Connecticut State Library News

The April 2013 issue of the CONNector Newsletter is now available in pdf format at:  http://www.ctstatelibrary.org/sites/default/files/13aprildraftfinal2.pdf

This latest issue of the Connecticut State Library’s newsletter includes the following:

• Surprises at the State Library by Ken Wiggin
• After Thirty Years: Visual Surprises from the State Archives by Mark Jones
• Publication of Volume XX, The Public Records of the State of CT, 1819-1820 by Douglas Arnold
• Cryptographic Curiosity from the Connecticut State Library by Bonnie Linck
• Across the Cataloger’s Desk by Bill Anderson
• 10 Myths about CT Public Libraries by Tom Newman
• Gems by Jenny Groome
• Adoption of the Regulation concerning Real Property Electronic Recording by LeAnn R. Power
• Third Thursdays at the Connecticut State Library

CONNECTICUT STATE LIBRARY “3rd THURSDAY OF THE MONTH”BROWN BAG LUNCH SERIES

Professor Jon Purmont will discuss his new book Ella Grasso: Connecticut’s Pioneering Governor at the Connecticut State Library on Thursday, May 16, 2013 from Noon to 12:45. Purmont, who served as Grasso’s executive assistant when she was governor, draws on his diary from that time, research in Grasso’s archives, and interviews with Grasso’s family and friends, to give us a rich and intimate portrait of this political pioneer. When Grasso ran for governor of Connecticut in 1974, she had not lost an election since she was first voted into the state’s General Assembly in 1952. She was the nation’s first woman to be elected governor in her own right capping a long and successful career dedicated to public service, effective government, and the democratic process. During her tenure as governor, Grasso’s leadership was tested in the face of fiscal problems, state layoffs, and budget shortfalls. The daughter of Italian immigrants, she endeared herself to her constituents during the great Blizzard of 1978, when she stayed at the State Armory around the clock to direct emergency operations and make frequent television appearances.

Thursday, May 16, 2013
12:00 - 12:45 p.m.
Connecticut State Library ~ Memorial Hall

Purmont’s talk is part of the State Library and Museum of Connecticut History’s Third Thursday BrownBag Lunchtime speaker series which features a variety of speakers on various aspects of Connecticut history. All programs are free and open to the public.

About the Speaker: Jon E. Purmont is a lifelong resident of Connecticut. He received a B.S. degree from Georgetown University, a Masters Degree in Education from Southern Connecticut State University, and a Doctorate in the Teaching of History from Teachers College, Columbia University. In 1979, he became Executive Assistant to Governor Ella Grasso and also served on the staff of Governor William O’Neill. In 1992, he joined the History Faculty at Southern Connecticut State University and taught courses in Connecticut History, Colonial U.S. History, and served as the Department Coordinator of the Teacher Certification program. He retired from the University in 2009. Wesleyan University published his recent biography of Ella Grasso entitled Ella Grasso Connecticut’s Pioneering Governor.

About the State Library: The Connecticut State Library is an Executive Branch agency of the State of Connecticut. The State Library provides a variety of library, information, archival, public records, museum, and administrative services to citizens of Connecticut, as well as the employees and officials of all three branches of State government. The Connecticut State Archives and the Museum of Connecticut History are components of the State Library.

The State Library recently had this new volume printed and sent copies to all public libraries, libraries of institutions of Higher Education, and the State Documents Repository System. A limited number are available for purchase until the supply runs out. Each volume costs $25.00 plus state sales tax and postage. If you wish to have a copy, please contact the State Archivist via e-mail (mark.h.jones@ct.gov) or by letter sent to Connecticut State Library/231 Capitol Ave./Hartford, CT 06106. Provide your name, mailing address and the number of copies that you want. Do not send cash, money orders, or checks. A bill will come with the order. The Historical Documents Preservation Fund made this volume possible.

CONNECTICUT STATE LIBRARY “3rd THURSDAY OF THE MONTH”BROWN BAG LUNCH SERIES

State Archivist Mark Jones will deliver a talk at the Connecticut State Library on Thursday, April 18, 2013 from Noon to 12:45 on Frederic Collin Walcott and his career as a conservationist. Walcott’s political career began as a member of the Connecticut State Senate representing Norfolk from 1925-29, serving as president pro tempore from 1927-1929. Governor Trumbull appointed Walcott to the Board of Fish and Game Commission as its President and as the first President of the new State Water Commission, 1927-1929. In 1928, he was elected to the United States Senate and served as the first chairman of the Special Committee for the Protection of Wildlife Resources. On this committee, Walcott passed on to the Senate a favorable report on a bill creating a duck stamp, required of all persons with hunting licenses, the proceeds of which went to wetlands reclamation for wildfowl migrating in the spring and fall. Today the Duck Stamp funds many programs of the Federal Wildlife Service.

Walcott was defeated for reelection in 1934 and served as head of the Department of Public Welfare from 1935-1939. Although Walcott never left memoirs, his letters and later speeches made in 1941 and 1942 to wildlife conservationists show his take on the conservation movement in the first half of the twentieth century.

Thursday, April 18, 2013
12:0o p.m. – 12:45 p.m.
Connecticut State Library ~ Memorial Hall

About the Speaker:  Mark Jones has been working on Frederic Collin Walcott for several years. On May 31st of this year, he shall retire after thirty years as the State Archivist, and one of his activities will be writing the biography. He has used resources here in the State Library, the large Walcott Collection at Yale University, other smaller collections at Stanford University and at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch, Iowa. He has also received assistance and encouragement from Walcott’s surviving granddaughter, Alexandra (Sandy) Walcott, who annually comes up from New York City and opens up the house which her grandfather built in 1909 for the spring, summer and fall. She has graciously invited Jones to visit the house, exchanged stories about her grandfather and lent him photographs and manuscripts that are not in the collection at Yale.

About the State Library: The Connecticut State Library is an Executive Branch agency of the State of Connecticut. The State Library provides a variety of library, information, archival, public records, museum, and administrative services to citizens of Connecticut, as well as the employees and officials of all three branches of State government. The Connecticut State Archives and the Museum of Connecticut History are components of the State Library.