" To enhance undergraduate learning in the liberal arts by promoting use of library special collections"

Participating Institutions

SHELTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
70 Ripton Road, P.O. Box 2155
Shelton, CT 06484
Phone: (203) 925-1803
Fax: N/A
E-mail: jshltn.hst.soc@snet.net
Web site: http://www.sheltonhistoricalsociety.org/

Contact #1: Deborah G. Rossi, Curator (203-925-1803)

Access hours: By appointment.

Access restrictions: N/A

Reproduction fees: N/A

Other provisions: N/A

Other information: Guides and finding aids on site. The Shelton History Center (SHC) is owned and operated by the Shelton Historical Society. It consists of a one acre site with five buildings; the c. 1820 Brownson House, the c. 1860 Wilson Barn, the 1872 Trap Fall Schoolhouse, and two outbuildings. The office and library of the Society are contained in the basement of the Brownson House.

Collection Description: The collection includes:

• Hawley family manuscript collection from the 1830's to the 1960's that contains domestic papers, letters, deeds, accounts books, company papers, and World War II ration books;
• Shelton Looms collection of records, newsletters, and family papers from the company that invented rayon and was the largest textile manufacturer in Shelton;
• Newspapers, photographs, and other documentation of the 1975 Sponge Rubber Factory fire, the largest arson fire in the United States;
• Minutes from Grange 168 meetings from the 1860's;
• Huntington Anti-Slavery collection of abolitionist books and religious tracts;
• Minutes and ledgers from the Beard Sawmill and General Store association from 1854 to 1892;
• Paul Kassheimer collection which contains research on buildings in downtown Shelton from 1900 to 1975. This includes maps, photographs, newspaper articles, and other ephemera.
• The material culture collection consists of over 5,000 objects focused on the Shelton community and the late Victorian and Edwardian periods.  The Brownson House is interpreted to the year 1913 and reflects the lives of Harry and Gertrude Brownson, lifelong Shelton residents, who made their living through farming and various entrepreneurial pursuits.  The material culture collection contains numerous items that reflect Shelton's agricultural and industrial past; this includes tools, products, textiles, and other household artifacts.
• The library collection consists of over 66 linear feet of books, 48 linear feet of manuscript collections, over 1500 vertical files, and over 1000 photographs as well as miscellaneous oversized materials such as maps, prints, and artwork.

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