Making Sense of Place: CCSU's Connecticut Identity Conference

by Bill Hosley

Central Connecticut State University is raising the bar on some important issues that could improve Connecticut's quality of life, national reputation and sense of place. A recent forum on "Considering Connecticut's Identity," organized by the Public History Graduate Studies program at CCSU, was a statewide gathering of academics, museum workers, preservationists and tourism officials grappling with the challenge of shaping Connecticut?s image and reputation in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

The keynote speaker was Prof. Joseph Conforti from the University of Southern Maine, whose insight and expertise in Connecticut history makes you wonder why he's teaching there and not here. In addition to several books dealing with Connecticut topics, his recent and widely acclaimed book, Imagining New England: Explorations of Regional Identity from the Pilgrims to the Mid-20th Century takes up issues we ignore at our peril. Conforti's presentation took a surprising detour that cut to the heart of what makes contemporary Connecticut tick. Conforti questioned how it was possible that a State where Catholics have been in the majority for more than a century has completely excluded the Catholic experience from its history and self-image. He noted that the only State more Catholic than Connecticut is Rhode Island and that "New England is almost as Catholic as Utah is Morman." And yet, Catholicism remains on the margins of our understanding of regional identity. Even the obvious story of the influence of Irish and Italian Catholics on our political culture has been untold. His comments go a long way toward explaining why Connecticut often seems so indifferent to its history. An exclusionary history is certainly less relevant to the audience (more than half of whom were raised Catholic) whose narrative is missing.

Connecticut Humanities Council impresario Bruce Fraser spoke next and recounted his own personal transformation from ivory tower academic to political watchdog and advocate building bridges between the world of ideas and such contemporary human concerns as jobs, economic growth and tourism. Fraser, who has studied and observed the Connecticut scene for more than 30 years, noted that Connecticuters identify more with their towns and regions than with their state. Fraser spoke of the quality of "panfurcation:" (a word I had to look up) as Connecticut's astonishing capacity to divide and divide again things better left whole. It tends to draw us outward rather than together. Fraser observed that, among other things, most residents get their news out-of-state. If you live in Woodstock or Thompson, chances are you read or watch Worcester newspapers and television. Ditto Fairfield County and New York. Even Greater New London is part of a larger "Narragansett region" centered in Rhode Island, while Litchfield County is Hudson Valley-oriented. Add suburbanization and sprawl to the mix and you have a society that, despite the advantage of small scale and extensive transportation infrastructure, is remarkably fragmented and struggles with even the simplest of communal acts. Fraser further observed that it has been almost half a century since anyone attempted to write a history of Connecticut or identify the grand themes that define us. In the absence of larger contexts or unifying messages, Connecticut has become a mosaic of contentious fragments.

Next was Connecticut's recently appointed State Historian Walter Woodward who opened his remarks by acknowledging Connecticut's depth of resources and the "remarkable competence and dedication" of the people who labor in the vineyard of Connecticut heritage. He noted the irony of the state's investing $2 billion in higher education, in part to stop the brain drain, while ignoring the opportunity to infuse young people with a pride of place by incorporating Connecticut into the curriculum at various levels. Woodward, who worked in advertising and marketing before embarking on a career in education, raised the most interesting challenge, imploring us to start by identifying a few big themes in the Connecticut experience that could foster collaboration and teamwork among the visitable attractions and tourism officials.

Discussions that followed were wide ranging and produced some notable observations. State Tourism director Edward Dombraskas described how market fragmentation makes it especially costly and difficult to project our image. Although New Yorkers come seeking a "New England experience" in which stone walls, historic buildings, and heritage museums are a defining attribute, Bostonians apparently feel that there is "nothing in Connecticut we don't have bigger, better and closer." All the more reason to identify big themes and grapple with our image and identity.

It was not long ago that Connecticut epitomized the qualities of New Englandness conveyed so vividly in the writings of Harriet Beecher Stowe and in the art of the Connecticut Impressionists. Like pork, "the other white meat," Connecticut is not a poor man's Massachusetts, but represents a distinct and compelling collection of attributes, experiences and visitable attractions that are eminently marketable. What does New England mean? It's changing, but will always be rooted in an inclusive, authentic heritage that needs to embrace its Catholic/industrial stories as well as the traditional images of Yankee ingenuity, Bible-toting Puritans, rock-rugged individualism and the moral Republic. By developing a strong and compelling image, we not only strengthen our tourism marketing message, but nurture and sustain community and commonwealth. Absent compelling images and a strong sense of place, teamwork, mutual respect and neighborliness are diminished in ways that have an enormous, if not easily measured, impact on our economy and welfare.

Bill Hosley is a history consultant and a Trustee of the Connecticut Trust.