Welcome!

Quick Links

Amazon Affiliate. Commissions Earned From Sales Support the Programs of the State Historian.

Give Someone You Love the Gift of Connecticut History

 

Due to Unexpected and Much–Appreciated Demand, We Are Awaiting the Arrival of More Copies of Creating Connecticut. We Expect Them Around December 20th, But Cannot Guarantee Delivery of Signed Copies by Christmas Day. We Will, However, Get All Orders Out the Day the Books Arrive.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ORDERS – AND YOUR PATIENCE.

    Readers and critics love the 24 stories state historian Walt Woodward presents in his new book Creating Connecticut: Critical Moments That Shaped a Great State. Selected because they say something both interesting and important about our state’s past that is relevant to Connecticut today, these stories are the perfect way to introduce anyone to the fascinating world of Connecticut history.

For $30.00, we’ll send a signed and personalized copy of Creating Connecticut to your favorite history buff – and have it in the mail within 24 hours of receiving your order.

To pay by check, send name and address of recipient and preferred inscription (if any)to:  Walt Woodward, 37 Route 87, Columbia CT 06237

To Pay by Credit Card, Call 860 218-4703, and we will take your order over the phone. Or, fill out form below and we will email you for recipient’s name and address information . Thank You 

$30.00 Book Purchase

You can check out the reader reviews or order an unsigned copy from Amazon by clicking here https://amzn.to/3lCtx1y or on the link at the bottom left of the page.

We hope you’ll read and share Creating Connecticut with friends and family. And please consider adding your review to amazon.com or Goodreads.

About Creating Connecticut

Connecticut State Historian Walter Woodward helps us understand how people and events in Connecticut’s past played crucial roles in forming the culture and character of Connecticut today. Woodward, a gifted story-teller, brings the history we thought we knew to life in new ways, from the nearly forgotten early presence of the Dutch, to the time when Connecticut was New England’s fiercest prosecutor of witches, the decades when Nutmeggers were rapidly leaving the state, and the years when Irish immigrants were hurrying into it. Whether it’s his investigation into the unusually rough justice meted out to Revolutionary War hero Nathan Hale, or a peek into Mark Twain’s smoking habits, Creating Connecticut will leave you thinking about our state’s past––and its future––in a whole new way.

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

  • 110. Polish Jewish History, World War II and a Jewish Child’s Survival January 18, 2021
    In this episode, join Mary Donohue, Asst. Publisher of Connecticut Explored to learn more about Polish-Jewish history and how our guest Dr. Leon Chameides survived the Nazi occupation of Poland as a Jewish child. Despite the fact that many American Jews trace their family to Poland, there are many misconceptions about Polish history and the history […]
  • 109. Communicating with the Spirits: Theodate Pope Riddle January 1, 2021
    In 1938 pioneering female architect and founder of the Hill-Stead Museum, Theodate Pope Riddle of Farmington enjoyed an excursion through Europe. While in London she participated in three sittings with trance mediums, continuing an avocational interest in spiritualism that lasted 34 years.  Hear more about Riddle’s efforts to scientifically prove the ability to communicate with […]