Leaving Connecticut, Shaping America | Special Talk featuring Walt Woodward & Exhibition Opening Reception

Between 1780 and 1830, tens of thousands of Connecticans left our state to “begin the world anew” in places like Pennsylvania, Vermont, western New York, and especially, the Western Reserve. Join Connecticut’s State Historian emeritus to explore the reasons behind Connecticut’s massive outmigration, the distinctive attributes of the people who chose to leave, and the very serious concerns their removal raised for those they left behind.

To Come to a Land of Milk and Honey: Fairfield & the Connecticut Western Reserve Exhibition Opening Reception to Follow

$5 per person

About the Speaker

Walter W. Woodward is Connecticut State Historian emeritus. He served as the State Historian of Connecticut and a member of  the History Department at the University of Connecticut  from 2004 to 2022. He was the fifth person to hold the position of State Historian, which was created in the 1930s in preparation for Connecticut’s 300th anniversary. He retired in July of 2022, becoming Connecticut State Historian emeritus.

Dr. Woodward is a scholar of Early American and Atlantic World history, with an emphasis on Connecticut and New England. His research interests cover a variety of subjects, including witchcraft, alchemy and the history of science, the use of music in Early America,  environmental history.

Woodward is the author of five books, the most recent of which is Creating Connecticut: Critical Moments That Shaped a Great State (Globe Pequot Press, 2020). His book Prospero’s America: John Winthrop, Jr.,Alchemy and the Creation of New England Culture, 1606-1676 (Omohundro Institute, University of North Carolina Press,2010) won the Homer Babbidge Prize from the Association for the Study of Connecticut History, and was a Choice  magazine Outstanding academic title.

Prof. Woodward received his Ph. D. with Distinction from the University of Connecticut in 2001 He obtained his Master’s Degree in History from Cleveland State University, and his B.A. in English from the University of Florida.  Prior to joining UConn, he was a faculty member of the Department of History at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA.

Before becoming a historian, Woodward had successful careers in both the music and advertising industries. He was the composer of two minor hit country songs (“Marty Gray” (Top 10) and “It Could’a Been Me” (Top 20)) in the 1970s, as well as music for film and television, for which he won two Emmy Awards and two special achievement awards from SESAC. His advertising creativity won him 8 Clio Awards, and in 1980 he was Cleveland’s Advertising Person of the Year.

As State Historian emeritus, Woodward continues to research write and share his love for the history of Connecticut and New England through the Today in Connecticut History program  and at TODAYINCTHISTORY.com, musical performances with his group The Band of Steady Habits, articles, and public lectures.

Image: Map of the Western Reserve Including the Fire Lands in Ohio, original printed in 1826, revised 1833. Published By Allen Taylor and William Sumner, Engraved by William Savery. Courtesy of the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.