Hartford Public Library
Encyclopedia
Hartford Public Library’s history spans more than 200 years. It began in 1774 as the Library Company, started by a group of city leaders. The founding members included Jonathan Brace
, Jeremiah Wadsworth
, Daniel Wadsworth
, George Bull, Elisha Colt, Theodore Dwight
, George Goodwin, Chauney Goodrich and Thomas Y. Seymour. The Library Company was a subscription company and opened with some 700 books. The Library Company flourished into the early 19th century. It changed its name to the Hartford Library Company in 1799 and met in the Grammar School House, once located where the east end of the Municipal Building (Hartford city hall) is today. Its first librarian was Solomon Porter, a Yale graduate and principal of the Grammar School.
In 1838, Hartford resident and the first United States Commissioner of Education Henry Barnard
organized lectures and debates for young men and called this association the Hartford Young Men’s Institute. They invited Hartford Library Company subscribers to join with them, offering them lifetime memberships. Library company members agreed and brought to the institute their collection numbering over 3,000 volumes.
In 1842, Daniel Wadsworth
offered the Young Men’s Institute a stake in what he hoped would become the cultural center of Hartford. Members accepted and, in 1844, the Young Men’s Institute moved into the new Wadsworth Atheneum
, eventually sharing space with the fine arts gallery, the Watkinson Library, The Connecticut Historical Society and the Hartford Art School. In 1875, the Young Men’s Institute hired Caroline Hewins
as its head librarian. She was 29 years old. She held the position for 51 years, until her death in 1926.
The institute’s lecture series was well attended for a number of years. Guest lecturers included Oliver Wendell Holmes, Horace Greeley
, Dr. Horace Bushnell
, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher
, Samuel Clemens, Charles Dudley Warner
and Ralph Waldo Emerson
. In the late 1870s the popularity of lecture series diminished. The institute noted: “We have a library, not an institute; its members are, at least half of them, ladies; and the men belonging are old as well as young; being therefore, not alone for the young, not alone for men, and not an institute but a library, it seemed time to call it by its right name.” In 1878, the private institution changed its name to the Hartford Library Association.
By the late 19th century, the people of Hartford recognized the need for a free public library. An agreement was reached between Wadsworth Atheneum regarding property ownership. A request for funds went out to city residents so that the building could be modified with a new library wing added to the back of the original structure. Funds were also needed to pay for the ongoing maintenance of what was to become the new public literary.
More than 2,000 people donated money to this project. Hartford native Junius Morgan pledged $100,000 from London; his son, J.P. Morgan, pledged $50,000 from New York; other large donors included Lucy Morgan Goodwin and her sons J.J. Goodwin and the Rev. Francis Goodwin; the Keney brothers; and, Hartford banker Roland Mather. Contributions were made by the employees of Colt’s; Sigourney Tool; Case, Lockwood and Brainard Co.; Atlantic Screw Works; and, many other factories. School children contributed nickels and dimes.
Within two years from the start of the campaign, the city raised an amazing $406,000. On September 15, 1892, with the city appropriating tax monies for free library service, the doors of the new public library opened. On the first day, 388 names were registered; by the tenth day, 2,160 names were entered. On May 3, 1893, by a special act of the general assembly, the library’s name was formerly changed to the Hartford Public Library. The library today operates under the original charter granted to the Hartford Young Men’s Institute of 1839. The majority of the library’s operating cost now comes from the City of Hartford.
In 1957 the Hartford Public Library moved from the Wadsworth Atheneum into a new building just two blocks away. Designed by Schutz and Goodwin, the 94448 square feet (8,774.5 m²) building at 500 Main Street included modern reading and reference rooms. In 1998, to fully meet the needs of the public, the library embarked on an ambitious 145000 square feet (13,470.9 m²) expansion and renovation at a cost of over $42,000,000. It was completed in 2007. The 21st century Hartford Public Library and its nine branches are state of the art, fully computerized.
A unique feature of the Hartford Public Library is its Hartford History Center. It is the library’s specialized collection whose focus is Hartford: its history, its authors, architecture, photographs, pamphlets, periodicals, books, postcards, trade publications, city directories, prints, posters, memorabilia, in short any and everything Hartford. It preserves and shares the Hartford story.
The holdings in the Hartford History Center include:
• The institutional archives of the Hartford Public Library
• The archives of the City of Hartford, from 1619 forward. Described by the state archivist as the most complete city records anywhere in the country.
• Noah Webster, the father of the American dictionary’s personal pamphlet collection of 93 bound volumes with his notes and comments.
• The Hartford Times photographic collection 1950-1976
• The Tony Bonee photographic collection 1940-1999
• Only complete minutes and records of Hartford’s Court of Common Council and Board of Aldermen, 1784 to present.
• The City Parks Collection, documenting the growth of the city park system from 1850.
• Records, drawings of the Engineering Department, Public Works Department, and Hartford Housing authority.
• Marc-Yves Regis photographic record of Hartford’s North End.
• Hartford imprints, pamphlets, books, 1777–present.
• Extensive postcard collection of Hartford, 19th-20th centuries.
• Extensive poster collection of Hartford events, performances, happenings and works by Hartford artists.
Albany,
Barbour,
Blue Hills,
Camp Field,
Dwight,
Goodwin,
Mark Twain,
Park,
Ropkins.
Jonathan Brace
Jonathan Brace was a United States Representative from Connecticut. He was born in Harwinton, Connecticut. He was graduated from Yale College in 1779. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in Bennington, Vermont in 1779 and commenced practice in Pawlet, Vermont. He moved to Manchester,...
, Jeremiah Wadsworth
Jeremiah Wadsworth
Jeremiah Wadsworth was an American sea captain, merchant, and statesman from Hartford, Connecticut who profited from his position as a government official charged with supplying the Continental Army...
, Daniel Wadsworth
Daniel Wadsworth
Daniel Wadsworth of Hartford, Connecticut, was a traveler, amateur artist and architect, and arts patron. He is most remembered as the founder of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art....
, George Bull, Elisha Colt, Theodore Dwight
Theodore Dwight (author)
-Life:Theodore Dwight was born March 3, 1796 in Hartford, Connecticut.His father was Theodore Dwight of the New England Dwight family. His mother was Abigail Alsop , the sister of Richard Alsop ....
, George Goodwin, Chauney Goodrich and Thomas Y. Seymour. The Library Company was a subscription company and opened with some 700 books. The Library Company flourished into the early 19th century. It changed its name to the Hartford Library Company in 1799 and met in the Grammar School House, once located where the east end of the Municipal Building (Hartford city hall) is today. Its first librarian was Solomon Porter, a Yale graduate and principal of the Grammar School.
In 1838, Hartford resident and the first United States Commissioner of Education Henry Barnard
Henry Barnard
Henry Barnard was an American educationalist and reformer.-Biography:...
organized lectures and debates for young men and called this association the Hartford Young Men’s Institute. They invited Hartford Library Company subscribers to join with them, offering them lifetime memberships. Library company members agreed and brought to the institute their collection numbering over 3,000 volumes.
In 1842, Daniel Wadsworth
Daniel Wadsworth
Daniel Wadsworth of Hartford, Connecticut, was a traveler, amateur artist and architect, and arts patron. He is most remembered as the founder of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art....
offered the Young Men’s Institute a stake in what he hoped would become the cultural center of Hartford. Members accepted and, in 1844, the Young Men’s Institute moved into the new Wadsworth Atheneum
Wadsworth Atheneum
The Wadsworth Atheneum is the oldest public art museum in the United States, with significant holdings of French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School landscapes, modernist masterpieces and contemporary works, as well as extensive holdings in early American furniture and...
, eventually sharing space with the fine arts gallery, the Watkinson Library, The Connecticut Historical Society and the Hartford Art School. In 1875, the Young Men’s Institute hired Caroline Hewins
Caroline Hewins
Caroline Maria Hewins was an American librarian.American Libraries includes Caroline Hewins as one of the 100 Most Important Leaders we had in the 20th Century for her work as a librarian, where she is noted for her contributions to children's library services She was a librarian at the Hartford...
as its head librarian. She was 29 years old. She held the position for 51 years, until her death in 1926.
The institute’s lecture series was well attended for a number of years. Guest lecturers included Oliver Wendell Holmes, Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley was an American newspaper editor, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, a politician, and an outspoken opponent of slavery...
, Dr. Horace Bushnell
Horace Bushnell
Horace Bushnell was an American Congregational clergyman and theologian.-Life:Bushnell was a Yankee born in the village of Bantam, township of Litchfield, Connecticut. He attended Yale College where he roomed with future magazinist Nathaniel Parker Willis. Willis credited Bushnell with teaching...
, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher
Henry Ward Beecher
Henry Ward Beecher was a prominent Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, abolitionist, and speaker in the mid to late 19th century...
, Samuel Clemens, Charles Dudley Warner
Charles Dudley Warner
Charles Dudley Warner was an American essayist, novelist, and friend of Mark Twain, with whom he co-authored the novel The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today.-Biography:...
and Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...
. In the late 1870s the popularity of lecture series diminished. The institute noted: “We have a library, not an institute; its members are, at least half of them, ladies; and the men belonging are old as well as young; being therefore, not alone for the young, not alone for men, and not an institute but a library, it seemed time to call it by its right name.” In 1878, the private institution changed its name to the Hartford Library Association.
By the late 19th century, the people of Hartford recognized the need for a free public library. An agreement was reached between Wadsworth Atheneum regarding property ownership. A request for funds went out to city residents so that the building could be modified with a new library wing added to the back of the original structure. Funds were also needed to pay for the ongoing maintenance of what was to become the new public literary.
More than 2,000 people donated money to this project. Hartford native Junius Morgan pledged $100,000 from London; his son, J.P. Morgan, pledged $50,000 from New York; other large donors included Lucy Morgan Goodwin and her sons J.J. Goodwin and the Rev. Francis Goodwin; the Keney brothers; and, Hartford banker Roland Mather. Contributions were made by the employees of Colt’s; Sigourney Tool; Case, Lockwood and Brainard Co.; Atlantic Screw Works; and, many other factories. School children contributed nickels and dimes.
Within two years from the start of the campaign, the city raised an amazing $406,000. On September 15, 1892, with the city appropriating tax monies for free library service, the doors of the new public library opened. On the first day, 388 names were registered; by the tenth day, 2,160 names were entered. On May 3, 1893, by a special act of the general assembly, the library’s name was formerly changed to the Hartford Public Library. The library today operates under the original charter granted to the Hartford Young Men’s Institute of 1839. The majority of the library’s operating cost now comes from the City of Hartford.
In 1957 the Hartford Public Library moved from the Wadsworth Atheneum into a new building just two blocks away. Designed by Schutz and Goodwin, the 94448 square feet (8,774.5 m²) building at 500 Main Street included modern reading and reference rooms. In 1998, to fully meet the needs of the public, the library embarked on an ambitious 145000 square feet (13,470.9 m²) expansion and renovation at a cost of over $42,000,000. It was completed in 2007. The 21st century Hartford Public Library and its nine branches are state of the art, fully computerized.
A unique feature of the Hartford Public Library is its Hartford History Center. It is the library’s specialized collection whose focus is Hartford: its history, its authors, architecture, photographs, pamphlets, periodicals, books, postcards, trade publications, city directories, prints, posters, memorabilia, in short any and everything Hartford. It preserves and shares the Hartford story.
The holdings in the Hartford History Center include:
• The institutional archives of the Hartford Public Library
• The archives of the City of Hartford, from 1619 forward. Described by the state archivist as the most complete city records anywhere in the country.
• Noah Webster, the father of the American dictionary’s personal pamphlet collection of 93 bound volumes with his notes and comments.
• The Hartford Times photographic collection 1950-1976
• The Tony Bonee photographic collection 1940-1999
• Only complete minutes and records of Hartford’s Court of Common Council and Board of Aldermen, 1784 to present.
• The City Parks Collection, documenting the growth of the city park system from 1850.
• Records, drawings of the Engineering Department, Public Works Department, and Hartford Housing authority.
• Marc-Yves Regis photographic record of Hartford’s North End.
• Hartford imprints, pamphlets, books, 1777–present.
• Extensive postcard collection of Hartford, 19th-20th centuries.
• Extensive poster collection of Hartford events, performances, happenings and works by Hartford artists.
Branches
Nine branches:Albany,
Barbour,
Blue Hills,
Camp Field,
Dwight,
Goodwin,
Mark Twain,
Park,
Ropkins.