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The Museum of Connecticut Glass History This developing museum is dedicated to exhibiting, preserving, researching and providing education about historical glass made in the numerous glassworks of Connecticut. The museum's permanent exhibits and offices will be housed in an original two-story residence, circa 1812/14, built for Capt. John Turner, one of several incorporators of the Coventry Glass Company (and later one of the founders of the Ellenville [N.Y.] Glass Company. Located in Coventry, CT at the intersection of Rt. 44 and North River Road, the building is one of several original houses still standing in the National Historic Glass Factory District. The Connecticut General Assembly voted in June 1994 to place the historic building in the trust of the Museum of Connecticut Glass. The structure had been the property for many years of the University of Connecticut. A second building acquired in 2005 by the Museum will house the institution's education and activity facilities. An addition of a furnace room will house a glass furnace where glassmaking will be done in the way early glassmakers had done almost two centuries before in Coventry and at other Connecticut works. Space for classes and temporary exhibits also will be located in the building. Handicapped bathroom facilities already have been constructed within the second level space. That three-floor barn, built in 1935, had housed the University of Connecticut's Agricultural Extension field offices and plant experimental facilities. The Museum presently is open for periodic events, including summertime open houses and a springtime glass show, and upon special requests to visit the historical buildings, and/or to attend regular Board and membership meetings (third Wednesday of the month, except for a break during the summer). A unique and important museum dedicated to recording and preserving the art and history of glassmaking in Connecticut, the Museum of Connecticut Glass, Inc. is an important part of preserving the roots of glassmaking, one of our nation's earliest and most active, creative industries. This statewide museum is located in the National Register's only designated National Historic Glass Factory District -- on our Flyers web page, viewers can read the National Park Service forms that succeeded in having the Glass District placed on the National Register. The Museum supplements the existing major museums with expertise and interest in American Decorative (and functional) Arts with curatorship and specialization of the State's glassmaking process. The Museum of Connecticut Glass was established by a group of highly motivated individuals who wish to preserve documents, tools, materials and fragile artifacts from one of the most renowned centers of early American glassmaking, for present and future generations of Connecticut and the nation. Attention Historians, Collectors, Antiquarians, Preservationists, or any other interested groups or individuals....As an educational and historical organization, the Museum of Connecticut Glass welcomes any participation and support. Contributions are needed to meet our startup expenses and ultimately, our operating costs. The Museum holds an IRS 501(c)(3) education status and donations may be tax deductible. Please contact any Museum officer to find out how we might be able to gratefully accept your help, in whatever form you offer, including donations of time, money, services or material for the museum. |
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