Manchester quiz.

Hint: The graphic is on the cover of a booklet, which is on our website.

Sunday, February 26, at 1:00 p.m.

• Storytelling with Len Cabral at the History Center, 175 Pine Street. All welcome to listen to award-winning storyteller and author Len Cabral, who has entertained audiences of all ages for 44 years, in Ireland, Belgium, England, Wales, Austria, Amsterdam, Bali, Singapore, and the United States. He will share some personal stories and folktales from around the world. He is a great grandson of a Cape Verdean whaler and lives in Rhode Island. Following Mr. Cabral’s program, the African American and Black Affairs Council (AABAC) will present a • Black History Month Celebration, during which Manchester youth will offer short presentations about historic figures of color whom they admire. This is a free, family-friendly event. Reservations are not required but would be helpful, 860-647-9983.

The Historical Society will create an art exhibit of Manchester's past, featuring themes from 1823 to 1923. The town-wide art project will include the Lutz Museum, featuring art of the present time, and Work_Space, featuring art of the future. To participate in the Historical Society's exhibit, contact or send art to Manchester Historical Society's administrative assistant. Include name, contact info, title, size, medium, and price of work by March 13. Here's more info from Work_Space: "As we reflect upon our first 200 years of Manchester and look toward the next century, Lutz Children’s Museum, the Manchester Historical Society and WORK_SPACE invite artists to share their talents to mark this momentous occasion. Each organization is bringing a slightly different slant to the celebration."

Dedication of the Women of the Cheney Family exhibit

Sunday, March 5 from 1:00 to 4:00 at the History Center, 175 Pine Street, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Professor Margery Resnick will speak about MIT’s first female graduate, Professor Ellen Swallow Richards (1873), and her student, Margaret Swan Cheney, who was born at the Cheney Homestead in 1855. Following the presentation, guests may visit the Cheney Homestead, 106 Hartford Road, to view the exhibit room dedicated to the women of the Cheney family who lived at the Homestead during its 238-year history. Refreshments will be served. More about Margaret Swan Cheney.

Sunday, March 12 from 1:00 to 4:00. Experience Early American lifestyle -- the 1785 homestead with period furnishings as the people experienced life at the time. The house is staged, on the first floor, in 1818. The second floor reflects 1840. A $5 donation is appreciated for upkeep of the 1785 Homestead. The Homestead is located at 106 Hartford Road. Come for 10 minutes or stay for hours.

The whole map is available on our website: Panoramic map. There are many more maps on our website, browse maps here. The Historical Society will host a map exhibit at the History Center, beginning May 13. More news in a month or so.

• Snippet from a September 30, 1923 Hartford Courant article -- about the first school in our area "probably in 1745."

Wednesday, March 8, from 10:00 to noon, the Historical Society's Genealogy Group will meet at the History Center, 175 Pine Street. The group is for all levels of expertise. Free for members, $3.00 for non-members. Questions may be directed to the History Center at 860-647-9983.

Open Wednesday through Friday 10:00 to 2:00, and Saturdays 12:00 noon to 4:00. The exhibit tells the story of Manchester's past as it relates to the future. Photos, artifacts, stories! While you're here, peruse other displays, including vintage signs from former businesses in town.

Museum store items: Local-history books, maps, t-shirts, coffee mugs, magnets, Herald cookbooks, note-cards, etc.

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Our online booklet: 23 hikes for 2023 -- lists free history hikes. Printed copies of the booklet are available at the History Center, 175 Pine Street, Town Hall customer service, and the libraries. Upcoming walks of interest to history buffs and area residents -- FREE. These events will be held rain or shine. Details in the booklet, whose link is above.

You can watch this month's show right now by clicking Current TV Program on Manchester Public Access. If you live in the Manchester area, you can watch it on TV, but why not just click and watch now? In February, we present "People and Place: The U.S. Census and Beyond,” a 54-minute show featuring Dr. Kristen Keegan, who has worked in the field of public history for over twenty years. Her illustrated program was presented to the Genealgy Group at the History Center on November 10, 2015. Dr. Keegan discussed historical resources available at libraries, town offices, and online, using examples from her past and present research projects, including an ongoing study of the differences between the final copies of Census records that are found online and the interim drafts that can be found in hard copy. Photo, above right, one of Dr. Keegan's illustrations, using an 1869 map of Manchester and a page from the 1870 census. The TV show is produced by Historical Society volunteers. The show airs at noon and 8:00 p.m. on Cox cable channel 15 on Saturdays, and runs on all the Saturdays of the month. The show changes each month. This Channel 15 broadcasts in Manchester, Glastonbury, South Windsor, Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, and Newington. You can watch this month's show ANY TIME on the Public Access website, by clicking here Current TV Program on Manchester Public Access.

80 years ago in The Manchester Herald

The February 25, 1943 Herald was full of war news, information about rationing, and induction into military service for many young men. Note the effort to dispel the rumor that each pregnancy caused the loss of one tooth. See the whole edition: February 25, 1943 Herald, or to peruse all our Heralds, see: Index of Heralds. The book, World War II History of Manchester, about the home front, is available on our website.

The article on the left, about the former Weldon residence, describes the creation of eight apartments in the 5,500-square-foot residence. Below, a contemporary photo of the house at 45 Wellman Road. (It was originally reached by a long driveway from Porter Street, and surrounded by acres of gardens and fruit trees.) Read more about Dr. Weldon, Downtown, and the residence.

Enjoy the large collection of Somanhis (South Manchester High School) and junior high yearbooks on our website. In addition to photos of the graduating seniors, these books have ads for local businesses, photos of school activities, and sometimes poetry and prose by the students. Thanking our volunteers, especially Bob Gauthier, Noreen Cullen, Jim Hall, Joshua Pruden, Dick Jenkins, Susan Barlow.

Cover of the "official program" of the 1923 Town centennial. The 124-page illustrated booklet is available here: Manchester booklet.

The Homestead at 106 Hartford Road, Manchester, was donated to the Manchester Historical Society by the Cheney family in 1968 for use as a house museum. It's usually open to the public on the second Sunday of the month and for special programs at other times throughout the year. For old photos and history of the Homestead, built in 1785, visit Cheney Homestead history. The replica Keeney Schoolhouse is on the grounds of the Homestead. Originally built in 1751, the schoolhouse had deteriorated so much that new materials had to be incorporated in the 1976 reconstruction.

The History Center at 175 Pine Street, Manchester, was purchased in 1999. Our offices and many collections are in this building, which is the former Cheney Brothers Machine Shop, a 40,000-square-foot building constructed in several phases beginning in 1895. For the current exhibit, it's open Wednesday through Friday from 10:00 to 2:00, and Saturday noon to 4:00. Visit: photo tour of lower level of History Center.

The Old Manchester Museum at 126 Cedar Street, Manchester, is owned by the Town of Manchester, and the Society has rented it since the 1980s. We store collections there, and open it to the public on the first Saturday of the month, May through December from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., staffed by hosts Art Pongratz and Bob Kanehl. The building was formerly a school, built in 1859, and moved to this location in 1914. More: Old Manchester Museum.

Woodbridge Farmstead at 495 East Middle Turnpike, at Manchester Green, is a charming combination of vintage buildings and a bucolic landscape. The farmhouse dates from 1830. The Woodbridge Farm and Meadowbrook Dairy once encompassed many acres at Manchester Green. Today, the house and grounds are owned by the Manchester Historical Society – a gift from the late Raymond and Thelma Carr Woodbridge, who gave the property in 1998, reserving a life use. Weather permitting, the farmstead is open for free tours and programs generally on the second and fourth Sundays of the warmer months, from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. Closed for the season.

Silk Vault Building at 110 Elm Street, Manchester, was purchased by the Society in 2017. A unique building, constructed in 1920. More: Silk Vault. The vault is rented out, and isn't open to the public.

Consider a gift membership for a friend or loved one. Why join a local historical society, even if you don't live in that town? Some reasons: • support education about the history of the town • support preservation of artifacts and vintage photos • join in advocating for preservation of historic buildings and parks that make Manchester charming.

Print this online donation form and mail to 175 Pine Street. Or drop by the History Center, Tuesdays through Fridays from 10:00 to 2:00. Direct questions to 860-647-9983.

Additional ways to donate: Employer matching gifts! Direct United Way donations to the Society. Sign in to Amazon via Amazon Smile and have a percentage of your purchases go to the Society. .