CREATING COMMUNITY: 400 YEARS OF FAIRFIELD STORIES
A New Long-Term Exhibition at the Fairfield Museum that Presents a More Complete Picture of Southwestern CT’s Diverse History and Shared Future
The Fairfield Museum and History Center in Fairfield, CT recently opened Creating Community: 400 Years of Fairfield Stories, an exciting, new long-term exhibition exploring southwestern Connecticut’s diverse and fascinating history, from early Native American settlement into the 21st century. Supported in part by grants from the National Park Service and the National Endowment for the Humanities, the exhibition is the most ambitious ever created by the Fairfield Museum, featuring new research and discoveries on pre-colonial Native American history, African American history, and the contributions of the many groups who built this multi-faceted community. As the Fairfield Museum’s flagship exhibition featured in its largest gallery, the art-and artifact-filled exhibition provides the Museum’s 30,000 annual visitors and 4,000 students with a more comprehensive look at the intriguing historical forces that have shaped our community and nation, and how those influences continue to reverberate in contemporary society.
Creating Community: 400 Years of Fairfield Stories has been organized in close consultation with some of the most highly regarded historians and Native American consultants in Connecticut. The exhibit offers focused looks at intimate personal stories while weaving together related histories to create a dynamic exploration of southwestern Connecticut’s history. On one side of the gallery, visitors will dive into broad themes of land, ecology, and sense of place; and on the other, explore the people and communities who have called Fairfield home for more than four centuries.
Drawing from the Fairfield Museum’s unparalleled collection, the exhibition showcases key artifacts that illustrate the region’s history and present for the first time newly uncovered Native American archeological artifacts and the Randolph-Ward photographic collection that chronicles four generations of Black family life in Fairfield County. Alongside these rare objects, new images, maps, and other unique artifacts revitalize and reinvigorate our understanding of New England’s past and give voice to the many people who make up our community.
Throughout the exhibition is a wide range of interactive activities that promote hands-on learning and help visitors draw deeper connections between the past and present. Digital components include a recording of a Native American creation story as told by the Clan Mother of the Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe and QR codes linking visitors to the Fairfield Museum’s vast historical archive and digital learning tools. Creating Community: 400 Years of Fairfield Stories is a vital educational resource for visitors and students from throughout Fairfield County.
About the Fairfield Museum
Explore the Past: Imagine the Future
The Fairfield Museum believes in the power of the arts and humanities to inspire imagination, stimulate thought, and transform society. Through our dynamic programs and exhibitions, the Museum sparks dialogue, inspires meaningful collaborations, and deliberates the challenges of the future. Central to our community-focused mission is a desire to provide important historical context to pressing issues of our time, and to offer a safe, trustworthy environment where multiple perspectives can be heard and collective solutions explored.
Our Mission is to inspire civic engagement by celebrating the diverse history of our region and its people. As a dynamic public forum, we believe in the power of art and humanities to inspire the imagination, stimulate ideas, and build a better society.
Education: Over the past decade, the Fairfield Museum has worked closely with regional schools to ensure that our education programs support national, state, and local learning goals. Each year we serve more than 4,000 students and teachers from 65 schools from across southwestern CT through high-quality educational programs, and we welcome underserved students free of charge.
Fairfield Museum believes that sharing diverse stories about our past, celebrating the individual’s role in catalyzing social change, and promoting the value of an informed and active citizenry help empower students and their families to become lifelong learners. Our student and family programs vividly connect the past to the present, sparking the notion that by working together we can shape a better, more inclusive future for all.
Exhibitions: The Fairfield Museum presents exhibitions that delve deeply into the history and context behind important issues of our time, explore those issues through multiple perspectives and inspire informed discussion about the future of our community and nation. Our exhibitions and programming have received several state and national awards and use the arts and humanities to foster discussion about critical issues such as racial justice, climate change, education, immigration, and more.
The Fairfield Museum is an efficiently-run and financially stable organization. We are consistently awarded top marks by charity watchdogs for our efficient use of donor contributions, including Charity Navigator’s highest 4-star rating and Guidestar’s Platinum distinction. Through our far-reaching programs and thought-provoking exhibitions, the Fairfield Museum builds a sense of community and inspires positive change. www.fairfieldhistory.org.
For more information, please contact Executive Director Michael Jehle, (203) 259-1598, mjehle@fairfieldhs.org.
