Special Events - Share The Love
June 1, 2024 to June 8, 2025
Come “Share the Love” with us all through the year! See additional Share the Love events below:
Sister Sailors of Stonington Presented by Chelsea Mitchell, Head Librarian - Director of the Woolworth Research Library
Date: Sunday, January 5, 2025
Time: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Parish House
Join Chelsea Mitchell, the Director of the R.W. Woolworth Library & Research Center at Historic Stonington as she discusses the “Sister Sailors of Stonington”, exploring the brave and passionate women who went to sea with their husbands in the 19th century. Defying traditional expectations of a woman’s duties, these pioneering women traveled thousands of miles on voyages that lasted years at a time, to the very edges of the known world. Learn how women like Abby Jane Morrell and Mary Burch Brewster navigated the forces of love and duty aboard ship; and how those same forces were tested by both nature and society.
Chelsea Mitchell lives in Pawcatuck with her husband. She received her MLIS from the University of Rhode Island, and has been at Historic Stonington (formerly the Stonington Historical Society) for nearly a decade. Chelsea has a special interest in women’s history, and sharing the lesser known stories of Stonington’s past in an effort to humanize our ancestors.
Rediscovering History Presented by Michael Carroll
Date: Sunday, February 2, 2025
Time: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: First Congregational Church of Stonington
Rediscovering History, Inc is a 501c(3) organization, located in Columbia, CT. Started by Michael Carroll in late 2020, the organization is dedicated to the preservation of neglected and/or damaged, 'lost', or unkempt gravestones in cemeteries throughout Connecticut and beyond. To date, they have worked on over 1,000 gravestones, helping to pay respect to the past and keeping the memories of those before us, alive and known!
Presenting on the topics of gravestone and cemetery preservation, in addition to the finer details pertaining to gravestones will be Michael Carroll, Lawrence Hunter, and Lisa Bargmann-Carroll. They will go in depth as to the different types of gravestones, the symbolism attached to various ones, the techniques utilized by the team when it comes to finding previously 'lost' stones, cleaning techniques, and more! Their focus will be on stones that can be found in Southeastern CT, telling those great stories of people long since passed.
Who knows...perhaps you'll learn about an ancestor...or two? Someone you're looking for? You never know who they'll come across, or already have! Interested in doing headstone cleanings? This is your opportunity to learn from those who actively do the work every February/March-Oct/Nov! See you there!!!
https://rediscovering-history.com/
A Variety of Music Presented by Jason Castonguay
Date: Sunday, March 2, 2025
Time: 4:30-5:30pm
Experience the impressive musical talent of Jason Castonguay. Born blind, Jason began studying classical piano at the age of four and has since performed with both the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and the New Britain Symphony Orchestra. His musical versatility extends beyond the piano to include the harp and vocals, showcasing his truly remarkable abilities.
Join us for a family-friendly presentation that highlights Jason’s soaring vocals and extraordinary musical dexterity.
Share the Love of History & Patriotism: Presentation by Walt Woodward
Sunday, April 6, 2025 | 4:30pm (Parish Parlor)
First Congregational Church of Stonington
Walt Woodward-The Burning Question About Nathan Hale Walter W. Woodward is Connecticut State Historian emeritus. He served as the State Historian of Connecticut and a member of the History Department at the University of Connecticut from 2004 to 2022. He was the fifth person to hold the position of State Historian, which was created in the 1930s in preparation for Connecticut’s 300th anniversary.
He retired in July of 2022, becoming Connecticut State Historian emeritus. Dr. Woodward is a scholar of Early American and Atlantic World history, with an emphasis on Connecticut and New England. His research interests cover a variety of subjects, including witchcraft, alchemy and the history of science, the use of music in Early America, environmental history.
Woodward is the author of five books, the most recent of which is Creating Connecticut: Critical Moments That Shaped a Great State (Globe Pequot Press, 2020). His book Prospero’s America: John Winthrop, Jr., Alchemy and the Creation of New England Culture, 1606-1676 (Omohundro Institute, University of North Carolina Press,2010) won the Homer Babbidge Prize from the Association for the Study of Connecticut History and was a Choice magazine Outstanding academic title.
Historians are hard pressed to account for the rough justice meted out to Revolutionary War spy and Connecticut state hero Nathan Hale. He was denied a court martial, hanged within a day of his capture, refused the attendance of a minister – even his final letters were opened, read, and left undelivered. In this lecture, taken from his new book Creating Connecticut: Critical Stories That Shaped a Great State (Globe Pequot Press, 2020), Walt Woodward argues that there is a direct connection between Hale”s treatment, and a fire that raged in New York City the night Nathan Hale was arrested as a spy.
Today, many people know that there is some question about whether state hero Nathan Hale said the words for which he is famous (“I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country”) at the time of his hanging. A few also know that a recently discovered manuscript casts doubt on Hale’s truthfulness at the time of his capture as a patriot spy on Long Island in the late summer of 1776. But was there a connection between Hale and the great fire which nearly destroyed New York City the day before his capture?
In this lecture, Walt Woodward examines all these issues, especially the question as to whether Hale was an arsonist, and provides new insight into Hale’s life, death, and very real heroism.
This revision of a revisionist account of Nathan Hale’s life and death is an especially interesting subject for groups and organizations interested in the history of Connecticut’s participation in the American Revolution, or who want to know more about our state hero.
Share the Love of Country: Presentation by Walt Woodward
Sunday, May 5, 2025 | 4:30pm (Parish Parlor)
First Congregational Church of Stonington
Walt Woodward-Connecticut, Canada and the Revolutionary War
In preparation for our nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026, Walt has prepared a new presentation to talk about Connecticut’s involvement with Canada during the Revolutionary War. The invasion of Quebec was the first major military initiative by the newly formed Continental Army with a purpose of seizing the area which was controlled by England at the time, and try to persuade the French speaking Canadians to join the American effort to throw of the British. American privateers raided Atlantic ports and revolutionary sympathizers in Nova Scotia attempted a rebellion in that colony.
Learn how Connecticut played an important role in this effort against Canada.
Share the Love of Family & Friends: Founders' Day Picnic/Festival
Saturday, June 7, 2025 | 11:00 am to 4:00 pm (church grounds)
First Congregational Church of Stonington
Founders Day Festival -TBD/finalized
Share the Love of Family & Friends: Founders' Day Worship Service
Sunday, June 8, 2025 | 10:00 am (Sanctuary)
First Congregational Church of Stonington
Details to come.