One of Connecticut’s most accomplished citizens — and governors — also had one of the state’s most unusual nicknames. Morgan G. Bulkeley — Civil War veteran, financier, insurance executive, first president of baseball’s National League, and strong-arm politician — earned himself the nickname “the Crowbar Governor,” while serving in that office in 1891.” Bulkeley…
Tag: state government
November 24: Connecticut’s Longest-Serving Governor Learned His Political Skills Behind a Bar.
In many respects, Governor William A. O’Neill lived the life of a quintessential 20th century Connectican. Born in Hartford in 1930, he attended public schools in East Hampton, took classes at the Teacher’s College of Connecticut (now Central Connecticut State University), and subsequently held jobs in two of Connecticut’s major industries: first at…
November 5: Ella Grasso, America’s First Female Governor Elected In Her Own Right
Born to Italian immigrants in 1919, Ella Rosa Giovanna Oliva Tambussi grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood of first- and second-generation Americans in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. Her parents, determined to invest in a better future for their daughter, saved up enough money to send Ella to the prestigious Chaffee School in Windsor. Afterward, she…
November 4: Connecticut Founder & Alchemist John Winthrop Jr. Arrives in America
Today in 1631, John Winthrop, Jr., one of the most important figures in Connecticut history, first set foot in the New World, having arrived in Boston where his father, John Winthrop Sr., was governor the Massachusetts Bay Colony. A Renaissance man of many talents, the younger Winthrop was well-versed in alchemy, medicine, and early…
October 31: Trick or Treat? The Legend of the Charter Oak
One of the most important symbols in Connecticut history is the Charter Oak – the giant, gnarled oak tree that represents Connecticut’s “steady habit” of self-rule and resistance against tyranny. Depictions and namesakes of the Charter Oak are plentiful throughout the state: schools, streets, social organizations, parks, Connecticut’s state quarter, and even a brewery…
September 19: Saybrook Apologizes to New Haven for the “Battle of the Books”
In 1701, the Connecticut General Assembly passed an act establishing a “Collegiate School” in hopes of creating a place “wherein Youth may be instructed in the Arts and Sciences who [through] the blessing of Almighty God may be fitted for [public] employment both in Church & Civil State.” For the first several years of…
July 5: Connecticut’s Other (for 177 Years) State Capitol
From 1701 through 1878, the Colony (and later State) of Connecticut had not one, but two capital cities: Hartford and New Haven. During these 177 years of shared governance, each co-capital built a series of State Houses to host the Connecticut General Assembly, which would meet in Hartford and New Haven on alternating years….
June 21: “Poor Judgment” Costs a Governor His Job
“I acknowledge that my poor judgment brought us here,” said John Rowland to a sea of reporters standing on the back lawn of the Connecticut Governor’s Mansion in Hartford. The date was June 21, 2004, and Rowland was announcing his resignation amid a federal corruption investigation and impeachment inquiry. His Lieutenant Governor, M. Jodi…
May 31: Rev. Thomas Hooker Declares “the People” the Foundation of Government
To many students of Connecticut history and colonial America, Thomas Hooker is considered the “founding father” of Connecticut. A Puritan minister who journeyed from England to Holland to Massachusetts in search of a place where he could preach his message of reformed Christianity free from persecution, Hooker served with distinction as the first established…
December 26: Connecticut’s “Crowbar Governor”
One of Connecticut’s most accomplished citizens — and governors — also had one of the state’s most unusual nicknames. Morgan G. Bulkeley — Civil War veteran, financier, insurance executive, 1st president of baseball’s National League, and strong-arm politician — earned himself the nickname “the Crowbar Governor,” while serving in that office in 1891.” Bulkeley…
November 24: Connecticut’s Longest-Serving Governor Learned His Political Skills in the Family Tavern.
In many respects, Governor William A. O’Neill lived the life of a quintessential 20th century Connectican. Born in Hartford in 1930, he attended public schools in East Hampton, took classes at the Connecticut Teacher’s College (now Central Connecticut State University), and subsequently held jobs in two of Connecticut’s major industries: first at Pratt…
November 5: Ella Grasso, America’s First Female Governor Elected In Her Own Right
Born to Italian immigrants in 1919, Ella Rosa Giovanna Oliva Tambussi grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood of first and second-generation Americans in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. Her parents, determined to invest in a better future for their daughter, saved up enough money to send Ella to the prestigious Chaffee School in Windsor. Afterwards, she…