Manchester quiz.

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.

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On Sunday, March 19 at 1:00 p.m., Bettylou Sandy and Dennis Gleeson will present a porgram of history about the Cheney family and Cheney silk empire. At the History Center, where guests can also view our Then & Now exhibit.

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.

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Genealogy message about Irish Family History Day: Fintan Mullan and Gillian Hunt from the Ulster Historical Foundation are conducting a U.S. lecture tour, including a stop in Fairfield, Connecticut on Sunday, March 12. $30, including soup and sandwich. More info here.

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."

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. PLEASE NOTE, no open house in April

The whole map is available on our website: 1902 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.

Feedback on the 1943 "ration book" articles in previous e-newsletters. From Dick Jenkins, a 1955 graduate of Manchester High School: "There are not many folks alive today who have had first-hand experience with ration stamps. During the war years, it was just my mother and I. We’d routinely shop at the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P) grocery chain located in the Johnson Block along Main Street. She and I would queue-up in separate lines and my job was to purchase sugar and other such items that didn’t require a quality decision such as freshness or leanness. Every American was aware 'there was a war going on,' since gasoline, tires, and batteries were rationed for those fortunate enough to have a car. Tin cans, aluminum foil from gum wrappers and cigarettes, and cooking fats were turned in at recycle stations. Light bulbs were recycled at the Hartford Light & Power store a few doors south of the State Theater. Lard was removed from rationing on March 3, 1944 and shortening and oils on April 19, 1944, but butter and margarine were rationed until November 23, 1945. Butter required a higher number of ration points than margarine, so 'oleo' margarine became more popular. Local movie theaters asked that you turn in old pots and pans in exchange for free admission to a movie. Newspapers were bundled with string and sold as scrap. Another of my tasks as the temporary 'man of the house' was to knead together the contents of the packet containing the oleo and orange spot of artificial coloring until the combined ingredients took on the color of butter. I’ve always considered oleo the precursor to Silly Putty."

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.

Folk-art depiction of Manchester Green. More about the Woodbridge farmstead, located at Manchester Green.

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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 "Living without Electricity" show. If you live in the Manchester area, you can watch it on TV, Saturdays at 12:00 noon and at 8:00 p.m. on Cox cable channel 15 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. "Living without Electricity in 2018 and 1818” is a 67-minute television show featuring gardener and Homestead volunteer Bettylou Sandy, who spoke at the Manchester History Center on February 4, 2018. Bettylou says, "Historically, most people in Manchester have lived a lifetime without electricity. Today the power goes out and we panic. In this talk, demonstrations, and discussion, we will relive 200 years of history to learn to save electricity and live a simpler lifestyle, while saving money!" The TV show is produced by Historical Society volunteers. You can watch this month's show ANY TIME on the Public Access website, by clicking here Current TV Program on Manchester Public Access.

140 years ago in The Manchester Herald

March 3, 1883 was a Saturday, and the weekly Herald was four large pages, with listings of local events, deaths, a selectman's resignation, and ads for miracle drugs, clothes, stoves, and "smoked, dried, and pickled fish." Note the Tarriffville help-wanted ad for silk operatives. See the whole edition: March 3, 1883 Herald, or to peruse all our Heralds, see: Index of Heralds. See a history of The Herald on our website. Biggest tax papers:

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.

This c. 1850 Greek Revival house, at 180 Main Street, is owned by Shirley Tully, who, with her late husband, Joe Tully, has taken great pride in this property. The Manchester Historic & Architectural Survey calls this, “an attractive and nicely detailed Greek Revival Cottage with a gable roof, brownstone slab foundation… recessed offset entry, with pilaster-and-lintel surround…pedimented gable dormers.” In May 2022, the house won a preservation award from the Cheney Brothers National Historic Landmark District. Nominations are now welcome for the 2023 awards. Here are the criteria, and here's how to send in a nomination.

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. .