Brookfield Historical Society: A Major Resource For The Community

A Brookfield High School student thumbs through a copy of the Annals of Brookfield, written more than 80 years ago by Emily Hawley. He is searching for information to complete a term paper about the Pootatuck Native Americans who once lived and softly tread along the town's Still River.

At the same time, a gathering of elderly visitors stare up at an old, one of a kind, Civil War era American Copperhead flag with a red star in the middle surrounded by smaller white stars, all set on a blue field.  It was sewn 147 years before by a group of Brookfield women from the South Obtuse district of town who did not support the abolitionist movement and did not want their sons to go to war.

A few minutes later, a young woman is greeted at the door by a volunteer.  She asks for information about a 19^th Century home on Whisconier Road she has just purchased.  Moments later, a folder bearing her street address is taken from the drawers of the historic homes file and handed to her.

This scene is typical of the activity which occurs each Saturday at the Brookfield Museum and Historical Society.

The concept for creating a Brookfield Historical Society surfaced in an 18^th Century home on the town's Old Bridge Road in 1968. It was the house of Samuel Walker, former Chairman of the Board of the Joyce Memorial Library (now the location of the Brookfield Historical Society's Museum). Walker and his wife, along with Newell Rogers, a former editor of the Brookfield Journal, recognized a need to preserve the town's history.

One of the first public events held by the Society was a talk by world-famed artist Eric Sloane, a former Cornwall, Connecticut, resident and a catalyst for the creation of the Sloane Stanley Museum of Kent. In his talk, ironically titled, "Why I Don't Like Historical Societies," Sloane told the audience it is important that "good and beautiful things be saved to help children to love the past."

For more than 40 years the Society has followed the goal set down by its founders, and reinforced by Sloane, which is to preserve Brookfield's past in order to better serve its future.

Today with a membership in excess of 225 active members, the Society continues to be an invaluable resource for the community.

At the heart of the Society is its vast array of artifacts which the Museum has accumulated over the years, many from donations by local residents.  Barbara Golde, the Museum's Director of Exhibits, draws from this vast collection several times each year to create public exhibitions, which showcase the town's colorful history.

Earlier this year, an exhibition of period toys, some dating back to the civil war were on display appealing to children of all ages. Currently and throughout most of the summer, a post cards display featuring vintage images of Brookfield dating back to the early 20^th Century will be available at no charge for public viewing.  

But not all exhibitions feature Brookfield alone. Last year, the award winning exhibit, September 11, 2001: Connecticut Responds and Reflects, was a joint collaboration between the Brookfield and Connecticut Historical Societies honoring the memory of the 152 Connecticut victims who perished on that day.

According to Brookfield Society President John Furlong, "We seek out resources throughout the State to bring to our community a variety of public and historical presentations that will be of interest to visitors from areas even beyond our town's borders."

The Historical Society also serves as a learning center and important educational resource for students in search of knowledge about the town. Each year, a one-room schoolhouse is created in the Museum, where kindergarten and first graders from the nearby Center School take a step back into the 19^th Century to experience what life as a student was like in that era.  For many years Brookfield had seven such schoolhouses scattered throughout the community from the Iron Works district to Stony Hill. The program was started under the creative direction of Margaret Shirley, once a Brookfield teacher herself. Today it continues with Sonni Miller, another former educator, donning period costume and acquainting the children with early readers, long forgotten games and even a dunce cap that all the children clamor to wear.

Society members have also made presentations to all the local schools sharing the past heritage of the town. In addition, thousands of original documents including old maps, deeds, personal letters, diaries, books, public records, photographs, ephemera, family histories and other local genealogical records to name a few, are on hand at the Museum for all visitors to use, thus providing an immeasurable resource for research.

Perhaps what the Society is best recognized for is the abundant array of recurring public programs, which take place throughout the year. In addition to the exhibits, the annual model train show entertains children of all ages with hands-on operating displays, authentic train sounds and cheerful volunteers dressed up in engineer and conductor uniforms. This program is coupled with other yearly events such as the annual Strawberry Festival held after the town's Memorial Day parade; the Festival of Crafts; the newly introduced American Military forum; the lecture series; the Brookfield High School Special Chorus Holiday Concert and the Historical Society's Veterans Concert which honors local veterans as well as the men and women from Brookfield currently serving in the armed forces. All upcoming public events sponsored by the Society can be found by logging onto the web page.

The Brookfield Museum and Historical Society has long recognized the fact that the permanency of the town's population, which existed in the days when Brookfield was a farming community, has long since gone. Today, in this highly mobile culture, many families come and go, while others see children grow up often leaving town to make a living elsewhere. As a result, Brookfield can no longer just rely on families to pass on the community traditions and history from one generation to the next.  This truth resonates in words spoken more that 40 years ago by Frank Hawley, a Charter member from perhaps the oldest family in Brookfield who said, "The rich tradition of Brookfield's past now can only be carried into the future by a historical society such as this."