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Resources for
Research
Bibliographies
Collier, Christopher
and Bonnie Collier. The Literature of Connecticut History. (The
Connecticut Scholar, Occasional Papers of the Connecticut Humanities
Council, Number 6). Middletown, CT: Connecticut Humanities Council,
1983. Available at
http://www.ctheritage.org/biography/toc_period.htm
This is an extensive
annotated bibliography that is arranged chronologically and
topically, and is an excellent resource tool for beginning
Connecticut historical research.
Connecticut State
Library
http://www.cslib.org/agencies/judpubhist.htm.
This page from the
Connecticut State Library web site provides a list of published
materials about the courts of Connecticut.
Searchable
Online Catalogs and Databases
ArchiveGrid -
http://archivegrid.org/web/jsp/index.jsp
RLG is a
not-for-profit membership organization of over 150 universities,
national libraries, archives, historical societies, and other
institutions, and this internet search engine allows the
researcher to search their databases by topic, name, or word.
Center for
Connecticut Studies at Eastern Connecticut State University -
Willimantic
http://www.easternct.edu/depts/ctstudies/
The Center’s website
indicates that access to the collections is provided through the
Consul (Connecticut State Universities Libraries and Connecticut
State Library) service. The static page indicates that some
Amistad materials, as well as a collection of historical
newspapers are available for research.
Connecticut’s
Heritage Gateway -
http://www.ctheritage.org/biography/toc_subject.htm
The Connecticut
Humanities Council has created a searchable directory of the
state’s historical resources for teachers, students, researchers
and others. The directory can be searched by topic, subject,
name, or time period. If the search result is positive, the
display indicates the name of the collection and the institution
where it is held.
Connecticut
Historical Society - http://www.chs.org/
This site provides
access, through the Connecticut statewide library's Request
system, to 100,000 books, including many rare books and
children’s books, and 3,000,000 manuscripts, including account
books, diaries, and letters. It appears that there are at least
three collections pertaining to the Connecticut Supreme Court.
Online Computer
Library Center (OCLC-WorldCat) -
http://www.oclc.org/
This site allows the
researcher to find books, periodicals, videos, and other
materials available in libraries from around the world.
Trinity College,
Watkinson Library -
http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/library/watkinson/holdings.htm
This site has an
alphabetized listing of its holdings, some of which have
digitized finding aids.
University of
Connecticut Colonial Connecticut Records -
http://www.colonialct.uconn.edu/
The University of
Connecticut has prepared a digitized and indexed copy of the
volumes of the Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut,
1636-1776.
Yale University
Libraries
The consolidated
catalog, Orbis, which is available at
http://orbis.library.yale.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=
allows the researcher to search by keywords, author, titlem
etc., but it may not reflect all the Library’s holdings. The
Yale Law School has an entirely separate catalog, MORRIS
http://morris.law.yale.edu/
that should be searched to locate the Law Library’s holdings,
including the extensive Rare Book collection.
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Non-Searchable
Library Resources
Connecticut College
Special Collections -
http://www.conncoll.edu/is/info-resources/special-collections/index.html
Special Collections
has an alphabetical list of its holdings, but it is not
searchable. Contact the institution for assistance.
University of
Connecticut. Thomas J. Dodd Research Center -
http://webapps.lib.uconn.edu/Dodd/AToZ.cfm
This site has an
alphabetical listing of the Center's holdings, but the list is
not text-searchable.
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Online
State Judicial Branch Resources
Biographical
Information About Connecticut Judges -
http://www.cslib.org/memorials/MemIndex.htm
This is an
alphabetized index, with links to essays published in the
Connecticut Reporter commemorating the appointments,
resignations, retirements and obituaries of state judges and
attorneys.
 Connecticut State
Library Guide to the Records of the Judicial Department (772
kb—large file)
This Guide provides
an overview of the history of the Connecticut courts and the
division of responsibility for retention of the records of the
Judicial Department. The detailed box list provides the
researcher with a good idea of whether material of interest
would be located in the State Archives. After reviewing the
Guide, a researcher could contact a research archivist and be
able to discuss their project and the particular items of
interest in the collection.
State of Connecticut
Judicial Branch -
http://www.jud.ct.gov/ystday/Default.htm
The Judicial Branch
website describes the organization of the state's courts. It
also includes an online tour of the Supreme Court building and a
link to the video “Enduring Grandeur.”
Connecticut Judicial
Branch Law Libraries -
http://www.jud.ct.gov/lawlib/History/default.htm
This website
includes twenty short articles about Connecticut legal history,
including one about Tapping Reeve and the Litchfield Law School.
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Other
Historical Societies in Connecticut
Fairfield Historical
Society -
http://www.fairfieldhistoricalsociety.org/index.html
The library of the
Fairfield Historical Society contains over 10,000 volumes on the
history of Fairfield, Fairfield County and the State of
Connecticut. In addition to these volumes, there are 700 linear
feet of archives and manuscripts, more than 2,000 photographs,
microforms, and maps. The Tapping Reeve Papers are of primary
interest to the Connecticut legal historian. The website
contains an alphabetical listing of the collections, but it is
not text searchable.
Litchfield Historical
Society -
www.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org
The Litchfield
Historical Society preserves and interprets the history of
Litchfield County through a small museum, the Tapping Reeve
House and Law School, and the Ingraham Library. The Library does
not have an online search mechanism for finding aids to the
collection, but states that printed finding aids are available
at the institution.
In addition to
descriptions of its own activities, their website also has “A
Guide to Local Historical and Genealogical Resources in
Northwestern Connecticut” which provides a description and links
to other organizations, churches, libraries, and towns with
archival materials in northwestern Connecticut.
New Haven Museum and
Historical Society -
http://www.newhavenmuseum.org
This society was
formerly known as the New Haven Colony Historical Society. Its
library holds over 30,000 volumes and more than 250 manuscript
collections that can be used by researchers on a fee basis. This
is a private institution, but is open to the public for research
on a daily fee basis or society membership.
Old State House -
http://www.ctosh.org/index.asp
The Court Room in
the Old State House is where the Court of Connecticut met
from1796 to 1878. Guided tours of the Court Room and remainder
of the rooms in the Old State House are available.
Simsbury Historical
Society -
http://www.simsburyhistory.org/collections-archives.html
The Simsbury Historical
Society has an archival collection, but its website states that a
search is available by appointment only. Finding aids can only be
searched by the staff. Box lists may be available to researchers at
the archival staff’s discretion.
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