Kathy Hermes

CT Explored publisher, Kathy Hermes, was appointed to the African American & Black History & Culture Commission for The City of Hartford. Today, at the CT Museum of Culture & History, commissioners were introduced at a meeting of the Institute for Cross-Cultural Awareness & Transformative Education.

438 Streams its first week. ctexplored.org/gtnlgpod/
If you haven’t listened yet, you’ll want to tune in to learn more about this seminal scholar. #blackhistorymonth

I agree with Hillary Clinton

Trump Administration Live Updates: Schumer Pressured to Support Renaming Dulles Airport and Penn Station for Trump

@chrismurphyct.bsky.social @blumenthal.senate.gov @whitehouse.senate.gov @murray.senate.gov
Please don’t let this happen!

www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02...

Spring 2026 - in your mailbox and your inbox! Great articles on African American genealogy, immigration in Greenwich, etc.
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I am part of the faculty teaching "The Die is Cast: Open Conflict on American Soil and The Creation of a Democratic Republic." My section is on the fate of Indigenous peoples and their interests in the conflict. Weslyan U., Wednesdays in April, 4:30–6:30 PM.
www.wesleyan.edu/waschseminar...

Birthday dinner! Celebrating another year in which I hope to do good. 10 years ago on this day I raised $1000 to fight Trumpism. This year my heart is less strong but my will remains as tough as ever.

Celebrated the 20th Anniversary of Connecticut Explored magazine in ‘22 with a story on Ebenezer Bassett, the quiet American hero. The story of his life & accomplishments are truly great. #BlackHistoryMonth
connecticuthistory.org/ebenezer-bas... diplomacy.state.gov/u-s-diplomac...

In Springfield, Ohio, people are preparing in advance of a “large deportation” promised by the president. To all appearances, the city is 2 or 3 days from a federal ethnic cleansing, grounded in a hate campaign organized by the vice-president and American Nazis.
snyder.substack.com/p/ethnic-cle...

As our new season of GTN begins, we thank our amazing donors who keep the episodes coming through supporting our annual online auction!

Give to GTN here: ctexplored.org/donate/

Something to cool to know…
🥶❄️🧊
Connecticut's coldest temperature on record is -32°F, which occurred in Falls Village on February 16, 1943.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Black History Month, the commemoration of Black heritage and resilience that happens every February. Check out our Grating the Nutmeg podcast about one of the great historians who worked with Carter Woodson to uncover the African American past.

CT Explored/Inbox Winter 25-26: Stories and Storytellers. Connecticut’s Copperheads and Bridgeport’s Farmer Riot. An interview with Noemi Santana. Plus, the temperance movement as a powerful vehicle for social change.

Our Connecticut Explored free newsletter is out. Get the latest Grating the Nutmeg podcast and what’s coming up in Connecticut museums.

ctexplored.substack.com/p/ct-explore...

New Grating the Nutmeg Podcast! Listen here: ctexplored.org/gtnlgpod/
Our latest episode, celebrates someone born in CT who was a pioneer in Black history: Dr. Lorenzo Greene. Our guest is Dr. Stacey Close, Assoc. VProvost & VP of Equity & Diversity at Eastern CT State Univ. #BlackHistoryMonth

Wasch Seminars at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT

wesleyan.estore.flywire.com/products?sto...

Influential Black ministers like Rev. James W.C.Pennington & Rev. Amos Beman used temperance as a strategy for civic inclusion in the 19thC. CT Museum of Culture & History's Natalie Belanger on GTN: ctexplored.org/tgttncbc/
images: Rev. Amos Beman, New Haven/Rev. James W.C.Pennington, Talcott Cong.

He's challenging decades of victim-blaming the 'Black Dahlia' Historian William J. Mann book, 'Black Dahlia,' is a fresh account that restores dignity to Elizabeth Short, the young woman long stamped with tragedy and the infamous moniker.

Our Connecticut Explored board member William Mann is out with a new book on the Black Dahlia. LATimes says he restores “dignity back to this young woman’s image.”

www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

Two statements that are compatible.

a. I don't think concealed carry is a good policy.

b. I do not believe that someone carrying a gun in compliance with a state's gun laws gives federal law enforcement the right to murder them.

Larry Pemberton Jr., Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, is the 1st Native American elected to the CT Gen Assembly. “I feel like a lot of eyes are on me…My Tribal families across the state, we’ve really had no support in here, and I think it’s a major move forward for us.” www.ctpublic.org/news/2026-01...

My Trip to Texas Confirmed We Can’t Fund this Version of ICE The young father was shaking as he held his fidgety two-year-old daughter who impatiently sucked on a lollipop.

I wrote a short piece on my trip to Texas and how it confirmed for me why we can’t fund this version of ICE.

The Department of Homeland Security is lawless. We need to demand reforms.

Here’s a blistering headline from the New York Times to start the day: China Wins as Trump Cedes Leadership of the Global Economy

“The president used a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland to renounce the last vestiges of the liberal democratic order.”

Paris magazines. The world realizes what’s happening. Why doesn’t every American feel alarmed?

Day 1 of 2026…Day 20 of 2026.
#MakeItStop

Vote NO

Grating the Nutmeg: 223. The ‘Great Temperance Times’ in Nineteenth-Century Black Connecticut   At first glance, alcohol and racial equality might seem unrelated—but for Black activists, the temperance movement was a powerful vehicle for social change. In this episode of Grating...

In this episode of Grating the Nutmeg, Natalie Belanger of the Connecticut Museum chats with Mackenzie Tor about her research into Black temperance activism in 1830s and 1840s Connecticut.

gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/223-the-grea...

Snow nose

On this day: Overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy Greetings PHG fans, today we mark a solemn occasion that seems prescient against the backdrop of this week's headlines. On this day 17 January 1893, the Hawaiian Monarchy was overthrown. A group of 13...

On today’s blog post: the overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy, which occurred #OTD 17 January 1893. #PacificHistoryGuide #Hawai’i

www.pacifichistoryguide.com/post/on-this...

Our new Grating the Nutmeg Podcast season starts now!
Listen: ctexplored.org/tgttncbc/
For Black activists, the temperance movement was a powerful vehicle for social change. Natalie Belanger, CT Museum of Culture & History, chats with Mackenzie Tor about her research in 1830s and 1840s CT.

CT Explored/Inbox Winter 25-26: Stories and Storytellers. Their Kindred Earth Revises the History of a Connecticut Town. Top 10 most streamed episodes of GTN of all time. Plus, exhibitions you won't want to miss.

Winter 25-26: Stories and Storytellers. Their Kindred Earth Revises the History of a Connecticut Town. Top 10 most streamed episodes of GTN of all time. Plus, exhibitions you won't want to miss.

ctexplored.substack.com/p/ct-explore...