Telling Hartford’s stories

Virtual history series tells city’s tales, from migrations to Samuel Colt and more

American history books don’t say much about Hartford. “No textbook in American history is written as if Connecticut matters,” Bill Hosley said.

But Hosley’s philosophy is that the more you know about a city, the more you love it. Since there is no Hartford historical society, Hosley, a veteran local historian, has taken it upon himself to start a series of public seminars about various aspects of Hartford history.

“Connecticut has unbelievable history all around, but the way humanities and arts are taught generally ignores the local. Guess who’s missing in accounts of American history?” he said. “If places like Hartford don’t take their own side, nobody else will.”

His virtual Hartford History series is presented in conjunction with Capital Community College’s Hartford Heritage Project, which uses the city’s historic and cultural attractions in its curriculum. That project is fundedbyConnecticutHumanities.

The first Hartford History talk, on the history of the Travelers Tower, took place on Sept. 9 and can be viewed online at www. capitalcc.edu/hhp/. The other talks in the series are:

Sept. 23 at 6 p.m.: “Three Great Migrations: How to Frame Puerto Rican, African American and West Indian History” by UConn history Prof. Fiona Vernal. It can be seen at https://tinyurl.com/yxslys6s.

Oct. 7 at 6 p.m.: “Hartford Panorama: Joseph Ropes, SamColt and the Great Flood of 1854” by Hosley. It can be seen at https:// tinyurl.com/y4au6gex.

Oct. 10 at 10 a.m.: “Hartford Art and Art Patrons at Wadsworth Atheneum,” by Hosley. It can be seen on Hosley’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/HistoricHartford.

Oct. 21 at 6 p.m.: “Woman’s Suffrage and More: Edna Purcell and Mary Townsend Seymour” by historian Tracey Wilson. It can be seen at https://tinyurl.com/yxcax6jy.

Jeffrey Partridge, chair of the humanities department at Capital Community College, founded the Hartford Heritage Project in 2011, so his department could enhance curriculum using local cultural landmarks. Since then, he said, the project