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After 1880, James Bailey had seen his last book published; he had remained Danbury’s “news man” in his recently constructed home on Osborne Street until his death from pneumonia in 1894, but his national fame had faded.  In the preface of his History of Danbury, Susan Benedict Hill describes what may have contributed to Bailey’s precipitous drop in creative output:

“…[Bailey] was subject to seasons of deep depression. Years ago, in the very height of his world-wide popularity, his sunny soul would pass at times into profound darkness, when he would pray for death, while yet he would confess that there was no external cause for such despondency. 

His love for children was deep and intense, and it was a sad grief to him that his own died in infancy. Every Sunday and holiday saw the tiny graves in Wooster Cemetery covered with flowers, placed there by his loving hands.

… Had he valued money for its own sake, he might have been a millionaire, but money flowed as steadily and profusely from his hands as did wit from his lips. No appeal to him for help was ever made in vain.”

According to a fellow Civil War veteran, Bailey’s bouts with depression also involved drinking.**  He was a Democrat but his paper was non-partisan and he was said to have declined offers by both parties to be Danbury’s first mayor.  Reportedly, he died relatively poor as a result of his extravagant philanthropy. 

 When Bailey looked out his front windows on 14 Osborne Street,  past the young beech tree, he would have seen the peaceful tops of the hills in Wooster Cemetery and the graves of his children.

Bailey has been gone for some 125 years, but his house remains.  Though, now, that what was until recently a grand beech tree has been removed with little ceremony.

* Bailey, James Montgomery. History of Danbury, Conn., 1684-1896: From Notes and Manuscript Left by James Montgomery Bailey. Burr Printing House, 1869, xxi.

** Art Young, Art Young: His Life and Times,  New York: Sheridan House, 1939, 240.

Click here to view theatrical posters (and a couple of programs) for WestConn productions from 1971-2004.

Thanks to student Harry Smolin for scanning these for HIS 498 in the spring of 2019.

A librarian who did not go gentle into that good night.

Safe travels to Vijay Nair.  Vijay is seen here in the 1980s posed in his basement apartment of the Octagon House on Spring Street.

Vijay was a librarian with WCSU for more than 30 years and served as CSU-AAUP President in his last few years at WestConn.

An exhibit of items from the WCSU Archives’ collections. In the Haas Library Atrium until the end of the semester.

To mark Veterans’ Day and the centennial of the armistice that ended World War I,  the Western Connecticut State University Archives presents “100 Years Since the First World War” exhibit on view through December 17, 2018. This exhibit features two cases of material from the archives’ collection.  From political cartoons to memorials, the pieces included in this exhibit provide a fascinating glimpse into America during the First World War. See online exhibit.

Woodrow Wilson in November of 1918:

The war thus comes to an end; for, having accepted these terms of armistice, it will be impossible for the German command to renew it.

It is not now possible to assess the consequences of this great consummation. We know only that this tragical war, whose consuming flames swept from one nation to another until all the world was on fire, is at an end and that it was the privilege of our own people to enter it at its most critical juncture … Armed imperialism such as the men conceived who were but yesterday the masters of Germany is at an end, its illicit ambitions engulfed in black disaster. Who will now seek to revive it?*

The exhibit showcases printed matter from the WCSU Archives that arose out of attempts to sway public opinion to support the War. It also includes materials that document the life of one of Danbury’s own who died while “over there,” George Bennett Hawley.

Hawley was born on April 27, 1895, in Danbury and was a signalman for company B of the 307^th Infantry – one of the first AEF units to join the lines of battle in France.

Through these materials, we have a unique glimpse of the period; 100 Years Since the First World War commemorates the efforts of American soldiers and their experiences in war.

* The American Presidency Project. Woodrow Wilson Address to a Joint Session of Congress Concerning the Terms of Armistice Signed by Germany
November 11, 1918. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=117697

The Vinland Map in Modern History: A Reappraisal
One-day symposium, Mystic Seaport Museum
September 21, 2018 (10AM-3:15)

The exhibition “Science, Myth, and Mystery: The Vinland Map Saga” is open at Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Conn., from May 19-September 30, 2018 . Organized in collaboration with the Beinecke Library, this exhibition places the Vinland Map on public view at a US venue outside Yale for the first time in over fifty years. The exhibition shares the research and viewpoints of a consensus of scholars in the humanities and sciences concluding the Vinland Map is a modern forgery!

Archives and WCSU Alum Lynn Schoenbeck(‘ 16) organized this symposium!

Thanks to the WCSU Archives’ special adjunct Ann Victor, the Elks Grand March Social composed by W. Oland Hoyt can be heard and seen here as it was originally written.

Thanks to Ann for bringing this really cool taste of local music from the late nineteenth century to life. Previously, this piece had been quietly mixed in with Truman Warner’s small sheet music collection and was recently “discovered” by our student Shae Zalinski when searching for a different piece of music.

Take a peek at some interesting data that has been transcribed by Gerry Shea.  Ever wondered what the average price of a horse was in Danbury in 1826?  How many families owned clocks? Sheep..?

To have a look at the 1826 Danbury tax data, follow the link below.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1M4ejwjoOAl0UZot8rcrS27w9FIzW1wcZ5x4zxLPzWpI/edit?usp=sharing

1851 Danbury tax data
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1m4crO-A1DUucU5aJSBCvX2g5Fr59opFE9jlWY9zKl0U/edit?usp=sharing

1863 Danbury tax data
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bmEJxT_By1Y3VCaF9fyOrwaIk-3NXjn3Fb_OcQqPFlU/edit?usp=sharing

1885 Danbury tax data
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DzfZBHX4AniqIGw2mSX0svMyTOBXvJOWhaqakWPk_SI/edit?usp=sharing

1902 Danbury tax data
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JcPdAY-ZoZUaLCj6dyPeYODuwfDlysAVuyE2z8uLpWs/edit?usp=sharing

Dr. Herb Janick has sadly left us but he has also left his mark on this University in many ways.  One of his most important achievements was his help in the creation of a WCSU Archive. He understood that, like the axiom that all politics is local, all history is local; he dedicated himself to promoting student and public interest in the history that is all around us – not just in world capitals and battlefields far away. Dr. Janick knew that part of promoting interest in the local was through creating opportunities for engagement with primary sources. That meant the use of archives, museums, and historical societies but also the preservation of those institutions. Dr. Janick helped students engage with primary sources even after his retirement through his Janick Fellowship in Archives. Thank you to Dr. Janick and farewell.

Vietnam Discussion. The WCSU Archives, Department of History and Student Veterans Organization will host a 4 p.m. panel discussion in Room 127 of White Hall, “My Vietnam War: Veterans Remember,” with Professor of Writing, Linguistics and Creative Process Dr. Edward Hagan.

For more information, contact the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.

Jerry Shea will be talking about his work documenting how corporations advertised their participation in World War II and how they promoted the War effort in general through advertisements in Life magazine.

Coffee and cookies will be served.

October 23rd, White Hall, Room 122 @3PM.

Call 7-8992 for more information.