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Connecticut History Online
$335,000 Grant Will Fund A Web-Based Visual History of Connecticut
Three Connecticut research institutions-the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, the Connecticut Historical Society, and the Mystic Seaport Museum-are collaborating to create Connecticut History Online. This web-based visual collection of 15,000 19th century images from Connecticut will foster online research by middle and high school students and enhance the teaching of Connecticut and American history. The work will be supported by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, which has awarded the consortium a prestigious National Leadership Program grant of $335,000.
As image collections appear on the Web, patterns of research and classroom instruction are changing to accommodate this explosion of new resources. Connecticut History Online will provide an entirely new level of access to 15,000 rare and often fragile graphics documenting various aspects of life in 19th- and early 20th- century Connecticut and America. The database will be one of the larger collections of digital images available via the Web, providing an unparalleled opportunity to search masses of images efficiently-and with no wear and tear on the original documents."From the middle school student seeking to illustrate a class report, to the architectural historian looking for examples of window design in early 20th-century industrial buildings, researchers will find Connecticut History Online to be both a starting point for broader research as well as an easily accessible, self-contained world for the visual exploration of history, design, and material culture," according to David Kahn, CHS executive director. "The IMLS grant will make access possible to an enormous database of images while meeting the interests and needs of students and teachers."The quantity and variety of Connecticut images owned by the three institutions is astonishing. The Connecticut Historical Society holds approximately 239,000 images among its collection of three million manuscripts and more than 100,000 volumes, including one of the finest genealogy collections in New England. The Dodd Center has major collections relating to Connecticut commerce, labor, politics, and populations and holds approximately 200,000 images relevant to this project. Mystic Seaport houses the largest collection of maritime photography in the world, including 16,477 images that relate to the new database.Museum and library catalogs and indexes, however, rarely provide access to visual images. Connecticut History Online will reverse the usual emphasis in cataloging materials by beginning as a database of images rather than of printed documents; each image will be accompanied by a succinct individual description. This configuration is not a new concept-images linked to descriptions-but the size of the database, its cooperative origins, and the multiple levels of access provided will establish a model. The collaborative partnership has been designed so that additional members may join in the future."This is an excellent opportunity to make available to a much wider audience important and one-of-a-kind visual material found only in historical repositories," according to Thomas Wilsted, director of the Dodd Center. "In addition, staff of three significant Connecticut institutions will develop and expand their skills in order to share with the public collection materials in ways that reflect current technological developments."Connecticut History Online will serve middle and high school teachers and students through online activities that meet curriculum goals in the teaching of Connecticut and American history. The project will create better access to local history for students, and will facilitate "online field trips" and encourage follow up visits to the actual repositories. Teachers and students will work with the project leaders over two years as researchers and investigators to develop online activities, classroom lessons, teachers' workshops, and student-friendly finding aids.
University Libraries' staff involved in the preparation of the grant proposal and in the implementation of the project include Fritzi Batchelor, Tara Hurt, Patrick McGlamery, Betsy Pittman, Thomas Wilsted and Rutherford Witthus. Contact Thomas Wilsted for more information: tom.wilsted@uconn.edu or 860-486-4501.
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