Civic Groups

Today at 7:00 pm - Dr Warshauer discusses 'Slavery and Race in Connecticut'

When asked about slavery and race in 19th century Connecticut, many people think first of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.  Or we think of Connecticut-born John Brown and Harper’s Ferry, or Prudence Crandall, Connecticut’s State Heroine, who founded a school for African-American girls in Canterbury in the 1830’s.  Our state history includes the 29th Connecticut Regiment Colored Volunteer Infantry, men who served at the Union hospital at Beaufort, South Carolina, and at the sieges of Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia.  So was Connecticut a leader in the abolitionist movement?

Join Central Connecticut State University Professor of History Dr. Matthew Warshauer at Windsor Historical Society on Wednesday, February 15th at 7 p.m. for an intriguing and at times disconcerting look at how Connecticut residents viewed slavery and race before, during, and after the Civil War. As the New England state with the largest slave population at the time of the American Revolution, Connecticut had a decidedly mixed connection to the "peculiar institution" of slavery and the problems of race that were woven within. Although slavery was abolished in Connecticut in 1848, Connecticut’s state constitution of 1818 defined voters as “white.”   Efforts to extend suffrage to people of African descent were unsuccessful in Connecticut until the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870.   In 1860, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison in frustration referred to Connecticut as the “Georgia of New England.”  The establishment of Connecticut’s 29th Regiment was itself a battle.  Hear more on February 15th.

Dr. Warshauer currently serves as co-chair of the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission, and is helping to coordinate activities across Connecticut to focus on the importance and lasting legacies of the American Civil War and Connecticut’s involvement in it.   His illustrated lecture will be of interest to anyone interested in race, slavery, and the Civil War.  

We encourage you to make reservations before the program by calling 860/688-3813, x. 102.  

Cost for the program is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and students, and $4 for Windsor Historical Society members.   Parking is available in the Windsor Discovery Center and First Church parking lots and around Palisado Green.    For more information, contact the Society at 860/688-3813 or online at www.windsorhistoricalsociety.org.  This program is partially supported by a grant from the Connecticut Humanities Council for Civil War programming.

The Windsor Historical Society, founded in 1921, invites visitors to explore the people, places, and events that have shaped Windsor for over 375 years.  The Society’s museum includes changing and permanent exhibition galleries; a hands-on-history learning center for families; a research library and manuscript collection housing Windsor photographs, documents, ephemera, and genealogical materials; a museum gift shop and two historic houses open to the public:  the 1758 John and Sarah Strong House and the 1767 Dr. Hezekiah Chaffee House.  

The Windsor Historical Society is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.  General admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and students, and free to children under 12 and Society members.  Call (860) 688-3813 or visit us on the web at http://windsorhistoricalsociety.org  for directions to the Society and more information about programs.  To receive e-reminders for public programs, please send your e-mail address to JLIB_HTML_CLOAKING .

Note of the editor: This promises to be one of the most interesting events the Society has offered this year. Dr. Warshauer is a rising star in the national scene of prominent historians, and he is not afraid to tackle controversial issues. His specialy is 19th century American history, so he has intimate knowledge of the period and the topic he will present. For the historiophiles: Be there!

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