them wherever they were stationed, either at home or abroad, as well as to their families in Avon.

In addition to uploading the actual newsletters, Katie detailed military commendations and created highlights of each issue. Some of these highlights include personal accounts from soldiers experiences in battle, their military training, details of what it was like where they were stationed, and even their experiences to how drastically things changed after the war ended in places like Germany.

The newsletters also included some local town gossip and news for soldiers to stay up to date on current happenings around town, so Avon was always a part of them wherever they were.

View the collection here!