Events & Programs – Page 2 – New London County Historical Society

Back by Popular Demand ~ “Little Women” Returns to the Shaw Mansion

Posted on November 7, 2011April 25, 2019 by stevemanuel

Join us for a wonderful adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic story produced by Flock Theatre in the intimate setting of the Shaw Mansion Long Parlor. You’ll never view Christmas in quite the same way after sharing it with the March family as the story unfolds around you.

Preview Shows:

Tuesday, Wednesday, 3, and 4, January at 7pm.

Weeknight Performances:

Thursday and Friday, 5 and 6 January at 7pm; and Tuesday through Friday, 10 – 13 January at 7pm.

Weekend Performances:

7, 8, and 14, 15 January, two shows each day 2pm and 7pm.

Pricing:

Ticket prices for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday performances are $25 for adults, $20 for children and seniors. Tickets for Friday, Saturday and Sunday performances are $35 for adults, $30 for children and seniors.

For Reservations and additional information:

Call the Flock Theatre Box Office at 860.443.3119

Time and Again ~ Fall Foliage Cruise on the Thames

Posted on September 12, 2011April 25, 2019 by stevemanuel

Click below to purchase your tickets using our secure server:

Available to members of the New London County Historical Society
and members of the Norwich Historical Society.

Pick up tickets at the gate on the day of the event. Tickets must be presented for complimentary beverage onboard.

Please park in the Water Street Parking Garage or in town; NO parking will be available on the Cross Sound Ferry lot.

Thank you!

NLCHS Annual Meeting ~ 18 September 2011

Posted on August 22, 2011April 25, 2019 by stevemanuel

The Work of Women on the Home Front: Handwork and Organizing During the Civil War

Please join us for the 141st annual meeting of the New London County Historical Society which will be held at the Shaw Mansion, Sunday 18 September, beginning with a wine and hors d’oeuvres reception at 4 pm followed by the business meeting at 5:15.

Lynne Bassett, an internationally known expert on 19th century textiles, will be the featured speaker sharing her research on the work of Ladies Aid Societies in Connecticut towns during the Civil War.

During the business meeting of the society board members and officers will be elected. In addition to the usual reports, the board has recommended amendments to the bylaws which will be voted on by the membership. Please go to NLCHS Proposed Bylaws Revisions 2011, a pdf document, to review and print out a copy of the “marked-up” revisions. These changes substantially update the current bylaws to contemporary legal standards.

The presentation will begin at 6 pm. Bassett, a textile and costume historian, is author of: Massachusetts Quilts — Our Commonwealth, and, Textiles for Clothing of the Early Republic, 1800-1850, and has worked as a curator of textiles for Old Sturbridge Village and the Connecticut Historical Society.

Regarding her current research Lynne writes that she is deep in her study of “Civil War textiles, and how textiles were integral to the struggle—from the social and economic tensions between southern cotton plantation owners and northern cotton mill owners, to textiles that kept the soldiers clothed, warm, and dry. The symbolism of flags, and the role of women on the homefront, who spent every possible moment sewing and knitting garments, rolling bandages, and scraping lint for men on the frontlines and in the hospitals, is an important part of the story. Through textiles we can understand how the war affected civilians and soldiers, as well as the military and political leaders who generally get all the attention.”

Tickets $20 for members. Call today to make reservations: 860.443.1209.

Rick Spencer Sings the Hits of the ’60s (that is, the 1860s)

Posted on June 16, 2011April 25, 2019 by stevemanuel

I’ m certain that you have sung a song by Connecticut-born composer Henry Clay Work, as it was he who wrote the song, “My Grandfather’s Clock,” in 1876. Work is just one of several professional composers who got their “big start” during the years of the Civil War.

On Wednesday evening 20 July, bring your lawn chairs and join us in the garden of the Shaw Mansion as Rick Spencer presents a program on the “Greatest Hits of the Civil War: America’s Earliest Professional Songwriters.” The garden gates will open at 6:30 pm and the show will start at 7:00, (we’re expecting a lovely evening). Members will be asked to make a donation, for others, the concert will cost $5. (We are also calling it the “Eve of Destruction” concert, as 21 July marks the 150th anniversary of the First Battle of Bull Run.)

Rick was a long-time member of the staff of Mystic Seaport working as a chanteyman and as a member of the quartet, Mystic Seaport’s Forebitter. More recently he was site administrator at the Hempsted Houses and now serves as the executive director of the Dr. Ashbell Woodward House museum of the Franklin Historical Society. In addition to being a recognized expert on the songs of the sailor, Rick has now done extensive research on popular music of 19th century America, creating programs such as, “Freemen for Fremont,” and this presentation on composers Stephen Foster, Daniel Decatur Emmett, and George F. Root in addition to Henry Clay Work.

The performance will include many of their songs, and Rick will share insights on how this music reflected the American character of the day.

26 June ~ Connecticut’s Historic Gardens Day

Posted on June 16, 2011April 25, 2019 by stevemanuel

Come to the Shaw Mansion for Connecticut’s Historic Garden Day

Sunday 26 June join us at the Shaw Mansion for Connecticut’s Historic Gardens Day. Your $5 admission to the gardens will provide opportunities for learning and enjoying the garden in the current, or the 19th century. In the morning Susan Munger will host garden tours and there will be a presentation on the surprising connection between the Shaw Mansion gardens and one of the earliest proponents of “modernist” landscape design, Christopher Tunnard, born in Canada, trained in England, and teaching at Yale after the Second World War.

In the afternoon, “Miss Perkins and friends” will entertain with period music, a “Language of Flowers” tour and perhaps a game of croquet.

There will be plants available for sale, and strawberry shortcake for everyone!

Open 11am to 3:30 pm.

Connecticut’s Jewish Farmers ~ February Second Sunday

Posted on February 1, 2011April 25, 2019 by stevemanuel

February’s Second Sunday program features Mary Donohue and Briann Greenfield, authors of a new book on Connecticut Jewish history. This book, the fourth in the Connecticut Jewish History Series from the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford, focuses on the lives of Jewish farmers in Connecticut and has been published by the Society with funding from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism.

Co-edited by Mary M. Donohue, Architectural Historian with the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, and Briann G. Greenfield, Associate Professor of Public History at Central Connecticut State University, A Life of the Land: Connecticut’s Jewish Farmers begins historically with the migration of Eastern European Jews through America’s cities and then to the Connecticut countryside. Why Connecticut? How did these immigrants operate successful enterprises with little or no farming experience? Who and what helped support and sustain them? The story of the resilience and perseverance of these Jewish farmers and how they impacted their communities is told through historical data, oral history interviews and unique photo essays.

Copies of the book will be available for sale at $25.00, and Mary and Briann will be available to autograph. Refreshments will be served following the presentation.