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New Haven Museum and Historical Society

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New Haven Museum and Historical Society
Map
Established1862
Location114 Whitney Avenue
New Haven, Connecticut
Coordinates41°18′50″N 72°55′19″W / 41.31395°N 72.92185°W / 41.31395; -72.92185
TypeHistorical
Websitewww.newhavenmuseum.org

The New Haven Museum and Historical Society (originally known as the New Haven Colony Historical Society) was founded in 1862 in New Haven, Connecticut for the purposes of preserving and presenting the region's history. The museum has a collection containing art, photography, furniture and other artifacts from throughout New Haven's history and regularly presents programs and special exhibits.[1]

The Museum features exhibitions on New Haven, La Amistad, local art and decorative arts, with collections associated with Eli Whitney, Winchester, Yale, East Rock, Noah Webster, Benedict Arnold as well as changing exhibitions. Educational programs provide interactive inquiry-based learning on local history.[1]

The Whitney Research Library at the museum contains manuscript and archival holdings relevant to the New Haven area from the time of the first settlement to the present. The collection includes rare books, more than 300 manuscript collections, including personal papers, business and institutional records, court and municipal documents, maps, 4,000 architectural drawings and resources, account books and a collection of approximately 75,000 photographs. It also contains approximately 30,000 printed titles including monographs and pamphlets. The library also includes genealogical materials, vital statistics and colonial and town records, passenger arrival lists to American ports, Federal census schedules for New Haven County on microfilm and a complete set of New Haven city directories from 1840.[1]

The Colonial revival style current building was built in 1929 and was designed by J. Frederick Kelly. The building includes a number of artifacts from demolished New Haven houses including a mantelpiece and urns from the Nathan Smith house and a mantelpiece from the Benedict Arnold house.[2] The Ingersoll Room in the museum is decorated with furniture and portraits from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries documenting the home and life of New Haven's Ingersoll family.[1]

Pronounced Ah-Beetz

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In 2025, filmmaker Gorman Bechard, along with Jason Bischoff-Wurstle, Dean Falcone, and Colin M. Caplan, co-curated an exhibit at the museum called Pronounced Ah-Beetz which celebrates the history of New Haven apizza.[3] The exhibit, which opened on October 9, 2025, and will be on display until October 2027, features the history of New Haven's three iconic Pizza restaurants: Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, Sally's Apizza, and Modern Apizza, as well as other beloved pizza restaurants throughout the New Haven area.[4] [5]

Bechard began speaking with Director of Photo Archives Bischoff-Wurstle in February 2020 about bringing a pizza exhibit to New Haven. The idea grew out of Bechard's documentary Pizza: A Love Story and his visiting the now-shuttered Pizza Museum in Chicago. He felt a pizza museum belonged in New Haven. It was made possible by the connections the filmmaker and his producing team of Falcone and Caplan had made with the families of local pizza restaurants during the making of the documentary. Numerous holy grails of pizza history are on display, including the oldest known pizza box from 1936, Frank Pepe's original baking hat, and pizza boxes signed by Yogi Berra and Gwyneth Paltrow. [6][7][8][9][10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d New Haven Museum
  2. ^ E. M. Brown, New Haven: A guide to architecture and urban design, Yale University Press, 1976.
  3. ^ "New Haven Museum". Retrieved October 11, 2025.
  4. ^ ""Pronounced Ah-Beetz" Exhibit to Open at New Haven Museum October 9". CT Bites. September 17, 2025. Retrieved October 11, 2025.
  5. ^ "New Exhibit Serves Up New Haven's Pizza Legacy, "Ah-Beetz" Style". zip06.com. Retrieved October 11, 2025.
  6. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved October 11, 2025.
  7. ^ McFarland, Matt (October 9, 2025). "New Haven Museum celebrates city's pizza legacy with new exhibit". www.wfsb.com. Retrieved October 11, 2025.
  8. ^ ""Pronounced Ah-Beetz" Exhibit Opening at New Haven Museum". WSHU. Retrieved October 11, 2025.
  9. ^ FOX 61 (October 6, 2025). 'Pronounced Ah-Beetz' exhibit celebrates 150 years of New Haven pizza culture. Retrieved October 11, 2025 – via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Selvam, Ashok (August 10, 2018). "The U.S. Pizza Museum Gives Chicago a Pizza Party Sans Divisiveness". Eater Chicago. Retrieved October 11, 2025.
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