March is Women's History Month, a perfect time to explore Connecticut's Women's Heritage Trail, a collection of 14 sites scattered statewide that honor the accomplishments of prominent Connecticut women.
The Women's Heritage Trail was created by the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame, which sponsors special programs, exhibits and events throughout the year that recognize Connecticut women, past and present. For more information about the Women's Heritage Trail, call them at 203-392-9007.
Here's a look at the 14 Women's Heritage Trail sites, beginning with the suggested starting place, the Old State House in downtown Hartford. Call ahead to confirm hours of operation, as some of these sites are open to the public on a limited basis. Most welcome group tours year-round by appointment.
Hartford-Area Sites
1. The Old State House
800 Main Street, Hartford
860-522-6766
At the Old State House, guided and self-guided tours introduce visitors to a number of women who played a role in Hartford history including Hannah Watson, publisher of the Connecticut Courant during the American Revolution; Prudence Crandall, Connecticut's state heroine and founder of the first school for African American girls in the state; and Frances Ellen Burr, a leader in the movement for women's suffrage.
2. Harriet Beecher Stowe Center
77 Forest Street, Hartford
860-522-9258
The gothic cottage that was home to reformer and author Harriet Beecher Stowe, most famous for the anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, is part of the Nook Farm complex in Hartford that is also the location of the Mark Twain House and the Katharine Seymour Day House, an 1884 Queen Anne Victorian with exhibition space that is included on most tours of the Stowe House.
3. Webb-Dean-Stevens Museum
211 Main Street, Wethersfield
860-529-0612
Explore the roles women played in colonial and early America during a visit to this trio of 18th-century homes.
4. The Hill-Stead Museum
35 Mountain Road, Farmington
860-677-4787
This magnificent mansion turned museum houses an impressive collection of Impressionist art. Theodate Pope Riddle, the building's architect and daughter of the owner of this magnificent collection of art, was one of the first licensed female architects in the U.S.
5. Martha A. Parsons House Museum
1387 Enfield Street (Route 5), Enfield
860-745-6064
Operated by the Enfield Historical Society, the Martha Parsons Home is the newest addition to the Connecticut Women's Heritage Trail. Built in 1782, the one-time parsonage was later the family home of Martha A. Parsons, the first woman business executive in Connecticut to rise to her position as Executive Secretary for the Landers, Frary, and Clark Company on her own merits. The house is open free to the public for seasonal Sunday tours.
Connecticut Shoreline
6. The Bush-Holley Historic Site and Visitor Center
39 Strickland Road, Cos Cob
203-869-6899
Josephine Holley and her daughter, Constant, ran a boarding house here in the 1890s for Impressionist artists including John Twachtman and Theodore Robinson. Previously, the home was occupied by another remarkable woman, Sarah Bush, who defended the home and her family from attack during the American Revolution while her husband was imprisoned on suspect of sympathizing with the British.
7. The New Canaan Historical Society Hanford-Silliman House
13 Oenoke Road, New Canaan
203-966-1776
You'll gain insight into women's lives during various eras from the 18th through 20th centuries at this former tavern and boarding house that features many original furnishings.
8. Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum
295 West Avenue, Norwalk
203-838-9799
Built in 1869 at the height of the Victorian era, tours of this mansion provide visitors with a look at the lives of both conspicuously wealthy women and their female servants during the latter half of the 19th century and also provide a look at the evolution of domestic technology.
9. Birdcraft Museum and Sanctuary
314 Unquowa Road, Fairfield
203-259-0416
The nation's first bird sanctuary was founded by Mabel Osgood Wright, a pioneer in environmental education and a founder of the Connecticut and national Audubon societies.
10. Osborne Homestead Museum
500 Hawthorne Avenue, Derby
203-734-2513
This historic estate was home to businesswoman and conservationist Frances Osborne Kellogg. Visitors can learn about women's roles in sustaining the once-agricultural property on tours of the house, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and enjoy the surrounding grounds and gardens.
11. The Florence Griswold Museum
96 Lyme Street, Old Lyme
860-434-5542
Florence Griswold's Old Lyme home was a haven for American Impressionist painters such as Childe Hassam and Willard Metcalf, who gathered at this riverfront estate for scenic inspiration. The home is now a museum of American Impressionist art.
12. The Thankful Arnold House of the Haddam Historical Society
14 Hayden Hill Road, Haddam
860-345-2400
Thankful Arnold was an "ordinary" woman of her time. As you tour this 1794 house, you'll hear about the lives of three generations of women--Thankful and her daughter and granddaughter.
Northeastern Connecticut
13. The Windham Textile and History Museum
157 Union/Main Streets, Willimantic
860-456-2178
Learn about the lives of mill owners' wives and the "ordinary" women who worked in textile mills when you visit this museum's mill worker's home and mill owner's mansion and tour the recreated 19th-century textile mill.
14. Prudence Crandall Museum
Junction Routes 14 and 169, Canterbury
860-546-7800
Prudence Crandall was a schoolteacher who, in 1832, admitted Sarah Harris, a young black woman, into her academy. When the school was boycotted by local residents, Crandall accepted more African-American girls as boarding students. Crandall was jailed for disobeying a state law that made it illegal to instruct "colored persons who were not inhabitants of this State." Her case was dismissed, but a mob attacked the academy, forcing Crandall to close its doors to protect students' safety. Prudence Crandall is recognized as Connecticut's state heroine.
