Episodes

  • 187. Derby's Charlton Comics: "No Other Place Like It"

    187. Derby's Charlton Comics: "No Other Place Like It"
    May 15 2024

    Did you know that comic books were invented in Connecticut? Well, sort of. There are lots of precedents for printing texts with images. But the origin of mass market comic book printing is 1930s Waterbury, where Eastern Color printing began by re-publishing comic strips from newspapers in magazine form. Eventually they partnered with Dell publishing to print the first original content American comic books. But today’s episode takes us a ways down Route 8 from Waterbury to Derby. From the 1940s to 1991, Derby was the home of Charlton Comics, unique for being a one-stop shop that included writers, artists, publishing, and distribution under one roof. The story of Charlton is colorful in more than one way. In this episode, Natalie Belanger of the Connecticut Museum talks to Jon B. Cooke, author of The Charlton Companion. Learn about the seedy origins of the company, its often lackadaisical approach to quality control, and why there was nothing else like it in American comics.

    Learn more about the Nutmeg state’s connection to the comic industry by visiting the Connecticut Museum’s exhibition, Connecticut’s Bookshelf now on display at the museum in Hartford. Jon B. Cooke’s book, The Charlton Companion, is available in digital form online at twomorrows.com

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    Subscribe to get your copy of Connecticut Explored magazine delivered to your mailbox or your inbox-subscribe at ctexplored.org. You won’t want to miss our Summer issue with new places to go and lots of day trip ideas!

    This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Natalie Belanger and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/

    Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history. Help us produce the podcast by donating to non-profit Connecticut Explored at https://ctexplored.networkforgood.com/projects/179036-support-ct-history-podcast-grating-the-nutmeg

    Photo Credit: My Secret Life, Charlton Publications, Vol. 1, No. 25, Sept. 1958. Connecticut Museum Collection.
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    33 mins
  • 186. New Haven’s Pioneering Grove Street Cemetery

    186. New Haven’s Pioneering Grove Street Cemetery
    May 1 2024

    It’s Spring in Connecticut and this episode is part of our celebration of May as Historic Preservation Month. Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven is the first planned cemetery in the country. The design of Grove Street Cemetery in the 1790s pioneered several of the features that became standard like family plots and an established walkway grid. It is also one of the most beautiful places in Connecticut and is designated as a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service. It is on the Connecticut Freedom Trail.

    Executive Producer Mary Donohue’s guests are Michael Morand and Channing Harris. Michael Morand is Director of Community Engagement for Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. He was just appointed the official City Historian of New Haven and currently chairs the Friends of the Grove Street Cemetery.


    Channing Harris is a landscape architect. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the New Haven Preservation Trust and on the Board of the Friends of Grove Street Cemetery. At the cemetery he's been involved with replanting the next generation of trees, enhancing the front border garden, and assisted with the certification of the cemetery as an Arboretum.

    Make a day of it in New Haven with a visit to Grove Street Cemetery and perhaps the New Haven Museum or the newly-reopened Peabody Museum. The Cemetery gates are open every day from 9-4. For the times and dates of the 2024 guided tours, go to the Facebook page of the Friends of Grove Street Cemetery. For more information on joining the Friends or volunteering, go to their website at https://www.grovestreetcemetery.org/become-member

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    Subscribe to get your copy of Connecticut Explored magazine delivered to your mailbox or your inbox-subscribe at ctexplored.org. You won’t want to miss our Summer issue with new places to go and lots of day trip ideas!

    This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/

    Mary Donohue is an award-winning author, historian and preservationist. Contact her at marydonohue@comcast.net and follow her Facebook and Instagram pages at WeHa Sidewalk Historian.

    Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history. Help us produce the podcast by donating to non-profit Connecticut Explored at https://ctexplored.networkforgood.com/projects/179036-support-ct-history-podcast-grating-the-nutmeg

    image:

    Henry Austin Papers (MS 1034). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
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    41 mins
  • 185. Connecticut Industries Unite for WWII Victory: Pratt, Read & Co Gliders

    185. Connecticut Industries Unite for WWII Victory: Pratt, Read & Co Gliders
    Apr 15 2024

    In this episode, we uncover a Connecticut World War II story that features airplanes without engines. Sound crazy? You’ll learn how these engineless gliders helped beat the Nazis. Executive Producer Mary Donohue will also talk to the author of a new book that details the role that over 45 Connecticut companies played in producing the ammunition, weapons and machines that the United States needed as part of the massive war effort during World War II.

    Her guests today are Connecticut author Sharon Cohen and Melissa Josefiak, Executive Director of the Essex Historical Society.

    Cohen has authored several books. Her new book Connecticut Industries Unite for WWII Victory was published in 2023 and placed second in the 2024 New England Book Festival.

    Its available from High Point Publishing:

    www.highpointpub.com

    . Sharon Cohen is available for book talks and signings. Contact her at cohencomm1@earthlink.net

    The Essex Historical Society has new publications on the three Essex villages-Ivoryton, Centerbrook and Essex, where much of today’s story takes place.

    For information on the publications and programs of the Essex Historical Society, go to their website at https://www.essexhistory.org/ and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

    Subscribe to get your copy of Connecticut Explored magazine delivered to your mailbox or your inbox-subscribe at https://simplecirc.com/subscribe/connecticut-explored

    You won’t want to miss our Summer issue with new places to go and lots of day trip ideas!

    image: Courtesy of Essex Historical Society

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    You can help us continue to produce the podcast by donating directly to Grating the Nutmeg on the Connecticut Explored website here: https://ctexplored.networkforgood.com/projects/179036-support-ct-history-podcast-grating-the-nutmeg

    Executive producer Mary Donohue is an award-winning author, historic preservationist and architectural historian. She can be reached at marydonohue@comcast.net

    This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/

    Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history.
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    40 mins
  • 184. The Borinqueneers: Puerto Rico’s Men of the 65th Regiment

    184. The Borinqueneers: Puerto Rico’s Men of the 65th Regiment
    Apr 1 2024

    In this episode, we celebrate and commemorate National Borinqueneers Day coming up on April 13th. It recognizes the bravery, service, and sacrifice of the 65th Infantry Regiment, a United States Army unit that consisted mostly of soldiers from Puerto Rico and the only segregated Latino unit in the United States Army.

    But the honor and fidelity of the men of the 65th came into question in 1952 during the Korean War when 91 regiment members were arrested and tried for desertion and disobeying orders. How could this happen to such a distinguished and decorated unit of the Army?

    Executive Producer Mary Donohue’s guest for this episode is accomplished Connecticut author of young adult literature, Talia Aikens-Nunez. In her book, Men of the 65th, The Borinqueneers of the Korean War, she guides us through the history of the 65th from its beginning in 1899.

    This book is a great read for a young adult reader or anyone that has a member of their family that served in the regiment. There is a beautiful monument to the Borinqueneers in New Britain at the intersection of Beaver and Farmington Streets-well worth a visit. And we have an article that was published in Connecticut Exploredmagazine on the monument that is free to read on our website-link below.

    Read more about the Borinqueneers Memorial here: https://www.ctexplored.org/site-lines-monument-to-connecticuts-borinqueneers/

    Talia Aikens-Nunez is available for book talks and signings. She can be reached on her website at https://www.kidslitbytalia.com/

    Can you use your power of giving to make a $250 dollar donation? We would love to send you our brand-new Grating the Nutmeg t-shirt as a thank you! Donor and t-shirt recipient Jack Soos writes “I love how this podcast uncovers amazing stories and historical insights right in our backyard! Thank you so much and keep up the good work!”

    You can help us continue to produce the podcast by donating directly to Grating the Nutmeg on the Connecticut Explored website here:

    https://ctexplored.networkforgood.com/projects/179036-support-ct-history-podcast-grating-the-nutmeg

    Executive producer Mary Donohue is an award-winning author, historic preservationist and architectural historian. She may be reached at marydonohue@comcast.net

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    This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/

    Subscribe to get your copy of Connecticut Explored magazine delivered to your mailbox or your inbox-subscribe at ctexplored.org. You won’t want to miss our Summer issue with new places to go!

    Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history.
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    31 mins
  • 183. Margaret Rudkin of Pepperidge Farm

    183. Margaret Rudkin of Pepperidge Farm
    Mar 16 2024

    One of the most recognizable food brands in the world got started in a kitchen in Fairfield, Connecticut. In this episode, Natalie Belanger chats with historian Cathryn J. Prince about Margaret Rudkin, the woman who founded Pepperidge Farm.

    Read Prince's full-length article about Rudkin on the Connecticut Explored website here: https://www.ctexplored.org/pepperidge-farm-healthful-bread-builds-a-business/

    Natalie Belanger is the Adult Programs Manager at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History. You can see the Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm Cookbook in their current exhibition, Connecticut's Bookshelf, open now through September 8, 2024.

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    Can you use your power of giving to make a $250 dollar donation? We would love to send you our brand-new Grating the Nutmeg t-shirt as a thank you! Donor and t-shirt recipient Jack Soos writes “I love how this podcast uncovers amazing stories and historical insights right in our backyard! Thank you so much and keep up the good work!”

    You can help us continue to produce the podcast by donating directly to Grating the Nutmeg on the Connecticut Explored website at ctexplored.org Click the donate button at the top and then look for the Grating the Nutmeg donation link at the bottom.

    This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Natalie Belanger and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/

    Photo credit: Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm Cookbook cover, CMCH collection 641.5 R916m
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    26 mins
  • 182. Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution

    182. Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution
    Mar 1 2024

    Are they pirates, profiteers or legitimately authorized extensions of George Washington’s almost non-existent American Navy? We’ll find out with guest historian Eric Jay Dolin, author of Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American RevolutIon.


    Dolin will underscore an element missing from most maritime histories of the American Revolution: a ragtag fleet of private vessels — from 20-foot whaleboats to 40-cannon men-of-war helped win the war, including some 200 from Connecticut. Armed with cannons, guns, muskets, and pikes, thousands of privateers tormented the British on the Atlantic and in bays and harbors on both sides of the ocean.

    Eric Jay Dolin is the author of sixteen books, including Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America, a topic we look forward to exploring in an upcoming episode of Grating the Nutmeg. Rebels at Sea was awarded the Morison Book Award for Naval Literature, conferred by the Naval Order of the United States, and was a finalist for the New England Society Book Award. His forthcoming book, to be published in May, 2024, is Left for Dead: Shipwreck, Treachery, and Survival at the Edge of the World. Dolin lives in Marblehead, Massachusetts, with his family.

    Thanks to my guest Eric Jay Dolin. To find out more about his work, go to www.ericjaydolin.com.

    Today’s episode is the second in our 2024 series on Connecticut’s maritime history-I hope you’ve had the chance to listen to episode #180 on Colonial Connecticut and the West Indies. If you love these seafaring tales, you’ll find dozens of stories to read on our website at ctexplored.org under the Topics button here: https://www.ctexplored.org/travel-transportation/

    Eric Jay Dolan’s presentation at the New Haven Museum is now available on their YouTube channel was part of New Haven250, an ongoing series of programming developed to complement America250. Culminating with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the series will highlight inclusive, local, and lesser-known stories, connecting past and present. Follow their Facebook page to find out more about upcoming programs.

    Watch the taped presentation by author Eric Jay Dolan on the New Haven Museum’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpELt9K7u2TcAx6JHlsD62w/videos

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    Subscribe to get your copy of Connecticut Explored magazine delivered to your mailbox or your inbox-subscribe at ctexplored.org

    This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/

    Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history.
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    50 mins
  • 181. Hartford and the Great Migration, 1914-1950

    181. Hartford and the Great Migration, 1914-1950
    Feb 15 2024

     

    181. Hartford and the Great Migration, 1914-1950

     

    In the February 4, 2024 issue of the New York Times, journalist Adam Mahoney describes the Great Migration as a time when millions of Black people left the South to escape segregation, servitude and lynching and went North in search of jobs and stable housing. In this episode, host Mary Donohue will discuss Hartford and the Great Migration with Dr. Stacey Close. Connecticut Explored’s book African American Connecticut Exploredpublished by Wesleyan University Press has just celebrated its 10th anniversary. Dr. Close served as one of the principal authors for this groundbreaking volume of essays that illuminate the long arc of Black history in Connecticut.

     

    A native of Georgia, Dr. Close has worked in higher education for more than 25 years. A professor of African American history at Eastern Connecticut State University, Close received his Ph.D and M.A. from Ohio State University and his B.A. from Albany State College, a Historically Black College in Georgia. He is currently working on a book project entitled “Black Hartford Freedom Struggle, 1915-1970.”

     

    Thanks to my guest Dr. Stacey Close. Read his article published in Connecticut Explored here:

    https://www.ctexplored.org/southern-blacks-transform-connecticut/

     

    Subscribe to get your copy of Connecticut Explored magazine delivered to your mailbox-subscribe at https://simplecirc.com/subscribe/connecticut-explored

     

    Was your family part of the Great Migration? Be sure to listen to GTN episode 127 to find out how to put your family’s history together for future generations with Black family historians Jill Marie Snyder and Hartford’s Orice Jenkins.

    https://gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/127-telling-your-family-story-with-jill-marie-snyder-and-orice-jenkins

     

    Can you use your power of giving to make a $250 dollar donation? We would love to send you our brand-new Grating the Nutmeg t-shirt as a thank you!  Donor and t-shirt recipient Jack Soos writes “I love how this podcast uncovers amazing stories and historical insights right in our backyard! Thank you so much and keep up the good work!”

     

    You can help us continue to produce the podcast by donating directly to Grating the Nutmeg on the Connecticut Explored website at ctexplored.org.   Click the donate button at the top and then look for the Grating the Nutmeg donation link at the bottom.

     

    This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/

     

    Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history.

    Image: Shiloh Baptist Church women's group, 336 Albany Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut Museum of Culture and History. 
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    29 mins
  • 180. Colonial Connecticut: Sugar, Slavery and Connections to the West Indies

    180. Colonial Connecticut: Sugar, Slavery and Connections to the West Indies
    Feb 2 2024
      Although Connecticut sometimes seems like such a small, isolated place on the map, it was connected to the far-flung, complex, cosmopolitan British empire even in the 17th century.  This year on Grating the Nutmeg, we’re going to explore Connecticut’s maritime history with episodes on Colonial Connecticut’s trade with the British colonies of the Caribbean, privateering during the American Revolution and the whaling ships sent around the globe in the nineteenth century. Connecticut’s maritime entrepreneurs made fortunes by sending ships to sea and employed sailors, shipbuilders, traders, drovers, provisioners, and more.   In this episode, we talk about sugar. Sugar production in the tropical climate of the British islands of the West Indies made men tremendous fortunes. But to cultivate and process sugar cane into sugar required vast amounts of labor. As my guest Dr. Matt Warshaurer wrote in the Summer 2023 issue of Connecticut Explored “The fields and mills of the Caribbean were worked by African peoples stolen from their homes, placed in shackles and delivered to British colonies in North American and the Caribbean.” Connecticut’s ships delivered food and building materials to the islands and returned with sugar, rum and molasses. These were then traded for finished goods from England-furniture, china, glass, textiles. We’ll hear today about how the trade route known as the “Triangle Trade” moved people, products, and goods across the  Atlantic Ocean, helping to make British plantation owners as well as some Colonial Connecticut families rich.   My guests today are Dr. Matt Warshauer, professor of history at Central Connecticut State University.  The author of five books and countless articles and reviews, Warshauer has written extensively on Andrew Jackson, slavery and the Civil War. Dr. Warshauer serves on the editorial board for Connecticut Exploredmagazine and in the Summer 2023 issue authored the feature story “Connecticut’s Sweet Tooth: The Sugar Trade and Slavery in the West Indies”.   To read this story, please go to https://www.ctexplored.org/connecticuts-sweet-tooth-the-sugar-trade-and-slavery-in-the-west-indies/   Dr. Katherine Hermes, the publisher of Connecticut Explored, has published extensive research on the Atlantic world and Colonial Connecticut.  She is the director and historian for the award-winning public history  project  “Uncovering their History: African, African-American, and Native-American Burials in Hartford’s Ancient Burying Ground, 1640-1815”. She recently completed two new projects for the Ancient Burying Ground Association including one telling the stories of people with connections to the West Indies and one on women-Black, White and Indigenous-who rest in the Burying Ground.  To read more about these projects, please go to: https://www.africannativeburialsct.org/ https://ancientburyingground.com/projects/telling-new-stories/ https://www.ctexplored.org/unburying-hartfords-native-and-african-family-histories/ And to listen to earlier podcasts, please go to: https://gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/149-the-middle-passage-west-africa-to-connecticut https://gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/78-uncovering-african-and-native-american-lives-in-17th-18th-century-hartford   We have brand new Facebook and Instagram pages under Grating the Nutmeg - please follow us and you’ll get behind the scenes photos, sneak peeks of new content, and info on how to purchase our new merchandise!  ----------------------------------------------------   Fresh episodes of Grating the Nutmeg are brought to you every two weeks with support from our listeners. You can help us continue to produce the podcast by donating directly to Grating the Nutmeg on the Connecticut Explored website at ctexplored.org   Click the donate button at the top and then look for the Grating the Nutmeg donation link at the bottom. Make a $250 dollar donation and we’ll send you our brand new Grating the Nutmeg teeshirt.   This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/   This is Mary Donohue. Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history.
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    41 mins