      For more than a generation, Kendall F. Wiggin has been one of the most influential champions of history issues and institutions in Connecticut. At the end of 2019, Ken is retiring after 21 years as Connecticut's State Librarian. In a revealing interview, State Historian Walter Woodward sat down with Ken for a wide-ranging discussion about his agency's complex role in preserving the state's past, the effect of the Internet on historical research and libraries, the role of Connecticut history in public education, his successes and regrets, some advice for his successor, and more.  

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Connecticut is a small state with big stories. GTN episodes include top-flight historians, compelling first-person stories and new voices in Connecticut history. Executive Producers Mary Donohue, Walt Woodward, and Natalie Belanger look at the people and places that have made a difference in CT history. New episodes every two weeks. A joint production of Connecticut Explored magazine and the CT State Historian Emeritus.

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   In this episode, we uncover a Connecticut World War II story that features airplanes without engines. Sound crazy? You’ll learn how these engineless gliders helped beat the Nazis. Executive Producer Mary Donohue will also talk to the author of a new book that details the role that over 45 Connecticut companies played in producing the ammunition, weapons and machines that the United States needed as part of the massive war effort during World War II.   Her guests today are Connecticut author Sharon Cohen and Melissa Josefiak, Executive Director of the Essex Historical Society.   Cohen has authored several books. Her new book Connecticut Industries Unite for WWII Victory was published in 2023 and placed second in the 2024 New England Book Festival. Its available from High Point Publishing:   www.highpointpub.com  . Sharon Cohen is available for book talks and signings. Contact her at cohencomm1@earthlink.net   The Essex Historical Society has new publications on the three Essex villages-Ivoryton, Centerbrook and Essex, where much of today’s story takes place. For information on the publications and programs of the Essex Historical Society, go to their website at https://www.essexhistory.org/ and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.   Subscribe to get your copy of Connecticut Explored magazine delivered to your mailbox or your inbox-subscribe at https://simplecirc.com/subscribe/connecticut-explored You won’t want to miss our Summer issue with new places to go and lots of day trip ideas!   image: Courtesy of Essex Historical Society   ------------------------------------ You can help us continue to produce the podcast by donating directly to Grating the Nutmeg on the Connecticut Explored website here:  https://ctexplored.networkforgood.com/projects/179036-support-ct-history-podcast-grating-the-nutmeg   Executive producer Mary Donohue is an award-winning author, historic preservationist and architectural historian. She can be reached at marydonohue@comcast.net   This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/    Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history.  

185.  Connecticut Industries Unite for WWII Victory: Pratt, Read & Co Gliders

   In this episode, we celebrate and commemorate National Borinqueneers Day coming up on April 13th. It recognizes the bravery, service, and sacrifice of the 65th Infantry Regiment,  a United States Army unit that consisted mostly of soldiers from Puerto Rico and the only segregated Latino unit in the United States Army.   But the honor and fidelity of the men of the 65th came into question in 1952 during the Korean War when 91 regiment members were arrested and tried for desertion and disobeying orders. How could this happen to such a distinguished and decorated unit of the Army?   Executive Producer Mary Donohue’s guest for this episode is accomplished Connecticut author of young adult literature, Talia Aikens-Nunez. In her book, Men of the 65th, The Borinqueneers of the Korean War, she guides us through the history of the 65th from its beginning in 1899.   This book is a great read for a young adult reader or anyone that has a member of their family that served in the regiment. There is a beautiful monument to the Borinqueneers in New Britain at the intersection of Beaver and Farmington Streets-well worth a visit. And we have an article that was published in Connecticut Exploredmagazine on the monument that is free to read on our website-link below.                   Read more about the Borinqueneers Memorial here:  https://www.ctexplored.org/site-lines-monument-to-connecticuts-borinqueneers/   Talia Aikens-Nunez is available for book talks and signings. She can be reached on her website at https://www.kidslitbytalia.com/   Can you use your power of giving to make a $250 dollar donation? We would love to send you our brand-new Grating the Nutmeg t-shirt as a thank you!  Donor and t-shirt recipient Jack Soos writes “I love how this podcast uncovers amazing stories and historical insights right in our backyard! Thank you so much and keep up the good work!”   You can help us continue to produce the podcast by donating directly to Grating the Nutmeg on the Connecticut Explored website here:   https://ctexplored.networkforgood.com/projects/179036-support-ct-history-podcast-grating-the-nutmeg   Executive producer Mary Donohue is an award-winning author, historic preservationist and architectural historian. She may be reached at marydonohue@comcast.net   --------------------------------------------------- This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/     Subscribe to get your copy of Connecticut Explored magazine delivered to your mailbox or your inbox-subscribe at ctexplored.org.  You won’t want to miss our Summer issue with new places to go!   Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history.    

184. The Borinqueneers: Puerto Rico’s Men of the 65th Regiment

   One of the most recognizable food brands in the world got started in a kitchen in Fairfield, Connecticut. In this episode, Natalie Belanger chats with historian Cathryn J. Prince about Margaret Rudkin, the woman who founded Pepperidge Farm.    Read Prince's full-length article about Rudkin on the Connecticut Explored website here: https://www.ctexplored.org/pepperidge-farm-healthful-bread-builds-a-business/   Natalie Belanger is the Adult Programs Manager at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History. You can see the Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm Cookbook in their current exhibition, Connecticut's Bookshelf, open now through September 8, 2024.    ---------------------------------------------------------- Can you use your power of giving to make a $250 dollar donation? We would love to send you our brand-new Grating the Nutmeg t-shirt as a thank you!  Donor and t-shirt recipient Jack Soos writes “I love how this podcast uncovers amazing stories and historical insights right in our backyard! Thank you so much and keep up the good work!”   You can help us continue to produce the podcast by donating directly to Grating the Nutmeg on the Connecticut Explored website at ctexplored.org   Click the donate button at the top and then look for the Grating the Nutmeg donation link at the bottom.   This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Natalie Belanger and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/   Photo credit: Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm Cookbook cover, CMCH collection 641.5 R916m      

183.  Margaret Rudkin of Pepperidge Farm

 Are they pirates, profiteers or legitimately authorized extensions of George Washington’s almost non-existent American Navy? We’ll find out with guest historian Eric Jay Dolin, author of Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American RevolutIon.  Dolin will underscore an element missing from most maritime histories of the American Revolution: a ragtag fleet of private vessels — from 20-foot whaleboats to 40-cannon men-of-war helped win the war, including some 200 from Connecticut. Armed with cannons, guns, muskets, and pikes, thousands of privateers tormented the British on the Atlantic and in bays and harbors on both sides of the ocean.    Eric Jay Dolin is the author of sixteen books, including Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America, a topic we look forward to exploring in an upcoming episode of Grating the Nutmeg. Rebels at Sea was awarded the Morison Book Award for Naval Literature, conferred by the Naval Order of the United States, and was a finalist for the New England Society Book Award.  His forthcoming book, to be published in May, 2024, is Left for Dead: Shipwreck, Treachery, and Survival at the Edge of the World. Dolin lives in Marblehead, Massachusetts, with his family.   Thanks to my guest Eric Jay Dolin. To find out more about his work, go to  www.ericjaydolin.com.   Today’s episode is the second in our 2024 series on Connecticut’s maritime history-I hope you’ve had the chance to listen to episode #180 on Colonial Connecticut and the West Indies. If you love these seafaring tales, you’ll find dozens of stories to read on our website at ctexplored.org under the Topics button here: https://www.ctexplored.org/travel-transportation/   Eric Jay Dolan’s presentation at the New Haven Museum is now available on their YouTube channel was part of New Haven250, an ongoing series of programming developed to complement America250. Culminating with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the series will highlight inclusive, local, and lesser-known stories, connecting past and present. Follow their Facebook page to find out more about upcoming programs.   Watch the taped presentation by author Eric Jay Dolan on the New Haven Museum’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpELt9K7u2TcAx6JHlsD62w/videos     ---------------------------------------------------- Subscribe to get your copy of Connecticut Explored magazine delivered to your mailbox or your inbox-subscribe at ctexplored.org     This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/   Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history.        

182. Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution

   181. Hartford and the Great Migration, 1914-1950   In the February 4, 2024 issue of the New York Times, journalist Adam Mahoney describes the Great Migration as a time when millions of Black people left the South to escape segregation, servitude and lynching and went North in search of jobs and stable housing. In this episode, host Mary Donohue will discuss Hartford and the Great Migration with Dr. Stacey Close. Connecticut Explored’s book African American Connecticut Exploredpublished by Wesleyan University Press has just celebrated its 10th anniversary. Dr. Close served as one of the principal authors for this groundbreaking volume of essays that illuminate the long arc of Black history in Connecticut.   A native of Georgia, Dr. Close has worked in higher education for more than 25 years. A professor of African American history at Eastern Connecticut State University, Close received his Ph.D and M.A. from Ohio State University and his B.A. from Albany State College, a Historically Black College in Georgia. He is currently working on a book project entitled “Black Hartford Freedom Struggle, 1915-1970.”   Thanks to my guest Dr. Stacey Close. Read his article published in Connecticut Explored here:  https://www.ctexplored.org/southern-blacks-transform-connecticut/   Subscribe to get your copy of Connecticut Explored magazine delivered to your mailbox-subscribe at https://simplecirc.com/subscribe/connecticut-explored   Was your family part of the Great Migration? Be sure to listen to GTN episode 127 to find out how to put your family’s history together for future generations with Black family historians Jill Marie Snyder and Hartford’s Orice Jenkins.  https://gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/127-telling-your-family-story-with-jill-marie-snyder-and-orice-jenkins   Can you use your power of giving to make a $250 dollar donation? We would love to send you our brand-new Grating the Nutmeg t-shirt as a thank you!  Donor and t-shirt recipient Jack Soos writes “I love how this podcast uncovers amazing stories and historical insights right in our backyard! Thank you so much and keep up the good work!”   You can help us continue to produce the podcast by donating directly to Grating the Nutmeg on the Connecticut Explored website at ctexplored.org.   Click the donate button at the top and then look for the Grating the Nutmeg donation link at the bottom.   This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/   Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history. Image: Shiloh Baptist Church women's group, 336 Albany Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut Museum of Culture and History. 

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