by the NHFPL Communications Team
It’s a party in the USA!
The New Haven Free Public Library is celebrating America’s 250th birthday and you’re invited to join us!
NHFPL is offering programs and celebrations throughout the year, culminating on June 13 with our Juneteenth Festival on the New Haven Green.
Rooted In Place: 250 Years Through New Haven’s Lens
Root in Place is our theme for this year-long celebration. We’re centering historically underserved or marginalized voices and focusing in on New Haven’s rich local history.
New Haven and the Nation’s Creation: A Brief History
by Catherine Egan (NHFPL Adult Services)
New Haven has a long history as a Sanctuary City for its residents. The New Haven Colony was founded on land purchased from the Quinnipiacs in 1638 by John Davenport and Theophilus Eaton as a refuge for Puritans. The colony offered shelter to the judges Edward Whalley and William Goffe (the “regicide judges”) when they fled a death sentence in England after voting for the execution of Charles I. You can still visit Judge’s Cave on West Rock and walk Regicide Trail!
After being absorbed into the Connecticut Colony, New Haven became a “co-capital,” along with Hartford, in 1701. The town was a prosperous place of religious tolerance, while the recently established Yale College grew to become a leader in the academic world. In the decades before the Revolutionary War, New Haven ran as an early democracy with citizens governing their own town and electing their public officials.
During the Revolutionary War, the city was a military supply hub, using the New Haven Green was a staging area for troops. Benedict Arnold famously demanded the keys to New Haven’s powder house before joining the Revolution, which is why Powder House Day is still celebrated in April in New Haven with a military march! George Washington came to New Haven on his way to take control of the Continental Army in 1776, demonstrating New Haven’s strategic importance. In a less welcome visit that also demonstrates New Haven’s significance, the city was invaded by the British in 1779.
New Haven was also home to Roger Sherman, the only Founding Father to sign all four U.S. founding documents: the Articles of Association in 1774, the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the Articles of Confederation in 1781, and the U.S. Constitution in 1787. Elected 1784, Sherman served as New Haven’s first mayor. He was also the creator of the Connecticut Compromise, whereby each state gets two senators while the number of representatives varies by state population.
While the small city of New Haven played an important part in the establishment of the United States both during and after the Revolution, it was also a very early example of self-governance, growth, and refuge in a country that was still coming into being.
Library History
Ives Main Library | Funded by Mary E. Ives in memory of her husband, the historic Ives building stands on the historic site of the Judge William Bristol House. Architect Cass Gilbert designed the brick and marble building to harmonize with the traditional architecture of New Haven. The iconic building opened to the public and was dedicated to the City of New Haven on May 27, 1911 and expanded in the late 1980s to the building we know and love today. In 2018, renovations to the historic periodicals room completed and Ives Squared opened with a state-of-the-art Tinker Lab, a coworking space called The Exchange, and a café space and patio.
Fair Haven Branch Library | Serving the Fair Haven, Quinnipiac, Annex and East Shore neighborhoods and built with a grant from the Carnegie Corporation, Fair Haven Library opened its doors in December 1917. Fair Haven Branch closed in 1993 for renovations that were completed in 1996. Opening Day for Fair Haven was February 14 and included a new Opening Day Book Collection built on private dollars. The modern day Fair Haven Branch (the last to remain in its Carnegie location) is embedded in the rapidly growing multicultural and Latino community.
Mitchell Branch Library | Named after the local author, the Donald G. Mitchell Memorial Library was established in 1910 as a private library and memorial. In 1922, the Mitchell Library was transferred to the city of New Haven and became a branch of the New Haven Free Public Library, housed in the Beecher Mansion until 1965. After some modern renovations, Mitchell branch reopened in its current building with a new donor-raised Opening Day Book Collection in 2002. Situated alongside scenic Beecher Park, Mitchell Library is a cornerstone of the Westville, Amity, Beaver Hills, Edgewood and West Rock neighborhoods.
Stetson Branch Library | In 1917, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company provided a location for a branch library to represent the Dixwell and Newhallville neighborhoods: a house on Division Street. The branch quickly outgrew its first home and, in 1922, the city opened the Dixwell Avenue Branch Library in a new building funded by the Carnegie Corporation. In 1941, the Dixwell Avenue Branch was re-named and dedicated to honor the legacy of New Haven’s first City Librarian, Willis K. Stetson. Although its location has changed twice since then, its name still honors the first leader of our public library system. In June 2022, Stetson opened a state-of-the-art facility we know as its current home, where it serves as the anchor for the new Dixwell Q House.
Wilson Branch Library | Named for New Haven’s founder and designed by New York City architect Charles Scranton Palmer, Davenport Branch Library opened in 1915 in a rented location before opening in 1924 at its Carnegie-funded building at 265 Portsea Street, where it remained until 1978. The Hill neighborhood branch changed locations and names several times over the years before closing its doors in 1986. The Courtland Seymour Wilson Library opened in 2006 on Washington Avenue to a neighborhood that had been without a branch for two decades. The branch’s namesake, Courtland Wilson, had served as President of the local NAACP and was the Executive Director of the Hill Development Corporation.
Juneteenth Festival
Systemwide Rooted In Place Events
View the events below!