Daylight Practice Air Raid

One of my favorite sources for historical content and context are diaries. Madeline L. Wells lived in Danielson, Connecticut, when she kept a diary that recently came into the collection here at CHS. She was about 22 in 1943 and kept a meticulous record of the major news stories of the day, all recorded in clear block print. For example, on Tuesday, April 20, 1943, she noted that Adolph Hitler’s 59^th birthday was celebrated with “little enthusiasm” by the German people and that the British Army continued its advance toward Tunis. Only rarely do we get an idea of her personal activities.

What is this?

Our exhibit, Making Connecticut, showcases over 500 objects, images, and documents from the CHS collection. “What is this?” posts will highlight an object from the exhibit and explore its importance in Connecticut history every other week. What is this object? What is the story behind it? To find out more,

Do we ever learn from history?

I am continually amazed by how history repeats itself, and not always for the better. We recently acquired a set of diaries kept by a young Waterbury man just prior to and during his study to become a doctor. James A. Root, Jr. was between college and medical school when he finally decided to keep a diary. His first entry was on August 20, 1939.

A Connecticut “Monuments Man”

A “Monuments Man,” Captain Deane Keller, ca. 1944. Deane Keller Papers Yale University

Over the past year there has been any number of news accounts concerning artwork apparently seized by the Nazis during their occupation of Europe in World War II. Adolph Hitler and Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering were particularly rapacious in this regard. Recently a large collection of paintings and other works believed to have been taken during the war turned up in a private German collection, sending investigators and attorneys scrambling to sort out the mess.

More Than One Man’s Story

A boyish William J. Quish, Jr. wears his new Army Air Force uniform during a visit to Hartford, probably 1941

As a museum curator I am of course interested in the big picture, the sweep of events that bear on us all to one extent or the other. But the stories of individuals also have an undeniable lure, because sometimes in the story of one person we can better understand some of the larger forces at work.

What is this?

Our exhibit, Making Connecticut, showcases over 500 objects, images, and documents from the CHS collection. “What is this?” posts will highlight an object from the exhibit and explore its importance in Connecticut history every other week. What is this object? What is the story behind it? To find out more,

An Over-Sixty Looks at Veteran’s Day

You know you’re getting old when the faces at Veteran’s Day events look more and more like yourself and less and less like your parents. Obviously it’s the natural course of things, and yet there is an unmistakable poignancy in it all. As we bid adieu to the World War II generation I can imagine what my grandparents felt when only a handful of Civil War vets remained alive, fragile souls riding in flashy automobiles in parades of the 1930s.

What is this?

Our exhibit, Making Connecticut, showcases over 500 objects, images, and documents from the CHS collection. “What is this?” posts will highlight an object from the exhibit and explore its importance in Connecticut history every other week. What is this object? What is the story behind it? To find out more,

The Plane!

The newspaper was yellowed, but the image looked hauntingly familiar. Did you know that there was an earlier plane crash into a tall building in New York City than in 2001? I certainly did not until Mavis Davis brought in a small collection of newspapers, a short memoir, and a letter related to the event.

An airplane strikes the Empire State Building, July 28, 1945. Ms 101758

Silent Glow does its part for the war effort

A very nervous potential donor walked in the door at CHS carrying a treasured scrapbook. He doubted if we would be interested, but took his chances. Well, I must have spent close to an hour with the donor oohing and aahing over this scrapbook. It was created by Rose Chorches Gold, an employee at Silent Glow Oil Burner Corporation of Hartford and the donor’s father’s cousin. Rose started the scrapbook in 1940 although some images date from 1937 and focused on the employees of the company.

Silent Glow produced oil burning kitchen stoves, furnaces, and portable styles of oil burners. An advertisement in the December 1, 1930 Lewiston (Maine) Journal claimed Silent Glow had created the market in range burners and were a leader in the industry in general. During World War II, the company president, R.M. Sherman, also head of the burner industry’s association, promoted conservation in a program entitled “Save for Defense”. Sherman cited the need for fuel conservation by adjusting burners to work more efficiently, keeping the temperatures lower, and installing insulation. (Sounds very familiar, doesn’t it?) Rose has a number of articles from newspapers and magazines that illustrated Mr. Sherman’ role at a national level.

Hartford Courant story about Oil Burner’s Efficiency is Fuel Saver, with a button bearing the logo “Save for Defense” from the oil burner industry, 1941. Ms 101680

In addition to documenting Silent Glow’s leadership in the industry, Rose also kept track of those employees who were drafted or entered the service. In the picture below, she lists men who joined or were drafted into the Army and Marines. Other men who entered the military sent post cards or Rose cut out stories about them from the newspaper. So the list of men is not complete.

This page, entitled “Called to Duty” listed men who had joinged the military. John Deluca, Nick Suzick and Jake Shannon were drafted into the army, Ronald G. Hopper enlisted and was wounded in action, and Joe Julius enlisted with the Marines. Ms 101680

Rose’s scrapbook is a great snapshot of this company in the years leading up to the war and through to 1942. She includes employees at work and at play and in most instances has provided identification for people in the pictures. Some she cut out like paper dolls. One gets the feeling from the scrapbook that the company was like a big family. If you want to see this wonderful scrapbook, please ask for Ms 101680 when you come to the Research Center.

Employees of Silent Glow Burner Corp. Ms 101680.