The Connecticut Historical Society

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Unless otherwise noted, admission is $6 (adults), $3 (seniors, students, & youth 6 - 17), FREE (children under six and CHS members).


Did You Know?
The CHS Library recently received an unusual poster advertising Elvis Presley's Hartford Civic Center concert on August 12, 1977 The Hartford Courant reported on the 17th of August, 1977 that Elvis' concert was in fact scheduled for the 21st in Hartford, not the 12th. Preliminary research indicates that the date's numbers (1 and 2) were mistakenly transposed, suggesting that the printer either made a terrible mistake or, more likely, that the poster is a fake.

"It seemed difficult for us to believe that if indeed a printer made a mistake with the date, others like it hadn't turned up," said Eva Bolkovac, Head of Access Services for the CHS Library. "Misprinted concert posters from that proposed tour would likely have sent Elvis trivia fanatics and collectors into some sort of hip-shaking, lip-curling frenzy that certainly would have generated headlines, but we didn't come across anything, nor had anyone we contacted at Graceland. Authentic or not, it does have artifactual and teaching value."

Making this new artifact even more compelling is the fact that Elvis was to have left on a sold-out tour of the East coast on the evening of August 16, 1977, however he died that morning. According to historians at Graceland, Elvis' August, 1977 concert in Hartford is part of what is known as "the tour that never was." They could not, however, verify whether the poster was a misprint or not.


New Additions to CHS Web Site
In preparation for the exhibition "Growing Up in Connecticut," scheduled toin 2003, CHS has been collecting stories, yearbooks, baby clothes, home movies and more. We have just launched a fun and humorous interactive Web site that begins to chronicle those experiences unique to the children who have grown up in Connecticut since the 1940s. It includes a coolness test, a game to decide what clothes and toys belong to each decade, and comical home movies. If you have something you would like to donate, please let us know!