Your Daily Dose
Hello everyone,
As a follow-up to yesterday's Daily Dose, here's some information about the Theological Institute of Connecticut.
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Best wishes,
Leith Johnson
Archivist and Research Librarian
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The Theological Institute of Connecticut
The Theological Institute of Connecticut at East Windsor (at the time, South Windsor was still part of East Windsor), also known as the Theological Seminary, opened in 1834 as a more conservative alternative to Yale Divinity School on the site of the former Ellsworth Memorial High School on Main Street. In 1865, the Institute relocated to Hartford and is today known as Hartford Seminary.
Like many other colleges and universities then and now, the Institute published catalogs that listed trustees and faculty, alumni and current students, and information on such topics as curriculum, schedules, fees, and accommodations. The above catalog is from 1843 and is available online; Wood has an 1846 edition in its collection.
Primary sources such as this catalog are extremely informative and provide information often not found elsewhere. At the same time, they often raise even more questions than they answer, and can drive further interest and research pursuits. I’ve put together just a few examples.
This opening shows the first two graduating classes of the Theological Institute:
Why do so many students come from states beyond Connecticut (“Ms.” Is the abbreviation for Massachusetts). Students almost always came to the Institute following graduation from a college (“W.C.” stands for Williams College, “A.C.” stands for Amherst College, “B.C.” stands for Bowdoin College, among others). Why did so many students come from Amherst, Williams, and Bowdoin? Why didn’t any students come from Trinity College and more than the very few who came from Wesleyan University, both located in Connecticut? Why did the students travel to places they did after leaving South Windsor? How did what they learned at South Windsor impact the people they later encountered?
This is the list of the Institute’s trustees. Who are these men? Why were they selected? What was their interest in religious education? What, if any, connection did they have to South Windsor?
“Remarks” has pertinent information for potential students. Among other things, we’re informed that there are rooms sufficient for 52 students. According to the catalog, the Institute did not charge for tuition, room rent, or use of the library and even offered financial assistance to those who may need it. Board was obtained in “private families at $1.50 per week.” ($1.50 in 1843 would be roughly equal to $42 today). How was the Institute able to operate without charging tuition and room fees? How many students qualified for financial assistance? Where did the Institute’s funding come from? How many students worked on the farm and in the shop? What did they do? Who supervised them? What was the relationship of the 52 students to the private families who provided their meals? How did they affect the culture of South Windsor? How did the culture of South Windsor affect them?
When you read historical documents, what questions occur to you? When future generations look at the documents, webpages, Instagram posts, YouTube videos, PDFs, and everything else we are creating today, what questions will they have?
Bonus trivia:
Do you know what the Seminary Chapel was later used for before it was torn down in the 1930s? What were the columns from the chapel repurposed for (hint: you can still see them on the same stretch of Main Street today)? Learn about these details and see pictures in Images of America: South Windsor, available for sale on our website.
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