Connecticut Valley Vernacular


Book Description

In this book, O'Gorman treats both the people and the sheds with the respect and admiration their precarious presence requires."--BOOK JACKET.




Cuban Studies 41


Book Description

Cuban Studies 41 includes essays on: the ideology behind United States foreign policy toward Cuba; a gendered study of Cubans who migrate to other countries; fifty years of Cuban medical diplomacy; the fifty-year relationship between Havana and Moscow, national cultural policy and the visual arts in the aftermath of the “Grey Years,” and a look at the global influence of Havana cigars.




Windsor


Book Description

In 1633, explorers from Plymouth Bay reported the Windsor area to be a fine place both for plantation and trade, and not long after, several groups of intrepid pilgrims established the first English settlement in Connecticut. The early settlers took advantage of the areas fertile river floodplains, extensive forests, and swift river currents. Windsor has grown from a remote outpost at the confluence of the Farmington and Connecticut Rivers into a thriving agricultural, commercial, and suburban community. Highlighting themes important to Windsors history, this compelling visual survey portrays the traditional landmarks of a New England village: the meetinghouse and common green, field and forest, ferry and mill. It also reveals the faces of past residents engaged in their everyday lives at work and at play, in trouble and in celebration.







Connecticut Architecture


Book Description

Connecticut boasts some of the oldest and most distinctive architecture in New England, from Colonial churches and Modernist houses to refurbished nineteenth-century factories. The state's history includes landscapes of small farmsteads, country churches, urban streets, tobacco sheds, quiet maritime villages, and town greens, as well as more recent suburbs and corporate headquarters. In his guide to this rich and diverse architectural heritage, Christopher Wigren introduces readers to 100 places across the state. Written for travelers and residents alike, the book features buildings visible from the road. Featuring more than 200 illustrations, the book is organized thematically. Sections include concise entries that treat notable buildings, neighborhoods, and communities, emphasizing the importance of the built environment and its impact on our sense of place. The text highlights key architectural features and trends and relates buildings to the local and regional histories they represent. There are suggestions for further reading and a helpful glossary of architectural terms A project of the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, the book reflects more than 30 years of fieldwork and research in statewide architectural survey and National Register of Historic Places programs.







Connecticut Valley Tobacco


Book Description

Cigar tobacco runs in the blood of Connecticut River Valley farmers. Delve into the surprising history of the region's most iconic crop, all the way back to early Native American uses and the boom of the Civil War. Though fashionable in the 1950s, the popularity of cigars declined a decade later, nearly destroying the region's tobacco industry. A resurgence in the 1990s brought new life to the crop, and the reopening of Cuba in 2015 added a new chapter for cigar tobacco. Brianna Dunlap, director of the Connecticut Valley Tobacco Museum, provides a guide to important tobacco landmarks from East Haddam to Brattleboro, featuring stunning photography from Leonard Hellerman. It is the story of the people--the farmers and field hands--who made tobacco the soul of the valley.




Hidden in Plain Sight


Book Description

The art of discovering cultural and natural treasures in everyday landscapes In the course of the mundane routines of life, we encounter a variety of landscapes and objects, either ignoring them or looking without interest at what appears to be just a tree, stone, anonymous building, or dirt road. But the "deep traveler," according to Hartford Courant essayist David K. Leff, doesn't make this mistake. Instead, the commonplace elements become the most important. By learning to see the magic in the mundane, we not only enrich daily life with a sense of place, we are more likely to protect and make those places better. Over his many years working at the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and writing about the state's landscape, Leff gained unparalleled intimacy while traveling its byways and back roads. In Hidden in Plain Sight, Leff's essays and photographs take us on a point-by-point journey, revealing the rich stories behind many of Connecticut's overlooked landmarks, from the Merritt Parkway and Cornwall's Cathedral Pines to roadside rock art and centuries-old milestones.




All Available Light


Book Description

As a young journalist during the Red Scare of the early 1950s, Ted Polumbaum defied Congressional inquisitors and suffered the usual consequences--he was fired, blacklisted, and trailed by the FBI. Yet he survived with his integrity intact to build a new career as an intrepid photojournalist, covering some of the most critical struggles of the latter half of the 20th century. In this biography, written two decades after his death, his daughter introduces this quirky, accomplished, politically engaged family man of the "Greatest Generation," who was both of and ahead of his times. Polumbaum's fortitude, humor and optimism emerge, animated by the conscience of principled dissidence and social activism. His photography, with its unpretentious portrayals of the famous, the infamous, and the unsung heroes of humanity around the world, reflects his courage in the face of mass hysteria and his lifelong commitment to social justice.




Guano and the Opening of the Pacific World


Book Description

This book traces the history of bird guano, demonstrating how this unique commodity helped unite the Pacific Basin with the industrialized world.