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Home | Museum: Past Exhibits
Past Exhibits
Listed below are some highlighted exhibitions from our past. Additional information about each exhibit is available upon request.
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For What Its Worth! Money, Barter & Banks in Early Fairfield
Award-winning exhibit explored the history of exchange to help visitors understand basic concepts about money and barter as they related to colonial Connecticut through the Civil War. An Activities Gallery included eight ‘interactives’ for children (most appropriate for adults too) as well as a display of antique toy banks. A CHC Planning Grant was received for this exhibit. Exhibit opened February 28, 2004 |
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Celebrating a Century: Treasures from the Collections of the Fairfield Historical Society
Exhibit that featured over fifty of ‘the best’ of the museum and archival collections, the exhibit was organized and arranged to help visitors understand how collections grow and change, why some things are saved, why ‘ordinary stuff’ of the distant past is so rare, how our collections are used to interpret history and how they go beyond Fairfield to enrich many more people’s understanding of the past. The feature piece was the J. Budington overmantle painting, one of the first gifts to the Society and still ranking at the top of its ‘treasures.” Exhibit opened May 2, 2003 |
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Fairfield in the Forties: The War Years and Aftermath
Exhibit focused on the home front sacrifices and conditions (rationing, gardening, childhood experiences, defense industries, etc.), civil defense, defense industries and celebration and memorialization at the end of the war. Exhibit opened January 26, 2002 and was partially funded by a CHC grant and a gift from an anonymous donor. |
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Haven’t A Clue! Origins of Everyday Expressions
Award-winning exhibit that explored the history of many common expressions – such as ‘flash in the pan,” “put a sock in it,” “chock-a-block,” and “dyed in the wool” – and their connections to objects and activities of the past. The exhibit displayed various kinds of tools, household objects, textile items, maritime equipment and militaria from the 19th century along with the expressions derived from them. Exhibit Opened Memorial Day, 2001 |
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A Most Dear Connexion: Gold Selleck Silliman
An exhibit focusing on Mary Fish and Gold Selleck Silliman, inspired by Gold Selleck’s letters to Mary in which he referred to their marriage as the “Dear Connexion.” Letters, a map, shoe last, and other 18th century artifacts found in the Silliman house during restoration were loaned for the exhibit, and the exhibit offered fresh insights into life in 18th century Connecticut as well as the hardships suffered during and after the American Revolution. Exhibit was open Summer, 2001 |
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Shaping Fashion: Connecticut’s “Supporting “ Role
Corsets, hoops, and bustles shown along with the fashionable dresses they shaped. Exhibit featured some items from the 18th century, and focused on Bridgeport and New Haven manufacturers. Exhibit opened November 11, 2000 |
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John Taylor Arms
A major retrospective of the work of John Taylor Arms. The exhibit featured his prints and etchings on copper plates. For more than 30 years, John Taylor Arms (1887 – 1953) was preoccupied with the enduring value of beauty and the translation of that beauty as he worked in this Millstones Studio in Greenfield Hill, passionately etching on copper plates. Exhibit Opened, March 21, 1997 |
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