Welcome!

Quick Links

2019 was a remarkable year for the Office of the State Historian, and 2020 brings more good things amidst a sea of challenges.

During 2019, people visited our Today in Connecticut History website, which we produce in partnership with CThumanities,  more than  325,000 times. Several hundred thousand more viewers read our entries on social media. Website subscribers read over 100,000 of our daily Today in Connecticut History emails, and our radio stories on WNPR gained more than three million exposures. Best of all, you’ve told us over and over again how much you enjoy our Today in Connecticut History stories, and we couldn’t be more pleased – or more grateful.

In 2020, despite the world-changing effects of the Covid-19 virus, we’ll be working hard  as ever to come up with new and engaging ways to help you learn about our state’s past, while winning prizes in the present.

Early in 2020, our Connecticut history podcast Grating the Nutmeg, which we produce with Connecticut Explored magazine, will receive its 50,000th download.  Later this year,  Grating the Nutmeg will  reach its 100th episode.  Thank you for helping us reach these milestones, and please continue to spread the word about the state’s most popular Connecticut history podcast.

Sometime this year, Walt Woodward and the Band of Steady Habits will release their first album of history music. Great River was scheduled for a release party at the Connecticut River Museum in Essex in Early May.But a “Stay Home and Stay Safe” order from the Governor has prevented us from completing our final session at Massive Productions in Rocky Hill, so – stand by for further details.

Most exciting, perhaps, is the release of Walt Woodward’s new book Creating Connecticut: Critical Moments that Shaped a Great State. He’ll be spending much of the year traveling the state introducing people to these fascinating stories of Connecticans who made a difference, when that difference really counted. We hope to see you at one of the book events.

The innovative programs of the State Historian’s office are made possible in part through the support and hard work of our partners (CT Humanities for Today in Connecticut History and Connecticut Explored  magazine for Grating the Nutmeg). 

We are especially grateful for  the generous support of the Sue B. Hart Foundation, which has made so much of this work possible.   

RSS Grating the Nutmeg Podcast

  • 95. Beware of the Sea, for it is a Wide, Wide Love May 26, 2020
    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 […]
  • 94. Connecticut’s Jewish Farmers May 3, 2020
    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 […]