Grating the Nutmeg

After World War II, one Connecticut community made a conscious effort to reject racial segregation. The founders of Village Creek in Norwalk created a cooperative neighborhood which promised not to discriminate based on "race, color, creed or politics."   Over the next decades, the Villagers faced criticism from many quarters, but the community survived and thrives today. In this episode, Natalie Belanger and Melica Bloom of the Connecticut Historical Society take a look at the founding of Village Creek, and some of the challenges it faced over the decades.    If you'd like to learn more about the Village Creek Association, visit the Connecticut Historical Society's Research Center. And visit their special exhibition, "Patios, Pools and the Invention of the American Backyard," a travelling exhibition by the Smithsonian Institution, on view through February 23, 2019. Find out more at chs.org.   And for more great Connecticut stories, subscribe to Connecticut Explored, the magazine of Connecticut history. The current issue is about our creative history and the upcoming spring issue explores in a surprising variety of stories how important water is to Connecticut’s story. Find out more at ctexplored.org.   We wish to thank Natalie Belanger, CHS Adult Programs Manager, and CHS Exhibit Developer Melica Bloom. This episode was produced by Natalie Belanger and Patrick O’Sullivan. Music on this episode by Miles Elliot @miles_aheadmusic.

     State Historian Walt Woodward asked five of Connecticut's leading voices for the history community, what their favorite winter history reads are this year. Briann Greenfield of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, State Librarian Ken Wiggin, Sally Whipple of the Old State House, Jason Mancini of CTHumanities, and Christina Volpe of the Connecticut League of History Organizations, each shared the books that are providing them a fascinating escape from bleak midwinter, the 2019 edition.  

This is the fifth in our series of talks presented by Connecticut’s Old State House commemorating the 300th anniversary of Connecticut’s first state constitution. In this episode judges Henry Cohn and Jon Blue wrap up our discussion of the state’s first constitution in “Why the Constitution of 1818 Matters Today.” This has been a great series pairing historians and legal scholars. In the first in the series, episode 45, state historian Walt Woodward provides the historian’s view of the broader cultural context that brought us to a state constitutional convention. In this episode, Judge Blue gives us the legal perspective. And in episode 55, Wesleyan University professor emeritus Richard Buel does a deep dive into the political history that led to the constitution. Also in this episode, Judge Cohn gives a judge’s perspective on the constitution’s Declaration of Rights-- in particular what it has to say about our right to a jury trial, freedom of religion, and right to an education. For the historian’s perspective on religion and the constitution, listen to Professor Robert Imholt in episode 59. Finally, legal scholar Wesley Horton describes the constitutional debates in episode 56. For the whole series, listen to episodes 45, 55, 56, 59, and 63. This episode was produced by Elizabeth Normen and Patrick O'Sullivan. This episode is sponsored by Attorney Peter Bowman. Find out more at bowman.legal.  

  Charles Lyle, executive director of the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum in Wethersfield, whets your appetite for a visit to the Webb, Stevens, and Deane houses to see how the holidays were celebrated in three eras: c. 1770, c. 1830, and c. 1930. Find out how, in the 1800s, Clement C. Moore and Thomas Nast created Santa Claus, and the origin of the New Year's resolution--all in this episode of Grating the Nutmeg!    This episode is sponsored by attorney Peter Bowman, holding distracted drivers accountable for their actions. Find out more at bowman.legal   For more great holiday listening, listen to episode 21 "A Connecticut Christmas Story by Harriet Beecher Stowe," and episode 11 to learn more about the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum. This episode was produced by Elizabeth Normen, and Patrick O’Sullivan.

Food historians Keith Staveley and Kathleen Fitzgerald join state historian Walt Woodward at his dinner table in Columbia for a talk about traditional New England holiday foods - authentic and not-so-authentic – and the stories behind them.  PLUS, Keith and Kathy brought along 9 truly historic and delicious New England food recipes, translated into modern cooking instructions kitchen-tested for authentic flavor.  Whether you want to wow your holiday dinner guests with some astonishing food facts, or cook up a dish or two they'll be talking about all year, this is your podcast.   Listen to the stories, then DOWNLOAD THE RECIPES AT Connecticut Explored     www.ctexplored.org/historic-holiday-recipes/ This episode is sponsored by attorney Peter Bowman, holding distracted drivers accountable for their actions. Find out more at bowman.legal Don't forget to listen to the special bonus add-on:a live reading  Gov. Samuel Huntington's 1786 Thanksgiving meditation, recorded at the special Thanksgiving dinner at the Samuel Huntington homestead in Scotland, CT on November 10th (source of our historic dinner images)   

THE P T BARNUM YOU NEVER KNEW   In this special Connecticut Public Television audio documentary, we tell the story almost no one knows about the other side of PT Barnum. Almost everyone is familiar with Barnum's extraordinary career as a showman, entrepreneur, and creator of The Greatest Show on Earth, but "Barnum's Connecticut", which host Walt Woodward wrote and produced as a companion to CPTV's broadcast of the American Experience documentary "The Circus"  CPTV.org/thecircus shows a side of this world-changing impresario that will challenge anything you think about him right now. Featuring Kathy Maher of Bridgeport's Barnum Museum and Sally Whipple of Connecticut's Old State House in Hartford, this is an episode you don't want to miss.      And to hear the companion episode "Barnum's Circus" visit the Connecticut Public Television "The Circus" webpage 

This episode, the fourth in our 6-part series commemorating the Constitution of 1818, explores one of the main accomplishments of the state’s first constitution: the separation of church and state. Professor Robert Imholt challenges that assertion, though, arguing that the process to disentangle religion from the state began much earlier. Still, find out how deep our Puritan roots were as the state finally convened to write a state constitution in this episode of Grating the Nutmeg. This episode is sponsored by attorney Peter Bowman, holding distracted drivers accountable for their actions. Find out more at bowman.legal

In the 1910s, a group of Connecticut reformers formed a society aimed at solving a growing crisis – the spread of venereal diseases. The United States’ entry into WWI provided this so-called “social hygienist” movement with an unprecedented opportunity to influence the sexual mores of Americans. In this episode produced by Connecticut Historical Society’s Natalie Belanger, Natalie tells us how that worked out for these well-intentioned reformers—especially one George P. Thayer, a crusader for clean living that saw a little more in France than he'd bargained for.   This episode is sponsored by Attorney Peter Bowman. Find out more at bowman.legal. Read more about Connecticut in World War I at ctexplored.org in the Spring 2017 and Winter 2014/2015 issues. 

Hartford native Gerry Peterson has played golf with President Barack Obama and was inducted into the Black Golf Hall of Fame in 2015. Golf has always been a huge part of his life from his start as a kid caddie during the Depression to playing as a young executive at Aetna Life and Casualty. But what did it take for Peterson, a black golfer, to become a member of the whites-only Keney Park Golf Club in 1963? Gerry Peterson will tell us and historian Jeffrey Mainville , author of this summer 2018 issue’s story “The Midway Golf Club” will reveal Hartford’s part in the national struggle to end racial discrimination at municipal golf courses in America. This episode was produced by Mary Donohue, Asst. Publisher of Connecticut Explored and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan, PDO Films. Subscribe at ctexplored.org For more stories of struggle and triumph by Connecticut’s African American community, order your copy of our book African American Connecticut Explored, now in paperback, on Amazon. This episode was sponsored by attorney Peter Bowman, helping the seriously injured and holding distracted drivers accountable for their action. More at bowman.legal. And Connecticut Humanities, co-publisher of Connecticut Explored, the magazine of Connecticut history. Visit cthumanities.org    

Attorney Wesley Horton, president of the Connecticut Supreme Court Historical Society, outlines the main issues of debate as state delegates finally gather to draft a state constitution. What happened inside the convention? How do we know? Find out in this episode of Grating the Nutmeg. This episode was recorded at Connecticut's Old State House and produced by Elizabeth Normen.    This episode is sponsored by attorney Peter Bowman, holding distracted drivers accountable for their actions. Find out more at bowman.legal. And Connecticut Humanities, co-publisher of Connecticut Explored.    See Episode 45 for Constitution of 1818 Part I Trouble in the Land of Steady Habits See Episode 55 for Constitution of 1818 Part 2 The Collapse of Federalist Dominance   Read More! Buy the special 200th Anniversary of the Constitution of 1818 Fall 2018 issue of Connecticut Explored at ctexplored.org.