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Q: What was the Isle of Safety?
A: A large island in State and Main streets, by the Old
State House, that was used for decades to manage pedestrian, bus
and trolley traffic. The building that occupied the island now sits
at the Trolley Museum in East Windsor. Well after the island's removal,
State Street became a pedestrians-only way. Photos of the Isle can
be found in "Images of America: Hartford," the wonderful series
of books compiled by Old State House Executive Director Wilson H.
Faude.
Q: At which Hartford radio station did "shock jock" Howard
Stern work before achieving national fame/infamy?
A: WCCC.
Q: For whom is Franklin Avenue named?
A: William Buell Franklin, who served as a union general
in the Civil War and lived afterward in Hartford. He led troops
at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861 and was a major general
at the Battle of Antietam in September 1862. Following the union
defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862, he received
some of the blame from his commanding officer, Gen. Ambrose Burnside,
and a congressional committee. But the committee did not have access
to Burnside's written orders to his subordinates, which were acknowledged
to be confusing. Franklin resigned from the Army in 1866. In Hartford,
he became vice-president of Colt's Patent Firearms. His background
in engineering led to his appointment in 1873 to the commission
overseeing construction of the state Capitol. Franklin Avenue, now
an artery of the South End and a longtime center of the region's
Italian-American community, was accepted by the city on Oct. 19,
1871. Franklin died on March 8, 1903. (Sources: "History of Hartford
Streets, by F. Perry Close; "Encyclopedia Britannica"; and "The
City of Hartford, 1784-1984," by Ellsworth Strong Grant and Marion
Hepburn Grant.)
Q: Katharine Houghton Hepburn, mother of actress Katharine
Hepburn, was a leader in Hartford of what nationwide political movement?
Hint: This movement culminated in 1920.
A: Securing the right to vote for women. She led the Connecticut
Woman Suffrage Association - headquartered on Pratt Street - from
1910 to 1917, when she resigned to join Alice Paul's Woman's Party,
which sought an equal rights amendment as well as the right to vote.
Connecticut, by the way, was the last state in the union to ratify
the 19th Amendment, in September 1920. (Source: "The City of Hartford,
1784-1984," by Ellsworth Strong Grant and Marion Hepburn Grant.)
Q: Henry Keney (1806-1894) provided funds in his will for
the construction of two North End landmarks, the Keney Memorial
Clock Tower and Keney Park. Who was he?
A: A wholesale grocer. The tower is a monument to the store
he operated on that site with his brother, Walter. (Source: "Structures
and Styles: Guided Tours of Hartford Architecture," by Gregory E.
Andrews and David F. Ransom, 1988.)
Q: When airmail service to Hartford began in 1918, where
did the planes land? Hint: Brainard Field opened in 1921, at least
partly because two Army pilots were killed while trying to land
on this "rough" spot.
A: The golf course at Goodwin Park. (Source: "The City of
Hartford, 1784-1984," by Ellsworth Strong Grant and Marion Hepburn
Grant.)
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