Upcoming events
Art, War & Identity
As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Suffield Historical Society is proud to present a special program that celebrates art, history, and heritage.
How did artists help shape public opinion and forge a national identity during the American Revolution?
Join us for a compelling lecture by Dr. Robin Jaffee Frank, art historian and independent curator, as she explores how the persuasive power of artists during the Revolutionary War era helped sway public opinion and forge a national identity.
Registration requested at rsvphistory@gmail.com but drop-ins also welcome.
📍 Suffield Police Station Meeting Room, 911 Mountain Road
💻 Join via Zoom
Meeting ID: 865 7191 9582
Passcode: History
Holidayfest at the King House Museum
Celebrate the season with us at Holidayfest! Step into a festive wonderland at the King House Museum, decorated for the holidays with cookies, punch and holiday greetings.
Featured Events:
Artists of Suffield Exhibit (held over from the summer), showcasing the work of 40 local artists—past and present
Papercutting Demonstrations by Landi Hou, an acclaimed artist known for her intricate and expressive designs
Saturday and Sunday • 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
📍 King House Museum & Barn
Holidayfest at the King House Museum
Celebrate the season with us at Holidayfest! Step into a festive wonderland at the King House Museum, decorated for the holidays with cookies, punch and holiday greetings.
Featured Events:
Artists of Suffield Exhibit (held over from the summer), showcasing the work of 40 local artists—past and present
Papercutting Demonstrations by Landi Hou, an acclaimed artist known for her intricate and expressive designs
Saturday and Sunday • 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
📍 King House Museum & Barn
Annual Kolędy Concert
Presented by the Suffield Polish Heritage Society
Arranged by Jim Turek
📍 Sacred Heart Church
446 Mountain Rd, Suffield, CT 06078
John Trumbull: Painter of the American Revolution
Presented by Jan Beatty of the Wadsworth Atheneum
💻 Zoom only, details to come
ABCs of Samplers
Alexandra Peters, Sampler Collector & Historian
Samplers explain so much about the lives of women in the past.
In collaboration with the Phelps-Hatheway House
📍 Suffield Police Station Meeting Room, 911 Mountain Road
Mini-Bus Tour: Revolutionary Era Suffield
$10 admission at tour
Two tour sessions: 1:00 pm and 2:30 p.m.
Limited Registration: RSVP requested at rsvphistory@gmail.com
In collaboration with Suffield Parks & Recreation
America250
Bill Sullivan’s American Studies class will present their collaborations with community partners regarding Suffield’s preparation for America’s 250 commemorative process.
📍 Suffield Police Station Meeting Room, 911 Mountain Road
Work Day at the King House Museum & Barn
All that can help are welcome. Work gloves would be helpful.
Rain date: April 25, 2026
Opening Day: King House Museum & Barn
Weaving Demonstration with Fiona Fine: 1:00 pm – 3:00pm
📍 King House Museum & Barn
Annual Meeting & Program: Tories, Spies & Traitors
7:00 pm – Annual meeting
7:30 pm – Tories, Spies & Traitors | The Museum of Culture & History
📍 Suffield Police Station Meeting Room, 911 Mountain Road
💻 Zoom details to come
Patriots & Potters: Potter Rick of Pied Potter Hamelin
Make and take home a pinch pot and listen to stories of brave potters in the Revolutionary War.
$5 Admission at door
Please RSVP at rsvphistory@gmail.com
📍 880 Burbank Studios
880 Burbank Avenue, Suffield
In collaboration with the Phelps-Hatheway House
Ice Cream Social
Pack family, lawn chairs and picnic supper. Enjoy ice cream and music.
Rain date: Thursday, July 9
📍 King House Lawn
Halloween Candy Give-Away
Join us in costume on the porch to enjoy the camaraderie and the treats.
📍 King House Porch
Special Trustee Meeting
Special meeting to discuss the ramifications of the Conditions Assessment
📍 Location to be determined
Ghosts of Revolutionary Suffield
Event is cancelled. We’ll try again next year!
A night program where historic denizens of our cemetery will come alive. Suitable for older children and adults.
Suffield Polish Heritage Society
Celebrating 20 years and discussing the Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship
📍 Suffield Ambulance Center
105 Bridge Street
Work Day at the King House Museum & Barn
All that can help are welcome. Work gloves would be helpful.
Rain date: November 1, 2026
Polish Declaration of Admiration & Friendship
Presented by Sara Zak
The Declaration, a 111 volume “150th Birthday Card” was delivered to President Coolidge in 1926.
📍 Suffield Police Station Meeting Room, 911 Mountain Road
💻 Join via Zoom
Spinning Wheel Demonstration
Spinning Wheel Demonstration with Fiona Fine working on a modern-style spinning wheel: 1:00 – 3:00 pm
The museum is open 1:00 – 4:00 pm
📍 King House Museum & Barn
Croquet Tournament & Lawn Party
First Annual King House Museum & Barn and 880 Burbank Studios Croquet Tournament & Lawn Party
📋 Register for the tournament here
📍 King House
Ice Cream Social
Due to forecasted rain, the Ice Cream Social has moved to Wednesday, July 9.
Pack family, lawn chairs and picnic supper. Enjoy ice cream and music.
📍 King House Lawn
Seeking Justice: Freedom Suits of Flora’s Descendants
Presented by Daniel Thorp, Professor Virginia Tech, Author
Annual Meeting at 7:00 p.m. • Program starts at 7:30 p.m.
Flora was an enslaved woman living in Suffield, Connecticut, who in 1781 ran away to be with her husband in Massachusetts. Her owner recaptured Flora and sold her. She spent the rest of her life enslaved in Virginia. 60 years after her mother’s second enslavement, Unis, Flora’s daughter and other family members sued for their freedom. It was the longest-running freedom suit in Virginia history.
📍 Suffield Volunteer Ambulance, 205 Bridge Street
💻 Join meeting via Zoom
Meeting ID: 812 1162 6066
Passcode: History
Trustee Annual Meeting
The annual meeting starts at 7:00pm, followed by the Seeking Justice program at 7:30pm.
📍 Suffield Volunteer Ambulance, 205 Bridge Street
Doctor of Note: Mason Fitch Cogswell
Presented by Christine Ritok, Curator
Dr. Mason Fitch Cogswell (1761-1830), a physician born in Connecticut, who spent most of his career in Hartford County, is best known today as one of the founders of the American School for the Deaf. He helped his friend, renowned American portrait painter, Ralph Earl (1751-1801), avoid debtors’ prison by serving as his court-appointed guardian, making possible Earl’s series of extraordinary portraits of prominent Connecticut citizens. Cogswell also pioneered cataract surgery in the United States, and was the first American doctor to successfully tie a carotid artery. But it is his daily life as a practicing physician, as documented in his day books in the collection of the Connecticut Museum of Culture & History, that best shed light on the practice of medicine in New England at the end of the 18th and in the early 19th century. The content of these day books and what they reveal about daily life will be the focus of this talk.
📍 Police Station meeting room, 911 Mountain Road
Plein Air Painting Class
Presented by Lynda Montefusco, artist and teacher
Rain date: Sunday, May 18, 2025
For experienced beginners to advanced Plein Air painters. Teacher will provide an oil palette upon request. Students will provide a canvas (11x14 or 12x16), easel, chair, table, paint brushes, sunscreen, water, etc. Limited enrollment.
Cost: $75. Payment or notification that payment is forthcoming is due on May 1, 2025.
Send notification to Jackie Hemond at jives98@hotmail.com
Pay check to: The Suffield Historical Society
Send to:
The Suffield Historical Society
Plein Air Class
PO Box 893
Suffield, CT 06078
📍 King House Grounds
Antiques Appraisal Day
Get your favorite pieces appraised. Certified appraisers will be on site.
$5 appraisal donation to the Suffield Historical Society per item.
Free tours available.
📍 King House Barn
Opening Day at the King House Museum & Barn
Free tour of the house and barn. All are welcome!
Open every Wednesday and Saturday until September 27, 2025
Summer Exhibit
Suffield has long celebrated its rich history, and artists that lived or worked in town have a remarkable legacy of their own. Spanning three centuries, the exhibit will feature highlights from the Society’s collection, including a stunning recently-acquired silk and watercolor embroidered scene from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, made by Elizabeth Leavitt (later Loomis, 1788-1865) made in 1806, when she was a student, likely in Hartford; a unique wood carving made by Willis Seaver Adams (1842-1921) for his home on East Street; and, recently-donated works by Alice Ahrens Williams and Peggy MacKinnon. With the help of local artist and author Laurie Tavino, the Society has, for the first time, put out a call to artists from or currently residing in Suffield, to lend their work. Over 40 local artists, past and present, will be featured in the exhibit, which will be open free to the public Saturdays and Wednesdays from 1-4pm from May 3rd to October 11th.
📍 King House Museum & Barn
Work Day at the King House Museum & Barn
All that can help are welcome. Work gloves would be helpful.
Cesar Negro: A Patriot on the Veterans Memorial
Bill Sullivan’s American Studies Class, Suffield Academy
The class will present their discoveries of Cesar Negro, a Revolutionary War soldier, whose name is inscribed on the Suffield Veterans Memorial.
📍 Suffield Volunteer Ambulance, 205 Bridge Street
Poultices, Decoctions & Infusions: A Look at 19th-Century Cures
Presented by Dennis Picard, Historian
When trained medical practioners were scarce, feared and expensive, Americans trusted general store cure-alls: nostrums and elixirs to cure everything from headaches to cholera and cancer. Come hear some stories of popular nostrums.
📍 Suffield Volunteer Ambulance, 205 Bridge Street
💻 Join meeting via Zoom
Meeting ID: 393 795 0693 | Passcode: History
18th-Century Chocolate
Presented by Robert Lecce, Pewter Pot Fine Spiced Chocolates
Immerse yourself in 18th-century chocolate making during this lecture and demonstration. Samples of chocolate and hot cocoa. Chocolates available for purchase. Limited registrations.
Registration required: Please email rsvphistory@gmail.com
📍 In-person only • Suffield Volunteer Ambulance, 205 Bridge Street
Hudson River School Painters
Presented by Jan Beatty, Wadsworth Atheneum
Beatty will talk about the Hudson River School with a focus on Frederic Church, who grew up in Hartford, and his teacher Thomas Cole. The Wadsworth owns several of their paintings.
Polish Holidayfest (Festyn Swiateczny)
Saturday and Sunday, 11am – 4pm
Polish folk art and treats are at Holidayfest this year.
Polish items are needed to loan for the exhibit. Please bring Wednesdays, 10 a.m. - noon, until November 27 or call Sara Zak 860-668-7194.
📍 King House Museum
Kolędy Concert
Sponsored by Suffield Polish Heritage Society. Arranged by Jim Turek.
Come sing along to traditional Polish Christmas Carols.
📍 Sacred Heart Church, 446 Mountain Rd. Suffield, CT
Native American Show and Tell Event
Bill Sullivan and Jason Cromack will host a Native American history topic evening for Suffield residents to discuss and share a Native American history subjects related to our town and region. Jason will update the Society about a recent donation of Suffield.
Artifacts gifted to us through the Windsor Tobacco Museum. Bill will highlight Robert C. Stewart’s text, A Cultural History of the Agawam Indians, 1988. Bob Stewart was a trustee of the Suffield Historical Society who recently passed away.
📍 Suffield Volunteer Ambulance, 205 Bridge Street
💻 Join meeting via Zoom

