New Exhibit on the Colonial Revival to Open at the Litchfield Historical Society

Dominated by the white clapboard Congregational meetinghouse, the stone clock tower of the Court House and the immaculate homes with white paint and black shutters, Litchfield has come to embody the quintessential New England town. It is easy to imagine our colonial ancestors living in such a beautiful pastoral setting. What is harder to image is that Litchfield’s picturesque beauty was not a product of the colonial era, but a late 19^th- and early 20^th- century movement known as the Colonial Revival.

Opening April 12, 2014, the Society’s new exhibit, The Lure of the Litchfield Hills, will explore what was behind the Colonial Revival Movement, how the residents of Litchfield embraced their ancestral past, and how the community came to look the way it does today. Visitors are invited to join in exploring this social movement that touched all aspects of American life from architecture and landscaping, to fashion, home decoration and beyond.

Featuring items from the museum’s collections, ranging from documents and photographs to furnishings, house wares, and clothing The Lure of the Litchfield Hillswill be a must-see exhibit. Come explore Litchfield’s past this spring, and don’t forget to stop by the Tapping Reeve House and Litchfield Law School to see the completed exterior renovations.

The exhibit will open on Saturday, April 12. The Litchfield History Museum’s hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00 am to 5:00 pm, and Sunday, 1:00 to 5:00 pm.

The Lure of the Litchfield Hills will run through the 2014 and 2015 seasons at the Litchfield History Museum, 7 South Street, Litchfield. For more information visitwww.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org or call 860-567-4501.

Colonial Revival Songs at the Litchfield Historical Society

In anticipation of the Litchfield Historical Society's upcoming exhibition on the Colonial Revival, musician Rick Spencer will be at the Litchfield History Museum on Sunday, March 30 at 3:00 pm to present a specially created program of songs from this fascinating period in U.S. history.

Fueled by sentimentality for days gone by and a romanticized view of America's earliest years, Colonial Revival composers wrote songs that expressed this feeling of nostalgia for the past. Songs like "The Days When We Were Young" (Henry Clay Work, 1863) hearkened back to simpler pre-Civil War times. "The Old Oaken Bucket" (Samuel Woodworth, 1818) and "Long, Long Ago" (Thomas Haynes Bayly, 1833) were very popular songs that remembered the past fondly and were very popular in America.

Rick Spencer worked for 20 years as a chanteyman and interpreter at Mystic Seaport, forming the internationally known sea music group Forebitter with his fellow Seaport musicians. He has performed throughout the country and the world and is known for his work as a historian and researcher in the realm of folk music. Spencer accompanies himself with several instruments, including guitar, dulcimer, concertina, and banjo.

Currently a full-time musician, Spencer has also served as the director of the Dr. Ashbel Woodward Museum in Franklin, CT, and the site administrator of the Hempstead House in New London, CT.

This program is free for members and $5 for non-members; registration is required. To register, please call the Litchfield Historical Society at (860) 567-4501 or email registration@litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.

The Litchfield History Museum is located at 7 South St, Litchfield, CT. For more information about this or other programs, please see this website at www.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.

Litchfield and Torrington Historical Society's present Civil Rights Programs

The Litchfield and Torrington Historical Society's have teamed up to present two civil rights programs based on the Created Equal Film Series and will be presented on February 20 and March 20th.  These documentaries with riveting new footage illustrate the history of civil rights in America.  Created Equal: America's Civil Rights Struggle is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities that uses the power of documentary films to encourage community discussion of America's civil rights history.

On February 20, (snow date Thursday, Feb. 27) at the Torrington Historical Society located on 192 Main Street in the heart of Torrington will host Tom Hogan who will discuss the film, The Loving Story, which examines the groundbreaking U.S. Supreme Court decision on interracial marriages.  Tom Hogan, former lawyer and legal history professor at UConn, we will take a look at a groundbreaking case that dealt with the legality of interracial marriages. The documentary brings to life the Lovings' marriage and the legal battle that followed through little-known filmed interviews and photographs shot for Life magazine. Participants will view film clips from the HBO documentary as well as supplemental materials provided by Mr. Hogan.

The second event in this civil rights series takes place on March 20 (snow date March 27) at the Litchfield Historical Society located on 7 South Street in Litchfield  with the film, Freedom Riders. Litchfield blogger and history professor Pete Vermilyea brings to light the activities of the freedom riders in the last of our film series. Freedom Riders tells the terrifying, moving, and suspenseful story of a time when white and black volunteers riding a bus into the Deep South risked being jailed, beaten, or killed, as white local and state authorities ignored or encouraged violent attacks. The film includes previously unseen amateur 8-mm footage of the burning bus on which some Freedom Riders were temporarily trapped, taken by a local twelve-year-old and held as evidence since 1961 by the FBI. 

All program are free and open to the public. To register for any of these programs please call the Litchfield Historical Society at 860-567-4501 or email registration@litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.  For more information visit  http://www.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org/tours/createdequal.php

For informationon Litchfield Hills  www.litchfieldhills.com

Litchfield Historical Society to Host Ceremonies, Games, and Pet Parade on July 4

credit: Litchfield History Museum

The Litchfield Historical Society will hold its annual Pet Parade and Turn-of-the-Century Fest on Thursday, July 4th. Residents and visitors alike  with or without pets are invited to participate or to observe. Pets of any kind are welcome, but all pets must be either on a leash or in a cage and, where applicable, must come with a rabies certificate.

To register for the parade, call the Historical Society at (860) 567-4501 by Friday, June 29.

The Turn-of-the-Century-Fest will also include an ice cream social, with ice cream generously donated by Peaches and Cream, and old-fashioned games. Fest participants will have the opportunity to compete in egg and spoon races, a tug of war, a sunflower seed spitting contest, and three-legged races.

The event is free and open to the public. Also, admission is free of charge on July 4 to both the Litchfield History Museum and the Tapping Reeve House & Law School.

Check-in for the parade will begin at the Litchfield History Museum, 7 South Street, at 2:15 pm. The actual parade will commence at 2:30 pm. For more information, contact the Litchfield Historical Society at (860) 567-4501 or by email at education@litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.

For information about the Historical Society visit www.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.  For area information www.litchfieldhills.com

Celebrate Henry Ward Beecher’s 200th Birthday with the Litchfield Historical Society

Henry Ward Beecher Courtesy of the Helga J. Ingraham Memorial Library

This year is the 200^th anniversary of Litchfield native and famous preacher Henry Ward Beecher’s birth. Join the Litchfield Historical Society on Monday, June 24 at 7:00 pm for a celebration of Beecher’s birthday, as well as a discussion of Debby Applegate’s 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher.

Led by retired Litchfield High School English teacher Jerry Geci, the conversation will focus on Beecher as a fascinating and complex man: celebrated in his own time, though not untouched by scandal. The Most Famous Man in America creates a powerful portrait of Beecher, highlighting both his charisma and his flaws. Applegate’s book has been touted as “Thoroughly researched, passionately written, and richly detailed” (Harry S. Stout). Joan Hendricks, a Harriet Beecher Stowe scholar calls it “A lively narrative of nineteenth-century religion, power, passion, and politics, as well as a perceptive study of the elusive preacher who rode them to the top.”

Whether you think Beecher was a saint or a scoundrel, please join us for a rousing book discussion. We will also view Beecher family-related items from the Historical Society’s collections and have birthday cake.

This event is free; a copy of the book can be purchased for $8 from the Historical Society. Please register by Friday, June 14, to receive a copy of the book. To register, call (860) 567-4501 or email registration@litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.

The Litchfield History Museum is located at 7 South Street, Litchfield, CT. For more information about this or upcoming programs, please call (860) 567-4501 or see www.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.

For area information visit www.litchfieldhills.com.