EVENTS

Blizzard of 1888 130th Anniversary Program

03/10/2018 - 4:00 pm

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

Frozen in Time: The Ice Box Then & Now

02/24/2018 - 12:00 pm

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.

Visit the website

Annual Meeting of the Norfolk Historical Society

01/07/2018 - 1:00 pm

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.”

3rd Annual Cake Auction

12/02/2017 - 5:00 pm

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!

Francis Baudry, The Hidden Manuscript: A World War I POW’s Memoir

11/12/2017 - 2:00 pm

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.

Veterans Day Open House

11/11/2017 - 2:00 pm

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.

Labor Day Weekend Walk

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!

Weekend in Norfolk August 5-6

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/

 

Songs of World War I

07/23/2017 - 5:00 pm

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.

2017 Exhibition

05/27/2017

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.

Hidden in Plain Sight II

01/08/2017 - 3:00 pm

Norfolk Library, 9 Greenwoods Road East

Exhibition Opening, Slide Talk, and Annual Meeting

 

Cake Auction

12/3/2016 - 5

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

 

Walking Tours of Norfolk’s Architectural Treasures

10/1/2016 - 2pm

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.

Walking Tour of Norfolk’s Architectural Treasures

9/17/2016 - 2pm

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.

John Garret Thew: Copper Weathervanes

7/31/2016 - 4:00

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.

A Walk through Norfolk’s Industrial Past

9/24/2016 - 10:00

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.

Slide Talk

8/6/2016 - 2:00 P.M

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.

Hidden in Plain Sight

6/3/2016 - 5:30-7:30

Historical Museum

Join us for a Members Preview & Cocktail Reception

Collecting Open House

2/13/2016 - 10 am - 2 pm

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/

Celebrating Today’s Norfolk Collectors

2/12/2016 - 5:30-7pm

Historical Museum

Join us at a members-only cocktail party to meet Norfolk collectors and hear about their collecting passions. $20 suggested donation

Annual Meeting

12/6/2015 - 1 pm

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.

Cake Auction

12/4/2015 - 5 pm

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

Marie Kendall Historic Photographs

1/24/2016 - 4:00

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.

A Walk through Norfolk’s History

9/6/2015 - 1:00 pm

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 Recluse Collector: Grenville Winthrop

7/26/2015 - 4:00 pm

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.

Houses on the Move: A Progressive Historic House Dinner

7/25/2015 - 6:00 pm

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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.

John V. A. MacMurray: Photographs of Peking, 1913-1929

7/19/2015 - 4:00 pm

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.

An Irish Dinner at the Museum

3/14/2015 - 6:30 pm

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

Stained Glass Window Tour in Norfolk

10/4/2014 - 1:00 pm

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.

Voices from the Backstairs: Domestic Servants in 19th and 20th Century New England

9/21/2014 - 3:00 pm

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.

A Walk through Norfolk’s Industrial Past

8/31/2014 - 1:00 pm

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.

Creating a National Identity: Songs of the Irish-Americans

8/10/2014 - 3:00 pm

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.

A Beauty Born of Dreams: Ehrick Rossiter in Norfolk

7/23/2014 - 7:30 pm

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.

The Village Beautiful: Sweeping History under the Rug

7/12/2014 - 4:30 pm

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.

Ellen Battell Stoeckel: The Later Years

7/2/2014 - 7:30 pm

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.

2014 Exhibition

6/7/2014 - 10/12/2014

At the Museum

From the Mills to Main Street: Irish Families in Norfolk.

Nineteenth-Century Commerce in Norfolk

10/13/2013 - 2:00 pm

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.

A Walk in the Village Center

10/5/2013 - 2:00 pm

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.

A Hike through Meekertown

8/31/2013 - 10:00 am

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.

Guided Tour of Exhibition

8/17/2013 - 2:00 pm

Meet at the Museum

A guided tour of the exhibition. Meet at the museum at 2 pm, Saturday August 17.

Guided Tour of Exhibition

7/13/2013 - 2:00 pm

Meet at the Museum

Guided Tour of Exhibition. Saturday, July 13, meet at the museum.

Presidents Weekend Open House

2/17/2013 - 2 - 5 pm

Norfolk Historical Museum

Last Chance to see the stunning exhibition: A Photographer in the Northwest Hills: Frank DeMars and Postcards of Norfolk

The Norfolk Roadshow

6/26/2011 - 4:00 pm

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.

2011 A Walk Around the Village Green

10/2/2011 - 2:00 pm

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.

Jupiter Mars: Son of the Revolution

10/22/2011 - 10:30 am

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.

Post-Concert Reception at the Museum

7/21/2012 - Sat evening

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.

Then & Now – Postcard Walks Through History

7/28/2012 - 2:00 pm

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.

The Mikado at Infinity Music Hall

6/30/2013 - 2:00 pm

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.