Category: Latest News
The Mills of Mansfield Hollow
Watch a recorded video of this ZOOM program from November 18, 2022 as presented by Bruce Clouette.
Continue reading “The Mills of Mansfield Hollow”
Pink Ravine Cemetery Program
We had an exceptionally beautiful morning for our tour of the Gurley Cemetery on Bonemill Road given by Micheal Carroll. A large number of folks came out to learn more about the recent rehabilitation and cleaning of existing and missing grave markers in the older section of the cemetery.
Continue reading “Pink Ravine Cemetery Program”
MHS Awarded Two Grants
We are ringing in the New Year with some great news! We have been awarded an $8,400 CT Cultural Fund Operating Support Grant (CTCFOSG). We were one of 624 organizations in Connecticut that were awarded CT Cultural Fund support totaling $16M from CT Humanities (CTH). The CTCFOSGs are part of $30.7M of support allocated to arts, humanities, and cultural nonprofits through CTH over the next two years by the CT General Assembly and approved by Governor Ned Lamont.
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Online Exhibit Made in America: The Folk Art of Coverlets
Hello Historical Society members and supporters. Unfortunately the museum could not be opened this season due to the pandemic so we are working to bring the exhibits to you!
Volunteers at the society have been working hard to republish previous newsletter articles to the web site and now we have gone a step further and created an online exhibit experience.
Our first installment is titled “Made in America: The Folk Art of Coverlets.” This exhibit was curated by Ann Galonska and Peggy Church as part of the 2010 museum season. https://mansfieldct-history.org/exhibit-coverlet-2/
The format is a little bit different from our normal site content. The exhibit takes up the full width of the page in order to maximize the size of its images. If you would like to see even more detail of each image, just click on it and it will expand to fill your web browser. Also beware that you navigate the exhibit using the large green buttons at both the top and bottom of the page.
We hope you enjoy revisiting this exhibit and we look forward to any feed back you may have. Please feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of the page.
Thank you and stay well.
Your friends at the Mansfield Historical Society.
Program Railroads in Mansfield
Friday November 8, 2019 7:30 PM Buchanan Auditorium at the Mansfield Public Library
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Walking Tour of Merrow Village
Saturday, September 28, 1:00 PM
Continue reading “Walking Tour of Merrow Village”
Annual Meeting and Program
Friday, September 20, 7:00 pm Sarah P. Sportman, Senior Archaeologist at AHS/PAST, Inc., will present, Settling Connecticut: A 17th-Century Component in Old Wethersfield.
Continue reading “Annual Meeting and Program”
Museum Exhibit Open
Fabricating Fashion: Female Enterprise in Connecticut, 1692-1865
Admission is $5.00 for the general public, FREE for Society members and children under the age of 12.
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Program: History of Mansfield Depot and Merrow
Friday, May 10, 7:30PM. Mansfield Public Library, Buchanan Auditorium
Continue reading “Program: History of Mansfield Depot and Merrow”
Historic Homes Rehabilitation Tax Credit Workshop
Wednesday, August 15, at 7:00pm, Mansfield Public Library Continue reading “Historic Homes Rehabilitation Tax Credit Workshop”
Current Exhibits
Don’t miss your last chance to see this year’s exhibits. The museum is open Saturday and Sunday 1:30-4:30PM through September 30TH.
Continue reading “Current Exhibits”
Museum Exhibits 2016
The season’s exhibits are “Master Builder Edwin S. Fitch” and “Calude’s Place” – photography by James S Klar. Continue reading “Museum Exhibits 2016”
CT Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home Record Available Online
UCONN’s digitization of the Connecticut Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home daily record book is complete and able to be viewed and read online. This record book is a fascinating look into the daily lifeof the home. The record highlighs the lives of the children, visitors and the daily trials and hardships of managing a state run orphan’s home in the 1800’s.
History of the Home:
The Connecticut General Assembly chartered the “Connecticut Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home” in May 1864. Edwin Whitney of Mansfield, ‘who had nearly completed a fine large building for a boys’ school, offered this building with the farm of fifty acres, all valued at $12,000 or $15,000, as a gift to the Home.’ Edwin Whitney conveyed by deed, title to the property to the Connecticut Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home, September 24, 1866. Mr. Gold was the first, and apparently the only, secretary of the Home during its existence from October, 1866, to May, 1875.
The daily record is a fascinating look at the lives of civil war children and their families during the 1860’s
The Daily Record book can be viewed and read online at the URL below:
CT Soldier’s Orphans Home Daily Record
Call for Artifacts from the Sixties
Hello, we are planing our exhibit for June 2017. We have decided to showcase the 1960’s and will fill both buildings with exhibits on this tumultuous decade.
We are so excited about this exhibit and bringing the 60’s back to life. Please help us and check your closets, basements and attics for those long forgotten items that celebrate the decade. If you do find some memorabilia, please provide us with a list of items you would consider lending the Historical Society for our exhibit. We would also welcome any ideas, stories and copies of your photographs. Use our contact form to submit what you may have that would be of interest to the museum. Thanks again for your support.
Do you have any of the following?
- Clothing
- Music/Art
- Political buttons/Posters
- Lava Lamp
- Photos
- Toys (GI Joe, Barbie)
- Indian prints (bedspreads)
- Incense
- Beads
- Posters
- Black lights/Posters
Don’t Forget
- Political/Public figures and events
- Vietnam
- Lifestyle: Hippies/Preppy
- Sports
- Woodstock
- Oral History
- Video Interviews
The Times They Were A Changin’
Keith Wilson
President, MHS
Phone: (860) 429-6575
September 2015 Newsletter
The September newsletter includes:
- President’s Message
- Annual Dinner and Music Program: Friday September 25, 6:00PM. Music by Rick Spencer. First Church in Christ (Congregational) in Mansfield Center. Reservations required.
- Silk Program and Lace Making Demonstrations: Saturday October 17, 11:00AM. Buchanan Auditorium at the Mansfield Public Library
- Accepting a Challenge – Prioritizing Membership Follow-Up
- Museum News
- A Major Gift to our Archives: Orra Almira Phelps materials.
- New Book by Roberta K. Smith
- In Memoriam, Carl W. Schaefer II
Download a PDF of the September 2015 Newsletter
You may need to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed to open and print the membership form.
April 2015 Newsletter
The April newsletter includes:
- Presidents Message
- May Meeting and Program: Friday May 8, 7:30PM Presentation by Connecticut State Archaeologist Nicholas Bellantoni. Town Council Chambers
- Upcoming Exhibit Information: The Diaries of Martin and Almira Parker, and Revisiting The Mansfield Hollow Flood Control Project
- Call for Hosts & Hostesses
- A Suprise attic finds joins the collection
- Museum Opening: Sunday, June 7, 1:30-4:30PM Continue reading “April 2015 Newsletter”
Biography of Shubael Conant Now Available
Mansfield’s First Citizen Speaker: The Honorable Shubael Conant, Esq.
By Roberta K. Smith Continue reading “Biography of Shubael Conant Now Available”