This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Hartford Circus Fire. In this episode of Grating the Nutmeg, Natalie Belanger of the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History tells the story of the deadliest man-made disaster in Connecticut history.  

 

On July 6, 1944, the Big Top of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus caught fire during a matinee performance. Within ten minutes the tent was burned away, taking the lives of 168 people with it. Hundreds of people were injured, and thousands of survivors would remember that day for the rest of their lives. For generations, people have been drawn to the story of the fire, and to the mystery surrounding the identify of the unclaimed child victim who came to be known as "Little Miss 1565."

 

Please note that this story includes graphic content and may not be suitable for all listeners. 

 

If you'd like to learn more about the disaster, there are many sources available. Here's a partial list. You can also visit the site of the disaster, which is marked with a memorial, on Barbour Street in Hartford, behind the site of the former Fred D. Wish School. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g33804-d3324207-Reviews-Hartford_Circus_Fire_Memorial-Hartford_Connecticut.html

 

Stewart O'Nan, The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy, 2000

Don Massey and Rick Davey, A Matter of Degree: The Hartford Circus Fire and the Mystery of Little Miss 1565, 2001

Don Massey, ed., Circus Fire Memories: Survivor Recollections of July 6, 1944, 2006

Michael Skidgell, The Hartford Circus Fire: Tragedy Under the Big Top, 2014

 

You can read some survivor accounts in this Fall 2006 CT Explored article. 

 

A wide collection of primary sources are collected by Michael Skidgell on the website https://www.circusfire1944.com/

 

You can also read more here:

https://connecticuthistory.org/the-hartford-circus-fire/

 

Image credit: Connecticut Museum of Culture and History

 

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Grating the Nutmeg brings you top-flight historians, compelling first-person stories, and new voices in Connecticut history. Your donation will ensure that Executive Producers Mary Donohue and Natalie Belanger can bring you a fresh episode at no cost every two weeks! GTN works with museums around the state to spotlight places that you’ll want to visit, books published by Connecticut authors, new exhibit openings, and more.

 

Can you spare $10 a month to help support the new voices, research, and books on Grating the Nutmeg? It’s easy to set up a monthly donation on the Connecticut Explored website at ctexplored.org   Click the donate button at the top and then look for the Grating the Nutmeg link. Thank you!

 

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 and lots of day trip ideas!

 

This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Natalie Belanger and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at www.highwattagemedia.com/   Follow GTN on our Facebook, Instagram and Threads pages to get behind the scenes photos and links to the latest episodes.

 

 

 

July 1990 marked the passing of a landmark piece of federal legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act, known as the ADA. To recognize this event and to celebrate Disability Pride Month, we are uncovering the legacy of disability rights leader, Phyllis Zlotnick (1942-2011). Zlotnick was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at birth. Beginning in the 1970's, Phyllis recognized she was being “shut out” of society, a phrase she used in her writings and public testimonies at the Connecticut State Capitol.  She dedicated her life to claiming the right to participate in public life.  Executive Producer Mary Donohue spoke to author Arianna Basche about the challenges Zlotnick faced in her early life, her influence on Connecticut's accessibility policies, and her involvement in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Basche is the Ad Manager for Connecticut Explored magazine and is a historian and museum educator.  Her feature story on Zlotnick will be published in the Fall 2024 issue of Connecticut Explored magazine.

 

Warning for listeners - this episode contains some words that are not used now to describe members of the disabled community such as handicapped.  These are taken from historic sources such as period newspaper stories or written first-hand accounts.

 

 Zlotnick’s papers are held in the Special Collections Archive at the University of Connecticut. For more information, go to: https://archivessearch.lib.uconn.edu/repositories/2/resources/1016

 

https://blogs.lib.uconn.edu/archives/2017/02/24/vulnerability-empowering-advocacy-the-phyllis-zlotnick-papers/

 

Photo credit: Phyllis Zlotnick papers, Special Collections Archives, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut.

 

Subscribe to Connecticut Explored today to receive the fall issue with Zlotnick’s story- get your subscription delivered in print to your mailbox or digitally to your inbox. Subscribe at: ctexplored.org

 

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Historic preservationist Frederic Palmer named his East Haddam house and the 50 acres it occupies “Dunstaffnage,” after a castle with the same name in Scotland. The prefix "dun" means "fort" in Gaelic, which perfectly captures the sense of protected sanctuary Frederic created for his LGBTQ friends, neighbors, and family to gather and live unhindered by societal norms. On July 13th, Connecticut Landmarks is excited to celebrate Scottish culture with the first ever Mid-Summer Pipes & Cider event on the grounds of Frederic Palmer's Dunstaffnage. Sip cider and connect with Scotland during a trail walk around the beautiful Palmer-Warner grounds led by Coreyanne Armstrong and Portland & District Pipers. Enjoy local cider tastings from Yankee Cider Co. including a signature “Dunstaffnage” bourbon that will transport you to the Scottish Moors through hints of Highland peat smoke. Bring your friends to test your knowledge in a round of Celtic-themed pub trivia, with prizes for first- and second-place teams. The bourbon is aging, and the pipers are practicing! For tickets, please visit ctlandmarks.org/midsummer.

 

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Grating the Nutmeg brings you top-flight historians, compelling first-person stories, and new voices in Connecticut history. Your donation will ensure that Executive Producers Mary Donohue and Natalie Belanger can bring you a fresh episode at no cost every two weeks!  Donate here:https://ctexplored.networkforgood.com/projects/179036-support-ct-history-podcast-grating-the-nutmeg

 

This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/   Follow GTN on our Facebook, Instagram and Threads pages.

 

This is Mary Donohue for Grating the Nutmeg. Follow me on my Facebook and Instagram pages @WeHaSidewalkHistorian. Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We love a Sherlock Holmes "who done it" whether it's Basil Rathbone from the 1940s, Benedict Cumberbacth from the 2000s, or Millie Bobby Brown as Sherlock's sister Enola Holmes from the 2020s. But it was a Hartford-born actor who gave Sherlock Holmes his signature look - his curved pipe, deerstalker cap and magnifying glass.

 

William Gillette was born into a wealthy Hartford family in 1853 but became a millionaire in his own right as an actor and a playwright. He was the first actor to be universally acclaimed for portraying Sherlock Holmes, having staged the first authorized play in 1899. His retirement home, Gillette's Castle, cost millions to construct and is a combination escape room, medieval stone ruin and Steampunk fantasy. 

 

Our guest is Paul Schiller. Paul spent almost a decade working at Gillette Castle. In addition to providing engaging and informative tours to castle visitors, he served as an archivist, researcher and educator for the park. During the Covid-19 Pandemic, Paul created a series of video tours of the castle, available on the Friends of Gillette Castle Youtube channel. 

 

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Can you spare $10 a month to help support the new voices, research, and books featured on Grating the Nutmeg? It’s easy to set up a monthly donation on the Connecticut Explored website at ctexplored.org   Click the donate button at the top and then look for the Grating the Nutmeg link. Thank you!

 

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 and lots of day trip ideas!

 

This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at www.highwattagemedia.com/   Follow GTN on our Facebook, Instagram and Threads pages.

 

Follow Connecticut historian Mary Donohue on her Facebook and Instagram pages @WeHaSidewalkHistorian

 

June is PRIDE month and we’re celebrating by bringing you an episode about efforts to bring LGBTQ+ history to light. As one guest, historian William Mann writes, “Throughout its history, Connecticut’s LGBTQ population has moved from leading hidden, solitary lives to claiming visible, powerful, valuable, and contributing places in society.”  In this episode, we talk about what historians have found in Connecticut’s Colonial records, some surprising connections to famous individuals and landmarks and at the end of the episode, there’s a recommendation for  three places to visit to celebrate LGBTQ+ history.

 

In order to prepare for this episode, two digital resources created by our guests were used. Both of these are available on the web and the links are below.

 

The first is the Historic Timeline of Connecticut’s LGBTQ Community online exhibition directed by William Mann for the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History. Mann is an author and historian whose books include Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn, named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times; The Wars of the Roosevelts: The Ruthless Rise of America’s Greatest Political Family; Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood; and Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood.  He is an Assistant Professor of History at Central Connecticut State University, where he teaches LGBTQ History.

See the timeline here: https://www.connecticutmuseum.org/lgbtqtimeline/

 

Mann is available for lectures and book talks. He can be reached at [email protected]

 

The second digital resource is a recorded lecture, Intemperate Habits: LGBTQ History from a Connecticut Perspective, a talk by Dr. Susan Ferentinos . She is an advisor to an inspiring new project, the Ridgefield LGBTQ Oral History Project. The Ridgefield Oral History project is a partnership between the Ridgefield Historical Society and Ridgefield Pride that will train high school students to conduct oral interviews with members of Ridgefield’s gay community. Ferentinos is a public history researcher, writer, and consultant helping cultural organizations share untold stories about women and LGBTQ people. She is advising the Ridgefield LGBTQ Oral History Project and has recently worked with the Palmer-Warner House in East Haddam, Connecticut, and the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site in Hyde Park, New York. She is the author of the award-winning book Interpreting LGBT History at Museums and Historic Sites and has contributed her expertise to the National Park Service initiative “Telling All Americans’ Stories.” Ferentinos is available for lectures and book talks. Contact her at https://susanferentinos.com/

Watch her lecture here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=1111325966517828

 

Here are three fantastic places to visit that celebrate LGBTQ+ lives-links for each of these is below:

1)    James Merrill House

CT Open House Day @ the James Merrill House

 

Jun 08, 2024, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM EDT

Stonington, 107 Water St, Stonington, CT 06378, USA

The James Merrill House is a writer's home and a home for writers. As part of CT Open House Day, we will open the doors of the JMH to the public for an opportunity to tour the charming, color-drenched home of one of America's greatest poets at 107 Water Street in the picturesque Stonington Borough.

 

https://www.jamesmerrillhouse.org/

 

2)    Philip Johnson’s Glass House-New Canaan, open now for the summer tour season, order your tickets on line at:

https://theglasshouse.org/visit/hours/

 

3)    Bloodroot Restaurant

https://www.bloodroot.com/

Bloodroot, a vegan, feminist, activist restaurant, owned by lesbians Selma Miriam and Noel Furie in Bridgeport, Connecticut, has thrived for 42 years. See their website for information on reservations for dinner or lunch.

 

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Can you spare $10 a month to help support the new voices, research, and books featured on Grating the Nutmeg? It’s easy to set up a monthly donation on the Connecticut Explored website at ctexplored.org   Click the donate button at the top and then look for the Grating the Nutmeg link. Thank you!

 

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 and lots of day trip ideas!

 

This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/   Follow GTN on our Facebook, Instagram and Threads pages.

 

Follow Connecticut historian Mary Donohue on her Facebook and Instagram pages @WeHaSidewalkHistorian

 

 

 

 

Did you know that comic books were invented in Connecticut? Well, sort of. There are lots of precedents for printing texts with images. But the origin of mass market comic book printing is 1930s Waterbury, where Eastern Color printing began by re-publishing comic strips from newspapers in magazine form. Eventually they partnered with Dell publishing to print the first original content American comic books. But today’s episode takes us a ways down Route 8 from Waterbury to Derby. From the 1940s to 1991, Derby was the home of Charlton Comics, unique for being a one-stop shop that included writers, artists, publishing, and distribution under one roof. The story of Charlton is colorful in more than one way. In this episode, Natalie Belanger of the Connecticut Museum talks to Jon B. Cooke, author of The Charlton Companion. Learn about the seedy origins of the company, its often lackadaisical approach to quality control, and why there was nothing else like it in American comics.

Learn more about the Nutmeg state’s connection to the comic industry by visiting the Connecticut Museum’s exhibition, Connecticut’s Bookshelf now on display at the museum in Hartford. Jon B. Cooke’s book, The Charlton Companion, is available in digital form online at twomorrows.com 

 

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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 and lots of day trip ideas!

 

This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Natalie Belanger 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. Help us produce the podcast by donating to non-profit Connecticut Explored at https://ctexplored.networkforgood.com/projects/179036-support-ct-history-podcast-grating-the-nutmeg

 

Photo Credit: My Secret Life, Charlton Publications, Vol. 1, No. 25, Sept. 1958. Connecticut Museum Collection.

 

 

 

It’s Spring in Connecticut and this episode is part of our celebration of May as Historic Preservation Month. Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven is the first planned cemetery in the country. The design of Grove Street Cemetery in the 1790s pioneered several of the features that became standard like family plots and an established walkway grid. It is also one of the most beautiful places in Connecticut and is designated as a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service. It is on the Connecticut Freedom Trail. 

 

Executive Producer Mary Donohue’s guests are Michael Morand and Channing Harris. Michael Morand is Director of Community Engagement for Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. He was just appointed the official City Historian of New Haven and currently chairs the Friends of the Grove Street Cemetery.

Channing Harris is a landscape architect. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the New Haven Preservation Trust and on the Board of the Friends of Grove Street Cemetery. At the cemetery he's been involved with replanting the next generation of trees, enhancing the front border garden, and assisted with the certification of the cemetery as an Arboretum.

 

Make a day of it in New Haven with a visit to Grove Street Cemetery and perhaps the New Haven Museum or the newly-reopened Peabody Museum. The Cemetery gates are open every day from 9-4. For the times and dates of the 2024 guided tours, go to the Facebook page of the Friends of Grove Street Cemetery. For more information on joining the Friends or volunteering, go to their website at https://www.grovestreetcemetery.org/become-member

 

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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 and lots of day trip ideas!

 

This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/

 

Mary Donohue is an award-winning author, historian and preservationist. Contact her at [email protected]    and follow her Facebook and Instagram pages at WeHa Sidewalk Historian.

 

Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history. Help us produce the podcast by donating to non-profit Connecticut Explored at https://ctexplored.networkforgood.com/projects/179036-support-ct-history-podcast-grating-the-nutmeg

 

image: 

Henry Austin Papers (MS 1034). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.

 

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 [email protected]

 

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

 

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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 [email protected]

 

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.

 

 

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 [email protected]

 

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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.

 

 

 

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.

 

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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

 

 

 

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

 

 

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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.