A presidential portraitist, a two-headed calf and a national landmark that inspires creativity--extraordinary tales abound in Connecticut from Hartford to Bethlehem, from New Haven to Bristol and all points in between. Learn about "The Age of Reptiles"--a 110-foot-long, 16-foot-high mural skillfully crafted by painter Rudolph Zallinger at the Peabody Museum in New Haven. Visit the Goodspeed Opera House built along the Connecticut River in 1876. Restored in 1963, this small theater continues to bring East Haddam to Broadway. Experience the first broadcast of world-renowned ESPN and its sprawling 128-acre campus in Bristol. Author and historian Wilson H. Faude chronicles these exciting tales and more in this eclectic collection of Connecticut history.

“A sweet, alphabetical handbook to all things green.” —The New York Post Do you know a folly from a ha-ha? Can an allée be pleached? Does a skep belong on a plinth? Answers to these questions—plus a gazebo-ful of information, stories, and visual delights—await in this charming exploration of the stuff gardens are made of. Garden historian Suzanne Staubach covers everything from arbors to water features, reveling in the anecdotes that accompany each element. Filled with revelations and fanciful illustrations by Julia Yellow, A Garden Miscellany promises new discoveries with each reading—a book to be returned to again and again.

The perfect reference guide for students in grades 3 and up - or anyone! This handy, easy-to-use reference guide is divided into seven color-coded sections which includes Connecticut basic facts, geography, history, people, places, nature and miscellaneous information. Each section is color coded for easy recognition. This Pocket Guide comes with complete and comprehensive facts ALL about Connecticut. Riddles, recipes, and surprising facts make this guide a delight! Connecticut Basics section explores your state's symbols and their special meaning. Connecticut Geography section digs up the what's where in Connecticut. Connecticut History section is like traveling through time to some of Connecticut's greatest moments. Connecticut People section introduces you to famous personalities and your next-door neighbors. Connecticut Places section shows you where you might enjoy your next family vacation. Connecticut Nature section tells what Mother Nature gave to Connecticut. Connecticut Miscellaneous section describes the real fun stuff ALL about Connecticut.

The Armchair Book of Gardens is a collection of indiviual essays focused on understanding gardens in a different light/perspective. The book concentrates on the emotional, social, spiritual, and politicial aspects of the garden.

Perfect gift for book lovers, writers and your book club Book lovers rejoice! In this love letter to all things bookish, Jane Mount brings literary people, places, and things to life through her signature and vibrant illustrations. Readers of Jane Mount's Bibliophile will delight in: Touring the world's most beautiful bookstores Testing their knowledge of the written word with quizzes Finding their next great read in lovingly curated stacks of books Sampling the most famous fictional meals Peeking inside the workspaces of their favorite authors A source of endless inspiration, literary facts and recommendations: Bibliophile is pure bookish joy and sure to enchant book clubbers, English majors, poetry devotees, aspiring writers, and any and all who identify as book lovers. If you have read or own: I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life; The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, and Civilization; or How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines; then you will want to read and own Jane Mount's Bibliophile.

An inclusive early history of an iconic New England church The history inscribed in New England's meetinghouses waits to be told. There, colonists gathered for required worship on the Sabbath, for town meetings, and for court hearings. There, ministers and local officials, many of them slave owners, spoke about salvation, liberty, and justice. There, women before the Civil War found a role and a purpose outside their households. This innovative exploration of a coastal Connecticut town, birthplace of two governors and a Supreme Court Chief Justice, retrieves the voices preserved in record books and sermons and the intimate views conveyed in women's letters. Told through the words of those whose lives the meetinghouse shaped, Forgotten Voices uncovers a hidden past. It begins with the displacement of Indigenous people in the area before Europeans arrived, continues with disputes over worship and witchcraft in the early colonial settlement, and looks ahead to the use of Connecticut's most iconic white church as a refuge and sanctuary. Relying on the resources of local archives, the contents of family attics, and the extensive records of the Congregational Church, this community portrait details the long ignored genocide and enslaved people and reshapes prevailing ideas about history's makers. Meticulously researched and including 75 color illustrations, Forgotten Voices will be of interest to anyone exploring the roots of community life in New England. The book is the joint project of the Old Lyme meetinghouse and the Florence Griswold Museum. The museum will host a major exhibit in 20192020, exploring the role of the meetinghouse.

"Professor Paul H. Mattingly's The Classless Profession: American Schoolmen of the Nineteenth Century is unquestionably a major contribution to the history of American education. It rests on a thorough command of the scholarship of the field and on a shrewd and original analysis of a great body of primary materials, many of which have not previously been carefully exploited." — Merle Curti, University of Wisconsin, Pulitzer Prize Winner "Mattingly's study should be read by everyone interested in the development of the public schools and of the teaching profession, and especially by those whose criticism of today's schools derives from a belief that things were much better in the 1870s than the 1970s." — Albert Shanker, United Federation of Teachers "Mattingly's book is superlative in its exploration of the distinctive cultural qualities of the teaching profession." — Joseph Kett, Review of American History "What remains solid and permanently useful. . .is his intellectual history of early leaders - the best such study to date." — David Tyack, Journal of American History Mattingly is at his best describing the variegated experiences of early teachers as they sought to transform teaching from a haphazard, seasonal occupation to a developing profession. He explores the dynamics of career choice for teachers with subtlety and insight." — Julia C. Wrigley, American Education Research Journal The Classless Profession traces the history of the special pride teachers took in the depoliticized image of their work. This image of a classless profession, one which preferred no class ideology not advanced any social group over another, necessitated costs which teachers then and since have often ignored. In an effort to describe the process of constructing this profession - its images, behavioral routines and institutional structures - this study also assesses the historical forces which actually have favored certain social groups and certain educational ideologies over others. This eye-opening work is unique in that it features interdisciplinary methodology which draws on sociological, demographical, and historical methodologies and delineates career-line analyses of several generations of schoolmen. It should prove vital reading to all those involved in the profession as well as the process of education - i.e. teachers, sociologists, social and educational historians, school planners and educational policy-makers, unionists and administrators alike.