1938 Thanksgiving Proclamation Friday, November 22, 2013
Posted by capittsley in Archives, digital collections, history, New Resources @ CSL, updates.Tags: archives, Connecticut, DigitalCollections, film, Governor, Thanksgiving, Wilbur L. Cross
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In 1936 Governor Wilbur L. Cross penned what is widely regarded as one of the most lyrical Thanksgiving Proclamations ever written. A former English Professor and Dean of Graduate Studies at Yale, Cross was elected as Connecticut’s 71st Governor in 1931. He served four terms and was defeated by Raymond E. Baldwin in 1938.
While the 1936 Thanksgiving Proclamation is a familiar piece today, in years past some of the other Thanksgiving Proclamations were equally well known. A Hartford Courant editor wrote in 1968 that “…the late Wilbur Lucius Cross in 1935 issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation that remains one of the classics of American prose.” His 1931 proclamation was noted for being one sentence of 176 words. He was quoted in a November 6, 1936 Hartford Courant article as having said “I wrote the proclamation in one sentence so that it would have to be quoted in full, if at all.”
It was his 1938 proclamation however that is a real treasure, as he was filmed reading it on December 9, 1938. It was the first time a Connecticut Governor had ever appeared in a sound film.
The Connecticut State Library is proud to bring you that historic film and all eight of Governor Cross’s official Thanksgiving Proclamations. The film can be viewed on our YouTube channel and the proclamations can be viewed in our Flickr collection.
On behalf of the staff and board of the Connecticut State Library, Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Connecticut State Library Receives Grant for Newspaper Digitization Friday, July 26, 2013
Posted by kabery in Archives, digital collections, genealogy, history, New Resources @ CSL, newspapers.add a comment
The Connecticut State Library is pleased to announce that it has received an award of $274,034 from the National Endowment for the Humanities for a two-year National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) grant to digitize historically significant Connecticut newspapers. The digital images will be included in the Library of Congress’ newspaper site: Chronicling America.
Following the NDNP guidelines, the $274,034 grant will allow Connecticut to add 100,000 pages, digitized from microfilm of newspapers published in the state between 1836 and 1922. An advisory committee consisting of an historian, journalist, educator, librarian, and archivist will select the newspapers to be scanned.
“This is a great honor for Connecticut – a state where newspapers have always been important,” said State Librarian Kendall Wiggin. Wiggin noted that while Connecticut boasts the nation’s oldest continuously published newspaper, the Courant, by 1875, there were 78 newspapers being published in the state, including 17 dailies and 51 weeklies.
This project builds upon the earlier Connecticut Newspaper Project (1991-2002) which inventoried the state’s newspaper repositories, cataloged the newspapers and preserved over 1,000,000 pages of 437 newspapers on microfilm. The State Library has already worked with digitizing newspapers through its Newspapers of Connecticut project. This has short runs of 86 titles from 1821-1929, for a total of 3,243 issues from 31 towns.
John N. Barry, Chair of the State Library Board noted that “This grant will allow the State Library to continue its work in providing easier access to the significant issues and events of our history. Connecticut’s newspapers are irreplaceable sources of obtaining knowledge, and this digitization grant will continue the modernization of preserving Connecticut’s rich history.”
Civil War Era Newspaper Digitization Project Friday, July 8, 2011
Posted by kabery in Archives, digital collections, genealogy, history, New Resources @ CSL, newspapers.add a comment
The Newspapers of Connecticut digitization pilot project is underway. It is a collaborative project between the Connecticut State Library, Library Connection and Connecticut History Online to digitize a sampling of historic newspapers in Connecticut. The collection will include newspapers covering the various regions, perspectives and topics of the Civil War era in Connecticut. Seven titles have been added to the collection including the Connecticut War Record from 1863-1865. More titles are being added on an ongoing basis.
The link for this collection is: http://cslib.cdmhost.com/custom/frontpage_newspapers.php
1918 Suffrage Interview Notebook, Records of Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s administration among State Archives accessions for third quarter of FY2011 Friday, April 1, 2011
Posted by pbaran in New Resources @ CSL.Tags: archives
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The State Archives took in 32 accessions during the period covering January 1 – March 31, 2011.
On March 23, 2011, the League of Women Voters of Connecticut donated a notebook containing a record of suffrage interviews to the Connecticut State Library at a ceremony held in Memorial Hall of the Museum of Connecticut History. The notebook, kept by Gladys Bragdon, contains handwritten entries of approximately 129 men recording their views on suffrage and support for a federal amendment in 1918. CSL will be digitizing the notebook and making it available online. The ceremony can be viewed at http://ct-n.com/ondemand.asp?ID=6388
Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s term as Governor came to an end on January 5, 2011. A total of 786 cubic feet of records from her administration were transferred to the State Archives.
The State Archives continues to acquire records of the probate courts and accessioned a total of 406 record books and 31 cubic feet of files from 18 probate courts: Barkhamsted, Cheshire, Colchester, East Granby, East Haddam, East Hampton, Groton, Hartland, Marlborough, Montville, New Hartford, North Stonington, Portland, Southington, Suffield, Watertown, Winchester, Woodbury.
For the complete list, see http://www.cslib.org/archives/acc2011Q3.htm
Digital Talking Books Are Here Thursday, March 11, 2010
Posted by kabery in New Resources @ CSL.add a comment
The Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped wants you to know that the new digital talking books and players have arrived. If you already receive materials from the library, just give them a call to request this exciting new technology. The library has plenty of digital players and digital book cartridges on hand so call them today and enjoy your next book on a new, easy-to-use player. But please do not return your cassette player —– it will be a while before all of the most popular books and magazines are available on the new digital cartridges so you’ll want to keep your current cassette player until the transition is complete.
For more information on the new digital player technology or for information on how to register for the library’s services, call the state’s Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped at 1-800-842-4516 or (860) 721-2021. You can also visit their website at http://www.cslib.org/lbph.htm.
Genealogical Indexes at CSL Tutorial Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Posted by kabery in genealogy, history, New Resources @ CSL.add a comment
The Genealogical Index Corridor in the History & Genealogy (H&G) Unit of the State Library is a destination for many who are researching Connecticut ancestors. With this in mind, H&G staff have created a guide to understanding and using these valuable collections. Whether you are planning a research trip, are curious as to what surname indexes are available here, or want to understand more about a certain collection, we hope this guide will be of help to you.
The Genealogical Index
New Public Policy Resources @ CSL Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Posted by cato34 in New Resources @ CSL, updates.add a comment
Editorial and Opinion; the Dwindling Marketplace of Ideas in Today’s News. Steven M. Hallock. PN 4888 .E28 H35 2007
Educating Individuals with Disabilities; IDEIA 2004 and Beyond. Elena L. Grigorenko, editor. LC 4031 .E3852 2008
Kyoto2: How to Manage the Global Greenhouse. Oliver Tickell. QC 981.8 .G56 T54 2008
A Legacy of Innovation; Governors and Public Policy. Ethan G. Sribnick, editor. JK 2447 .L44 2008
National Endowment for the Arts; A History – 1965-2008. Mark Bauerlein and Ellen Grantham, editors. NX 735 .N384 2009
Index to Connecticut Special Acts, 1944-2008 Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Posted by lawlegref in legislative, New Resources @ CSL.Tags: Connecticut, index, law, private laws, special acts
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The Index to Connecticut Special Acts, 1944-2008 is now available online. Kudos to Indexer Cheryl Fox for this major accomplishment!
Together with the recently released General Index to the Private Laws and Special Acts of the State of Connecticut, 1789-1943
legal researchers and historians now have access to 220 years of Connecticut legislation not included in the General Statutes.
Both indexes are also linked from the State Library’s Public and Special Acts page.
Database of the Week: BNA Tax Management Library Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Posted by janis6 in New Resources @ CSL, updates.add a comment
BNA Tax Management Library features the multiple tax aspects of U.S. and foreign income as well as Estates, Gifts and Trusts. Updated daily, the News and Commentary section includes Daily Tax Report Highlights. Currently, the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009” is summarized, analyzed and addresses specific aspects of the new law. “Client Letters” explain the COBRA Premium Subsidy, the First-time Homebuyer’s Credit and other individual tax incentives that are relevant to today’s events. The historical side of the database has full text Federal Cases from 1913, Board of Tax Appeals from 1917-1942 and Tax Court Opinions from 1942-present. Along with the full text Internal Revenue Code are interactive tax forms and samples of will and trusts. State portfolios feature a state by state breakdown of a state’s laws, regulations, codes, cases etc… for the tax practitioner. The homepage has a list of Internal Revenue Service links and other tax related links. See Librarian for Log-in.
Two Billion Cars: Driving Toward Sustainability is March eBook of the Month Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Posted by lynne in New Resources @ CSL, updates.add a comment
At present, there are roughly a billion motor vehicles in the world. Within twenty years, the number will double to 2 billion, largely a consequence of China’s and India’s explosive growth. Given that greenhouse gases are already creating havoc with our climate and that violent conflict in oil-rich nations is on the rise, does this mean that matters will only get worse? Or are there hopeful signs that effective, realistic solutions can be found?
In Two Billion Cars, transportation experts Daniel Sperling and Deborah Gordon provide a concise history of America’s love affair with cars and an overview of the global oil and auto industries. Two Billion Cars: Driving Toward Sustainability will be available to Connecticut State Library patrons March 1-31. If you already have a NetLibrary account established through the Connecticut State Library, visit www.netLibrary.org and log in. If you do not have a NetLibrary account, you can create one from any State Library computer.
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