Situated along the scenic Connecticut River, East Hartford was once part of the city of Hartford until the town successfully separated from the city in 1783, after numerous petitions before the general assembly. East HartfordÂ’s rich, fertile soil encouraged farmers to harvest every available acre, and tobacco grew as their main crop. As America embraced the Industrial Revolution, so did East Hartford, and it became a bustling railroad center. During the 20th century, AmericaÂ’s fascination with aviation blossomed here with the construction of the Pratt and Whitney aircraft engine factory and the adjoining Rentschler Field airport. In East Hartford, readers will find many previously unpublished photographs that chronicle the townÂ’s history. From the smiling Silver Lane pickle logo to the trains, trolleys, historic buildings, and special events that make up its past, readers will enjoy looking at the changing face of East Hartford.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
Title: EH history featured in photo book
Author: Annie Gentile
Publisher: Reminder News
Date: 6/17/09
The town of East Hartford has gone through several incarnations since separating from the city of Hartford in 1783. From its growth as a huge agricultural community centered on tobacco, to railroad center, to major manufacturer of aircraft engines, to present day, East Hartford has long been a vibrant community in which to work and live.
Now, to illustrate its rich history, the East Hartford Rotary Club has announced the publication of its pictorial portrayal, "Images of America: East Hartford, Connecticut," with a release date of Aug. 17.
"The idea for the book started in 2007," said Jackie Danise, who, with fellow Rotarian Joan Brow, is on the public relations committee promoting the 128-page , 220-picture book. Danise said the Rotary Club was coming up on its 80th anniversary in 2008, and the members wanted to do something commemorative . They had considered doing a calendar that depicted various aspects of East Hartford through the years and approached Don Hallquist, a local educator , who had an extensive collection of photographs of the town.
"Don and I met with local historian Ray Johnson, and I think the first question out of Ray's mouth was, 'Have you thought of writing a book?'" Danise said. The idea was intriguing, and in three weeks, the Rotary Club signed a contract with Arcadia Publishing.
"Arcadia has been terrific to work with, and the beauty of working with them is that they front the charges," said Danise. Arcadia's familiar sepiacolored "Image of America" books provide a strict profile to follow, Danise said, which helped make putting the book together that much easier.
The book's cover is an August 1928 photograph of the Rochambeau monument on Silver Lane, where the French Comte de Rochambeau marched his troops during the Revolutionary War. Historically, Rochambeau was believed to have paid the troops at this time in silver coins - hence the name "Silver Lane."
Danise said Johnson did about 95 percent of the captions for the photographs , and he is credited for his contributions, along with the East Hartford Rotary Club. Danise said that Johnson, a retired fifth-grade teacher from the East Hartford school system, put together a fifth-grade history book that is used in the curriculum. "He loves history, and I suspect he had an undying passion to do an 'Images of America' book," she said.
Sadly, Hallquist died not long after the project got underway, and so they needed to find more members to round out the committee. Roy Spiller, another local history buff, came on board. At first, Danise said they were not certain that he could participate, as he was hospitalized with a serious illness, but he bounced back and helped out tremendously . Danise said the book may have been instrumental in his recovery. "His wife said he became such a new man with a purpose once he started working on the book, and after it was finished, he became involved with the local historical society," she said.
Rounding out the committee was Bill Secord, a retired East Hartford teacher, who was recruited because of his computer expertise and for his grammar and editing skills. Danise said her role was doing the legwork to fill in pictures that were not part of their collections by visiting the Connecticut Historical Society, the Dodd Center at the University of Connecticut - which has an excellent transportation collection featuring trolleys and trains - and East Hartford's own Raymond Library. "We're all true volunteers," Danise said of the committee.
"Images of America: East Hartford, Connecticut," which got its start in February of 2007, was completed Jan. 29, 2008. While the release date is not until Aug. 17, it may be purchased in advance by contacting either Jackie Danise at 644-1822 or Joan Brow at 568-5078 . All proceeds of the sales will benefit the Rotary Club Scholarship Fund.
Title: Learn the History
Publisher: Reminder News
Author: Staff Writer
Date: 8/12/09
Through words and photographs, vivid images emerge of the people, places and events that chronicle the history of East Hartford. Podunk Indians farming, fishing and hunting along the fertile banks of "The River," innovative entrepreneurs developing sawmills and gristmills to meet the needs of early settlers, and visionary leaders providing the social framework that eventually established a community.
Thus begins the history being recaptured in the soon-to-be released book Images of America: East Hartford, Conn. Authored by town historian, Raymond Johnson, partnered with East Hartford Rotary Club, the book is 128 pages with over 220 pictures.
Descriptions of the effort set forth to declare the town's independence from Hartford, the never-ending struggle to fight the elements of Mother Nature through floods and storms, the transition from an agricultural community to one that embraced the industrial revolution poignantly recapture the heart and spirit of its citizens. Homes of the 18th, 19th, and 20th century, early school houses, the many modes of transportation, as well as long-forgotten landmarks such as the velodrome , the alms house, and the town's two railroad stations, all portray the changing faces and landscape of East Hartford.
Recounting the town's growth throughout the 20th century, the ingenuity, ambition and altruism of its townspeople jump from the pages. With a population approaching 50,000 people, East Hartford is now home to UTC/ Pratt & Whitney, UConn Huskies football stadium, and Goodwin College, whose new campus sits on the very banks of "The River" that has been so much a part of the history of East Hartford.
Images of America: East Hartford, Conn. will be on sale Friday, Aug. 21, at Raymond Library (840 Main St., East Hartford) in conjunction with the farmers' market from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Priced at $21.99, all proceeds go to East Hartford Rotary Club Scholarship Fund. With a release date of Aug. 17, orders are being taken now at 860-644-1822 .
Title: Rotary to publish photo book of old East Hartford
Author: John Karas
Publisher: East Hartford Gazette
Date: 11/26/08
"East Hartford was people like these," said Ray Johnson a teacher and local historian who authored the text for the book, holding up a yellowed Victorian-era photograph showing a group of men and women in formal late-19th-century dress.
"Lucius Stiles, and his father, and father's brother, all doctors," recorded the inscription in the back. "They were all doctors, including the wives," Johnson explained. "They lived on 21 Elm Street. And it was places like these," he pointed to another picture. "These are the tobacco fields that were growing on the back of Larrabee street, and this is the old Laraia homestead, which was on the corner of Laraia Avenue, and Larrabee street."
It is these valuable images of East Hartford that, with the passage of time, are in danger of slowly "going out the window" says Rotarian Jackie Danise.
"Early in the year, in a conversation with our late Dan Halquist, [then] chairman of our public relations committee, I suggested we come up with a commemorative piece - maybe a calendar," she recalled. "He said 'I have just the person.' So he set up a meeting and he invited me with Ray Johnson. And Ray asked both of us 'Have you thought of writing a book?' Don and I shook our heads, 'Of course not,' so he told us about the 'Images of America' series. And we were just fascinated from the beginning."
"Images of America" is series of books produced by publishing house Arcadia, that weaves the history of local communities with the help of extensive visual materials. For the East Hartford tome, the EHRC committee that also includes Rotarians Roy Spiller, and Bill Secord, have gathered more than 200 photographs, paintings, and images, from libraries, collections and even family cupboards around town, representing every phase of the life of the community.
"We have a lot of the really old stuff," Johnson says,who taught for more than 35 years in local schools. "Like the story of Levy Goodwin, who he was an officer in the Revolutionary war, and his house is still here. He left his wife after the Lexington Alarm and walked to Boston, and his wife for the next five years run the farm, and also run the tavern that was behind the farm. And the house is still there. You go by it all the time, but people don't know that. It's opposite the [building of] the Knights of Columbus, right when you turn, the first house."
"And we have a good account of how Pratt & Whitney developed through the years and what kind of an impact it has made on the town," points out Danise.
Finding all the material needed for the book has been slow and difficult, especially because the publisher is very picky on what they accept. It would have been even more difficult if Roy Spiller, a historian and collector, had not offered a lot of pictures from his own archive.
The other part of the job, and arguably the most difficult one, was creating a text that will give voice to the images, and transform them to a cohesive narrative about the town. It fell, of course, on Johnson's shoulders, who says he was surprised by how much work the group had to invest in the project. "We have spent hundreds of hours," he revealed. "I'll never look at one of these [pictorial] books again without having a much higher appreciation," he adds.
It may have been exhaustive, the Rotarians agree, but what made it worthwhile was how everyone who heard about the project rallied to help.
"We had people contacting us all over the country, even from California - the granddaughter of Arthur Bergren, of Bergren Dairy Farm," said Spiller.
"There is a spirit about the town," Danise observed. "If you have East Hartford ties you don't forget them. And the people I've met doing this project - it's a big family. They always know someone, who knew somebody, who knew somebody. They were great."
If everything goes as planned, Danise said, the finished text and the pictures will be in the hands of the publisher by February 3, and the book should be ready a few weeks later. Rotary will order at least 400 copies and they will be sold at $21.95.
All proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit the EHRC Scholarship Fund awarded to East Hartford students.
Title: Historic images published
Publisher: The Gazette
Author: Staff Writer
Date: 8/27/09
East Hartford has had several books published about our history as a town.
The most famous among them was Goodwin's History of East Hartford, published around 1916. The second was a modern-day update of Goodwin's book, "East Hartford: Only More So" published by Courant copy editor Lee Paquette as a homage to his father's lifelong devotion to our town's colorful local history, industrial, political and in housing and infrastructure development.
Those two valuable tomes now have the perfect illustrated accompaniment: The East Hartford Rotary Club's new publication of "Images of America: East Hartford, Connecticut" which was just released August 17.
Members of the Rotary Club decided to take on a noteworthy project in keeping with the 80th anniversary of its founding in 1928. The idea actually was suggested by the late Don Hallquist who knew fellow Rotarian Roy Spiller shared an interest in local history, and had access to the seldom-seen archives of the Raymond Library Corporation - the original foundation first established by the Raymond family granting the town a free public library at Main Street and Central Avenue.
Spiller embraced the project, and they brought the idea for publishing a book before the full Rotary membership for the club's approval. And, although Hallquist passed away quite suddenly in March 2008, sending a profound shock through the Rotary as well as the entire town, the Rotary book project soldiered on.
Spiller was joined by fellow Rotarians Jackie Danise and Bill Secord, and they enlisted a non-Rotarian but acknowledged devotee of East Hartford history, retired teacher and resident Ray Johnson. Spiller, who grew up on Silver Lane in the midst of both industrial change and agricultural boom years, was able to contribute many old photos from his personal collection to the effort. The four issued a public appeal for any historical pictures to be submitted for consideration of being included in the special publication, and the response from the community was immediate.
The four - who are all civic leaders in their own right before they started working together - Danise was a top executive of Hartford Despatch before retiring and Secord is also a former teacher at east Hartford High School who co-founded the Connecticut International; Baccalaureate Academy with Mike Abelon - set about deciding which of the multitude of photos to include. The toughest decision of all was the photo for the cover; The Rotary wanted a picture depicting some event from 1928, its founding year. The publisher asked for 10 of the best photos to be submitted, and it would select which would reproduce the best for the cover.
The cover picture fully satisfied the goal of the Rotary project, showing a large crowd gathered on Silver Lane for the 1928 dedication of the granite and bronze monument to the Revolutionary War encampment of French troops under the Comte de Rochambeau. The troops were on their way to join forces with Gen. George Washington, and were supposedly paid while in East Hartford, the explanatory story attributed to the name Silver Lane.
Johnson set to writing all the captions, as well as a historic preface to the 128-page book. That daunting task made further so by Ray's meticulous nature and desire for accuracy. He wanted the book to become a means to teach future generations, school children especially, about East Hartford's role in American history.
Danise put thousands of miles on her car, transporting photos to the printer and collecting them for Johnson to examine. Further complicating the book project were Ray Johnson's physical limitations. His hands have long been crippled by painful rheumatoid arthritis, so it fell to Jackie to type every word Johnson wrote.
When they were done, out of 5,000 or so words accompanying the 220 photos and a preface, the printer found just five typos - and four were all the same spelling error. Arcadia was so impressed - it said for a book of that size 100 typos are average - they wrote a letter commending the committee of Johnson and Danise, Spiller and Secord for their work. As that news was circulated in town, Johnson was nominated and appointed Town Historian. Clearly the project had become a labor of love, and orders for the book were being taken long before the actual delivery was made.
Johnson retired 8 years ago from his democratically-managed fifth grade classroom at Hockanum School, ending his 35-year career in town schools which saw him named the town's teacher of the year.
He recalled how Rotary's Don Hallquist, also a retied East Hartford teacher, called him in early 2008 asking for his help in putting the proposed book together. Hallquist, who handled publicity for the club, died suddenly after having heart surgery in March, 2008.
"He called me just before he passed away," said Johnson, and asked 'Would I help?' Well, I went with Don to one of their Rotary meetings, and I liked the idea." Johnson knew Arcadia Publishing was doing a series of local books, and he brought one along entitled "Victorian Hartford." He also knew Wethersfield and Windsor were working on similar efforts, so "you would not have to reinvent the wheel."
Then it was just a matter of seeking out old pictures, preferably those with a link to local history. The committee obtained quite a few old images of East Hartford from the Thomas J, Dodd Center at the University of Connecticut. Spiller - who grew up next to the old pickle factory on Silver Lane - was able to contribute 30 or 40 pictures, Johnson related. "Roy has a large collection, and I collected some old pictures as well."
The most unusual picture Johnson saw shows the old East Hartford railroad station that used to exist on the west side of Main Street at the Torpey Bridge. The station burned down in an accident attributed to the exhaust from a Model T backing up into a pile of excelsior, a straw-like packing material commonly used at the time.
"I never saw a picture of that until doing this book," said Johnson who used to take his classroom on walking trips around the Hockanum School neighborhood to see local historic homes and sites nearby. Included in the book is a picture of the old wooden Velodrome on Connecticut Boulevard - a giant wooden track used for bicycle racing that was so large the NFL played an exhibition football game in its center. Floods of 1934 carried the wooden planks away, and in the midst of the Depression, the velodrome was never rebuilt.
No photo of one of the town's other historic sports facilities was located - the baseball stadium at Tolland Street where Babe Ruth played, and supposedly homered, during a barnstorming Sunday exhibition game in the late 1920s.
Johnson hopes the book will be used in town schools. "A lot of teachers have purchased copies," he said. Johnson related that he was not a history major in college. He taught at other schools in East Hartford, but his interest in history developed after he began teaching at Hockanum School. "I remember teaching about the Revolutionary War, and it dawned on me that Hockanum was surrounded by a lot of buildings that were there at that time. So I would bring my classes out to look at them." One of the more interesting buildings is the octagon-shaped house on Naubuc Avenue in the town's historic district.
"Late in the 1840s there was a theory that it was much healthier to live in an octagonal home because it allowed for more sunlight to enter the home," said Johnson. The author of that theory was also a phrenologist, a man who studies the bumps on people's heads. "Once that book came out, people all over New England and upstate New York built octagon homes. But he ultimately ended up in jail, and living in an octagon home became akin to owning an Edsel - something of an embarrassment."
One old picture shows the old Meadows School in 1949. That old East Hartford neighborhood was leveled for the Interstate 84 interchange and redevelopment.
"There were a lot of pictures we had, things that we really wanted to put in, but they were not available - or the printer said they were of poor quality. We had some really good pictures of homes along Silver Lane, but they had faded too much and couldn't be used."
That also became part of the motivation for the committee - having as many irreplacable, original photographs of East Hartford published in book form before they were lost, Johnson said. "It was kind of amazing to see pictures from 1850s to 1860s in better shape than pictures from the 1920s. The technology was better, I guess, back in the early days of photography."
Johnson was reluctant to accept the credit for the publication.
"Jackie Danise is such a hard worker. She must have put 2,000 miles on her car with getting books and information, and she typed it all. And Roy Spiller and Bill Secord, we could not have done it without their assistance. The best thing was none of us had ever worked together before, and we all got along fabulously well."
The book is not dedicated to anyone, noted Johnson. But if anyone deserved it, putting Don Hallquist's name in the front would be a good suggestion, he agreed.
Last Friday in the lobby of the Raymond Library, Ray Johnson held a pen in his curled fingers and autographed one of the books for Vinie LaMontagne, 84. LaMontagne, an East Hartford native, said she was eager to look through it for familiar landmarks and scenes of her town.
Many must share Vinie's thirst for the local history book. Of the initial run of 500 only 100 remain after less than a week of sales, Danise noted in an e-mail.
Another session at the library is planned for this Friday, and Goodwin College President Mark Scheinberg will host a talk with the four authors on Thursd...
Author: Annie Gentile
Publisher: Reminder News
Date: 6/17/09
The town of East Hartford has gone through several incarnations since separating from the city of Hartford in 1783. From its growth as a huge agricultural community centered on tobacco, to railroad center, to major manufacturer of aircraft engines, to present day, East Hartford has long been a vibrant community in which to work and live.
Now, to illustrate its rich history, the East Hartford Rotary Club has announced the publication of its pictorial portrayal, "Images of America: East Hartford, Connecticut," with a release date of Aug. 17.
"The idea for the book started in 2007," said Jackie Danise, who, with fellow Rotarian Joan Brow, is on the public relations committee promoting the 128-page , 220-picture book. Danise said the Rotary Club was coming up on its 80th anniversary in 2008, and the members wanted to do something commemorative . They had considered doing a calendar that depicted various aspects of East Hartford through the years and approached Don Hallquist, a local educator , who had an extensive collection of photographs of the town.
"Don and I met with local historian Ray Johnson, and I think the first question out of Ray's mouth was, 'Have you thought of writing a book?'" Danise said. The idea was intriguing, and in three weeks, the Rotary Club signed a contract with Arcadia Publishing.
"Arcadia has been terrific to work with, and the beauty of working with them is that they front the charges," said Danise. Arcadia's familiar sepiacolored "Image of America" books provide a strict profile to follow, Danise said, which helped make putting the book together that much easier.
The book's cover is an August 1928 photograph of the Rochambeau monument on Silver Lane, where the French Comte de Rochambeau marched his troops during the Revolutionary War. Historically, Rochambeau was believed to have paid the troops at this time in silver coins - hence the name "Silver Lane."
Danise said Johnson did about 95 percent of the captions for the photographs , and he is credited for his contributions, along with the East Hartford Rotary Club. Danise said that Johnson, a retired fifth-grade teacher from the East Hartford school system, put together a fifth-grade history book that is used in the curriculum. "He loves history, and I suspect he had an undying passion to do an 'Images of America' book," she said.
Sadly, Hallquist died not long after the project got underway, and so they needed to find more members to round out the committee. Roy Spiller, another local history buff, came on board. At first, Danise said they were not certain that he could participate, as he was hospitalized with a serious illness, but he bounced back and helped out tremendously . Danise said the book may have been instrumental in his recovery. "His wife said he became such a new man with a purpose once he started working on the book, and after it was finished, he became involved with the local historical society," she said.
Rounding out the committee was Bill Secord, a retired East Hartford teacher, who was recruited because of his computer expertise and for his grammar and editing skills. Danise said her role was doing the legwork to fill in pictures that were not part of their collections by visiting the Connecticut Historical Society, the Dodd Center at the University of Connecticut - which has an excellent transportation collection featuring trolleys and trains - and East Hartford's own Raymond Library. "We're all true volunteers," Danise said of the committee.
"Images of America: East Hartford, Connecticut," which got its start in February of 2007, was completed Jan. 29, 2008. While the release date is not until Aug. 17, it may be purchased in advance by contacting either Jackie Danise at 644-1822 or Joan Brow at 568-5078 . All proceeds of the sales will benefit the Rotary Club Scholarship Fund.
Title: Learn the History
Publisher: Reminder News
Author: Staff Writer
Date: 8/12/09
Through words and photographs, vivid images emerge of the people, places and events that chronicle the history of East Hartford. Podunk Indians farming, fishing and hunting along the fertile banks of "The River," innovative entrepreneurs developing sawmills and gristmills to meet the needs of early settlers, and visionary leaders providing the social framework that eventually established a community.
Thus begins the history being recaptured in the soon-to-be released book Images of America: East Hartford, Conn. Authored by town historian, Raymond Johnson, partnered with East Hartford Rotary Club, the book is 128 pages with over 220 pictures.
Descriptions of the effort set forth to declare the town's independence from Hartford, the never-ending struggle to fight the elements of Mother Nature through floods and storms, the transition from an agricultural community to one that embraced the industrial revolution poignantly recapture the heart and spirit of its citizens. Homes of the 18th, 19th, and 20th century, early school houses, the many modes of transportation, as well as long-forgotten landmarks such as the velodrome , the alms house, and the town's two railroad stations, all portray the changing faces and landscape of East Hartford.
Recounting the town's growth throughout the 20th century, the ingenuity, ambition and altruism of its townspeople jump from the pages. With a population approaching 50,000 people, East Hartford is now home to UTC/ Pratt & Whitney, UConn Huskies football stadium, and Goodwin College, whose new campus sits on the very banks of "The River" that has been so much a part of the history of East Hartford.
Images of America: East Hartford, Conn. will be on sale Friday, Aug. 21, at Raymond Library (840 Main St., East Hartford) in conjunction with the farmers' market from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Priced at $21.99, all proceeds go to East Hartford Rotary Club Scholarship Fund. With a release date of Aug. 17, orders are being taken now at 860-644-1822 .
Title: Rotary to publish photo book of old East Hartford
Author: John Karas
Publisher: East Hartford Gazette
Date: 11/26/08
"East Hartford was people like these," said Ray Johnson a teacher and local historian who authored the text for the book, holding up a yellowed Victorian-era photograph showing a group of men and women in formal late-19th-century dress.
"Lucius Stiles, and his father, and father's brother, all doctors," recorded the inscription in the back. "They were all doctors, including the wives," Johnson explained. "They lived on 21 Elm Street. And it was places like these," he pointed to another picture. "These are the tobacco fields that were growing on the back of Larrabee street, and this is the old Laraia homestead, which was on the corner of Laraia Avenue, and Larrabee street."
It is these valuable images of East Hartford that, with the passage of time, are in danger of slowly "going out the window" says Rotarian Jackie Danise.
"Early in the year, in a conversation with our late Dan Halquist, [then] chairman of our public relations committee, I suggested we come up with a commemorative piece - maybe a calendar," she recalled. "He said 'I have just the person.' So he set up a meeting and he invited me with Ray Johnson. And Ray asked both of us 'Have you thought of writing a book?' Don and I shook our heads, 'Of course not,' so he told us about the 'Images of America' series. And we were just fascinated from the beginning."
"Images of America" is series of books produced by publishing house Arcadia, that weaves the history of local communities with the help of extensive visual materials. For the East Hartford tome, the EHRC committee that also includes Rotarians Roy Spiller, and Bill Secord, have gathered more than 200 photographs, paintings, and images, from libraries, collections and even family cupboards around town, representing every phase of the life of the community.
"We have a lot of the really old stuff," Johnson says,who taught for more than 35 years in local schools. "Like the story of Levy Goodwin, who he was an officer in the Revolutionary war, and his house is still here. He left his wife after the Lexington Alarm and walked to Boston, and his wife for the next five years run the farm, and also run the tavern that was behind the farm. And the house is still there. You go by it all the time, but people don't know that. It's opposite the [building of] the Knights of Columbus, right when you turn, the first house."
"And we have a good account of how Pratt & Whitney developed through the years and what kind of an impact it has made on the town," points out Danise.
Finding all the material needed for the book has been slow and difficult, especially because the publisher is very picky on what they accept. It would have been even more difficult if Roy Spiller, a historian and collector, had not offered a lot of pictures from his own archive.
The other part of the job, and arguably the most difficult one, was creating a text that will give voice to the images, and transform them to a cohesive narrative about the town. It fell, of course, on Johnson's shoulders, who says he was surprised by how much work the group had to invest in the project. "We have spent hundreds of hours," he revealed. "I'll never look at one of these [pictorial] books again without having a much higher appreciation," he adds.
It may have been exhaustive, the Rotarians agree, but what made it worthwhile was how everyone who heard about the project rallied to help.
"We had people contacting us all over the country, even from California - the granddaughter of Arthur Bergren, of Bergren Dairy Farm," said Spiller.
"There is a spirit about the town," Danise observed. "If you have East Hartford ties you don't forget them. And the people I've met doing this project - it's a big family. They always know someone, who knew somebody, who knew somebody. They were great."
If everything goes as planned, Danise said, the finished text and the pictures will be in the hands of the publisher by February 3, and the book should be ready a few weeks later. Rotary will order at least 400 copies and they will be sold at $21.95.
All proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit the EHRC Scholarship Fund awarded to East Hartford students.
Title: Historic images published
Publisher: The Gazette
Author: Staff Writer
Date: 8/27/09
East Hartford has had several books published about our history as a town.
The most famous among them was Goodwin's History of East Hartford, published around 1916. The second was a modern-day update of Goodwin's book, "East Hartford: Only More So" published by Courant copy editor Lee Paquette as a homage to his father's lifelong devotion to our town's colorful local history, industrial, political and in housing and infrastructure development.
Those two valuable tomes now have the perfect illustrated accompaniment: The East Hartford Rotary Club's new publication of "Images of America: East Hartford, Connecticut" which was just released August 17.
Members of the Rotary Club decided to take on a noteworthy project in keeping with the 80th anniversary of its founding in 1928. The idea actually was suggested by the late Don Hallquist who knew fellow Rotarian Roy Spiller shared an interest in local history, and had access to the seldom-seen archives of the Raymond Library Corporation - the original foundation first established by the Raymond family granting the town a free public library at Main Street and Central Avenue.
Spiller embraced the project, and they brought the idea for publishing a book before the full Rotary membership for the club's approval. And, although Hallquist passed away quite suddenly in March 2008, sending a profound shock through the Rotary as well as the entire town, the Rotary book project soldiered on.
Spiller was joined by fellow Rotarians Jackie Danise and Bill Secord, and they enlisted a non-Rotarian but acknowledged devotee of East Hartford history, retired teacher and resident Ray Johnson. Spiller, who grew up on Silver Lane in the midst of both industrial change and agricultural boom years, was able to contribute many old photos from his personal collection to the effort. The four issued a public appeal for any historical pictures to be submitted for consideration of being included in the special publication, and the response from the community was immediate.
The four - who are all civic leaders in their own right before they started working together - Danise was a top executive of Hartford Despatch before retiring and Secord is also a former teacher at east Hartford High School who co-founded the Connecticut International; Baccalaureate Academy with Mike Abelon - set about deciding which of the multitude of photos to include. The toughest decision of all was the photo for the cover; The Rotary wanted a picture depicting some event from 1928, its founding year. The publisher asked for 10 of the best photos to be submitted, and it would select which would reproduce the best for the cover.
The cover picture fully satisfied the goal of the Rotary project, showing a large crowd gathered on Silver Lane for the 1928 dedication of the granite and bronze monument to the Revolutionary War encampment of French troops under the Comte de Rochambeau. The troops were on their way to join forces with Gen. George Washington, and were supposedly paid while in East Hartford, the explanatory story attributed to the name Silver Lane.
Johnson set to writing all the captions, as well as a historic preface to the 128-page book. That daunting task made further so by Ray's meticulous nature and desire for accuracy. He wanted the book to become a means to teach future generations, school children especially, about East Hartford's role in American history.
Danise put thousands of miles on her car, transporting photos to the printer and collecting them for Johnson to examine. Further complicating the book project were Ray Johnson's physical limitations. His hands have long been crippled by painful rheumatoid arthritis, so it fell to Jackie to type every word Johnson wrote.
When they were done, out of 5,000 or so words accompanying the 220 photos and a preface, the printer found just five typos - and four were all the same spelling error. Arcadia was so impressed - it said for a book of that size 100 typos are average - they wrote a letter commending the committee of Johnson and Danise, Spiller and Secord for their work. As that news was circulated in town, Johnson was nominated and appointed Town Historian. Clearly the project had become a labor of love, and orders for the book were being taken long before the actual delivery was made.
Johnson retired 8 years ago from his democratically-managed fifth grade classroom at Hockanum School, ending his 35-year career in town schools which saw him named the town's teacher of the year.
He recalled how Rotary's Don Hallquist, also a retied East Hartford teacher, called him in early 2008 asking for his help in putting the proposed book together. Hallquist, who handled publicity for the club, died suddenly after having heart surgery in March, 2008.
"He called me just before he passed away," said Johnson, and asked 'Would I help?' Well, I went with Don to one of their Rotary meetings, and I liked the idea." Johnson knew Arcadia Publishing was doing a series of local books, and he brought one along entitled "Victorian Hartford." He also knew Wethersfield and Windsor were working on similar efforts, so "you would not have to reinvent the wheel."
Then it was just a matter of seeking out old pictures, preferably those with a link to local history. The committee obtained quite a few old images of East Hartford from the Thomas J, Dodd Center at the University of Connecticut. Spiller - who grew up next to the old pickle factory on Silver Lane - was able to contribute 30 or 40 pictures, Johnson related. "Roy has a large collection, and I collected some old pictures as well."
The most unusual picture Johnson saw shows the old East Hartford railroad station that used to exist on the west side of Main Street at the Torpey Bridge. The station burned down in an accident attributed to the exhaust from a Model T backing up into a pile of excelsior, a straw-like packing material commonly used at the time.
"I never saw a picture of that until doing this book," said Johnson who used to take his classroom on walking trips around the Hockanum School neighborhood to see local historic homes and sites nearby. Included in the book is a picture of the old wooden Velodrome on Connecticut Boulevard - a giant wooden track used for bicycle racing that was so large the NFL played an exhibition football game in its center. Floods of 1934 carried the wooden planks away, and in the midst of the Depression, the velodrome was never rebuilt.
No photo of one of the town's other historic sports facilities was located - the baseball stadium at Tolland Street where Babe Ruth played, and supposedly homered, during a barnstorming Sunday exhibition game in the late 1920s.
Johnson hopes the book will be used in town schools. "A lot of teachers have purchased copies," he said. Johnson related that he was not a history major in college. He taught at other schools in East Hartford, but his interest in history developed after he began teaching at Hockanum School. "I remember teaching about the Revolutionary War, and it dawned on me that Hockanum was surrounded by a lot of buildings that were there at that time. So I would bring my classes out to look at them." One of the more interesting buildings is the octagon-shaped house on Naubuc Avenue in the town's historic district.
"Late in the 1840s there was a theory that it was much healthier to live in an octagonal home because it allowed for more sunlight to enter the home," said Johnson. The author of that theory was also a phrenologist, a man who studies the bumps on people's heads. "Once that book came out, people all over New England and upstate New York built octagon homes. But he ultimately ended up in jail, and living in an octagon home became akin to owning an Edsel - something of an embarrassment."
One old picture shows the old Meadows School in 1949. That old East Hartford neighborhood was leveled for the Interstate 84 interchange and redevelopment.
"There were a lot of pictures we had, things that we really wanted to put in, but they were not available - or the printer said they were of poor quality. We had some really good pictures of homes along Silver Lane, but they had faded too much and couldn't be used."
That also became part of the motivation for the committee - having as many irreplacable, original photographs of East Hartford published in book form before they were lost, Johnson said. "It was kind of amazing to see pictures from 1850s to 1860s in better shape than pictures from the 1920s. The technology was better, I guess, back in the early days of photography."
Johnson was reluctant to accept the credit for the publication.
"Jackie Danise is such a hard worker. She must have put 2,000 miles on her car with getting books and information, and she typed it all. And Roy Spiller and Bill Secord, we could not have done it without their assistance. The best thing was none of us had ever worked together before, and we all got along fabulously well."
The book is not dedicated to anyone, noted Johnson. But if anyone deserved it, putting Don Hallquist's name in the front would be a good suggestion, he agreed.
Last Friday in the lobby of the Raymond Library, Ray Johnson held a pen in his curled fingers and autographed one of the books for Vinie LaMontagne, 84. LaMontagne, an East Hartford native, said she was eager to look through it for familiar landmarks and scenes of her town.
Many must share Vinie's thirst for the local history book. Of the initial run of 500 only 100 remain after less than a week of sales, Danise noted in an e-mail.
Another session at the library is planned for this Friday, and Goodwin College President Mark Scheinberg will host a talk with the four authors on Thursd...
About the Author
Compiling images from town archives and personal collections, the East Hartford Rotary Club has partnered with Raymond Johnson, past president of the East Hartford Historical Society, to present a photographic history of their town.
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