Organization City Willimantic

Funding for Connecticut nonprofit humanities and cultural organizations facing financial hardship resulting from COVID-19, funded by the CARES Act via the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Funding will allow creation of ten three-minute “audio exhibits” within the Windham Textile and History Museum, in partnership with CRIS Radio’s CRISAccess Program. The audio exhibits will accompany the Museum’s traditional history exhibits already in place but will make those exhibits accessible to sight-impaired and other non-reading visitors, both on-site and on the museum’s website. The audio exhibits will be maintained by CRIS Access, be accessible via QR codes, and can be updated. They will be available November 1, 2019 and accompany permanent exhibits into the future.

Creating an exhibit at the Windham Textile and History Museum of Sidonia Perlstein’s personal history and artistic work. Sidonia, a Holocaust survivor, came to Springfield, MA with no family except a baby daughter and evolved into a clothing designer and dressmaker. Up to 50 garments represent significant historical, cultural and artistic interest. The exhibit will be complemented by events that will be beneficial to local and student communities, promote interest in local history and arts.

This project explores the decline and fall of the Connecticut textile industry (deindustrialization, 1880-2000) and the subsequent transition to a postindustrial economy (postindustrialization) now underway in the state’s former textile mill towns. The exhibit includes permanent display boards and video, so that it can be recreated later in other venues to stimulate public discussion.