13 Village Green
Please join us for our 9th annual Cake Auction, Saturday December 2, 2023 at 5:30. Signature cocktail and hors d’oeuvres prior to the live auction event at 6:00. Auctioneer Grady Cooley is sure to lead a lively round of bidding for confections made by some of Norfolk’s top bakers. $25 per person at the door. Hope to see you there!
13 Village Green
In the 1970’s the Yale Summer Art program was in full swing. Faculty and Fellows spent eight weeks working in various media with a continuous stream of visiting artists and working to create a portfolio that each participant would take home. Artist Sarah Sutro attend the Yale art program in the summer of 1971, In the winter of 2019 she donated her portfolio to the Norfolk Historical Society. This gift, which is on display in our current exhibition Shedding Light: 200 Years of Art & Music in Norfolk was the inspiration for this video interview.
Norfolk Library
Norfolk Historical Society Annual Members meeting will be held on 2/12/2023 at the Norfolk Library at 2:00. Following a brief meeting we will present the following program.
On Sunday, February 12, at 2:00 p.m. at the Norfolk Library, William Hosley will give a slide presentation on Connecticut’s Main Streets. This program is presented by the Norfolk Historical Society as part of their Annual Meeting and in conjunction with the exhibition Main Street: A Look Back 100 Years. All are welcome. Hosley has been a curator, museum director, public speaker, project manager, writer, photographer, and cultural resource entrepreneur. With more than thirty years’ experience in museums and historic preservation, his affiliations have included Historic Deerfield, the Winterthur Museum, the Wadsworth Atheneum, and, most recently, Connecticut Landmarks and the New Haven Museum, where he served as executive director. Author of five books and many articles, his work has appeared in dozens of magazines and newspapers.
We Look froward to seeing you there. Click here to view a preview of the program https://youtu.be/tt9yyFfMpL8
Register here for the Zoom link instructions https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PMEozWAYTgyywcCGAmsctQ
13 Village Green, Norfolk
Please join us for our 8th annual Cake Auction, Saturday December 10, 2023 at 5:30. Signature cocktail and hors d’oeuvres prior to the live auction event at 6:00. Auctioneers Betsy Gill and John Fernandez are sure to lead a lively round of bidding for confections made by some of Norfolk’s top bakers. $25 per person at the door.
Meet at the NHS, 13 Village Green
The small town of Norfolk, with a population of 1600, is crowned with a collection of unique structures from the golden age of architecture. Join Barry Webber, from the Norfolk Historical Society, for a stroll around the historic downtown and learn about the talented architects who all lent a hand in the development of this unique town.
Meet at the Norfolk Historical Society, 13 Village Green, at 1:00 for this hour long walking tour.
13 Village Green, Norfolk
The Norfolk Historical Society presents,
Walking Main Street— a Historic Gallery Tour.
At the turn of the 20th century Norfolk had a bustling Main Street that ran from Memorial Green up to the Village Green — now a very different picture with more open space than buildings. Join Executive Director Barry Webber for a look back at some of the historic structures and learn about the merchants and other trades that once made up this thriving section of town. Meet at Museum, 13 Village Green at 2:00, the tour will last about an hour.
13 Village Green
Main Street: A look Back 100 years
Official members reception in collaboration with Friday Nights on the Green. Come join the fun and experience the nostalgia of the days gone by along Norfolk’s “Main Street”. Light refreshments will be served at the museum, music and food will be available on the Village Green between 6:00 and 8:00.
Friday, July 1, 2022. 5:30 -7:00.
13 Village Green
Please join us Sunday June 5th at 3:00PM for an illustrated presentation.
School Days with the Traveling Schoolmarm: A Chronicle of American Country School Images, Artifacts, Recitations, and Adventures.
Susan Webb, AKA The Traveling Schoolmarm, will bring us back to the late 19th century with tales and adventures from her over 20 years of researching the One Room Schoolhouse. For the past 20 years, Mrs. Webb has been coming to Norfolk to instruct the Botelle School’s 5th grade history students in a day of living history. The students are encouraged to play their part and dress in period style clothing and pack a lunch pail. They then head to the Little Red School House for a day of fun and learning. The Sunday afternoon program, thou geared to an adult audience will be fun for the whole family! The program is an in-person event held in the museum.
Zoom
Annual Meeting and Program will be help on January 16, 2022 at 4:00 PM via Zoom-webinar.
A renowned art collector and philanthropist, Louisine Havemeyer played an active role in the progressive National Woman’s Party, which included public speaking engagements, organizing fundraising art exhibitions, protesting at the White House, and imprisonment. Her devotion to the cause of woman suffrage aided in the success of the long fought battle to secure women’s basic rights in America. In this virtual talk, Ann Havemeyer will tell us more about her great-grandmother’s art collection and her role in the fight for woman suffrage.
Ann Havemeyer is the Director of the Norfolk Library and Curator of the Norfolk Historical Museum. She has written several books on Norfolk history and architecture. She holds a doctorate from Yale University in the History of Art and has lectured extensively.
Register for this webinar here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_T3e6IFelS2KYnIsXSE-c7w
13 Village Green
2021 Annual Cake Auction is planned for December 4th live at the Historical Museum. Event will begin at 5:00 for previewing the cakes, the auction will take place at 5:30. Our list of talented Norfolk Bakers includes: Lisa Auclair, Jennie Brown, Jill Chase, Walter Godlewski, Larry Hannafin, Tom Hlas, Betsy Little, Hartley Mead, Caryn Trager, Alyson Thomson and a cake painting by the one and only Turi! Don’t miss out on all the fun. Masks will be required for this live event please.
13 Village Green
Special Exhibit and Fundraiser — Ticketed event
Guests are invited to come to the Norfolk Historical Museum on November 6th at 5:00 to view this special collection and pick-up a boxed gourmet dinner to enjoy at home. Presentation with Dr. Schlesinger and the NHS staff at 6:00. We are hopeful this will be an in-person event, with Zoom as a backup; final details will be emailed to participants.
Click the Merchandise tab at the top of the page to purchase tickets
15 Old Colony Road, Norfolk, CT 06058
Born in 1790, James Mars was the last known slave sold in Norfolk CT. Gaining his freedom at the age of twenty-one, his live journey is a fascinating one. Deacon, activist for equal rights, and a community leader.
Join us at Norfolk’s Center Cemetery to lear more about this remarkable man, and the many people who helped him along his journey.
Meet at 1:00 PM 15 Old Colony Road, Norfolk, CT
Zoom
New England and Connecticut have long been a lure for artists and other creatives, able to claim the birthplace of the Impressionist movement in the United States. Connecticut can boast the locales of three artistic enclaves which shaped the nation’s cultural evolution and legacy: Cos Cob, Old Lyme, and Weir Farm in Wilton, CT. Nowhere does art and inspiration come together more powerfully than in the preserved spaces these artists called home. Ms. Balint will discuss historic preserved and lost homes of artists throughout New England, placing them in the context of homes throughout the country, as part of the Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. This is program of 44 preserved artist sites throughout the country all open as public museums, and the topic of a newly released guidebook by Balint. Join us on a virtual journey to learn the historic significance of these places where some of the nation’s most acclaimed artworks were created, and how these public sites continue to inspire visitors today.
Valerie Balint is the Senior Program Manager for Historic Artist’s Homes and Studios (HAHS), a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which is administered at Chesterwood (the former home and studio of sculptor Daniel Chester French) and the author of the newly released Guide to Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios (Princeton Architectural Press, June 2020). HAHS is a nation-wide consortium of 44-member sites, that were the home and working studios of American artists. Prior to heading HAHS in beginning in spring 2017, Ms. Balint served for seventeen years on the curatorial staff at Frederic Church’s Olana (also a HAHS site), most recently as Interim Director of Collections and Research. She was co-organizer and co-curator of Olana’s annual exhibitions and accompanying publications. She is a frequent lecturer and writer on preserved artists’ spaces, Frederic Church, the Hudson River School, and American art and social history of the mid-19th and early 20th century. She is co-author of Glories of the Hudson: Frederic Church’s Views from Olana (Cornell Press, 2009). Her previous work also includes curatorial positions at Chesterwood and the Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio (also a HAHS site). She served as the New York State Coordinator of “Save Outdoor Sculpture,” a program of the Smithsonian American Art Museum to document all public sculpture in the United States. Balint is a longtime advocate for recognizing and valuing the important place artists’ homes and public art hold within the greater context of cultural history in America.
Presented as part of the WINter WIN festival, for more information on this and other events please visit: weekendinnorfolk.org.
Back by popular demand, even during a pandemic, the Norfolk Historical Society is please to present this years version of our popular Cake Auction. Thou this event will be held entirely on-line we know it will be the great success it has alway been thanks to you our faithful followers! Keep a lookout in your email in-boxes for the notice which will have all the details. Cakes will be available for 2020 Holidays and beyond. Thank you to all our bakers and all our past bidders who have made this such a successful event.
A virtual event via a Zoom link, access will be emailed to guests prior to the event
Built in 1896 and designed by the New York architectural firm, Cady, Berg & See as the home for Mr & Mrs H. H. Bridgman, Fox Hill was revered as one of Norfolk’s grandest homes.
It was demolished in 1947.
The story of Fox Hill will come to life in a virtual presentation hosted by museum director Barry Webber.
Recently discovered materials of historical interest from the Bridgman family will bring new insight to this story of the magical castle that once graced these Norfolk hills.
Join us Saturday, November 7th at 7:00 PM. Zoom log-in will be emailed to attending guests prior to the event date.
Benefactor guests of $250 per person or more shall receive a special dinner delivered to your Norfolk address, complete with details on how to view the presentation. Safe groupings are encouraged to enhance the experience.
Patron guests of $50 per person will receive details on how to view the presentation.
Click the merchandise tab above to reserve your spot and place your order today!
Please Join us Saturday December 7, 2019 5:00 – 7:00 PM. Drinks and Nibbles and a live auction, beginning at 5:45 of delicious, festive, homemade cakes.
$25 at the door
Can’t make the event but would still like to make a donation or bid on a cake? Email us at http://info@norfolkhistoricalsociety.org for further instructions and to receive a list of cakes.
The great book collections assembled and dispersed by Norfolk’s Battell, Eldridge, and Robbins families in the period 1790–1930 contributed to the golden age of book collecting, a time period described and celebrated by English librarian Thomas Dibdin in his 1809 “Bibliomania” (book-madness, or uncontrollable passion for books). Although Dibdin’s volume is a satire pretending to offer a “cure” for book-disease, his writing on the subject did much to popularize book collecting as a pastime. The exhibit will feature never-before-displayed items from the combined collections of rare books at the Norfolk Library and the Norfolk Historical Society, giving valuable insight into the lives lived by the Norfolkians whose cabinet collections contained these “imagined” antiquarianisms.
Please join us for an opening reception Friday, October 4 from 4:00 – 7:00 PM. A conversation with curator Lucy Mookerjee will begin at 5:00 PM
Museum open Saturday 1:00 – 4:00 and Sunday 1:00 – 4:00
Windolit, Westside Road, Norfolk
Save the date for this year’s Historic House Dinner! Saturday, October 19th
To be held at Windolit, the family home of Dick Childs, founder and publisher of ‘Modern Age Books’ (1936-1942).
Guests will enjoy cocktails and dinner and a special presentation by Childs’s granddaughter, Lucy Mookerjee, Ph. D. on the inner workings of America’s first paperback book publisher.
Invitations to follow, seating is limited so be sure to reserve early! Tickets $250 per person
Saturday, August 3, 2019
Industries Walk with Richard Byrne. Meet at the museum at 9:45 for this two hour walk of our industrial past
Highlights of the Kendall Exhibition. A Gallery Tour at the museum at 1:00PM
Sunday, August 4, 2019
Kendall’s Village Green, A walking Tour, meet at the museum at 12:00 for this 45 minute tour
Little Red School House, A Scavenger Hunt for children, pick up your list at the WIN Welcome center or the museum. Complete the list and check in at the Little Red School, Ashpohtag & Bald Mountain Rd. ,Sunday between 12:00 – 3:00
!3 Village Green, Norfolk CT
Our 2019 summer season featuring the exhibition An Extraordinary Legacy: The Photographs of Marie Hartig Kendall ~ Part II kicks off with a members opening on June 1 from 4:00 to 7:30 p.m. Many new photographs and objects have been added to this year’s exhibition, which will engage both the returning visitor and those new to the museum. These include a rare photograph printed on glass, which was made to hang in a window; dozens of Kendall postcards that were recently acquired from a local estate; and a look at the process of conservation period photographs. Also featured is the work of two female photographers, Carrie Smith Lorraine and Una Clingan Rand, both whom were working in neighboring towns during the 1890’s. The museum is open weekends from June 2 to October 13 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Norfolk Historical Society
The Great Ice Storm of 1898 hit Northwest Connecticut on February 20 – 22nd. Marie Kendall, Norfolk’s intrepid 19th century photographer of the day, spent the week following the storm photographing the landscape in the village and beyond. The Norfolk Historical Museum, in conjunction with Winter WIN, will be showing a short film highlighting these amazing photographs. A second exhibit, “Stuck Indoors,” will showcase some of the museum’s collection of children’s toys, including the magnificent Coffin Family Dollhouse. The museum will be open Feb. 23 & 24th with extended hours for WIN weekend: Saturday 10:00 to 4:00 and Sunday 12:00 to 4:00.
For More information on Winter WIN please visit:
Norfolk Historical Society Annual Members Meeting (all welcome)
Please join us at the Norfolk Library on Saturday, January 5, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. for the Annual Members Meeting, followed by an illustrated talk by our curator.
Ann Havemeyer, The Devil in the White City: Kendall, Coffin, Edison, and Tesla at the World’s Fair
The White City is Chicago in 1893, site of the World’s Columbian Exposition, organized to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s voyage to America. The devil, for the purpose of this slide talk, is electricity, and the players are Norfolk photographer Marie Kendall, Charles Albert Coffin, Thomas Edison, and Nikola Tesla. Travel back in time to find out how the lives of these four people intersected at the World’s Fair.
Norfolk Historical Society
Save the Date! December 1, 2018
Join the fun! Our fourth annual Cake Auction, a live auction of 12+ exquisite confections created by some of Norfolk’s most talented bakers. A complete listing and instructions for absentee bidding can be found under our Blog button on the home page! Hope you can join the fun!!!
Norfolk Library & Norfolk Historical Museum
Windrow Road, Norfolk
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson is the inspiration for this unique Historic House Dinner. Discover the connections to the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 and Norfolk, CT. Guests will be treated to an international feast in the grand dining room of Coolwater. Seating will be limited. This is a ticketed event at $250 per person.
$250.00
Fundraising dinner, November 6, 2021, $250 per person
Norfolk Historical Society
Paperback Revolution: Norfolk’s ‘Modern Age Books’ and how It changed the way America ReadsModern Age Books, founded by Norfolk’s Dick Childs in 1936, was one of the first publishers to produce paperback books in the United States. Modern Age issued progressive paperbacks in high print runs with low prices, making softcover books accessible to the pockets and purses of a new reading public. The exhibit will focus on how Childs made use of innovative illustration, printing, and distribution processes to help democratize American reading, writing, and publishing on the eve of the Second World War.
13 Village Green, Norfolk CT
Norfolk Museum will host 2 special events for WIN on August 4th.
10:00 AM, Richard Byrne, Norfolk’s Historian, in conjunction with the Rails to Trails group to lead a walk to the famed Stoney Lonesome Pass on the old rail road bed. Meet at the trails entrance on Ashpotage Road, the hike will last about an hour and a half. Please ware appropriate footwear for hiking through the woods and bring water.
2:00 on the Village Green: Sewing School for children, ages 6 and up. Marie Kendall, our 19th century photographer, also ran a sewing school for the children of Norfolk. Children will learn the basic stitches and needle skills and have the opportunity to create a small crafts project of their own. All materials will be supplied, this is a free event and all are welcome! 
NHS Members are invited to join us for our annual Members Opening Reception. Be the first to enjoy this new and exciting exhibition while sipping a glass of wine. June 1st 5:30 to 7:00 at the Museum.
13 Village Green, Norfolk CT
Join us as we explore the Great Blizzard, which crippled the Eastern Seaboard on March 12, 1888. The village of Norfolk was shut-off from the world for three days until the first train was able to make it’s way into the station after 70+ men hand shoveled the tracks from Winstead. The Museum will host a program at 4:00 P.M. with a slide presentation of historic photographs and first hand accounts from letters and journals, by Norfolk residents, who recored this historic weather event of the century. A special exhibition is in place highlighting other winter activities such as the Norfolk Ski Jump and the Great “Ripper” a 14-foot bobsled which is set up with a winter backdrop for a unique photo op. The Museum will open at 1:00 P.M
13 Village Green, Norfolk
The Norfolk Historical Society will be hosting a weekend exhibition, February 24 & 25th 2018, of historic winter photographs from our collection along with a dozen or more contemporary Norfolk photographers who will exhibit their works of the winter landscape. The historic photos will showcase the Great Blizzard of 1888 and the historic Ice Storm of 1898 taken by Marie H. Kendall, a local photographer whose other works and her story will be the feature of 2018 summer exhibition.
The Norfolk Library
Please join us for the Annual Meeting and the opening of the exhibit Original Posters from World War I. A slide presentation by Barry Webber will follow the meeting: “Farm to Table – A Look Back 100 Years: A Brief History of Food in Norfolk during World War I.”
Please join us for this annual fun and festive event! Fifteen beautiful home baked confections will be auctioned off to the highest bidder by auctioneer Tom Strumolo. Don’t miss the most talked about event in town. Tickets are $25 at the door. Enjoy our signature cocktail and delicious nibbles while you view the stunning array of cakes made by Norfolk’s best bakers!
Norfolk Library
The experience of World War I prisoners of war in Germany is an aspect of the conflict little covered by historical research. A first-hand account was discovered by Dr. Francis Baudry, when he found the diary his father kept during his three years in captivity in German camps. In July 1914, when he was 18 years old, Baudry’s father was planning to return to Paris to enlist in the French army after visiting his family in Alsace Lorraine. As he was about to board the train in Strasbourg, he was arrested and accused of spying. He spent the next two years in a German camp. This ironically saved his life, as he would most probably have died in the trenches.
After his father passed away in 1999 at the age of 103, Dr. Baudry found an extraordinary manuscript among his father’s belongings. The size of a cigarette pack, it was a memoir written during his time in captivity and dedicated to a cousin whom he loved. Dr. Baudry will speak about his father’s vivid description of his years in captivity and his several attempts at escape.
A Norfolk and New York resident, Dr. Baudry is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst with his own practice, and affiliated with Mount Sinai Medical Center. He is on the faculty of the New York Psychoanalytic Institute and is a member of the Soldier’s Project, an organization dedicated to giving free mental health care to veterans and their families.
Norfolk Historical Museum
Did you have a relative that fought in World War I? A grandmother who drove an ambulance, or knitted socks for soldiers? Please bring your family stories to share at an Open House at the Historical Museum. The exhibition Norfolk in the Great War will be on display, and the program will begin at 3:00.
Join us for an enlightening tour of some of Norfolk’s war memorials and sites related to World War I, in conjunction with our 2017 exhibition Norfolk in the Great War. The approximately one-hour tour will leave from the Historical Society Museum, 13 Village Green, on Saturday, September 2, at 10 am. Free admission as always!
A host of activities at the Norfolk Historical Society are planned as part of the 2nd annual Weekend in Norfolk.
The Museum, featuring our stunning exhibition Norfolk in the Great War, will be open extra hours, from 12 to 4 on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Free admission, and refreshments will be served.
On Saturday at the Farmer’s Market we will have a booth celebrating the centennial of the Market, which started as a response to food needs in World War I. On Saturday from 12:30-1:30 on the Village Green opposite the Museum, the Salisbury Band Senior Quick-Step Hot Shots, an old-fashioned town band, will be playing patriotic marches and other World War I-era music.
On Sunday at 1 pm, there will be a walking tour leaving from the Museum, featuring some of the historic sites in the center of town.
For more information about Weekend in Norfolk, visit the WIN website: http://weekendinnorfolk.org/
Norfolk Library
In conjunction with the Norfolk Historical Society’s exhibition Norfolk in the Great War, on Sunday, July 23, at 5:00, Doug Schmolze, singer and guitarist, will present a variety of songs from the 19teens, both patriotic and otherwise, in a centennial retrospective. With anecdotes and historical notes the program provides insight into the mood of the era that ushered in the “War to End all Wars”. Audiences will recognize (and sing along to) patriotic songs such as “Over There” and “You’re a Grand Old Flag” by George M. Cohan that remain popular, especially on civic occasions. But composers of the era also produced Ragtime, waltzes, and romantic songs such as “The Land Where the Good Songs Go” by Jerome Kern and, on the lighter side, “When I Had a Uniform On” by Cole Porter. Visuals and lyrics to sing-a-longs are provided by an accompanying power-point presentation. This program is free and is suitable for families. Please call the Library at 860-542-5075 to reserve a seat.
Our 2017 exhibition, Norfolk in the Great War, opens May 27! Stories of Norfolkians in the war and the trials and triumphs of the home front, uniforms, a gas mask, and a selection of stunning wartime posters, are just some of the highlights. The Museum is open every Saturday and Sunday until October, from 1-4pm. Admission is free.
Norfolk Library, 9 Greenwoods Road East
Exhibition Opening, Slide Talk, and Annual Meeting
Historical Museum
Our first annual Cake Auction was so much fun, we’re doing it again! Drinks & Nibbles 5-7 pm. Followed by a live auction of delicious, festive, homemade cakes. $20/person ($25 at the door) RSVP below or by mailing checks and names of attendees toThe Norfolk Historical SocietyPO Box 288, Norfolk, CT 06058
Meet at the Museum, 13 Village Green
To complement our 2016 exhibition “Hidden in Plain Sight: Artists, Artisans and Craftsmen of Norfolk’s Golden Age of Architecture,” we are offering a walking tour focusing on the stained glass, metal, stone, wood, and terra cotta features that make Norfolk’s town center extraordinary.
Meet at the Musem, 13 Village Green
To complement our 2016 exhibition “Hidden in Plain Sight: Artists, Artisans and Craftsmen of Norfolk’s Golden Age of Architecture,” we are offering a walking tour focusing on the stained glass, metal, stone, wood, and terra cotta features that make Norfolk’s town center extraordinary.
Norfolk Library
John Garret Thew will talk about his artistry and craftsmanship, using samples of his work in metal. As a young man, he learned the essentials of good art from his father, Robert Garret Thew, a painter and sculptor whose work, like that of his son’s, is sought by today’s collectors.
Historical Museum
Meet at the Norfolk Historical Museum for a tour of what was once Norfolk’s industrial district. Beginning at the millstone in front of the Church of Christ, we will visit Buttermilk Falls, site of a 1750 saw mill, grist mill, and iron works; then head west along the Blackberry River viewing the remains of dams and the footprints of factories such as the Aetna Silk Mill, the Norfolk & New Brunswick Hosiery Company, and the Hartford Spring & Axle company. Wear appropriate footwear for this two hour walk.
Details to follow in conjunction with Weekend in Norfolk schedule
Norfolk Library
A slide talk by Ann Havemeyer and behind the scenes tour of the Library will explore the architecture and hidden treasures of the Library.
Historical Museum
Join us for a Members Preview & Cocktail Reception
Historical Museum
View a sampling of Norfolk collections and talk with the collectors. From Old Master drawings to antique cookbooks to tiny vintage furniture, you will be intrigued by what your neighbors are collecting and why. Also present will be the Connecticut Historical Society, collecting objects to feature in their spring exhibition “Growing Up in Connecticut.” So bring a favorite or significant object from your Connecticut childhood to be considered for inclusion in the exhibition! For more information about submitting objects please follow this link http://chs.org/exhibition/growing-up-in-connecticut/
Historical Museum
Join us at a members-only cocktail party to meet Norfolk collectors and hear about their collecting passions. $20 suggested donation
Norfolk Historical Museum on the Green
Please join us for our Annual Meeting and a look at some recent acquisitions, “12 Objects – 12 Stories” Refreshments will be served.
Norfolk Historical Museum on the Green
Don’t miss our first annual Cake Auction!Drinks & Nibbles 5-7 pm.Followed by a live auction of delicious, festive, homemade cakes. $20/person ($25 at the door)RSVP belowor by mailing checks and names of attendees toThe Norfolk Historical SocietyPO Box 288, Norfolk, CT 06058
Norfolk Library
Exhibition at the Norfolk Library, January 24 – February 28Marie Hartig Kendall was a pioneering photographer who documented Norfolk around the turn of the 20th century. Kendall exhibited her work at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 and won an award for her technical ability and artistic expression. Still in their original oak frames, her stunning enlargements of landscape and farm scenes will be shown at the Norfolk Library. In lieu of an opening reception, curators Ann Havemeyer and Dianne Pierce will be joined by photo historian Michaela Murphy in a discussion that places Kendall and her technique in an historic context. Prints processed by Michaela from Kendall’s original glass plate negatives will be for sale.
Norfolk Historical Museum
Join us for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Norfolk Historical Museum, featuring our latest acquisition, the original Norfolk Downs sign.
Station Place
Meet at Station Place for a guided tour of historical Norfolk with Ann Havemeyer and Barry Webber
Norfolk Historical Mueseum
Meet at the Museum for a guided excursion into the Stoeckel Estate. You will find out more about the early history of the property belonging to Joseph Battell and its transformation into the estate of Carl and Ellen Battell Stoeckel.
The Norfolk Library
Libby Borden will be joined by art historian Dr. Robert Hobbs in a slide talk on the collection her great uncle Grenville L. Winthrop (1864–1943). A lawyer and banker by profession, Winthrop created a collection of French, British, and American art that is distinct not only in its depth and breadth, but also in its quality and includes the best group of Delacroix and Ingres drawings outside of France, the most significant group of pre-Raphaelite paintings outside of Britain, and a world-renowned collection of Sargent watercolors. The Winthrop Collection was bequeathed in 1943 to the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University.
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As the Colonial Revival swept Norfolk in the 1920’s and 1930’s, architect Robert M. Carrère was engaged by summer residents F.S. Jerome and Charles Garside to dismantle two colonial houses board by board and reconstruct them on choice sites in Norfolk. The evening will begin with cocktails at the Torrington House (1805), relocated to Norfolk in 1940 by Charles Garside, and continue with dinner at the Rose Terry Cooke House (1795), relocated from Winsted to Norfolk in 1937 by F.S. Jerome. This fund-raising event is by invitation sent to members with reservations required.
The Norfolk Library
During his career in the Foreign Service in China, John V.A. MacMurray took over 1,600 photographs of timeless landscapes, noted sites, and rural scenes. Bisi Starkey will talk about her father’s work and the family’s experience in China. She has been adjunct lecturer at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Museum teacher at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Norfolk Historical Museum
Celebrate the Irish in Norfolk with a Guinness or two and some hearty Irish stew!$25/per person.Reserve your place today by sending a check to:The Norfolk Historical Society, PO Box 288, Norfolk, CT 06058
At the Museum
Annual Meeting at 1:00 pm. Slideshow at 2:00 pm. Refreshments will be served.
Meet at Battell Chapel, Village Green
This tour of Norfolk’s memorial stained glass windows will begin at Battell Chapel featuring its extraordinary Tiffany stained glass windows depicting the four seasons and continue up Maple Avenue to the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration with the Clemens memorial window. The walk will conclude at the Church of the Immaculate Conception where the architect Alfredo Taylor designed ten different window types to accommodate memorial windows given by Catholic families in Norfolk.
The walk is part of the 13th annual Housatonic Heritage Walks program.
Norfolk Library
In the early 20th century, Norfolk was in its heyday as a summer resort. As “cottagers” arrived to spend the summer in the northwest hills, they often brought with them their maids, cooks, butlers, and chauffeurs. Local hired help might include gardeners, laundresses, or seamstresses. Who were these people and what were their lives like? While the census provides names, ages, birthplace, and occupation, voices from the back stairs generally have not been heard. Jennifer Pustz will provide some answers in an illustrated talk on the lives of domestic servants in 19th and 20th century New England. Jen will focus on three Historic New England properties to illustrate the diversity of domestic service. Period domestic manuals, ephemera, and other general material will also shed light on the lives of servants and relationships with their employers. This joint program with the Norfolk Library is part of the Connecticut at Work series, sponsored by CT Humanities. Free and open to the public.
Meet at Battell Chapel, VIllage Green
Jobs in factories drew many Irish immigrants to Norfolk during the second half of the 19th century. Join Richard Byrne on a walk through what was once the factory district along the Blackberry River.
Klauer Hall, Church of the Immaculate Conception, Norfolk
An entertaining and enlightening musical journey with singer Rick Spencer who will take us back in time in a celebration of Irish-American heritage. This program will be followed by “Irish Family Folklore: Fact or Fiction, a Memory Event.” Please plan to share your memories of Norfolk’s Irish-American heritage as we try to document this important part of our history. Refreshments will be served. Free and open to the public.
Battel House, Village Green
Ehrick Kensett Rossiter (1854-1941) was in the vanguard of the newly professional practice of architecture in America after the Civil War. A member of the first graduating class in the architectural program at Cornell College (in 1876), Rossiter practiced architecture for over 50 years. He designed more than 350 projects in a variety of styles, providing homes, schools, libraries, churches, clubs and workplaces for a rapidly expanding America at the turn of the 20th century. Among these projects, seventeen were in Norfolk, CT, including the Music Shed (1906), Haystack Tower (1929), and several residences. Museum consultant and architectural historian, Ann Y. Smith has written the definitive story of Ehrick Rossiter and will discuss his Norfolk work at the next Music in Context program at Battell House. Copies of her book will be available.
Norfolk Library
In an illustrated lecture first presented at the Norfolk 2023 celebration last October, Ann Havemeyer will uncover some of the thorny issues that divided the town as it faced an increasingly diverse population in the 19th century. Recent research has shed more light on the tension between the so-called Irish “semi-barbarous foreigners” and the Protestant “codfish aristocracy.” That aristocracy responded to the threat of social change by stamping their cultural heritage on the Norfolk landscape, transforming it into a Village Beautiful. Lecture will be followed by a book signing. Free and open to the public.
Battell House, Village Green
In recognition of the 75th anniversary of the death of Ellen Battell Stoeckel in 1939, Ann Havemeyer will present an illustrated lecture on this remarkable woman in her later years. Letters, photos, and memorabilia open a window to her private life and projects she undertook in Norfolk after the Festival was discontinued in 1923. This lecture is part of the Wednesday evening Music in Context series of the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. Free and open to the public.
At the Museum
From the Mills to Main Street: Irish Families in Norfolk.
At the Museum
Annual Meeting at 1:00 P.M.Slideshow at 2:00 P.M. “The Railroad in Norfolk”. Refreshments will be served.
At the Museum
Nineteenth-Century Commerce in Norfolk. A narrated slide show at the Museum featuring period photographs and ledgers from Norfolk businesses. 2:00 P.M.
Meet at Station Place
A Walk in the Village Center featuring Alfredo Taylor’s masterworks. Led by Ann Havemeyer. Meet at Station Place at 2:00 P.M.
Meet at the Museum
A Hike through Meekertown. Led by Richard Byrne. Meet at the Museum at 10:00 A.M. with appropriate footwear and your lunch.Join Richard Byrne on a hike through Great Mountain Forest to the remains of Meekertown, an early settlement in Norfolk. Named after Phineas and Joseph Meeker, Meekertown was described in 1820 as “a hamlet of heathens, living in intellectual, moral, and spiritual darkness.” Explore remnant cellar holes, Town House Rock, and the nearly hidden Meekertown cemetery. Although the charcoal burners are long gone, the charcoal pits have left their mark. This is a five-mile round trip hike which gains 500 feet in elevation as you trek the old Meekertown Road. Wear proper footwear and clothing appropriate for following deer paths through the woods to reach the cemetery. Don’t forget to bring a water bottle and your lunch. We will meet at the Museum at 10:00 A.M. and carpool to Meekertown. A $10.00 donation for non-members is requested for this hike.
Meet at the Museum
A guided tour of the exhibition. Meet at the museum at 2 pm, Saturday August 17.
At the Museum
Post-Concert Reception for the Norfolk Festival Artists. All members are invited to meet the musicians at the Museum.
Meet at the Museum
Guided Tour of Exhibition. Saturday, July 13, meet at the museum.
Norfolk Historical Museum
Last Chance to see the stunning exhibition: A Photographer in the Northwest Hills: Frank DeMars and Postcards of Norfolk
At the Norfolk Library
Have you ever wondered what that thingamajig you found in the corner of your attic was? Bring along your Norfolk treasure and see if our history experts can discover its past while learning about a few of the unusual gems in the Museum’s collection.
Meet at the Museum
Enjoy a stroll around the Norfolk Village Green and learn about its history. The Village Green became the centerpiece of the town through the patronage of one extraordinary family in the late 19th century.
Center Cemetery, Norfolk CT
The Connecticut Society of the Sons of the Revolution will hold a ceremony at the Center Cemetery in Norfolk to honor Jupiter Mars as a veteran of the Revolutionary War. Mars served under his owner, General Van Rensselaer, for our nation’s independence.
At the Museum
Featuring Norfolk’s Historic Storms, a narrated slide show by Ann Havemeyer.
At the Museum
We are pleased to welcome performers, concert-goers, and members to a reception at the Museum following the Tokyo String Quartet’s evening performance at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.
At the Museum
A narrated slide show by Ann Havemeyer and Barry Webber.
This summer the Norfolk Historical Society will continue our popular Walks Through History program with a series of postcard walking tours of Norfolk “Then & Now”.
July 28 — A Walk down Laurel Way. Rescheduled for September 22 at 2:00 pm.
August 18 — A Walk up Maple Avenue. Find out more about the railroad crossing, the Gymnasium, Emerson Place, Miss Rowland’s boarding house known as Fairlawn, and the residential neighborhood of Maple Avenue. Meet in front of the Library at 2:00 pm.
September 8 — A Walk around the Village Green. Learn about the evolution of the Green from an 18th century meetinghouse commons to a pleasure park lined with impressive late-19th century buildings. Postcard images of Pettibone’s Tavern, Crissey Place, the Academy, and the first Parsonage provide windows into the past use of buildings and sites. Meet at the Museum at 2:00 pm.
At the Museum
A Gallery Talk by Michaela Allen Murphy.
Infinity Music Hall
On July 31, 1884, Village Hall was dedicated with a performance of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pinafore. This summer, after over a century, Gilbert & Sullivan returns to the Village Hall stage when New York’s renowned Blue Hill Troupe brings a concert production of The Mikado to Infinity Hall. The benefit performance will be held on Sunday, June 30, at 2:00 P.M. For tickets: www.infinityhall.com, 860-542-5531.
At the Museum
Featuring a narrated slide show by Ann Havemeyer.
