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2019 was a remarkable year for the Office of the State Historian, and 2020 could be just as good, or even better.

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, we’ll be adding new and engaging ways to help you learn about our state’s past, while winning prizes in the present. Stay tuned for details.

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.  Both milestones are worth celebrating, and we hope you will join us in doing so. This calls for a party! Stand by for details.

In spring, Walt Woodward and the Band of Steady Habits will release their first album of history music. Great River is scheduled for a release party at the Connecticut River Museum in Essex in Early April. Bring  your dancing shoes.

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

  • 87. Time Capsule: Dirt Floor Studio and Connecticut Music January 14, 2020
    In the Winter 2019 issue of Connecticut Explored, Museum of Connecticut History curator Dave Corrigan tackles the obsolescence of everyday objects such as typewriters that were replaced by personal computers. With the advent of digital recording, CDs, and streaming music services, perhaps no industry has experienced more rapid change in the last 20 years tha […]
  • 86. Who Paid for the American Revolution? The Founding Fortunes January 2, 2020
    In our first episode for 2020, state historian Walt Woodward interviews author and historian Tom Shachtman talks about his just released book, The Founding Fortunes: How America's Wealthy Paid for and Profited From America's Revolution. In this fascinating economic history covering the years from the Birth of the Republic to the end of the War of 1 […]