Stowe House moves closer to designation as national historic landmark

The nomination of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House for national historic landmark status cleared another hurdle in Washington last week, with the National Historic Landmark Committee giving its unanimous approval and sending the nomination on to the National Park System Advisory Board.

The Advisory Board must now make its recommendation to the Secretary of the Interior, who has the final say.  

According to the National Park Service, fewer than 2,500 places in the U.S. have historic landmark designation. It is reserved for places that "possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States." Among other things, a national historic landmark designation can open the door to grants, tax incentives, and technical preservation assistance from the federal government.

Connecticut's two senators, Joseph I. Lieberman and Richard Blumenthal, along with 1st District Congressman John B. Larson, issued statements expressing their continued support of the effort.

"Harriet Beecher Stowe left an indelible mark on American history, and through the preservation of her house in Hartford, current and future generations can come to learn and appreciate her extraordinary accomplishments and the lasting legacy they have had," Larson said.

Here's the National Park Service's nomination of the Stowe house, complete with historic and current photographs (PDF, 40 pages). Here's a two-page summary (PDF.) And here's a list of the Connecticut properties that have won designation (PDF, 3 pages.)

Saturday: Great deals at Hartford museums, landmarks, & other attractions

Count the following among those offering free or reduced-price admission on Saturday, in conjunction with the eighth-annual Connecticut Open House Day:

• Bushnell Park Carousel
• Butler-McCook House & Garden
• Cinestudio at Trinity College
• Connecticut Historical Society & Museum
• Governor's Residence
• Hartford Base Ball Grounds at Colt Meadows
• Harriet Beecher Stowe Center
• Mark Twain House & Museum
• Old State House
• Wadsworth Atheneum of Art 

Check the state's tourism website, ctvisit.com, for details on what's being offered by these institutions and others around the state.

'Making Connecticut' exhibit to open at CHS

The new exhibit at the Connecticut Historical Society, set to open May 25, sounds like it could be fun for the youngsters:

"Colorful, interactive, and filled with more than 500 historic objects, images, and documents, "Making Connecticut" is the story of all the people of Connecticut, from the 1500s through today. Themes of daily life, clothing, transportation, sports and leisure, work, and social change run throughout the exhibit. Hands-on activities for kids (and adults!) include working a World War II assembly line, hand stenciling designs for a 19th-century chair, sewing a Native American moccasin, replacing bobbins in a textile mill, and cooking a meal and setting the table in both a colonial and a 1980s kitchen. Come be surprised, inspired, and amused as you explore our state's past and your own place in 'Making Connecticut.'" 

Saturday at CHS: "Reflections on Hartford’s Kellogg Brothers"

Alas, back in 19th-century Hartford, no one was posting video clips of their lives on YouTube. But we do have the work of the Kellogg Brothers, who created prints that depicted the city's everyday life in detail.

The Connecticut Historical Society will wrap up its six-month exhibition of Kellogg prints on Saturday, July 17, with a panel discussion among Georgia B. Barnhill of the American Antiquarian Society, Donald H. Cresswell of the Philadelphia Print Shop, and collectors James Brust and John Zak.

The event begins at 3:30 p.m. at the CHS museum at 1 Elizabeth Street in Hartford. There's no charge beyond general admission to the museum, which is $6 for adults and $3 for seniors (65 and over), students (with valid college ID), and youth (ages 6-17). For more information, call (860) 236-5621 x209.

By the way, CHS has published a book of its Kellogg prints.

Hartford's darkest day remembered

Tuesday is the 66th anniversary of the Hartford circus fire, which killed 168 people and injured nearly 500.

The Mark Twain House and Museum will mark the anniversary by hosting a discussion among authors who've written about the fire, including novelist Mary-Ann Tirone Smith ("Masters of Illusion"), poet Paul Janeczko ("Worlds Afire"), and investigators Don Massey and Rick Davey ("A Matter of Degree: The Hartford Circus Fire and the Mystery of Little Miss 1565.") Kathy Maher, executive director of the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, will serve as moderator.

The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with a screening of the Connecticut Public Television documentary on the fire. The panel discussion, entitled "Telling a Tragic Tale: Writers on the Hartford Circus Fire," follows at 7:30 p.m. Afterward, the authors will sign copies of their books, and visitors can view a collection of artifacts that will be on display in the Great Hall of the museum through July.

Admission is free. The Mark Twain House Museum is located at 351 Farmington Avenue. You'll find directions and a map here.

On Saturday morning, Cedar Hill Cemetery will hold its own event, including presentations from Pat Weibust, who attended the circus the day of the fire, and playwright Anne Pié, whose "Front Street" deals with the fire's impact on a local immigrant family. Following the presentations, there will be a tour of the graves of some of the people who lost their lives in the fire.

Cedar Hill Cemetery is located at 453 Fairfield Avenue, in the city's South End. (Map)

How CNNMoney.com views Hartford

CNNMoney.com has ranked Hartford the country's fifth-best metropolitan area in which to launch a small business.  While that may have many of us scratching our heads--especially in light of near-daily bummers like the City Council's acknowledgment last week that the Project Mayor project planned for the vacant corner of Main and Park streets will never become reality--it's worth noting that CNNMoney.com repeatedly references the city's history:

"The past few years have seen new life--hotels, restaurants, a convention center and a science center--sprouting in the historic city, where you'll also find the country's first public art museum and oldest public park."

There's even a photo of the Old State House. It all speaks to the potential for using the Hartford area's history as a draw not just for visitors but new residents. Heck, it seems to be one of the positive attributes people already associate with us, so why not get the most out of it?

Well, it's good to know things are looking up somewhere

From today's Hartford Courant:

"The mood is considerably brighter at the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, where, thanks to a well-publicized fund-raising effort, its projected operating deficit of $400,000 is paid off and the organization may end its fiscal year on Saturday with a small surplus."

Read the rest of the Courant article

Visit the Twain House website

An excellent idea

On his WTIC-AM talk show this afternoon, Colin McEnroe offered a great idea for reviving downtown Hartford: build a museum dedicated to the written word. Sure, we're already building a science museum -- but so is every other city, he noted. A written-word museum would not only make Hartford unique, he said, but it would also allow the region to draw on its long heritage of great authors, like Mark Twain, Noah Webster, Wallace Stevens, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. McEnroe described a museum where visitors would learn about everything from the Gutenberg press to the latest developments in computing. He also spoke of making the building distinctive by designing it to look like a letter of the alphabet. That's fine too, but I'd be reluctant to enter a building shaped like the letter "V." Colin McEnroe's blog