The Mitchell Contagion Ward at Memorial Hospital in New London had been in mothballs for a while, but when workmen arrived to get the plumbing and heating working, it was obvious something was up.
Local health officials, acting cautiously, decided to put the building back in operation because they feared Spanish influenza might strike the city. That s the disease history remembers with dread as the 1918 flu.
But this wasn t 1918. It was 1920.
A year into the coronavirus pandemic, we hope we re not in a similar place. With case numbers trending lower and vaccinations starting to make a difference, it s tempting to hope normal times are just around the corner. But to get an idea of what a less-than-ideal transition could be like, it s worth a look at what happened as the last pandemic of this scale receded.
A Massachusetts Superior Court judge has dismissed a Norwich woman’s lawsuit against Harvard University seeking release of photos of what she says are two of her enslaved ancestors, ruling that Tamara Lanier failed to file suit in a timely manner and was not herself wronged by the “horrific circumstances” in which the photos were taken.
Lanier filed suit in March 2019 against Harvard and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology after she said she made repeated unsuccessful requests to Harvard to turn over the 1850 daguerreotype images of a man named Congo “Papa” Renty and his daughter, Delia, both slaves in South Carolina. Lanier says she is a direct descendant of Renty and Delia.
Published February 26. 2021 6:56PM
New London The Colman Street Neighborhood Alliance and friends on Saturday will host the first ever Black History Month Walk.
The hourlong walk begins at 1 p.m. at the corner of Colman Street and Jefferson Avenue and will proceed onto Colman Street, also known as Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard.
The procession will stop in the open field past the Citgo gas station near Gordon s Yellow Front Package Store for a few brief speeches ranging in topics from gun violence to COVID-19 deaths. Free masks will be provided. All ages are welcome. Escorts will be available.
Parking is available at the New London High School, Bates Woods Park, Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School and surrounding roads and streets.
Busy day for tugs on the Thames
The tug John P. Wronowski guides a crane barge along the waterfront Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, at the U.S. Naval Submarine Base in Groton. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
The Thames Towboat Co. tug John Paul transits the Thames River on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, from the Thames Shipyard to the Cross Sound Ferry terminal. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
The Thames Towboat Co. tug John Paul transits the Thames River on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, from the Thames Shipyard to the Cross Sound Ferry terminal. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
The tug John P. Wronowski guides a crane barge along the waterfront Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, at the U.S. Naval Submarine Base in Groton. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
The cover of the “Pop-Up Book of Stonington.” (Courtesy of the Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce)
Pages feature the Old Lighthouse Museum in the “Pop-Up Book of Stonington.” (Courtesy of the Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce)
Published February 09. 2021 7:20PM | Updated February 09. 2021 7:49PM
Stonington The Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce Foundation has donated 600 copies of its Pop-Up Book of Stonington to elementary school families in town.
Chamber President Lisa Konicki said the books were distributed at West Vine Street and Deans Mill schools last Friday and also will be distributed to Pine Point School and St. Michael School families and Stonington students who attend the Regional Multicultural Magnet School in New London.