FAMILY FRIENDLY THIRD THURSDAY COMMUNITY NIGHTS

Mini Tours, Games, Food & Fun at the Noah Webster House

The Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society is the place for you to be third Thursday evenings all summer long. The museum is hosting community nights from 5-8 p.m. on June 16, July 21, and August 18, 2022. Discover history and play games while you eat or sip from participating food and beverage trucks and shop from local vendors. Summer fun is waiting for you at the museum!

Each community night will feature a different mini tour or historic highlight. On June 16, learn about a new national online exhibit “Unvarnished” which opens June 1, 2022. Museum staff will discuss the multi-year process of West Hartford’s participation in the project and collaborating with organizations from five other Northern and Western cities to document the legacy of exclusionary housing practices and sundown town regulations in the United States. Discuss freedom and power on July 21 through Page’s story. Page was one of over 70 people enslaved in West Hartford whose stories are now being rediscovered through the Witness Stones West Hartford Project and the museum. Page was constrained in his options, but was still able to carve out his own unique position in society as a tailor. On August 18, learn about the land on which the Noah Webster House stands. In 1636, the Sicaog deeded the land “from the Great River on the East the whole breadth to run into the Wilderness towards the West full Six Miles.”

Colonial games and giant versions of games like Scrabble, Jenga, and Connect 4 will be out for you and your family to play. Food and beverages will be available for purchase from vendors including Iron & Grain (June 16); East West Grille (June 16); Skyscraper Sandwiches (July 21), Hot Taco Street Kitchen (July 21 & August 18); Nothing Bundt Cakes (July 21 & August 18); Whimsically Tipsy (July 21 & August 18); Mama Nena (August 18). Local businesses will also have items for purchase and information to share.

If you would like information on becoming a participating vendor, contact Sheila Daley at daleys@noahwebsterhouse.org.

Entrance for community nights is $5 per person with a maximum of $20 per family. Children five and under and museum members enter free of charge.