New England

Contrary to popular belief, covered bridges were not built that way to keep the snow and rain off travelers. And not all New England bridges were covered. The builders of covered bridges wanted to outsmart Mother Nature and make their structures last as long as possible by protecting them from New England weather. The covered bridge's roof and sides were easy to replace. They kept wind, rain, snow, and sleet from the heavy beams and timbers that supported the bridge load. Ironically, it was necessary to shovel snow onto covered bridges in the winter to let sleighs and other horse-drawn vehicles pass over them. Only a few covered bridges remain--as they deteriorated, they were replaced by concrete and steel bridges, which don't need wooden covers to protect them. Excerpted from Old Sturbridge Village Visitor's Guide Edited by Kent McCallum © 1993,1996, Old Sturbridge Inc. Text taken from Old Sturbridge Village's Website: www.osv.org/

Freeman Farm House, Sturbridge, Massachusetts, c. 1810-1815 Moved to OSV, 1950. Relocated, 1956 Barn, Charlton, Massachusetts, c. 1830-50 Corn Barn, Thompson, Connecticut, c. 1830-60 Smokehouse, Goshen, Connecticut, c. 1800 Haying began in the cool of the morning. Farmers, with their sons and hired neighbors, mowed as fast as they could, spreading, turning, and raking hay into windrows, and rolling it into cocks to minimize damage from rain or dew. As one observer described it, “everything about it has the urge, the hurry, and the excitement of a battle.” Once mowing had begun, any mismanagement or delay could have costly consequences and good farmers made ready well in advance an extra supply of scythes, pitchforks, and rake handles. The signs of the working life of a farming family are found all around the Freeman Farm, even in the house where buckets of milk are taken into the buttery to cool and separate. Country women seemed endlessly busy with the chores that were traditionally their own. Taking care of the dairy and making butter and cheese were skills that provided much of a household’s trade with the outside world. Thrifty management of large kitchen gardens meant not only planting, weeding, and saving seeds, but also harvesting and preserving the produce. The work of putting food by, whether in sand in the root cellar, dried, pickled in brine, or smoked, just led right on to the planning, cooking, and serving of household meals. Everyday bread for New England tables was traditionally “rye and Indian,” a combination of rye flour and corn meal, both ground at a neighborhood gristmill. Indian corn, or maize, was the region’s most important grain crop, borrowed from Native American agriculture. It thrived, while wheat, the settlers’ favorite European grain, had failed through southern New England. Rye was grown instead. But by 1825, even breadstuffs showed signs of the changes that were starting to overtake New England farming. Many rural families were buying newly available wheat flour from New York and Ohio. Some gladly abandoned their heavy traditional loaves for lighter bread. Others added one-third part wheat flour to the old recipes. Following early 19th-century practice, the re-created landscape at the farm is divided into parcels for mowing, for pasture, for tillage, and for woodlot. New England farmers were steadily clearing their holdings, opening up forested land for grazing and hay. Native grasses were allowed to flourish in the pastures, but hayfields were sown with more nutritious “English” ones. Farmers prepared their fields with ox-drawn plows and harrows, and cultivated them through long days of hard labor. Through the winter, farmers could be found felling trees for fencing, repairing tools, building sheds, chopping firewood, or working at a supplementary trade. Caring for livestock was year-round work. Feeding the animals and cleaning their stalls, attending when they gave birth, shearing the sheep, milking the cows, and training young oxen were the common doings of everyday life. Work still follows the old seasonal and daily rhythms at the Freeman Farm today. Crops are planted and harvested, food is prepared at the kitchen hearth, animals are tended in the barnyards, and produce is prepared for use or for trade. Field and garden crops are the traditional varieties originally grown in early New England. The cattle, sheep, swine, and poultry have been carefully bred to resemble early 19th-century animals in size, shape, and coloring. Visitors can discover here the re-created patterns of a whole way of life, which even then was beginning to show signs of giving way to the future. The modest one-and-a-half story gambrel-roofed house at the farm was home for Pliny Freeman, his wife Delia, and a varying number of their seven children and kin. Their story is typical in many ways of the experiences of New England families. As the population of New England grew, it was harder to pass on an enduring connection to the land. Pliny, unlike his father or father-in-law, did not have enough land to

Pottery Goshen, Connecticut, c. 1819 Moved to OSV, 1961 Kiln built by OSV, 1979 Earthenware production,, usually as a part-time activity, has been practiced in rural agricultural communities for thousands of years. Into the middle of the 19th century, the farmer-potter was a presence in the New England countryside. Hervey Brooks (1779-1873) came to the town of Goshen as a 16-year-old apprentice in 1795 and practiced the potter’s craft there until 1873. In restoring his pottery shop and re-creating a working version of his kiln, Old Sturbridge Village researchers have drawn on his detailed accounts from 1802-73 and undertaken extensive archaeological studies of the original site. As a potter, Brooks spent his early years working primarily for other craftsmen. He crafted some 26 different varieties and sizes of jugs, bowls, pitchers, and platters. After 1819 he worked for himself and began by producing such a backlog of wares that he did not fire a kiln again for eight years. Then, from 1828 on, Brooks regularly made and fired one kiln load of ware each year between June and November—most commonly producing milk pans, cooking pots, and jugs. Throughout his life he devoted most of his time to his own farm and labor for others, including haying, chopping and hauling wood, hoeing potatoes, grafting apple trees, shingling, splitting rails, and even some blacksmithing. Brooks sold some of his redware to country stores on contract, and he exchanged smaller lots with his neighbors for goods and services. However, increasing competition from tinware producers and local population decline gradually eroded Brooks’s market. Brooks hung on long after virtually all the rest of New England’s redware potters had given up the craft, burning his last kiln of ware in 1864. Excerpted from Old Sturbridge Village Visitor's Guide © 1993-2004, Old Sturbridge Inc. Text from the Old Sturbridge Village Web Site: www.osv.org/

Pottery Goshen, Connecticut, c. 1819 Moved to OSV, 1961 Kiln built by OSV, 1979 Earthenware production,, usually as a part-time activity, has been practiced in rural agricultural communities for thousands of years. Into the middle of the 19th century, the farmer-potter was a presence in the New England countryside. Hervey Brooks (1779-1873) came to the town of Goshen as a 16-year-old apprentice in 1795 and practiced the potter’s craft there until 1873. In restoring his pottery shop and re-creating a working version of his kiln, Old Sturbridge Village researchers have drawn on his detailed accounts from 1802-73 and undertaken extensive archaeological studies of the original site. As a potter, Brooks spent his early years working primarily for other craftsmen. He crafted some 26 different varieties and sizes of jugs, bowls, pitchers, and platters. After 1819 he worked for himself and began by producing such a backlog of wares that he did not fire a kiln again for eight years. Then, from 1828 on, Brooks regularly made and fired one kiln load of ware each year between June and November—most commonly producing milk pans, cooking pots, and jugs. Throughout his life he devoted most of his time to his own farm and labor for others, including haying, chopping and hauling wood, hoeing potatoes, grafting apple trees, shingling, splitting rails, and even some blacksmithing. Brooks sold some of his redware to country stores on contract, and he exchanged smaller lots with his neighbors for goods and services. However, increasing competition from tinware producers and local population decline gradually eroded Brooks’s market. Brooks hung on long after virtually all the rest of New England’s redware potters had given up the craft, burning his last kiln of ware in 1864. Excerpted from Old Sturbridge Village Visitor's Guide © 1993-2004, Old Sturbridge Inc. Text from the Old Sturbridge Village Web Site: www.osv.org/

Across the Old Yard from Massachusetts Hall stands University Hall, and the now-famous "statue of three lies" of John Harvard. The statue earned its nickname from its inscription, "John Harvard, Founder, 1638". In truth, the statue is not modeled after John Harvard, Mr. Harvard did not found the university, and the founding was in 1636. University Hall was the site of the now-famous sit-in and teach-in protests during the late 1960s. Text from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Yard

Memorial Hall is an imposing brick building in High Victorian Gothic style, located on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is now a National Historic Landmark. Memorial Hall was erected in honor of Harvard graduates who fought for the Union in the American Civil War. From 1865 to 1868, a fund-raising committee gathered $370,000, then equal to one-twelfth of Harvard's total endowment, which was augmented by an additional $40,000 bequest from Charles Sanders, class of 1802 and college steward 1827-1831, for "a hall or theatre to be used on Commencement days, Class days, Exhibition days, days of the meetings of the society of Alumni, or any other public occasion connected with the College, whether literary or festive." An architectural competition began in December 1865, with the winning designs submitted by William Robert Ware, class of 1852, and Henry Van Brunt, class of 1854. (These initial designs were altered as plans proceeded.) In 1870 the building was named Memorial Hall and its cornerstone laid; Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., composed a hymn for the occasion. The hall was dedicated for use in 1874, with Sanders Theatre substantially complete in 1875, and the tower completed in 1877. The tower was subsequently destroyed in a 1956 fire but rebuilt in 1999. In The Bostonians, Henry James described it thus: "The Memorial Hall of Harvard consists of three main divisions: one of them a theater, for academic ceremonies; another a vast refectory, covered with a timbered roof, hung about with portraits and lighted by stained windows, like the halls of the colleges of Oxford; and the third, the most interesting, a chamber high, dim and severe, consecrated to the sons of the university who fell in the long Civil War." Principal interior features of Memorial Hall are as follows: Sanders Theatre is a handsome lecture and concert hall of 1,166 seats, wood-paneled with statues of James Otis (by Thomas Crawford) and Josiah Quincy (by William Wetmore Story), and inspired by Christopher Wren's Sheldonian Theatre at Oxford, England. It contains John La Farge's stained glass window Athena Tying a Mourning Fillet. The hall's great room (9,000 square feet), now known as Annenberg Hall, is a lofty and impressive space shaped by massive wooden trusses, walnut paneling, and a blue, stenciled ceiling. It was converted to a student commons soon after construction, and served as the college's main dining hall until 1926. From 1926 until 1994, it was only lightly used but after extensive renovation reopened in 1996 as the Freshman Student Center. The Memorial Transept (2,600 square foot) consists of a 60-foot high gothic vault above a marble floor, black walnut paneling and stenciled walls, two stained glass windows, and 28 white marble tablets commemorating 136 Civil War casualties. Twenty-two stained glass windows throughout the building, installed between 1879 and 1902, include works by John La Farge (4 windows), Louis Comfort Tiffany Studios (3 windows), and Sarah Wyman Whitman (2 windows). Text from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Hall_(Harvard_University)

Memorial Hall is an imposing brick building in High Victorian Gothic style, located on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is now a National Historic Landmark. Memorial Hall was erected in honor of Harvard graduates who fought for the Union in the American Civil War. From 1865 to 1868, a fund-raising committee gathered $370,000, then equal to one-twelfth of Harvard's total endowment, which was augmented by an additional $40,000 bequest from Charles Sanders, class of 1802 and college steward 1827-1831, for "a hall or theatre to be used on Commencement days, Class days, Exhibition days, days of the meetings of the society of Alumni, or any other public occasion connected with the College, whether literary or festive." An architectural competition began in December 1865, with the winning designs submitted by William Robert Ware, class of 1852, and Henry Van Brunt, class of 1854. (These initial designs were altered as plans proceeded.) In 1870 the building was named Memorial Hall and its cornerstone laid; Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., composed a hymn for the occasion. The hall was dedicated for use in 1874, with Sanders Theatre substantially complete in 1875, and the tower completed in 1877. The tower was subsequently destroyed in a 1956 fire but rebuilt in 1999. In The Bostonians, Henry James described it thus: "The Memorial Hall of Harvard consists of three main divisions: one of them a theater, for academic ceremonies; another a vast refectory, covered with a timbered roof, hung about with portraits and lighted by stained windows, like the halls of the colleges of Oxford; and the third, the most interesting, a chamber high, dim and severe, consecrated to the sons of the university who fell in the long Civil War." Principal interior features of Memorial Hall are as follows: Sanders Theatre is a handsome lecture and concert hall of 1,166 seats, wood-paneled with statues of James Otis (by Thomas Crawford) and Josiah Quincy (by William Wetmore Story), and inspired by Christopher Wren's Sheldonian Theatre at Oxford, England. It contains John La Farge's stained glass window Athena Tying a Mourning Fillet. The hall's great room (9,000 square feet), now known as Annenberg Hall, is a lofty and impressive space shaped by massive wooden trusses, walnut paneling, and a blue, stenciled ceiling. It was converted to a student commons soon after construction, and served as the college's main dining hall until 1926. From 1926 until 1994, it was only lightly used but after extensive renovation reopened in 1996 as the Freshman Student Center. The Memorial Transept (2,600 square foot) consists of a 60-foot high gothic vault above a marble floor, black walnut paneling and stenciled walls, two stained glass windows, and 28 white marble tablets commemorating 136 Civil War casualties. Twenty-two stained glass windows throughout the building, installed between 1879 and 1902, include works by John La Farge (4 windows), Louis Comfort Tiffany Studios (3 windows), and Sarah Wyman Whitman (2 windows). Text from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Hall_(Harvard_University)

Memorial Hall is an imposing brick building in High Victorian Gothic style, located on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is now a National Historic Landmark. Memorial Hall was erected in honor of Harvard graduates who fought for the Union in the American Civil War. From 1865 to 1868, a fund-raising committee gathered $370,000, then equal to one-twelfth of Harvard's total endowment, which was augmented by an additional $40,000 bequest from Charles Sanders, class of 1802 and college steward 1827-1831, for "a hall or theatre to be used on Commencement days, Class days, Exhibition days, days of the meetings of the society of Alumni, or any other public occasion connected with the College, whether literary or festive." An architectural competition began in December 1865, with the winning designs submitted by William Robert Ware, class of 1852, and Henry Van Brunt, class of 1854. (These initial designs were altered as plans proceeded.) In 1870 the building was named Memorial Hall and its cornerstone laid; Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., composed a hymn for the occasion. The hall was dedicated for use in 1874, with Sanders Theatre substantially complete in 1875, and the tower completed in 1877. The tower was subsequently destroyed in a 1956 fire but rebuilt in 1999. In The Bostonians, Henry James described it thus: "The Memorial Hall of Harvard consists of three main divisions: one of them a theater, for academic ceremonies; another a vast refectory, covered with a timbered roof, hung about with portraits and lighted by stained windows, like the halls of the colleges of Oxford; and the third, the most interesting, a chamber high, dim and severe, consecrated to the sons of the university who fell in the long Civil War." Principal interior features of Memorial Hall are as follows: Sanders Theatre is a handsome lecture and concert hall of 1,166 seats, wood-paneled with statues of James Otis (by Thomas Crawford) and Josiah Quincy (by William Wetmore Story), and inspired by Christopher Wren's Sheldonian Theatre at Oxford, England. It contains John La Farge's stained glass window Athena Tying a Mourning Fillet. The hall's great room (9,000 square feet), now known as Annenberg Hall, is a lofty and impressive space shaped by massive wooden trusses, walnut paneling, and a blue, stenciled ceiling. It was converted to a student commons soon after construction, and served as the college's main dining hall until 1926. From 1926 until 1994, it was only lightly used but after extensive renovation reopened in 1996 as the Freshman Student Center. The Memorial Transept (2,600 square foot) consists of a 60-foot high gothic vault above a marble floor, black walnut paneling and stenciled walls, two stained glass windows, and 28 white marble tablets commemorating 136 Civil War casualties. Twenty-two stained glass windows throughout the building, installed between 1879 and 1902, include works by John La Farge (4 windows), Louis Comfort Tiffany Studios (3 windows), and Sarah Wyman Whitman (2 windows). Text from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Hall_(Harvard_University)

Bar 254 Crown St New Haven, CT 06511

Bar 254 Crown St New Haven, CT 06511

Louis' Lunch 261-263 Crown Street New Haven, CT 06511-6611 History The beginnings of the hamburger sandwich as we all know it today was really quite simple. One day in 1900, a gentleman hurriedly walked into Louis' Lunch and told proprietor Louis Lassen he was in a rush and wanted something he could eat on the run. In an instant, Louis placed his own blend of ground steak trimmings between two slices of toast and sent the gentleman on his way. And so, the most recognizable American sandwich was born. Today, Louis' great grandson, Jeff Lassen, carries on the tradition. The hamburgers have changed little from their historic prototype and remain the specialty of the house. Burgers are made fresh daily; hand-rolled from a proprietary blend of five meat varieties and cooked to order in the original cast-iron grills dating back to 1898. The Lassen family hold firm on their desire not to offer any condiments. The Louis Lunch experience is about the taste and simplicity of a fresh burger grilled to perfection. Cheese, tomato, and onion are the only acceptable garnish. More than just another eating place, Louis' Lunch has held a special place in the hearts of New Haveners for generations. It was threatened with demolition in the early 1970's to make room for a new high rise. Scores of devoted patrons from all over the world took up the cause for its preservation. Plans for the restaurant's safe relocation were finalized just hours before the deadline. The historic building was loaded onto a truck and made a thirty minute journey to its final resting place on Crown Street. In an effort to help with the reconstruction, friends and supporters sent thousands of bricks to rebuild its revered walls from every corner of the globe. Each one has its own unique story. Text from: www.louislunch.com/

Louis' Lunch 261-263 Crown Street New Haven, CT 06511-6611 History The beginnings of the hamburger sandwich as we all know it today was really quite simple. One day in 1900, a gentleman hurriedly walked into Louis' Lunch and told proprietor Louis Lassen he was in a rush and wanted something he could eat on the run. In an instant, Louis placed his own blend of ground steak trimmings between two slices of toast and sent the gentleman on his way. And so, the most recognizable American sandwich was born. Today, Louis' great grandson, Jeff Lassen, carries on the tradition. The hamburgers have changed little from their historic prototype and remain the specialty of the house. Burgers are made fresh daily; hand-rolled from a proprietary blend of five meat varieties and cooked to order in the original cast-iron grills dating back to 1898. The Lassen family hold firm on their desire not to offer any condiments. The Louis Lunch experience is about the taste and simplicity of a fresh burger grilled to perfection. Cheese, tomato, and onion are the only acceptable garnish. More than just another eating place, Louis' Lunch has held a special place in the hearts of New Haveners for generations. It was threatened with demolition in the early 1970's to make room for a new high rise. Scores of devoted patrons from all over the world took up the cause for its preservation. Plans for the restaurant's safe relocation were finalized just hours before the deadline. The historic building was loaded onto a truck and made a thirty minute journey to its final resting place on Crown Street. In an effort to help with the reconstruction, friends and supporters sent thousands of bricks to rebuild its revered walls from every corner of the globe. Each one has its own unique story. Text from: www.louislunch.com/

The $467 million Smilow Cancer Hospital was built with support from a major philanthropic gift by Yale alumnus Joel E. Smilow (Yale College, 1954) and his wife, Joan. Smilow is the former chair, CEO and president of Playtex Products Inc. The design of the hospital is geared toward healing the mind as well as the body. In addition to housing state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, it includes several unique features that were suggested by a committee of cancer patients. Among these are an outdoor "healing garden" on the 7th floor, which has walkways that are heated to melt snow and take the edge off the cold. Because of this feature, the garden can be used year-round by patients and their families to relax and reflect. Text from: opac.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=7540

The $467 million Smilow Cancer Hospital was built with support from a major philanthropic gift by Yale alumnus Joel E. Smilow (Yale College, 1954) and his wife, Joan. Smilow is the former chair, CEO and president of Playtex Products Inc. The design of the hospital is geared toward healing the mind as well as the body. In addition to housing state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, it includes several unique features that were suggested by a committee of cancer patients. Among these are an outdoor "healing garden" on the 7th floor, which has walkways that are heated to melt snow and take the edge off the cold. Because of this feature, the garden can be used year-round by patients and their families to relax and reflect. Text from: opac.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=7540

The $467 million Smilow Cancer Hospital was built with support from a major philanthropic gift by Yale alumnus Joel E. Smilow (Yale College, 1954) and his wife, Joan. Smilow is the former chair, CEO and president of Playtex Products Inc. The design of the hospital is geared toward healing the mind as well as the body. In addition to housing state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, it includes several unique features that were suggested by a committee of cancer patients. Among these are an outdoor "healing garden" on the 7th floor, which has walkways that are heated to melt snow and take the edge off the cold. Because of this feature, the garden can be used year-round by patients and their families to relax and reflect. Text from: opac.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=7540

The $467 million Smilow Cancer Hospital was built with support from a major philanthropic gift by Yale alumnus Joel E. Smilow (Yale College, 1954) and his wife, Joan. Smilow is the former chair, CEO and president of Playtex Products Inc. The design of the hospital is geared toward healing the mind as well as the body. In addition to housing state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, it includes several unique features that were suggested by a committee of cancer patients. Among these are an outdoor "healing garden" on the 7th floor, which has walkways that are heated to melt snow and take the edge off the cold. Because of this feature, the garden can be used year-round by patients and their families to relax and reflect. Text from: opac.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=7540