Resources for Doing Local History
The resources listed on this page are good starting points for researching Connecticut history. What can you learn about the history of citizenship in your town? What stories about African American residents have yet to be told?
At the bottom of the page you’ll also find two general resources for doing local history–wherever your region of interest may be.
Connecticut State Library
The Connecticut State Library is the main repository for historical records from the three branches of state government. The Library’s website includes an online catalogue, a Guide to the Archives in the Connecticut State Library, and research guides on a variety of subjects, including African Americans in Connecticut (http://www.cslib.org/blagen.htm) and Slavery in Connecticut (http://www.cslib.org/slaveryct.htm).
Connecticut Freedom Trail
http://www.ctfreedomtrail.com/
The Connecticut Freedom Trail, developed by the Connecticut Historical Commission, includes information on numerous sites in the state that are associated with the heritage and movement towards freedom of its African-American citizens.
Connecticut Historical Society
The Connecticut Historical Society is a non-profit museum, library, and education center dedicated to the collection, preservation, and interpretation of the history of the people who have made Connecticut their home. The website includes an online guide to African American Resources at the CHS (http://www.chs.org/afamcoll/default.htm).
Complicity Website (Hartford Courant)
http://www.courant.com/news/local/northeast/hc-slavery,0,3581810.special
This website is the online home to the Hartford Courant’s groundbreaking project on slavery in Connecticut: Complicity, a special issue of Northeast Magazine.
“Do History” website
http://dohistory.org/on_your_own/toolkit/research.html
The Do History website was developed by the Film Study Center at Harvard University and is hosted and maintained by the Center for History and New Media, George Mason University. Its focus is on the work of historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, who has written on the life of Martha Ballard, a Maine midwife born in 1735. The page linked above provides useful ideas about conducting historical research projects.
Doing Local History: A Resource Guide
A short guide to books and online resources for local history research projects.