The Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich RSS Feed

Understanding Prints, May 15th

Fri, 09 May 2008 13:33:42 GMT

Cos Cob, CT
203-869-6899
General Interest

David Tunick of David Tunick, Inc. in New York City presents a gallery talk titled "Understanding Prints," 11:30 a.m., Thursday, May 15, Bush-Holley Historic Site; reservations required; $7 for lecture; $10 for brown bag lunch; 869-6899, ext. 10.

Once Upon a Page: Illustrations by Cos Cob Artists

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:43:31 GMT

Cos Cob, CT
203-869-6899
Museum

Time is Running Out! This exhibit ends Jan 6 and featurs 70 works, including illustrated books, original drawings and painting by eight artists-illustrators associated with the Cos Cob Art Colony from 1890-1920: John Wolcott Adams, George Wharton Edwards, Childe Hassam, Rose O'Neill, Ernest Thompson Seton, E. Boyd Smith, Jean Webster and Genjiro Yeto. Guest curator, Marilyn Symmes. Call (203) 869-6899 Ext. 12 for more info.

Book Launch Celebration Thursday, December 6

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:19:05 GMT

Cos Cob, CT
203-869-6899
General Interest

A Slave No More: Two Men Who Escaped to Freedom, Including Their Own Narratives of Emancipation by David Blight. Book Launch Celebration in the Vanderbilt Education Center. Filled with the two men’s humor, faith, and joy, A Slave No More offers a rich new answer to the question of how four million people moved from slavery to freedom, and tells the previously untold stories of two men who can now take their place in the canon of American history. Free admission

Don't miss Movie Night at Bush-Holley Historic Site! - Thursday, November 15 at 6:30 p.m.

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 21:58:09 GMT

Cos Cob, CT
203-869-6899
General Interest

Enjoy some popcorn and watch film classic Curly Top (1935), starring Shirley Temple and John Boles, in the Vanderbilt Education Center at the Bush-Holley Historic Site.

Based on the story and illustrations of Jean Webster’s Daddy-Long-Legs, included in the current exhibition Once Upon a Page: Illustrations by Cos Cob artists, the story is about wealthy Edward Morgan who becomes enchanted by a curly-haired orphan and her older sister Mary. Movie expert and co-founder of the Avon Theatre Film Center in Stamford, CT John Farr will host the evening and offer his unique insights. $12 for members of the Historical Society, $15 for non-members. Call 203-869-6899, ext 10 to reserve.

Don't miss "The Impending Crisis: Abolition and Women's Rights in Antebellum America" - The Next Front Porch Forum, Monday, October 22 @ 10 a.m.

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 22:29:23 GMT

Cos Cob, CT
203-869-6899
General Interest

And congratulations to Teresa DeFlitch who secured the grant award of $7,220 for the FRONT PORCH FORUM from the Connecticut Humanities Council. Teresa not only designed the program, she also wrote the grant. She expanded the outreach and format for this fall/spring lecture series to make it attractive to museum docents throughout the Coastal Fairfield region.

So don’t miss the next Front Porch Forum on Monday, October 22 at 10 a.m., featuring James Downs, Assistant Professor of History at Connecticut College, on the topic: “The Impending Crisis: Abolition and Women’s Rights in Antebellum America.”

Sept. 20th, 76th Annual Meeting & Lecture to Celebrate the 250th Birthday of Gilbert du Motier Lafayette

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:21:04 GMT

Cos Cob, CT
203-869-6899
General Interest

Together, The Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich and the Alliance Française of Greenwich will present the Historical Society’s 76^th annual meeting dinner with a special lecture and reception to commemorate the 250^th birthday of Gilbert du Motier Lafayette at The Belle Haven Country Club.

Lloyd Kramer, PhD and the Dean Smith Distinguished Term Professor in History at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill will present a talk about Lafayette and the Emergence of American National Identity that explores Lafayette's prominent role in the American Revolution and his famous tour of America (1824-25).

Call for reservation.

Lecture and cocktail reception- $25. Lecture, cocktail reception and dinner - $65.

America in the Age of Revolution

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 21:04:49 GMT

Cos Cob, CT
203-869-6899
General Interest

Individual Lecture: $10, $8 members.
Coffee is served at 9:30am

Lectures begin at 10:00am

Monday, April 2, 2007
Patriots vs. Loyalists:
America at War

Monday, April 23, 2007
Republicanism: The Birth of a Nation

Monday, May 7, 2007
American Art in the Federal Era:
Horatio Greenough, Gilbert Stuart

Special Offerings

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 17:10:15 GMT

Cos Cob, CT
203-869-6899
General Interest

Cherishing the People of Our Past
Sunday, March 4, 2007

Greenwich historian Davidde Strackbein will share stories of the people who saved Greenwich history through their passion to preserve personal property, curiosities and antiquities of every kind. A teenager fascinated by and respectful of our town’s war memorials was among the small group of Greenwich residents 75 years ago gathered for a distinct purpose – to establish a way to capture and maintain memories of a town quickly changing.

2:00 p.m. - Lecture
3:00 p.m. - Special Exhibition Tour
Free

This Old House
Sunday, April 1, 2007

Learn about the unique charm and craftsmanship of colonial Connecticut architecture including Greenwich landmarks such as Knapp’s Tavern, Bush-Holley House and the Thomas Lyon House with architectural historian Dr. James Sexton. A special architecture “behind the scenes tour” of Bush-Holley House follows the lecture.

2:00 p.m. – Lecture
3:00 p.m. – Architectural Tour of Bush-Holley House
Free

Mission

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 17:03:04 GMT

Cos Cob, CT
203-869-6899
General Interest

Our History

Founded in 1931 to collect and preserve the history of Greenwich, Connecticut, the Historical Society was housed in a library in the village of Old Greenwich. Outgrowing its space, the Historical Society began its search in the late 1950s for permanent headquarters. In 1957 the Historical Society purchased Bush-Holley House, a circa 1730 waterfront mansion on the historic Cos Cob Harbor that had become a boardinghouse for an art colony between 1890 and 1920. Volunteers began the campaign to restore the house and its outbuildings, and the house opened to the public as a museum in 1958. Emphasizing its early history, the house was furnished with eighteenth-century furniture and served the dual role of curators' residence and house museum.

In 1975 the town's first National Register and Local Historic District, the Strickland Road Historic District, was established through the Historical Society's efforts. The district includes Bush-Holley House and protects over 25 houses built between 1730 and 1938. To celebrate the Bicentennial, volunteers researched and published a chronology of Greenwich from 1640 to 1976, recently updated to 2000.

In 1987 the Historical Society built the William E. Finch, Jr. Archives, followed by the hiring of an archivist and the first director. The board leadership galvanized 200 volunteers into the "Antiquarius" committee to raise funds for the Historical Society. Over the next ten years they raised over two million dollars, making possible the transition to a professional organization.

In 1989, the Justus Luke Bush Storehouse (1805) was purchased. The importance of the house and storehouses' nineteenth-century link to American Impressionism came into stronger focus in the 1990s through a collaborative exhibition with the Bruce Museum and the formation of the Connecticut Impressionist Art Trail joining ten sites featuring Impressionist art collections. In 1991 Bush-Holley House was granted National Historic Landmark status as home of Connecticut's first art colony. The Historical Society adopted its first long range plan in 1994 and adjacent property and buildings were acquired.

In 1997 the Historical Society began restoration of the Storehouse and the first phase of an Historic Landscape restoration. The Bush storehouse opened as a Visitor Center and the museum's name was changed to Bush-Holley Historic Site in order to convey the Historical Society's interpretive strategy to unite the landscape and historic buildings' exteriors to their appearance in 1900 at the height of the Cos Cob art colony.

With the opening of the Visitor Center in late 1997, the Historical Society instituted a bi-annual changing exhibition program, hands-on history gallery and a museum shop. The focus then shifted to expanding the education programs and the reinterpretation of Bush-Holley House to convey its two periods of significance. In 2001, construction began on the Hugh and Claire Vanderbilt Education Center, and the remaining historic landscaping was completed. With its expanded and professionally-developed site, exhibitions and programs, the Historical Society recevied accreditation by the American Association of Museums in 2005.

Programs & Events

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 16:12:18 GMT

Cos Cob, CT
203-869-6899
General Interest

ANTIQUARIUS, ART CLASSES, EDUCATION COMMITTEE, EVENTS, EXHIBITION PROGRAMS, EXHIBITIONS, FAMILY FUN, FAMILY PROGRAMS, LECTURES, OUTREACH PRORAMS, PBLIC PROGRAMS, PUPPET SHOWS, SCHOOL & TEACHER PROGRAMS, SCHOOL VACATION WORKSHOPS, SPECIAL OFFERINGS, VACATION WORKSHOPS