New Haven Museum and Historical Society
Encyclopedia
The New Haven Museum and Historical Society (originally known as the New Haven Colony
Historical Society) was founded in 1862 in New Haven, Connecticut
for the purposes of preserving and presenting the region’s history. The museum has a collection containing art, photography, furniture and other artifacts from throughout New Haven’s history and regularly presents programs and special exhibits.
The Museum features exhibitions on New Haven, La Amistad
, local art and decorative arts, with collections associated with Eli Whitney
, Winchester
, Yale
, East Rock
, Noah Webster
, Benedict Arnold
as well as changing exhibitions. Educational programs provide interactive inquiry-based learning on local history.
The Whitney Research Library at the museum contains manuscript and archival holdings relevant to the New Haven area from the time of the first settlement to the present. The collection includes rare books, more than 300 manuscript collections, including personal papers, business and institutional records, court and municipal documents, maps, 4,000 architectural drawing
s and resources, account books and a collection of approximately 75,000 photographs. It also contains approximately 30,000 printed titles including monographs and pamphlets. The library also includes genealogical materials, vital statistics and colonial and town records, passenger arrival lists to American ports, Federal census schedules for New Haven County on microfilm and a complete set of New Haven city directories from 1840.
The Colonial revival
style current building was built in 1929 and was designed by J. Frederick Kelly. The building includes a number of artifacts from demolished New Haven houses including a mantelpiece and urns from the Nathan Smith house and a mantelpiece from the Benedict Arnold
house. The Ingersoll Room in the museum is decorated with furniture and portraits from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries documenting the home and life of New Haven’s Ingersoll family.
New Haven Colony
The New Haven Colony was an English colonial venture in present-day Connecticut in North America from 1637 to 1662.- Quinnipiac Colony :A Puritan minister named John Davenport led his flock from exile in the Netherlands back to England and finally to America in the spring of 1637...
Historical Society) was founded in 1862 in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
for the purposes of preserving and presenting the region’s history. The museum has a collection containing art, photography, furniture and other artifacts from throughout New Haven’s history and regularly presents programs and special exhibits.
The Museum features exhibitions on New Haven, La Amistad
La Amistad
La Amistad was a ship notable as the scene of a revolt by African captives being transported from Havana to Puerto Principe, Cuba. It was a 19th-century two-masted schooner built in Spain and owned by a Spaniard living in Cuba...
, local art and decorative arts, with collections associated with Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney was an American inventor best known for inventing the cotton gin. This was one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution and shaped the economy of the Antebellum South...
, Winchester
Winchester Repeating Arms Company
The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American maker of repeating firearms, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The Winchester brand is today used under license by two subsidiaries of the Herstal Group, Fabrique Nationale of Belgium and the Browning Arms Company of Morgan, Utah.-...
, Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
, East Rock
East Rock (neighborhood)
East Rock is a neighborhood in the city of New Haven, Connecticut, named for nearby East Rock, a prominent trap rock ridge. The area is home to a large group of Yale students, staff, and faculty, as well as many young professionals and families. The neighborhood is divided between New Haven's...
, Noah Webster
Noah Webster
Noah Webster was an American educator, lexicographer, textbook pioneer, English spelling reformer, political writer, editor, and prolific author...
, Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold V was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He began the war in the Continental Army but later defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point, New York, and plotted to surrender it to the British forces...
as well as changing exhibitions. Educational programs provide interactive inquiry-based learning on local history.
The Whitney Research Library at the museum contains manuscript and archival holdings relevant to the New Haven area from the time of the first settlement to the present. The collection includes rare books, more than 300 manuscript collections, including personal papers, business and institutional records, court and municipal documents, maps, 4,000 architectural drawing
Architectural drawing
An architectural drawing or architect's drawing is a technical drawing of a building that falls within the definition of architecture...
s and resources, account books and a collection of approximately 75,000 photographs. It also contains approximately 30,000 printed titles including monographs and pamphlets. The library also includes genealogical materials, vital statistics and colonial and town records, passenger arrival lists to American ports, Federal census schedules for New Haven County on microfilm and a complete set of New Haven city directories from 1840.
The Colonial revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
style current building was built in 1929 and was designed by J. Frederick Kelly. The building includes a number of artifacts from demolished New Haven houses including a mantelpiece and urns from the Nathan Smith house and a mantelpiece from the Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold V was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He began the war in the Continental Army but later defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point, New York, and plotted to surrender it to the British forces...
house. The Ingersoll Room in the museum is decorated with furniture and portraits from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries documenting the home and life of New Haven’s Ingersoll family.