Only 15 Years To Go, Start Planning Now…
It may not seem that long ago that Connecticut celebrated its 300th Birthday. The 1935 celebration was an extravaganza that included parades and celebrations across the state. Lots of parades, lots of them …
State Historian Walt Woodward penned an authoritative account of the Tercentenary in Connecticut Explored in 2010 (the year of the 275th anniversary). Walt says that the “question of when to celebrate Connecticut’s birth is a tricky one…[t]here were many options to choose from, but no clear standout.” Nineteen Thirty five was somewhat arbitrarily chosen by the Tercentenary Commission in 1934, partly because Rhode Island would be celebrating its own tercentenary in 1936.
There were more than parades both before and after the six month period between April and October 1935 that was officially designated as the Tercentenary. The monthly Tercentenary Bulletin was published between October 1934, and December 1935 by the Tercentenary Commission. It included news about historical essay contests, commemorative medals and license plates, exhibits, events, radio addresses and more.
To the modern eye, many of the events that took place during this period look quaint, cringe-worthy, or downright offensive. But the Tercentenary also supported serious research into Connecticut history. The Committee on Historical Publications, in partnership with Yale University Press, produced dozens of pamphlets on all sorts of historical topics.
Not coincidentally, the Tercentenary coincided with the height of the Colonial Revival movement in architecture and design and the beginnings of the historic preservation movement in the US that included the Historic American Buildings Survey in Connecticut and across the country.
As seen from this perspective the Tercentenary reflected the social and cultural currents of the time. In 15 years Connecticut will celebrate its Quadricentennial. What sort of histories will be written from our archives and historical societies about the first 400 years of Connecticut history? Our ability and determination to document as many of the stories of Connecticut as we can and provide them to historians will make that task easier and more inclusive.
Connecticut Digital Archive Connect is the publication of the Connecticut Digital Archive, a program of the UConn Library. Visit https://ctdigitalarchive.org to learn more.
