History Is...

The inaugural exhibition in the Museum's Permanent Gallery, History Is... will examine the many possible ways that history can be interpreted, employing objects and images from the Historical Society’s collection. Visitors will not only reflect on what they see, but consider their own role in history, and will be encouraged to think about how history plays a part in their own lives. Viewers will think about how their place in history evolves from childhood to adulthood, reflecting on the fact that we live through different eras and connect to the past and future through the generations that came before us and those that follow.

Viewing history as a collective journey of continuity and change offers an opportunity to revisit the Historical Society’s collections and allows us to present artifacts, documents and stories in truly engaging ways. Our interpretive exhibits will tell the unique and fascinating story of Greenwich’s beginnings, Bush-Holley House, the Cos Cob art colony, its local and national significance and some of the artists who put it on the map.

SECTION 1: HISTORY IS… MEASURED IN TIME
From sundials, calendars and personal diaries to clocks and watches, measuring time is a part of how history is recorded.

SECTION 1: HISTORY IS… TOLD IN THE NEWS
Where personal lives intersect with the public sphere of daily news.

SECTION 3: HISTORY IS… PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
Stories of people on the move over time: by foot, by boat, by horse, by carriage, by train, by car, by bus and by plane.

SECTION 4: HISTORY IS… FOUND IN PLACES 
Preservation of landmarks insures that the past will not be forgotten and persist into the future.

SECTION 5: HISTORY IS… REVEALED IN SMALL THINGS
Collected objects, when shared, become collective memories.

SECTION 6: HISTORY IS… PASSED ON THROUGH GENERATIONS
The time span of four generations reveals change (and continuity).

SECTION 7: HISTORY IS… HAPPENING NOW
What we save today becomes a record of the past.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website