Celebrate with us on February 3rd from 1 to 4 PM for the opening reception of Bridges and Belonging: The Windsor History Inclusion Project. Enjoy musical entertainment and light refreshments while you explore the society’s updated permanent galleries, now improved to better represent Windsor’s diverse history with fresh images, stories, and artifacts.

The new content updates the Society’s flagship permanent exhibition Bridging Centuries, Bridging Cultures. When that exhibit opened more than ten years ago, it embodied a milestone in the Society’s ability to tell our town’s 400-year story from its indigenous beginnings to the present, accommodate our growing audience of school children, and appeal to people of all ages.

The refreshed exhibit expands all the excellent content from the original version with additional, often personal stories. The focus is on better incorporating Windsor’s Black history into a more complete story of Windsor’s past. The additions are intended to foster a sense of belonging here in Windsor for visitors from different cultural backgrounds, and to reflect the town’s shifting demographics over time.

Stories of Windsor’s Black Revolutionary War patriots, including John Brister and Samson Cuff, now reside alongside tales of Windsor’s white patriots like Moses Wing and Daniel Bissell. Profiles of several Black community leaders such as U.S. Congressman Joseph Rainey and Dr. Beulah Winston have been added to the galleries alongside old favorite histories of the Mack family brickmakers, Amy Archer-Gilligan, and many more.

Additionally, the updates include topics not previously addressed, including Windsor’s role in the witchcraft trials of Alse Young and Lydia Gilbert in the 1600s, the American Civil War, women’s suffrage leader Agnes McCormick, and a collection of new oral histories by current Windsor residents from all walks of life.

Funded with generous grants from the Town of Windsor and CT Humanities. FREE. Snow Date: February 6, 4 to 7 PM.