David McKain was an award winning author and retired University of Connecticut faculty member (Avery Point Campus). McKain's papers contain manuscripts of edited and unedited written works, professional correspondence and related documents, as well as photographs and genealogical research on the McKain/McKean/McCain family history.
Folklorist David Shuldiner worked in Connecticut's Department of Aging to promote the creativity, vitality, and well-being of elderly residents in the state. His oral history project focused on the elderly.
The Davis & Geck Company was founded in 1909 by Charles T. Davis and Fred A. Geck. The company specialized in surgical sutures, beginning with catgut and moving on to kangaroo tendons and later to advanced synthetic materials. For much of its history, Davis & Geck was the world's second largest producer of surgical sutures. The company became part of American Cyanamid in 1930. After subsequent sales, the company was renamed Sherwood, Davis and Geck. Though the D+G offices were initially located in Brooklyn, New York, the company purchased a factory in Danbury, Connecticut, in the early 1950s. This factory was scheduled for closure in 1998 following the sale of Sherwood, Davis and Geck to the Tyco Corporation and the transfer of plant operations to Mexico.
The collection contains administrative and financial records, correspondence, patterns and samples documenting the later years of the last Leavers loom lace manufacturer in the state of Connecticut.
Diaries dating from the 19th century provide information on mid-century farm life, social activities, local travel and education at a one room school. Two "thoughts diaries" of the same period give one man's views on Christianity, human nature and slavery. Travel journals from the later part of the century describe trips through European countries; these also contain information on transportation and lodging. Those dating from the 20th century reveal much about the life of a Connecticut female artist and her thoughts and feelings concerning World War II. Also included is the 1943 diary of a University of Connecticut coed and the 1902 diary of a Hartford store employee.
The Diocesan Labor Institute was founded in 1942 by Joseph F. Donnelly, then a Waterbury parish priest, later a monsignor, and eventually Auxiliary Bishop of the Hartford Archdiocese. The main purpose of Institute was to instruct workers on Catholic social philosophy and on the basics of trade unionism.
Records generated through the extensive career of Dominic J. Badolato (1919-1911), who served as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, representing New Britain, from 1954 to 1976, and was the founding head of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union, Council 4, in New Britain, Connecticut, from 1968 to 1996.
Connecticut's Archives Online