Noah Webster House

Textile Production in Early America | Masters Lecture Series
2024-11-07 18:30 - 19:30 UTC | Noah Webster House, 227 South Main Street, West Hartford, CT, 06107, United States
Textile Production In Early America
Presented by Margaret Liljedahl
November 7, 2024
Textile production was an important component of the early American economy, and continues to be a career and hobby for many individuals today. This talk will focus on the techniques and tools that weavers like Noah Webster’s father would have used to produce cloth for their communities. This includes a review of common natural fiber sources, basic fabric structures, and design considerations. Participants will have the chance to see examples of antique fiber processing equipment and learn about how they have been used for the past 300+ years.
Tickets are available now at www.noahwebster.yapsody.com!
About the Presenter: Margaret Liljedahl is a West Hartford native who had her first encounter with an antique loom at the Noah Webster House. Over the past decade, Margaret has studied historical weaving techniques and has the privilege of working with several historical sites and museums across Connecticut and New York to get their barn looms singing again. She is an active member of the Handweavers Guild of Connecticut and is passionate about connecting antique fiber equipment with locals who still know how to use them.

West Hartford Hauntings
2024-10-26 18:00 - 21:00, 2024-10-25 18:00 - 21:00, 2024-10-24 18:00 - 21:00, 2024-10-19 18:00 - 21:00, 2024-10-18 18:00 - 21:00 | CT
Join us for history as you’ve never heard it before. West Hartford Hauntings, the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society’s spooky, theatrical cemetery tour! Don’t wait to get your tickets, this event sells out every year!
Click here for tickets!
Your ghostly guide leads you on a lantern-lit tour of Old North Cemetery where you experience tales of death, disease, and real history. Due to some scary content, it is suggested that participants be age 10 or over. We hope to see you among the graves.
The lantern-lit tours take place on October 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, & 26.
Old North Cemetery, 80 North Main Street, West Hartford, Connecticut.
Tours leave every 15 minutes starting at 6 p.m and run for 45 minutes.
Members Save: Noah Webster House Members save on Hauntings tickets! Also, Members get exclusive access to the extra spooky final evening performance on 26th. Not a member yet? Click here to join today!

Groups Save: Save 10% with groups of 10 or more during the first weekend only (October 17, 18 & 19).

Parking: You can park on Loomis Drive. From there, walk to the welcome table at the cemetery entrance.
Chaperone: Children under the age of 16 must be chaperoned by an adult.
Please be timely: Arrive 15 minutes before your tour time. If you miss your tour time we cannot guarantee that we can fit you on a later tour.
Weather: The event takes place rain, snow, or shine. Please dress for the weather. In the event that an extreme weather event requires schedule changes you will be notified at the email address you use when purchasing tickets.
No refunds: Tickets are non-refundable.
Sign Language Interpreted Tour: Saturday, October 19 at 6:00 p.m.
Conditions: The tour takes place on the paved cemetery path, but there are areas of uneven ground. Attend one of the first two tours of the evening there will still be ambient light. Later tours take place in very dark conditions.
The museum would like to thank sponsor Reid & Riege, P.C. for their support.

WordHouse Poetry
2024-10-19 14:00 - 16:00 | Noah Webster House, 227 South Main Street, West Hartford, CT, 06107, United States
WordHouse Reading Series
Saturday October 19, 2p.m. – 4p.m.

Join us at the Noah Webster House for a series of FREE poetry readings, hosted by James Finnegan, West Hartford’s third Poet Laureate. These readings will take place from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. on September 28, October 19, November 9, & December 14.

Marilyn E Johnston and John L Stanizzi

John L Stanizzi – 15 books, most recently POND and SEE (Impspired Press U.K.) He’s been in CT Poetry Review, Prairie Schooner, Cortland Review, and others. Creative Non-Fiction in Potato Soup, After the Pause, and others. He received a Creative Non-Fiction Fellowship 2021 from CT Dept of Arts. Former New England Poet of the Year and Etherington Scholar at Wesleyan University. His story “PANTS” named best of 2021 by Potato Soup Journal. Last month, awarded first place in Ekphrastic Review’s Ekphrastic Marathon. Retired Lit. Prof. MCC, and retired English teacher/theater director, Bacon Academy.
Marilyn E Johnston’s third book, Downward Dreaming, was published in 2023 by Grayson Books. She is the author of two prior collections published by Antrim House and a chapbook published by Redgreene Press. Her poems have appeared in journals nationwide, including the South Carolina Review and Rattle and have garnered six Pushcart Prize nominations. In 1996, she co-founded the still popular Wintonbury Poetry Series in Bloomfield Library.

Read here for the most up to date information on speakers. All readings take place at the Noah Webster House and begin with an open mic. No registration is required. Each poetry reading is free and open to the public. Donations are greatly appreciated in order to support future programming at the Noah Webster House. The Noah Webster House will be open 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. during each reading and visitors are encouraged to purchase tickets to tour the historic home.

West Hartford Hauntings
2024-10-17 18:00 - 21:00 | Old North Cemetery, 80 North Main Street, West Hartford, CT, 06107

Decorative Textiles | Life on the Webster Farm: Work Days
2024-10-12 13:30 - 16:30 | Noah Webster House, 227 South Main Street, West Hartford, CT, 06107, United States
October 12 – Decorative Textiles at the Noah Webster House
Most of the making of textiles was done out of necessity to clothing and household goods. However, decorative needlework, knitting, crocheting, and weaving was an early American art form. Come see examples of textiles from our museum collection and use the same materials to make your own creation!
Visit the museum on select Saturdays from 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. and enjoy live demonstrations from our experienced team of museum educators. Each demonstration will focus on a unique aspect of early American work and play. Stop by and learn about the trades and activities of life on the Webster farm!
This program is included in museum admission. Enjoy FREE general admission for children under 12 for this event!
September’s Work Day will focus on apples! For more information, please email education@noahwebsterhouse.org.
Thank you to our 2023-2024 Sponsor, the Rotary Club of West Hartford!

Constructing Connecticut: Cultural Transmission & Timber Framing 1680-1730
2024-10-10 18:30 - 19:30 | Noah Webster House, 227 South Main Street, West Hartford, CT, 06107, United States
Constructing Connecticut: Cultural Transmission & Timber Framing 1680-1730
By Nevan Carling
October 10, 2024
6:30pm-7:30pm
This talk will consider the distinctive timber frame style developed in the Greater Hartford Area in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Connecticut’s architectural and building traditions of this period have long been overlooked and primarily compared to those found in the Boston Bay. This talk seeks to elucidate a building tradition developed in Connecticut, and consider our buildings as culturally distinct among those found in the rest of New England. These case studies will include the John Goodwin House c. 1698, the Riley/Adams House c. 1722, the Noah Webster House c. 1700-25, the Buttolph-Williams House ~1711, the Jonathan Demming House c. 1665, and many others. While many of these houses are still with us, many more have been demolished in only the last 100 years. Creating awareness of our unique and fascinating history is the first step in preserving this treasure for future generations.
About the Presenter: Nevan Carling is a conservation timber framer based in Connecticut. He is a graduate of the University of York, England, where he earned a First Class undergraduate degree in Archaeology and Heritage Management. He is currently pursuing an MSc in Timber Building Conservation at the Weald and Downland Living Museum in Chichester, England. Nevan works as a conservation timber framer and teaches/demonstrates hewing at the Eric Sloane Museum in Kent, CT.

Remembering the Holocaust: Two Monuments by Elbert Weinberg
2024-10-09 18:00 - 19:00 | Noah Webster House, 227 South Main Street, West Hartford, CT, 06107, United States
Remembering the Holocaust: Two Monuments by Elbert Weinberg
October 9, 2024
6:00pm
Click here to reserve tickets.

Two of the most significant public monuments by the sculptor Elbert Weinberg (1928-1991) are Holocaust memorials, one in Wilmington, Delaware, the other on the grounds of the Jewish Community Center on Bloomfield Avenue in West Hartford. Weinberg grew up in Hartford’s Jewish North End during World War II, and Jewish themes, many of them dark and troubling, occur throughout his work. Art historian Nancy Finlay will discuss these two important commissions, examining their origins and exploring their imagery.
We are proud to partner with CT Voices of Hope and Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford for this program.
This lecture coincides with the “Portraits of Survival” exhibit currently on display in our museum gallery until October 15, 2024. Portraits of Survival was conceived by photographer Lena Stein, spotlighting the lives of Holocaust survivors that settled in the Hartford area.
About the presenter:
Nancy Finlay has a B.A. from Smith College and a Ph.D. from Princeton University. She was responsible for cataloging the Elbert Weinberg Collection in the Hartford History Center, a vast collection of manuscripts, drawings, sculptures, photographs, ephemera, and other material donated to the Hartford Public Library in 2013 by the Elbert Weinberg Trust. She is the author of In the Grand Tradition: The Enduring Art of Elbert Weinberg published by the Hartford Public Library in 2018.
About Voices of Hope:
Voices of Hope is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization created by descendants of Holocaust survivors from across Connecticut. Voices of Hope raises social consciousness by connecting people to the inhumanity of the Holocaust and other genocides through quality educational and community programming, in order to ensure future generations never forget. Their mission is to promote a culture of courage to stand up against hatred through Holocaust and genocide education and remembrance.
For more information: www.ctvoicesofhope.org
About Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford:
The Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford (JHSGH) collects and preserves materials that document the Greater Hartford Jewish community. Through an array of publications, exhibitions and partnerships, we tell the stories of Jewish life, culture and contributions to our part of Connecticut.
For more information: https://jhsgh.org/

Historic Home, Modern Cause: 1666 Saltbox Tour
2024-10-05 10:00 - 14:00 | CT
Click here to purchase tickets now!
Historic Home, Modern Cause: 1666 Saltbox Tour
John Deming House Tour

Saturday, October 5th ~ 10am-2pm (House will close at 2pm, so please arrive before 1:30pm at latest)
400 Hartford Ave, Wethersfield, CT

Highlights of the Tour:
Original Architectural Features: Explore craftsmanship of 17th century with the exposed wooden timber framing and wide plank floors as well as large central fireplaces, representing the transition from medieval Europe to colonial-era building methods.
Historical Significance: Learn about the rich history of the house, including the stories of its relocation in 1951 and the connection to the Founding Fathers of Connecticut.
Beautiful Grounds: Nestled on the Wethersfield Cove, stroll through the lovely fields behind the house, offering a serene afternoon.
Recent Renovations meld the Historic with the Modern: The owners recently completed an addition off the back of the historic home. See how they balanced the integration between the historic and modern eras.
· Upon check-in at the John Deming House, you will receive a token that entitles you to discounts at Old Wethersfield Country Store at 221 Main Street and/or a free topping on your ice cream purchase at the Main Street Creamery at 271 Main Street. You can also visit the “Scarecrows On Main” fall display on Main Street.
Tickets and Information:
Price: Adult (17 & Up): $20 ~ Children (10-16): $8 ~ Children 9 & Under: FREE.
Proceeds: All proceeds from ticket sales will directly benefit Wethersfield Academy for the Arts, or The Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society.
Availability: Tickets are limited due to space restrictions. You are encouraged to purchase tickets early to secure your spot.
For more information about this event contact maggie@personaleuphoria.comor 860-748-7574.

WordHouse Poetry
2024-09-28 14:00 - 16:00 | Noah Webster House, 227 South Main Street, West Hartford, CT, 06107, United States
WordHouse Reading Series
Saturday September 28, 2p.m. – 4p.m.

Join us at the Noah Webster House for a series of FREE poetry readings, hosted by James Finnegan, West Hartford’s third Poet Laureate. These readings will take place from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. on September 28, October 19, November 9, & December 14.

Pegi Deitz Shea and Richard Michelson

Reading begins with an Open Mic.

Richard Michelson’s most recent poetry collection is Sleeping as Fast as I Can (Slant Books, 2023). Previous collections include More Money than God (U of Pittsburgh Press), Battles and Lullabies (U of Illinois), Tap Dancing for the Relatives (U of Central Florida), and two fine-press collaborations, Masks, and Semblant with the artist Leonard Baskin’s Gehenna Press. Michelson has received a National Jewish Book Award, two Sydney Taylor Gold Medals from the Association of Jewish Libraries, and two Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowships. Michelson’s children’s books have been named among the 10 Best of the Year by The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and The New Yorker. Michelson served two terms as Poet Laureate of Northampton, Massachusetts, where he hosts Northampton Poetry Radio and owns R. Michelson Galleries.

Pegi Deitz Shea, two-time winner of the CT Book Award, is the author of more than 500 works of poetry and prose, including The Weight of Kindling (Grayson Books, 2022). Pegi is a Ct State Teaching Artist and has taught Creative Writing at UConn, the Mark Twain House, and the Institute of Children’s Literature. She’s led workshops and presentations for all ages across the country. A photographer, Pegi has had several solo exhibits of her photographs alongside her poems and has had her work appear in numerous juried exhibits. Inaugural Poet Laureate of Vernon, CT, 2019-2021, she now serves as President of the CT Council of Poets Laureate. She directs Poetry Rocks, a series she founded in 2017.
www.pegideitzshea.com

Read here for the most up to date information on speakers. All readings take place at the Noah Webster House and begin with an open mic. No registration is required. Each poetry reading is free and open to the public. Donations are greatly appreciated in order to support future programming at the Noah Webster House. The Noah Webster House will be open 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. during each reading and visitors are encouraged to purchase tickets to tour the historic home.

All About Apples | Life on the Webster Farm: Work Days
2024-09-21 13:30 - 15:30 | Noah Webster House, 227 South Main Street, West Hartford, CT, 06107, United States
September 21 – All About Apples!
For many, fall in New England is characterized by apples. Learn about the importance of apples for early American families. Guests will help create apple recipes, crafts, and learn about the process of food preservation.
Visit the museum on select Saturdays from 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. and enjoy live demonstrations from our experienced team of museum educators. Each demonstration will focus on a unique aspect of early American work and play. Stop by and learn about the trades and activities of life on the Webster farm!
This program is included in museum admission. Enjoy FREE general admission for children under 12 for this event!
September’s Work Day will focus on apples! For more information, please email education@noahwebsterhouse.org.
Thank you to our 2023-2024 Sponsor, the Rotary Club of West Hartford!

The Original Promise Of America: “Liberty”
2024-09-19 18:30 - 19:30 | Noah Webster House, 227 South Main Street, West Hartford, CT, 06107, United States
The Original Promise Of America: “Liberty”
September 19, 2024
Reserve your spot at www.noahwebster.yapsody.com

Join the Noah Webster House for a new, three-part lecture series commemorating America250. Part Two of this series is called “Liberty.”

Early Americans universally celebrated liberty. The white men among them probably enjoyed more of it than any other people of their time. Yet even they distrusted liberty so much that they seldom allowed the word to go around unchaperoned. Orators, writers, politicians, and clergymen typically assigned “liberty” an adjectival minder: “ordered liberty,” “rational liberty,” “Christian liberty,” “temperate liberty.” The liberty Americans lauded had no resemblance to individualism, and it had absolutely nothing to do with license. The right kind of liberty was really self-government, “a freedom within bounds” set by laws, founded on property ownership, and ideally guided by virtue. Washington and Franklin, towering model citizens, personified American liberty as it should be.

This series of lectures will explore how the Revolutionary generation—Noah Webster’s generation—defined the purposes and prospects of their new nation. Noah will make occasional appearances; he played a considerable part in creating a distinctive national culture. But the talks won’t foreground him, nor will they bask in nostalgia for a simpler, more hopeful age. Studies of the past inevitably reflect the present; they can also illuminate paths into the future. While focusing on Revolutionary Americans’ thinking about the promise of the United States in its childhood, we will consider as well how much of their vision has survived, how much ought to be preserved, and why.

Real Ale Harvest Festival
2024-09-07 14:00 - 21:00 | Noah Webster House, 227 South Main Street, West Hartford, CT, 06107, United States
Real Ale Harvest Festival
September 7th, 2024

Tickets are on sale now!
Join us September 7th, 2024 for a beer festival like no other: the Real Ale Harvest Festival! The event serves as a fundraiser for the museum and is co-hosted by the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society and Harvest Wine & Spirits.
Tickets on sale: www.noahwebster.yapsody.com!
Over 20 of your favorite breweries are competing in a cask challenge. Each creates a unique cask or casks, good for one day only that must contain a historically appropriate flavoring. YOU sample and vote for the Taster’s Choice champion. The breweries are up for the challenge . . . are YOU?

Join us for the 9th annual Noah Webster Real Ale Harvest Fest, co-hosted by Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits, to enjoy beer you can’t find anywhere else. Sample dozens of unique cask ale creations from twenty-plus breweries. The beer is available for this one day only and each brew must include an ingredient from Noah Webster’s 18th century garden or pantry. With over 100 items to choose from such as quince, cinnamon, rhubarb, and nutmeg, these casked creations are both creative and tasty. Animals and guests under 21 years old are not permitted to attend this event.
Food for purchase – Salt + Pepper Food Truck
Enjoy tavern games inside the museum!
Live Music – Soul Tsunami
Commemorative Glass – Everyone gets a tasting glass.
Become a Noah Webster House Member today to receive discount on tickets.

Breweries:
– Alvarium Beer Company
– Aspetuck Brew Lab
– Back East Brewing
– Brewery Legitimus
– Counter Weight Brewing
– Dead Language Beer Project
– East Rock Brewing
– Hanging Hills Brewing
– Kent Falls Brewing Company
– The New Cambridge Project
– New Park Brewing
– Nod Hill Brewery
– New England Brewing Co.
– O.E.C Brewing
– Other Half Brewing
– Oxbow Brewing Co.
– Thomas Hooker Brewing
– Twelve Percent Beer Project
– WEHA Brewing
– Willimantic Brewing Company

Parking – Guests can park along South Main Street or one of the adjoining streets.
This event is rain or shine. All sales are final.

Real ale is a traditional cask-conditioned ale popular in the time of Founding Father and lexicographer Noah Webster. Undergoing a second fermentation in the cask it will be served from, the entries are always unique and delicious – with complex and satisfying depth. It is beer you won’t find anywhere else!
Each year, a panel of judges determine which brewery will be named Cask Champion and attendees will vote for the Taster’s Choice Winner.
Join us for an exciting day of unique brews and good company at the National Historic Landmark home of American Icon Noah Webster!
The Noah Webster Real Ale Harvest Fest would not exist without the generosity and support of Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits, for whom the museum is eternally grateful! Logo and banner designed by Gariphic Design. All proceeds from the event go directly to the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization.
If you are interested in learning more about this event, please email us at events@noahwebsterhouse.org.
If you are interested in sponsoring this event, please email Nat at aratajn@noahwebsterhouse.org.
