Grating the Nutmeg

For our 100th episode, a revealing new look at Connecticut's oldest and most iconic legend - the Charter Oak. State historian Walt Woodward dug deep into this time-honored tale, and offers a new, true, and sometimes amusing look into the history behind this foundational legend.

In this episode of Grading the Nutmeg, Mary Donohue, Asst. Publisher of Connecticut Explored, reveals Connecticut's connection to Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore, and the run up to his most contentious project, the Mount Rushmore National Monument in South Dakota.

Perhaps the largest outdoor sculpture in the country, Mount Rushmore has been controversial since it was proposed. Where it's located, who it commemorates, and its sculptor are all part of the national conversation now. Built on Native American land, it features the faces of four American presidents--two of whom were slaveholders (Washington and Jefferson) and two of whom were involved in efforts to uproot Western Native American tribes (Lincoln and Roosevelt). And the sculptor behind the design, Connecticut resident Gutzon Borglum? He was someone who, according to the New York Times article "How Mount Rushmore became Mount Rushmore" published July 1, 2020, formed great bonds with leaders of the Ku Klux Klan and participated in their meetings to secure funding for the Stone Mountain project in Georgia. Borglum also espoused white supremacist and anti-Semitic ideas.

To read the full article, go to https://www.ctexplored.org/connecticuts-mount-rushmore-connection/

To read more about his career, go to http://www.tfaoi.com/newsm1/n1m582.htm

This episode was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O'Sullivan.

To hear more episodes of Grating the Nutmeg subscribe on itunes, iHeartRadio, GooglePlay, Sound Cloud or at gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com. And for more great Connecticut history stories, subscribe to Connecticut Explored, the magazine of Connecticut history, at https://www.ctexplored.org/

In "Two From World War II." state historian Walt Woodward presents two stories he wrote for this Fall's special "Remembering World War II" edition of Connecticut Explored Magazine. The first tells how Pratt & Whitney Aircraft prepared for the coming crisis. The second tells the story of Gordon H. Stirling, Connecticut's 1st World War II hero.

In this episode, Natalie Belanger of the Connecticut Historical Society talks to historians Brittney Yancy and Karen Li Miller about their ongoing project to uncover the suffrage work of women of color in Connecticut. African American women rallied for the woman's suffrage cause, determined to ensure black women's inclusion and electoral self-representation.

if you'd like to learn more about this topic, visit the CHS's website at CHS.org/wocvotes. For a broader look at the woman's suffrage movement in CT, you can see the exhibit "A Vote of Her Own: The Long Fight for Woman Suffrage" on view at the CHS in fall 2020. And don't forget to order your copy of the Summer issue of CT Explored at ctexplored.org with the article "Uncovering African American Women's Fight for Suffrage" by Karen Li Miller, available at ctexplored.org/shop

Read more about Mary Townsend Seymour at https://www.ctexplored.org/audacious-alliance-mary-townsend-seymour/

Thank you to our guests. This episode was produced by Natalie Belanger and engineered by Patrick O'Sullivan. Photo credit: Mary A. Johnson (center) with Elizabeth R. Morris (left) and Rosa J. Fisher (right) representing Hartford's Colored Women's Liberty Loan Committee, 1918. Photographer Edward M. Crocker, The Hartford Courant, State Archives, Connecticut State Library.

State historian Walt Woodward takes a new look at the actions surrounding the Revolutionary War execution of state hero Nathan Hale, and finds there are still some burning questions left to be answered about this hasty and irregular event. It's a story from Walt's new book Creating Connecticut: Critical Moments That Shaped a Great State, just out from Globe Pequot Press. As you'll soon hear, when looking for answers about the Rough Justice handed out to Nathan Hale by the British in New York in 1776, where there's smoke, there's fire.

In this episode CT Explored publisher Elizabeth Normen draws inspiration from the haunting words of her great-great grandmother, the wife of a sea captain during the Great Age of Sail. Her ancestor was one of hundreds of women in the 19th century who made the difficult choice to leave all they knew and those they loved for the uncertainly of a life at sea. What were the joys and hardships for women who made that choice? Find out in this episode of Grating the Nutmeg.

Find more stories about brave women in our Summer 2020 issue commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Women's Suffrage, available now at ctexplored.org, including important stories about Native American and African American women and the right to vote. And for more stories about Connecticut's maritime history, see the Spring 2009 issue online at ctexplored.org. Please support us by subscribing at ctexplored.org.

This episode was produced by Elizabeth Normen and Patrick O'Sullivan. Thanks for Moira O'Sullivan for narrating portions of the story.

Mary Donohue, Asst. Publisher of Connecticut Explored and co-author of the book A Life of the Land: Connecticut's Jewish Farmers explores the story of Connecticut's Jewish farmers in the last century. Surprised that there were Jewish farmers? Many people are but scores of newly arrived Jewish immigrants were assisted in making their lives in poultry and dairy farming throughout the state. Some farms developed into resorts catering to vacationing urbanites seeking a bigotry free relaxing vacation in the countryside.

To read more about Connecticut's Jewish farmers, go to the Connecticut Explored website to read "Hebrew Tillers of the Soil" from the Spring 2006 issue and "The Connecticut Catskills" in our Summer 2018-both articles are on online. To order Ms. Donohue's book, A Life of the Land: Connecticut's Jewish farmers, go to the website of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford at jhsgh.org/store/

This episode was produced by Mary Donohue, Assistant Publisher of Connecticut Explored and engineered by Patrick O'Sullivan. It features the voices of Moira O'Sullivan and Patrick O'Sullivan. Music by New Town Klezmer.

Subscribe to Connecticut Explored, buy back issues and collections—including a make-your-own collection at a special price-- at ctexplored.org.

State historian Walt Woodward used his recent shelter-in-place time to create a podcast about the deadliest disease to ever hit Connecticut. The influenza pandemic of 1918, like C0VID-19, stopped life as people-knew-it in its tracks.

Emergency Hospital #16 New Haven[Library of Congress]

He asked the questions we're asking about today's pandemic to pandemic of a century ago.

Where did it come from? How did it spread? Who did it affect the most? How did the medical community respond to it? How did state and local governments respond? What social distancing measures were taken? And how did its impact change Connecticut and its people?

Walt found history, as always, to be an important reference point. We think you will, too. If you like what you hear, please share it with your friends.

Architectural historian Mary Donohue digs deep to uncover which local libraries in Connecticut were funded by robber baron, steel tycoon and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie at the beginning of the 20th century. Why did the City of New Haven turn down a generous gift of $300,000 from Carnegie in 1903 meant to build a large public library? How did communities apply for library construction grants from Carnegie and what were the requirements? What were the strings attached to accepting the money?

And, what has become of these well-built landmarks in Connecticut? Find out from guest Robert Kinney, Outreach Services Librarian at the Connecticut State Library and Pastor of Mount Hope Temple Church in New Haven what it takes to adaptively reuse an almost 100-year-old library building for a new purpose.

We wish to thank our guest Robert Kinney. Read more in online at ctexplored.org in the Fall 2015 article "Connecticut's Carnegie Libraries"

This episode was produced by Mary Donohue, Assistant Publisher of Connecticut Explored, and engineered by Patrick O'Sullivan.

Twice a year, restoration carpenter Tom Linsky and his wife Sally Irons host a heart-cooked colonial feast in their historic 18th century Portland home, as a benefit for their favorite charities. For those events Chef Tom Linskey spends an entire week prepping, preparing, and cooking a totally hearth-cooked panoply of colonial dishes to serve for the benefits' guests. Last month (February 2020), State Historian Walt Woodward stopped in to see Tom throughout the week to learn about hearth-cooking and feasting in the colonial era. The result was a delicious and wonderfully informative encounter with hearth-cooking and colonial foodways.

You can view photos of the hearth cooking experience and some of the items in the Linskeey's colonial tavern room on the Connecticut State Historian's Facebook page.