Scholars for Life!
Speaker Series  

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Watch the movie in advance and then join us for a lively, casual conversation. Just like a book club, but only with movies! Movies can be found on Amazon and sometimes in libraries!

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This Presentation provides a history of the special role of playgrounds in Hartford public parks during The Progressive Era (1880-1925); by examining three specific playgrounds in the city. Focus of presentation will be about how they can be used as a significant historical and cultural resource i.e. origin of playgrounds in the U.S., national and local trends of the play movement, playground equipment and features and other historic playgrounds across the nation. Brayton Price museum educator at the Stanley-Whitman House in Farmington. He received a B.S. in History from Portland State University in 2022 and his MA in Public History from Central Connecticut State University in 2025. He was a former educator for the Noah Webster House and Museum, he also interned at Colt Park National Historical Park, and a graduate assistant for the Witness Stones Project, LLC.

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Connecticut has over 900 miles of blue-blazed hiking trails, thanks to over a century of volunteers working for the Connecticut Forest and Park Association (CFPA). Come find out about the origins of the Tunxis Trail which stretches nearly fifty miles from Southington to the Massachusetts border. We'll start with the beginning, the two men who shaped its path, and my involvement in a large swath over the last decade. Tom Burkholder is an avid hiker, trail manager, sawyer, and member of the Trails Committee for CFPA. He is interested in the history of the area and loves searching old USGS topographical maps and poking around in the woods. Tom has been a professor of chemistry at Central for over 30 years.

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Watch the movie in advance and then join us for a lively, casual conversation. Just like a book club, but only with movies! Movies can be found on Amazon and sometimes in libraries!

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In February 1941, as the world edged toward global war, the 43d Infantry Division was called into federal service. Drawn from National Guard units from Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont, the division was made up largely of young citizen-soldiers who expected weekend drills—not a one-way ticket to war. They were clerks, students, mechanics, and factory workers. Yet within months, they would be in the Pacific, half a world away. After intense training, these men found themselves in unfamiliar jungles and island chains. The 43d Infantry Division took part in four major campaigns—Guadalcanal, the Northern Solomons, New Guinea, and Luzon in the Philippines—where combat was often close, brutal, and personal. Hand-to-hand fighting against a determined enemy was not an exception; it was the reality. In total, the division spent 370 days in active combat. Beyond the front lines, the 43d also played a critical role in securing New Zealand against possible Japanese invasion, helping safeguard a vital Allied stronghold in the Pacific. The 43rd Division’s service did not end with World War II. In 1950, it was once again federalized during the Korean War and deployed to Germany as part of America’s Cold War defense. This presentation offers a look at the history of the 43d Infantry Division - one of the Army’s most tested and decorated citizen-soldier units of the Second World War, honoring the men whose courage and sacrifice carried them from New England towns to the farthest reaches of the Pacific.   David Thiede is a U.S. Navy veteran and a longtime member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. His father served with the 169th Infantry during World War II—though, like many men of that generation, he spoke little of his wartime experiences. Seeking to better understand his father’s service, David began researching in 2009 and discovered the 43rd Infantry Division Veterans Association, founded by returning WWII veterans themselves. David and his wife soon began attending reunions, where they had the rare privilege of getting to know and learn directly from several World War II veterans and their families. In time, David assumed the role of director of the association, which remains active today, preserving the legacy of the division and the men who served in it.