Third Thursday Presentation Walter Woodward

(Hartford, CT) In celebration of American Archives Month, Connecticut State Historian Walter Woodward lead a discussion on one of Connecticut’s most popular governors , Governor John Dempsey. Walter Woodward’s talk is based on his research at the State Library, in preparation for the centenary commemoration celebration of Governor Dempsey’s birth in Cahir, Ireland. The Cahir Social and Historical Society marked the centenary of the year of birth of Governor John Dempsey with a program of events in September 2015.

Governor Dempsey was an Irish immigrant who became one of Connecticut’s most beloved politicians. He served as Connecticut’s Governor from 1961 to 1971, overseeing the passage of a job-training law that became the model for the Federal Manpower Training Act, and the first revision of the Connecticut Constitution in 150 years, which redrew the boundaries of the General Assembly districts.  This talk is part of the State Library and Museum of Connecticut History’s Third Thursday Brown Bag Lunchtime Speaker series.  This series features a variety of speakers on various aspects of Connecticut History.  All programs are free and open to the public and attendees should feel free to bring their lunch.

Walter Woodward is the Connecticut State Historian and an associate professor of Early American History at the University of Connecticut.  He teaches American Environmental History, Public History, Connecticut History, and an honors American Studies Course focused on the Connecticut River. He is the author of the award-winning book Prospero’s America: John Winthrop, Jr., Alchemy and the Creation of New England Culture, and recently co-authored Teaching History with Museums: Strategies for K-12 Social Studies along with Profs. Alan Marcus and Jeremy Stoddard. Woodward is also a columnist for the Connecticut Explored, co-editor of Common-place: The Journal of Early American Life, and producer of “Grating the Nutmeg,” a podcast about Connecticut history and culture (now available through iTunes).