Volunteer Spotlight: Allen Nelson
Get to know Al Nelson, 93, our youngest-at-heart volunteer!
The Influenza Pandemic of 1918: Spanish Flu in New Britain
As we enter into the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the words ‘unprecedented times’ ringing in our ears, it’s easy to feel as though we’ve never gone through anything like this before. However, just over one hundred years ago, we did: the influenza pandemic of 1918, or the Spanish Flu pandemic swept across the globe, leaving devastation in its wake.
Lest We Forget: Remembering New Britain’s Servicemen and Women
New Britain's manufacturing community contributed much more to America's armed conflicts than just equipment and uniforms made here in our factories: thousands of men and women from New Britain served in the armed forces. This year, we remember those who served with just some of their faces, taken from our digital archive. These do not represent every New Britain veteran, and we thank all of them, pictured or not, for their dedication and sacrifice.
Museum to Reopen Nov. 3rd
Update for New Britain Industrial Museum lovers and newcomers!
We will open our reconfigured museum at 59 W. Main Street in New Britain on November 3rd, 2021, and resume our normal open hours on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 1 PM to 4:30 PM.
New Britain’s Women in War: Real Life Rosies
Who were the real Rosies of our WWII factories and production lines? And even earlier, the thousands of American Red Cross nurses who served the nation in World War I? NBIM’s digital archives provide us with a look back at these women doing crucial jobs to support war efforts throughout the first half of the 20th century.
Anvil Place Exhibition Dates Extended!
By popular demand, our exhibition has been extended again through June 26, 2021. Tickets are available now! $5 per person, members who bring their membership card will be refunded their ticket price.
NBIM Celebrates Black Innovators: The Kitchen Inventions That Shaped New Britain’s Industries
Connecticut boasts its fair share of inventors, but did you know that many of the products that were produced in New Britain’s factories were invented by Black Americans? These innovators may not have lived in Connecticut, but they still made an impact on New Britain’s industrial legacy. You may even have the modern versions of some of these things in your home! Black inventors have helped to shape our lives and our factories, and here are just a few examples of their contributions.
NBIM Celebrates Black Innovators: Bridgeport’s Lighting Visionary
Lewis Howard Latimer, born in Chelsea, Massachusetts in 1848, was the only black member of Thomas Edison’s research team. His work was crucial to the development of the lightbulb, and without it, we would not have modern lighting as we know it today. In his adulthood, Latimer lived in a section of Bridgeport’s South End known then as “Little Liberia” a neighborhood established in the early 19th century by free blacks.
NBIM Celebrates Black Innovators: The Black Dressmaker who Transformed Ironing
Sarah (Marshall) Boone was born enslaved in New Bern, North Carolina in 1832. She married very young (only 14 or 15!) and moved to New Haven after her freedom was purchased, ostensibly by her new husband, a freedman. They had eight children and had relocated to Connecticut by 1856, six years before the start of the Civil War.
Announcing our new website!
We told you something new was coming, and…. It’s here! NBIM is proud to present our brand new website!