Connecticut’s Revolution exhibition about CT’s role in the American Revolution Opens July 4

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The Museum of Connecticut History at the Connecticut State Library has announced a new exhibit commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary. Connecticut’s Revolution examines how Connecticut residents both affected and were affected by the events of the American Revolution.

 Connecticut’s Revolution will open to the public on Saturday, July 4, 2026 as part of Hartford Bonanza’s 2026 + America 250 Connecticut Commemoration. A Recommitment to the Ideals of the Declaration ceremony sponsored by the America 250 | Connecticut Commission will take place on the steps of the Connecticut State Library & Supreme Court Building at 10:00 a.m. The Connecticut’s Revolution exhibit will be launched at the conclusion of the ceremony and will remain open until 4 p.m. During those hours, the lobby of the building will also serve as a cooling station.

Connecticut’s Revolution explores the ideas and experiences of the people who made history: Connecticut’s soldiers and statesmen, Patriots and Loyalists, painters and printers, farmers and sailors—men, women, and children from America, Europe, and Africa. To try to see the world through their eyes, the Museum of Connecticut History’s exhibit team, including Connecticut State Historian Andy Horowitz, has drawn on the tens of thousands of documents and objects in the Connecticut State Library’s museum, archival, and printed materials collections. Some of these materials make it possible to retell old stories in new ways, others make it possible to recover previously untold stories. Taken together, they reveal how Connecticut changed during this revolutionary time and how Connecticut, in turn, changed the world.

Exhibited through a 21st-century lens, this grouping of over 100 Revolutionary War-era objects and documents has never before been collectively displayed. Highlights include:

  • the Connecticut State Archive’s “Goddard Broadside,” one of only nine copies of the Declaration of Independence printed by Mary Katharine Goddard;

  • Connecticut’s resolution of June 14, 1776 sanctioning the state’s Continental Congressional delegates to vote for independence;

  • the Museum of Connecticut History’s Second Regiment Light Dragoons Standard, one of only 30 extent flags from the war;

  • a fragment of the King George III sculpture that was torn down in 1776;

  • a pocket watch that crossed the Delaware River with its owner and George Washington;

  • the plow that General Israel Putnam dropped when he heard the Lexington Alarm (loaned by the Connecticut Military Department);

  • a powder horn gifted to Benedict Arnold (loaned by the Henry Whitfield State Museum); a cloak worn by Deborah Champion on a mission across British lines (loaned by the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History);

  • a cannon and other period armaments; a military uniform and accoutrements; and much more.


    Connecticut’s Revolution will run from July 4, 2026 through July 9, 2027 at the Museum of Connecticut History, located within the Connecticut State Library at 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106. Hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with select Saturdays. Admission is always free. Learn more at museumofcthistory.org.