228. Sports Heaven: The Birth of ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut

232. Guides for Black Travelers: New London's Green Book Sites

What's the first thing you do when you want to take a trip? Look through Instagram to find things to do? Or Yelp for restaurants that serve local cuisine? Today travelers can follow social media influencers and websites that promise to give you an insider's look at places to stay or the best discounted hotel rates. But for Black travelers in the Jim Crow era through the 1960s, it wasn't easy to find places to eat or stay overnight. In this episode, we are going to talk about two national guides for Black travelers, both published beginning in the 1930s, and places that were included from New London, Connecticut. Our guests, Nicole Thomas and Tom Schuch, are part of the team that produced the New London Black Heritage Trail, designated as one of 20 Connecticut History Gamechangers by Connecticut Explored magazine in 2022. Nicole Thomas was born and raised in New London. She is the Assistant Site Administrator at the Hempstead Houses Museum [https://ctlandmarks.org/properties/hempsted-houses/] for Connecticut Landmarks [https://ctlandmarks.org] and is instrumental in the interpretation of the life of Adm Jackson who was enslaved at the Hempstead Houses. You can hear that story on Grating the Nutmeg episode #175 Sleeping with the Ancestors with author Joe McGill. Tom Schuch is a New London native and a graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He has a special interest in forgotten local history. This interest led to the discovery of several of the New London Green Book sites, as well as other sites that are now part of the New London Black Heritage Trail. Tom was featured on Grating the Nutmeg episode #149 New London and the Middle Passage. Be sure to go to the Connecticut Landmarks website to plan your visit to the Hempstead Houses. Learn about the mid-20th century Green Book guides that Black Americans used to find welcoming lodging and other services whether traveling for work or pleasure on Preservation Connecticut's website Architecture of the Green book in Connecticut: https://preservationct.org/architecture-of-the-green-book-in-connecticut [https://preservationct.org/architecture-of-the-green-book-in-connecticut] And find Tom Schuch's blog All Schuch Up on Substack.com To see the Green books, visit https://www.nypl.org/blog/2015/03/24/schomburg-treasures-green-book [https://www.nypl.org/blog/2015/03/24/schomburg-treasures-green-book] To listen to Nicole and Tom's other Grating the Nutmeg episodes. Visit: https://gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/175-sleeping-with-the-ancestors-in-connecticut [https://gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/175-sleeping-with-the-ancestors-in-connecticut] https://gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/149-the-middle-passage-west-africa-to-connecticut [https://gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/149-the-middle-passage-west-africa-to-connecticut] Grating the Nutmeg is partnering with Preservation Connecticut to bring you summer and fall episodes on saving historic barns, New London sites found in the historic Green Book guide for black travelers, Mid-Century Modern architecture, and sites that reveal the state's LGBTQ+ history. Connecticut's historic places matter! Visit Preservation Connecticut's website to learnmore and become a member at https://preservationct.org/ [https://preservationct.org/] ----------------------- This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O'Sullivan at www.highwattagemedia.com/ [https://www.highwattagemedia.com/] Follow Grating the Nutmeg on Facebook and Instagram. Follow executive producer Mary Donohue on Facebook and Instagram at West Hartford Town Historian. Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history. Thank you for listening!

231. John Hooker: Hartford's Abolitionist Lawyer

In this episode, you'll be introduced to John Hooker, a Hartford lawyer, judge, and abolitionist as well as a reformer for women's rights. Hooker was the president of the anti-slavery committee in Hartford, published the Charter Oak anti-slavery newspaper with the Connecticut Anti-Slavery Society of Hartford, and co-authored with his wife Isabella Beecher Hooker, the state bill in 1877 that gave married women more control of their property. Why isn't he better known? Our guest for this episode is Erika Slocumb, Director of Interpretation & Visitor Experience at the Stowe Center for Literary Activism [https://stowecenter.org]. Erika is a scholar of Black history. She received her BA in Social Justice Education, her MS in Labor Studies, and she expects her PhD in African American Studies in the fall of 2026—all from University of Massachusetts Amherst. Be sure to go to the Stowe Center's website at stowecenter.org/blog/ [https://stowecenter.org/blog/] to read Erika's new blog post about John Hooker. Plan to attend the Nook Farm Lawn Party and Fourth of July events-all the info is on the Stowe Center website. Grating the Nutmeg is partnering with Preservation Connecticut to bring you summer and fall episodes on saving historic barns, Connecticut sites found in the historic Green Book guide for black travelers, Mid-Century Modern architecture, and sites that reveal the state's LGBTQ+ history. Connecticut's historic places matter! ------------------------------------------ Don't forget to subscribe to Connecticut Explored [https://www.ctexplored.org] magazine today-our summer issue is a double-issue celebrating our nation's 250th birthday! And set up your monthly donation to Grating the Nutmeg at ctexplored.org This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O'Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/ [https://www.highwattagemedia.com/] Follow GTN on our socials-Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky. Follow executive producer Mary Donohue on Facebook and Instagram at West Hartford Town Historian. Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history. Thank you for listening!

230. Pursuing Happiness: New Horizons Village

In 1955, a group of disabled young adults living at New Britain Memorial Hospital signed a letter declaring their intention to seek out "adventuresome living for the physically handicapped." They formed a nonprofit called New Horizons and set out on a thirty-year journey to raise money and navigate legal barriers in order to realize their most cherished dream: a housing complex for the disabled, run by the disabled. In 2026, New Horizons Village in Farmington turns 40. In this episode, Natalie Belanger of the Connecticut Museum [https://www.connecticutmuseum.org] gives you a capsule history of the New Horizons movement and speaks with current residents and staff about what New Horizons means to them. Many thanks to our participants: Patricia Robothom, Gary Strickland, Chuck Hutchins, Jen Carver, and Pam O'Neil. Special thanks to Stephanie Tetreault for her assistance in facilitating these interviews! The story of New Horizons is featured in the Connecticut Museum [https://www.connecticutmuseum.org]'s newest exhibition! The Museum is marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with a new exhibition. Rebellious [https://www.connecticutmuseum.org/exhibition/rebellious/%22%20%5Co%20%22https://www.connecticutmuseum.org/exhibition/rebellious/] reflects on moments throughout Connecticut history when its people came together, pushed back, and sparked change to pursue their own visions of life, liberty, and happiness in America. You'll see artifacts and learn stories stretching from the American Revolution to the modern civil rights revolution. ----------------------------------- Don't forget to subscribe to Connecticut Explored [https://www.ctexplored.org] magazine today-our summer issue is full of fun ideas for daytrips and staycations! And set up your monthly donation to Grating the Nutmeg at ctexplored.org This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Natalie Belanger and engineered by Patrick O'Sullivan at highwattagemedia.com/ [https://www.highwattagemedia.com/] Follow GTN on our socials-Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky. Follow executive producer Mary Donohue on Facebook and Instagram at West Hartford Town Historian. Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history. Thank you for listening!

229. Irish Immigration in Art from the Fairfield Great Hunger Museum at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum

Famine Irish, lace-curtain Irish, shanty Irish: the Irish Diaspora has shaped Connecticut's European immigrant history from the 1840s. Traces of Irish history and culture in the state are not only found in archival and artifact collections but also through the historic buildings, neighborhoods, and cemeteries that stand across the state. Whether they were immigrants, expatriates, refugees, or indentured servants when they arrived from Ireland, 14 percent of Connecticut's current residents claim Irish ancestry. In today's episode, we take you to a new exhibition, A Journey of Hope: The Irish American Immigrant Experience [https://lockwoodmathewsmansion.com/exhibit/a-journey-of-hope-the-irish-american-immigrant-experience/] curated by Ireland's Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield now on exhibit at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum. The exhibit has about 30 art pieces on view ranging from a 1714 map of Ireland to contemporary paintings completed in 2019. For anyone who's watching The Gilded Age television show, a trip to the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion will immerse you in French Second Empire grandeur of the type seen on the show. One of the things that makes the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion perfect for the Irish immigration exhibit is that the mansion had Irish women as domestic servants and tells their story, that of the "Bridget's" as they were known, in the mansion's second floor live-in servants' quarters. Our guest is John Foley, President of Ireland's Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield, a new non-profit dedicated to sharing the story of the Irish Diaspora, picking up where the now closed museum at Quinnipiac University left off after Covid. Foley will share the plans for a new museum building to house the collection. Our thanks to the staff of the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum for the tour of the exhibit and the house. A Journey of Hope: The Irish American Immigrant Experience [https://lockwoodmathewsmansion.com/exhibit/a-journey-of-hope-the-irish-american-immigrant-experience/] curated by Ireland's Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield will be up until Sept 6, 2026, so it's the perfect summer day trip! To find out more about the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum go to their website at lockwoodmathewsmansion.com/ [https://lockwoodmathewsmansion.com/] I also want to thank my guest John Foley and encourage you to visit the website of Ireland's Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield at ighmf.org/ [https://www.ighmf.org/] -------------------------------------------------- Don't forget to subscribe to Connecticut Explored [https://www.ctexplored.org] magazine today - our summer issue is full of fun ideas for daytrips and staycations! And set up your monthly donation to Grating the Nutmeg at ctexplored.org This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O'Sullivan at highwattagemedia.com. [https://www.highwattagemedia.com/] Follow GTN on our socials-Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky. Follow executive producer Mary Donohue on Facebook and Instagram at West Hartford Town Historian. Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history. Thank you for listening!

228. Sports Heaven: The Birth of ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut

If you are driving in Bristol, Connecticut-maybe you're going to Lake Compounce Amusement Park - and suddenly you spy a cluster of huge satellite dishes, you might wonder if space aliens had really landed. But what you've discovered is the home base of ESPN - originally entitled the Entertainment & Sports Programming Network - shortened to ESPN in 1985. Every year tens of millions of fans watch ESPN but 47 years ago, a 24-hour sports television cable network was considered a wild and impossible idea. Our guests on this episode are the authors of the new audiobook SPORTS HEAVEN: The Birth of ESPN [https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Sports-Heaven-Birth-ESPN/dp/B0G7L9KXNT] published by Hachette Audio on April 7, 2026. Historian Mike Soltys was hired in the summer of 1980 as a college intern by ESPN's founder, Bill Rasmussen, and served 43 years in ESPN's corporate communications department, the last 20 as a vice president. He returned to ESPN in 2024 as a part-time Historian. Mike is serving as producer of a documentary Sports Heaven: The Birth of ESPN and co-author of the accompanying book. Garrett Sutton is an attorney and best-selling author of business and entrepreneurial books. He is co-author with Mike of Sports Heaven and is also the Executive Producer of the documentary film. ------------------------------------- Don't forget to subscribe to Connecticut Explored [https://www.ctexplored.org] magazine today-our summer issue is full of fun ideas for daytrips and staycations! And set up your monthly donation to Grating the Nutmeg at ctexplored.org [https://www.ctexplored.org] This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O'Sullivan at www.highwattagemedia.com/ [https://www.highwattagemedia.com/] Follow GTN on our socials-Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky. Follow host and executive producer on Facebook and Instagram at West Hartford Town Historian. Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history. Thank you for listening!