Historic People

WHO AM I?

HAZEL LUTZ

  • Hazel Lutz envisioned a museum only for children, where they could learn and play, and not be told “Don’t Touch.”

JOE McCLUSKEY

  • Joe McCluskey, “Manchester’s Greatest Runner” compiled by Susan Barlow
  • Honoring Joseph McCluskey, a speech by Rick Dyer on 5/19/2017 at a reception at the History Center, Manchester.
  • Connecticut AAU track meet results on letterhead of Manchester “Y,” director Joseph McCluskey 06/22/1947. Note that track standout and Olympian Joe McCluskey, brother of John McCluskey mentioned below, returned to Manchester after serving in WWII, and became director of the “Y” in Manchester’s North End.
  • Newspaper clippings about a January 1937 track meet in Boston and crowd favorite Joseph McCluskey (1911-2002). Joe is credited with helping revive the Manchester Thanksgiving Day road race after WWII.
  • Manchester Herald, 06/23/1973 article on “Shufflin’ Joe” McCluskey.
  • Various articles about Joe McCluskey.

FRED AYER VERPLANCK

DR. FRANCIS H. WHITON

MARY CHENEY

RALPH CHENEY

  • Ralph Cheney, obituary of Ralph Cheney (1806-1897), reprinted from the South Manchester News.

ELISABETH BENNET

  • Elisabeth Bennet (1881-1959), principal of two Manchester public schools, was credited with many “firsts,” including establishing a school library in the basement of Barnard School with donations from friends and her own personal library. 
  • Reminiscences about Miss Bennet.
  • Sculpture, videos, and song about Miss Bennet.

HORACE J. WICKHAM

People from Manchester's past

Historic People
Susan Barlow

Gladys Adams, Historian (1910-2001)

This article about Gladys Adams appeared July 23, 1992 in The Manchester Extra, a weekly insert in The Hartford Courant after the closing of The Manchester Herald in 1991. Gladys’s obituary says, “She retired as a statistical typist in 1971, working for Cheney Brothers Silk Manufacturer, Manchester, and Pratt &

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Historic People
Susan Barlow

Hazel Lutz And Her Dream

Reprinted with permission Hazel Lutz envisioned a museum only for children, where they could learn and play, and not be told “Don’t Touch.” Her dream came true in 1953, when Manchester’s PTA Council decided to sponsor a museum named in her honor. They listened to her idea of a place

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Painting of Mary Cheney's garden.
Historic People
Susan Barlow

Miss Mary Cheney

Originally published in the January 25, 1967 Manchester Evening Herald. Webmaster’s notes: In the early days of the Manchester Historical Society, members wrote articles about the town’s past, which were published in The Manchester Evening Herald. This article, author unknown, was found and copied by Dick Jenkins and transcribed by

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