Archived Topics
Old Willi Chronicles
Posted By: rd <lancva@crosslink.net>
Date: Friday, 15 June 2001, at 12:03 p.m.
As we have all moved once or twice in our lifetime and gather things in box only to be tucked away for a rainy day. Today its rainy here and I opened that box of stuff that I carted back from Willi in 1991. Included were a couple of editions of the Willimatic Daily Chronicle. One edition is July7,1913; another is the front page dated May 29, 1976 with a full front page picture of the troops marching on Main St. on "Welcome Home Day" Aug16, 1919; and the last one is a 60 page Anniversary Edition dated Sept. 8, 1967 commemorating the 275th anniversary of the town and the Chronicle's 90 years of publication. It is a wonderful history of Windham and Willimatic with pictures and stories. One of the pictures that was facinating was of the "Nipnet Canoe Club" located on the South Bank of the Willimantic River, west of Bridge St. It shows a one story building, trees, hanging Japanese laterns, canoes, and ladies in long dresses. It was destroyed by fire in 1930's. I wonder if the Chronicle could republish this great anniversary edition?
Posted By: William Brainard <p020188b@pb.seflin.org>
Date: Sunday, 17 June 2001, at 10:46 a.m.
In Response To: Old Willi Chronicles (rd)
Several years ago I went to the "Chronicle" to look up some news stories from the late '40s, early '50s in their microfilm morgue. While they didn't refuse me to look through the microfilm, I got the feeling that I was far from welcome from doing my research. It's too bad that Wmtc. Public Library, Eastern or Uconn don't have the "Chronicle" microfilms on file. The Babbidge library has the Hartford "Courant" back to the late 1800s on microfilm or at least they did last time I was there. It's difficult to get parking on the Uconn campus now to do research at the library. They also have the Hartford "Times" from 1960-1976 when it folded. A great resource is Mary Cheney library in Manchester. They have the Manchester "Evening Herald" on microfilm from about WW 2 till it ceased publication in the early 1990s.
Posted By: Tom Beardsley <tom@threadcity.com>
Date: Sunday, 17 June 2001, at 12:04 p.m.
In Response To: Re: Old Willi Chronicles (William Brainard)
The Chronicle is available from 1891, when it became a daily paper, at ECSU's Connecticut studies. However, access to the area is limited and it's best to phone ahead. The Willimantic Journal (1872-1911) and Chronicle (1877-current) are available at the State Library. The CT Historical Society also has a comprehensive collection of newspapers in hard bound volumes. When researching at Storrs its best to go at night. If you go in the day, park behind the stores on Route 195, and it takes about 12 minutes to walk to Babbidge, past the lake.