Category: Sunday Series

Jeopardy delights onlookers

Posted on by Logan Wheeler

Jeopardy delights onlookers

The Kent Historical Society hosted a game of Jeopardy focused on history Sunday, Nov. 15. The program was created by Bruce Adams, a KHS member and Kent’s first selectman. As a former Social Studies teacher at Kent Center School, Adams said he used Jeopardy-style games with his students as a way to study for tests or just a fun activity.

The three contestants were Ed Epstein, Michael Ward and Kasey Clark. Each had his own cheering section in the crowd as they answered the questions, which were quite difficult at times. The first set of categories included Notorious Firsts, Presidents and Veeps, Oddities, Who Said It? and Wait A Second.

“It is very difficult to make up questions for something like this,” Adams said. “I wanted it to be something interesting to you as you sit there and try to figure out the answers in your head and please don’t say the answers out loud.”

Adams said it is a real balance to get the questions right.

“You don’t want to make them so easy that everyone in the room knows the answers, but it is no fun for anyone if nobody knows the answers.”

He said he had fun putting together the event. He also had two quick special rounds in between the two regular rounds. The special recognition round was “Kent According To Susi,” in honor of Kent native and former Kent Historical Society trustee and president Mary “Susi” Williams. Adams borrowed former KHS newsletters and he put together five questions from what Susi had written.

“Lou Bull and an in-town farm next to the town hall. The Old Town Hall is now this,” Adams said and Epstein responded correctly when he said, “What is the Randall antique place?” and Adams said, “yes, RT Facts. “

Epstein was the final winner displaying his knowledge of history and his knowledge of town after living here for almost 50 years.

 

 

Brass Valley, the Fall of an American Industry

Posted on by Logan Wheeler

A Photo Essay on the Brass Valley, and the fall of an American Industry

Emery Roth II, of Washington, CT, gave a richly illustrated talk on the legendary history of the Naugatuck River Valley’s brass industry as part of the Kent Historical Society’s Sunday Series, on September 20, 2015 at the Kent Town Hall. The talk was drawn from Roth’s newly released book, Brass Valley: The Fall of an American Industry.

The Brass Valley began in 1802, when two metalworking families joined forces to manufacture brass. Business soared during the War of 1812 with the demand for buttons, and soon brass parts became essential in the age of steam and electricity. As large-scale brass manufacturing grew across what became known as Brass Valley, mill towns along the river, such as Torrington and Waterbury, developed into thriving cultural centers. This continued until 2014, when the last plant closed.

Emery Roth II earned degrees in architecture and literature from Carnegie-Mellon University. After 40 years living and working in Connecticut’s Northwest Hills, he became fascinated with the old mill towns of the Naugatuck Valley. This poignant elegy captures the glowing metal flying through the air at the Ansonia foundry in its final days as well as abandoned opera houses and train tracks, the vestiges of a dying infrastructure and American way of life. Roth’s photographs evoke an entire way of life that has vanished from the region.

This event was presented in collaboration with the Connecticut Antique Machinery Association

The Kent Historical Society sponsors the Sunday Series every other month September through May. Admission is free, but donations are welcome.

The Kent Historical Society’s mission is to collect, preserve, interpret and present the rich history of Kent as well as to provide educational and research material to enrich the public understanding of Kent’s artistic and cultural heritage. For more information, see www.kenthistoricalsociety.org or call 860-927-4587.

 

Brass Valley, the Fall of an American Industry

Posted on by Logan Wheeler

 

Brass Valley, the Fall of an American Industry

Sunday, September 20, 2015, at 2:00 PM at the Kent Town Hall, Emery Roth II of Warren, author of “Brass Valley, The Fall of an American Industry,” will present a poignant, richly illustrated talk on the legendary history of the Naugatuck River Valley’s brass industry, which began in 1802. Brass parts then became indispensable in the age of steam and electricity. As the industry grew across the Brass Valley, mill towns along the river developed into thriving cultural centers. Roth ponders the waning of the industry and its legacy as well. This talk is being presented in collaboration with the Connecticut Antique Machinery Association.

Litchfield Hills’ Cultural Treasures

Posted on by Logan Wheeler

Explore the rich cultural treasures of Litchfield County

Kent is called the “Cultural Heart of the Litchfield Hills” by the Kent Chamber of Commerce, and its residents and visitors have long-cherished the town’s cultural abundance.

As a center of learning with three private schools, many nonprofits with a wide variety of interesting programming and a large number of art galleries, there are a lot of things that make the town unique and draw people to visit. The Kent Historical Society is one of the groups that prides itself on the town’s cultural riches. This particular Sunday Series presentation explored what Kent and the other towns in Litchfield County offer to its residents and visitors.

William Hosley, a cultural resource development consultant and frequent lecturer, spoke on “Discovering the Litchfield Hills’ Cultural Treasures” on May 17, 2015 as part of the Society’s ongoing Sunday Series programs.

Hosley is a strong promoter of cultural tourism and he specializes in presenting lively regional cultural histories. As a Connecticut-based consultant, he serves local communities, museums, historical organizations, and businesses. He has more than 30 years in the business, serving as an historian, writer, photographer, marketing and communications consultant, and social media expert,.

He was formerly director of the New Haven Museum and Connecticut Landmarks, where he cared for a chain of historic attractions throughout Connecticut. Prior to that, he was a curator and exhibition developer at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford.

Hosley’s presentation on Kent and the Litchfield Hills explored the history, art history and cultural attractions that are located in New England’s most cherished places.

The Kent Historical Society sponsors the Sunday Series every other month September through May. Admission is free, but donations are welcome.

The Kent Historical Society’s mission is to collect, preserve, interpret and present the rich history of Kent as well as to provide educational and research material to enrich the public understanding of Kent’s artistic and cultural heritage. For more information, call 860-927-4587.

Boston Tea Party Connection

Posted on by Christopher Williams

What’s The Connection Between The Boston Tea Party and Amenia Union?

At the Annual Meeting of the Kent Historical Society on Sunday October 18, 2009, at 2:30pm in the Kent Town Hall, David Parker illuminated the life of Ethan Allen’s unsung sidekick and partner-in-rebellion – Dr. Thomas Young.

Mr. Parker, who has been researching the life of Thomas Young for many years, explained how the United States very well might not be the great free country we know today had it not been for the radical thoughts of Dr. Young.

As a very youthful physician, Thomas Young, aged 19, left his home on the western shores of the Hudson River and headed east to the little settlement on the northwest border of Kent. There he found lodging at the home of Captain Garret Winegar, a prominent German Palatine immigrant. Winegar was one of the leaders of a group of Palatines who settled in this area; his descendants moved to the Macedonia section of Kent where they were involved in the iron industry. Dr. Young learned to speak the Old Dutch language, and became physician to the Palatine community.

In 1762, the erudite young doctor was asked to name the growing village in the Oblong on the New York side of the state line. He came up with the word Amenia, which he said meant “pleasing” in Latin. He lived in Amenia Union, just inside the Connecticut border, for 12 years, practicing medicine, reading voraciously and developing a rather radical and rebellious way of looking at the world.

1762 was a fateful year not only for the hamlet of Amenia but for the American colonies as well. 1762 was the year in which Thomas Young met Ethan Allen, and found in him a kindred spirit with a well developed sense of rebellion against all powers that be.

This friendship would set Young on the trajectory that eventually took him from the Oblong Valley all the way to Boston and Philadelphia – the hot beds of the brewing American Revolution. Working with radicals such as Thomas Paine, and supported by Samuel Adams and Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Young set about to ensure that the colonies could not only break away from England but also establish an entirely new order of governance in the fledgling new country.

South Kent School’s Center for Innovation

Posted on by Christopher Williams

The Center For Innovation at South Kent School

Andrew Vadnais, Head of South Kent School, spoke at the Kent Historical Society’s Sunday Series program on September 18, 2011, at the Kent Town Hall. Joined by Rich Chavka, Associate Head of School, Mr. Vadnais outlined the school’s plan for the use of the 200-acre Arno farm in South Kent that the school purchased in 2010.

The Center will begin by creating environmental studies to restore the health of Hatch Pond and combine academic learning with real world applications. The program will ultimately focus on stewardship of local and global issues of environmental changes.

The farm will become a campus and lab for testing environmental applications while providing a learning experience for the challenges of 21st-century needs.

At the same time it will supply the school with organic food and alternative energy as part of an effort to become more self-sustaining and carbon-neutral by 2020. The mid-18th century farmhouse will be restored to its original condition and used as part of the daily education of the students, offering them a glimpse into the lives of early Connecticut settlers.