From the Editor's Desk

Welcome to the Fall 2025 special anthology issue on Connecticut Women's political and economic experience! First, please let me introduce the guest editors of the present volume: Dr. Cecelia Bucki, Professor of History Emerita at Fairfield University, and Dr. Elizabeth Hohl, Assistant Professor of the Practice in the History Department at Fairfield University. Dr. Bucki was Editor-in-Chief of Connecticut History Review from 2011–2017. Dr. Hohl served on the Editorial Board of the journal in those years. They have worked together to plan and implement this special anthology issue, which draws on twenty-three years of articles published in Connecticut History Review (and its titular predecessor Connecticut History) from 1997 through 2020. For originally bringing these articles to print, I would like to thank past editors, in addition to Dr. Bucki, Dr. Robert Asher of the University of Connecticut, Dr. Matthew Warshauer of Central Connecticut State University, and Dr. Robert J. Imholt of Albertus Magnus College. Finally, funding for this special anthology issue of Connecticut History Review has been provided by generous contributions to the Association for the Study of Connecticut History (ASCH) and by two anonymous donations earmarked for the project.The present special anthology issue is divided into three parts, each with a new introduction by Drs. Bucki and Hohl. Part I, “Home and Work: Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Experiences,” introduced by Dr. Bucki, brings into focus women in the workplace, with special attention paid to notable residents such as Katharine Houghton Hepburn, factory workers at the Waterbury Clock Company, and physicians during wartime and peacetime. Part II, “‘In the Name of Justice, Mercy and Common Sense’: Connecticut Women Activists in the Progressive-Jim Crow Era,” introduced by Dr. Hohl, lays out the many contributions by Connecticuters to women's suffrage during the first part of the twentieth century. Finally, part III, “Pursuit of Freedom: Connecticut Women's Activism, 1920–1996,” introduced by Drs. Hohl and Bucki, takes the story through the end of the last century, noting the important political and legal efforts that took place in Connecticut in the name of full equality for women.It is our hope that this special anthology issue will be of interest to subscribers to Connecticut History Review, valuable as a classroom resource for teachers at the secondary and post-secondary levels, and a potent reminder of the work that remains to do.Finally, I hope you will join me in looking forward to our Spring 2026 special issue on “1776 in Connecticut,” timed to the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. Co-editors Drs. Cecelia Bucki and Elizabeth Hohl are planning to offer teacher workshops on the subject of this anthology, pending grant funding. These workshops will offer primary documents and other teaching strategies. Other groups may want to consider workshops geared to their interests, which we will try to accommodate.Please inquire to either Cecelia Bucki [email protected] or Elizabeth Hohl [email protected].