Featured Event Saturday Walking Tours
Who’s Buried Where and Why Do We Care? Join us for our first annual series of walking tours, led by current and former MHS Board members. We will visit a different cemetery every Saturday to “meet” residents who made Meriden great as well as look at some of our more unusual gravestones. We will meet at the entrance of each cemetery at 1:00. Tours are approximately two hours long. Each tour is limited to 20 participants. Tickets are $10 for each individual tour. Registration is required for each event. For more details and to register click the links below.
September 30th 1741-1771 Meetinghouse Hill and Broad Street Cemetery
Register Meetinghouse by Thursday Sep 28th
October 7th 1845 East Cemetery Register East by Thursday October 5th
October 14th 1845 West Cemetery
Register West by Thursday October 12th
October 21th 1863 Walnut Grove Cemetery
Register Walnut by Thursday October 19th
October 28th 1876 Sacred Heart Cemetery Register Sacred by Thursday October 26th
At the Andrews Homestead
Saturday 9/16 1-4 Open House
Join us for the Fall Open House and see the treasures at the Homestead.
Saturday 10/7 4-7 Spooky Stories
Join us as dusk arrives to listen to seasonal spooky stories. There are stories for children 8 and under, children 9 and up and adults. Children’s stories start promptly at 4:00 and 5:00. 6:00 is adult spooky stories! There will be an activity for children after story time. Reservations are required due to space limitations. Click HERE to reserve your spot.
Saturday 11/4 1-4 Colonial Centerpiece Making
This is an herb wreath, not greenery and properly stored can be used for years. You must sign up and prepay the cost no later than Sat 10/14 in order for us to order and receive the materials in time. Click HERE to reserve and prepay between October 1 and October 14 Registration is not yet open for this event.
Saturday 12/9 1-4 Gingerbread Houses
Join award winning baker Carol Murdock and create your house. It will be too pretty to eat! You must register and prepay the cost by 11/14 in order for us to order and receive materials on time. Click HERE to reserve and prepay before November 14th.
| Lecture Series Our lecture and presentation series is the last Thursday of the month barring holidays or unforeseen circumstances. We start promptly at 6:30. Our Fall line-up is as follows. September 28 SMOKESTACKS TO MANSIONS: Connecticut’s Industrial Age & Gilded Age Families Come to an inspiring evening as Christina Volpe M.A., Ph.D. Candidate talks about the captivating history of Connecticut’s industrial growth and the opulent lives of Gilded Age families. This lecture takes you on a mesmerizing trip back in time, exploring the rise of industries including the silver industry and the lavish lifestyles of prominent families who left an indelible mark on our history. Click HERE to reserve your seat. | October 26 SPOOKTACULAR MERIDEN Meriden has some great scary stories and mysteries, from the Black Dog in the Hanging Hills, to the Underhill Sanitorium, the Leatherman and even our very own Andrews Homestead. Come enjoy some seasonal fun learning about spooky goings on in Meriden and in Connecticut. We are asking attendees to be bring a new toy as admission which we will donate to the holiday campaign here in Meriden. Click HERE to reserve your seat November 30 MERIDEN THEN and NOW We invite you to share the essence of eight decades of life, dreams, and transformation in our city. Come and listen as local high school students share the data from all the stories collected detailing how the lives of children and teens have changed over the last 80 years here in Meriden. We are very excited to share these stories with you. We are asking attendees to be bring a new toy as admission which we will donate to the holiday campaign here in Meriden Click HERE to reserve your seat. There is no presentation in December because of the holiday season. We will restart our lecture series on January 26th. Our Winter newsletter, arriving in late November, will have all the details. |
Activities
MERIDEN THEN AND NOW
Ongoing through September 15th
We invite you to help us capture the essence of eight decades of life, dreams, and transformation in our city. Don’t miss your chance to become a part of Meriden’s living history! We will be collecting stories through September 15th. You can choose to be recordedor write your answers and email them to us.For more information, visit our website at www.meridenhistoricalsociety.org to download the questions or call 203-639-1913.
MERIDEN FAST FORWARD
Opens 10/1 Closes 12/1
Join the fun with this photography contest open to the public. Participants take a picture of a person, place or thing they think will be historically important 100 years from now in Meriden. Gallery 53 will host a juried exhibition in January for the artistic merits of the photos while a panel of historians will review the narratives for the historical importance. Prizes will be awarded at 41 W Main on Thursday 2/23 at 6:30 with the winners presenting their work. For more information and get the directions please email us info@meridenhistsoc.org .
| New Members We welcome the following new members! Lori Canney Jennifer Farina Suzanne Goldberg Ed & Jeanne Hanlon Fall Hours 41 W Main Wednesday 9:00- 3:00 Tours at 11 and 1 Thursday 3:00-8:00 Closed 1st Thursday (9/7, 10/5, 11/2, 12/7) Friday By Appointment First Saturdays 9-12 Andrews 9/16 1-4 10/7 4-7 (ticketed event) 11/4 1-4 (ticketed event) 12/9 1-4 (ticketed event) | Sponsors *APEC Electric Sound Spectrum 45 Shuler Ln Entertainment Durham CT 06422 25 N. Plains Industrial Rd. 203-238-0427 Wallingford CT 06492 https://www.apecelectricct.com/ 203-317-7129 Rozz1@aol.com *Jonal Laboratories 456 Center St. Valentin Karate. Meriden CT 06451 75 S Colony St. 203-634-4444 Meriden, CT 06450 https://www.jonal.com/ 203-213-9077 https://Valentinkarate.net Macri Enterprises, LLC 387 S. Colony St. * Suzio Insurance Center, Inc. Meriden CT 06451 54 Chamberlain Hwy. 203-600-5075 Meriden CT 06451 MacriSigns@gmail.com 203-237-7403 www.Suzioinsurance.com *Mahon, Quinn & Mahon, P.C. 636 Broad St. * Tuxis Ohr’s Fuel Meriden CT 06450 80 Britannia St. 203-238-1010 Meriden CT 06451 WWW.mqmlawyer.com 203-639-3513 www.tuxisfuel.com *Meriden Memorial Funeral Home 450 Broad St. *Plimpton & Hills Meriden CT 06450 300 Research Parkway 203-235-9181 Meriden, CT 06450 www.meridenmemorialfh.com 860-522-4233 www.plimptonhills.com *Mule Security & Electric Inc. 113 Broad St. Meriden CT 06450 203-238-7561 www.mulesecurity.com *New England Capital Financial Advisors, LLC 79 Main St. Meriden CT 06451 203-935-0265 www.newenglandcapital.com Russell Hall Company 19 N. George St. Meriden CT 06451 203-235-6391 https://www.russellhall.com/ |
NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING
Date: September 14th
Time: 6:00 PM
Where: 41 W Main St Meriden
All members are welcome. Refreshments will be served. Please come out to hearour plans and vote for our new Board and officers. RSVP by September 7th please. By Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86747739852?pwd=ZXYxQkhLbDh5VThJUVJhNGxldTJwdz09
Meeting ID: 867 4773 9852 Passcode: annual
From the Director’s Desk
I spend a lot of my time wondering about the future of history. In recent years, history has slowly and surely been relegated to red-headed stepchild status in the world of curriculum, taking a place far behind math, English and science. My love for history was kindled at an early age by my father, whose passion for history was communicated to all of his children. I loved stories about the past, anyone’s past, anywhere on the planet. I loved historical fiction, maybe because I liked to pick it apart for historical inaccuracies, but actually for the contextually rich background that authors like Diana Gabaldon and Phillipa Gregory painted, that brought me right in to those worlds. I loved real history. It was my favorite subject. And it is little wonder that I would choose to become a history teacher as my first profession.
I have changed careers but always come back to my professional roots in some form and I now feel that I have come full circle returning to that first love of history as I settle in here at the historical society. But I must share that I worry about the future of the discipline that is far and away my favorite. A recent writing in the American Association of State and Local History was right on the money. And I quote, referring to America’s historical societies, “They have had a strong run since the beginning of the twentieth century, but have always found it hard to do two things: find new board members and attract young families. The running joke is that local societies have always been run by “little old ladies in white tennis shoes.” And they’ve done a good job, but can they, as a force, sustain the pattern?”
And it keeps me awake at night. Once Generation X hits retirement age,the numbers shrink in comparison to Boomers. STEERIKE ONE There will simply be less people who will support the work, and fewer people for lectures, activities and all the rest. And those demographic patterns are not going to change.
People who were born and stayed in a place their wholes lives are becoming more rare. Gone are “I was born on Such and Such Street, right next to the big house where so and so used to live.” We are a highly mobile society and we aren’t all local anymore. Fewer and fewer people with long memories who have deep ties to the community are available to work at preserving any town’s history. STEERIKE TWO. The writing is on the wall.
Now, consider this last point. Local historical societies are just that – local. Local organizations need to see a bigger picture, not just stop at the town line. How do we avoid striking out? Engage younger people. Keep up with technology. Embrace all of the cultures that made and continue to make Meriden what it is so everyone knows they are a part of the story that continues to unfold every single day. What are your thoughts? How can you help us get to the next part of our story? Email us at info@meridenhistsoc.org with your ideas with the subject line “IDEAS”.
NEW EXHIBIT COMING IN OCTOBER
Stay tuned for the details as the Museum celebrates 125 years of history with the Suzio Family.
Follow us on Facebook for updates. It’s going to be fabulous!
News and Events
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