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April 21, 2010 marks the Centennial of Mark
Twain's passing and provides the residents of Connecticut with a
great opportunity to showcase and celebrate Twain's life in Connecticut
and encourage a re-awakening of interest in Twain related research
and tourism here in Connecticut.
For the past year, we have been uncovering
Connecticut towns/cities connected with Mark Twain to celebrate
his life and promote future tourism in Connecticut.
Our project involves online and offline
exhibits designed to increase awareness of Mark Twain's time in
Connecticut by showcasing the people and places connected to him
across the State. This project is timed to celebrate the 100th Anniversary
of his passing in 2010.
Project Prototype. We're using Illinois' Looking
for Lincoln Heritage Coalition as prototype, especially in the
brochure aspect of the project.
Offline Component
of Our Project
The offline component of our project brings informative exhibits
to every Connecticut library, museum and/or public building that
would like to be a part of this celebration. These Exhibits will
be free to the public and free to the libraries, museums and public
places that display them. The exhibits will include information
about Twain's life, his work and his friends in Connecticut.
Exhibiting locations will be provided with
a framed portrait of Twain along with photos and information brochures
that showcase his life in Redding and Hartford. A fold out map of
Connecticut marking all the Twain Connections that have been made
in towns and cities across the State will also be provided in an
effort to increase visits to participating libraries, museums and
public buildings.
The specific problem our offline Twain Connections
exhibits address is the dismal funding environment our local libraries,
museums, and historical societies are facing in the current economic
downturn. Connecticut has allotted $1 for state tourism marketing
in 2010. Our offline exhibits provide a means for Connecticut's
libraries, museums, and historical societies to not only increase
foot traffic to their buildings, via this historic Twain Centennial,
but to also showcase their own offerings and talents to an audience
they may otherwise have missed. This is important as the ultimate
goal of this project is to make Connecticut a destination for Mark
Twain tourism and research in the future. We feel that merging information
about Twain with information about the "Friends of Twain" in the
many towns and cities that have a Twain Connection is a great way
to promote town pride and Connecticut tourism in the future.
Bridgeport's P.T. Barnum Museum would be
a perfect example of a museum that would benefit from this "friends
of Twain" marketing concept, another is Keeler Tavern in Ridgefield.
In the present day people visit Keeler Tavern to learn about a colonial
tavern. We hope in the future they'll visit to learn more about
Architect Cass Gilbert and his friendship with Mark Twain. By simply
collaborating with us to provide the public with a location specific
exhibit that sheds light not only on Twain but their local individual
as well, these historic and cultural museums/centers can expand
their audience and attract future visitors. To date we have made
connections in 55 towns here in Connecticut.
Online Component
of Our Project
The online component of our project is to digitize the Mark Twain
Library's extensive collection of Samuel L. Clemens' photographs,
documents, & personal belongings tied to his time in Redding, Connecticut.
The digitization project will transform the Mark Twain Library's
static archives into dynamic digital resources that will be added
to a new web site which will provide 24/7 online access to documents,
photos & information connected with the beloved American author's
final years in Connecticut.
- Steve Courtney- Author, Joseph Hopkins Twichell:
The Life and Times of Mark Twain's Closest Friend
The online efforts of this project are essential
to the dissemination of our research. Providing 24/7 online access
to our primary source artifacts, books, documents and photographs
that relate to Twain's final years provides the means for a more
personal understanding of his time in Redding, Connecticut to evolve
over time.
This new online historical resource will
allow Twain scholars and enthusiasts to freely share and exchange
information on Twain's time in Redding, Connecticut. Through web
site forums and e-mail lists we will encourage interaction amongst
our site's visitors to discuss and debate the topics related to
his time here. Features, such as maps, web slide shows and geocaching
databases will be provided to encourage tourism and gain the interest
of young adults.
Is it of Interest?
Presently there is a lack of accessible information on Samuel L.
Clemens' years in Redding. Clemens' life and works in Hartford,
Connecticut are well documented. The Mark Twain House serves as
an outstanding resource to those who seek information and wish to
experience how he lived in this period of his life. Conversely,
Clemens' years in Redding, Connecticut have not been properly documented,
and as a result there are many questions, conflicting theories and
opinions with regard to what really happened in Redding that need
to be answered. This project's immediate objective is to digitize
anything and everything relating to Clemens' time in Redding, making
it readily available to those that seek it. We also seek to unravel
some mysteries relating to Samuel L. Clemens' final years. It was
a very short time period but a very eventful one that from all indications
is a topic that many find enthralling. In the course of our research
to determine the significance of this project's impact, we've yet
to received a response that wasn't positive or enthusiastic.
- Cal Pritner Author of Mark Twain and Me Unlearning Racism
-Alain D. Munkittrick
Impact of this
Project
The long term goal of this project is to make Connecticut a destination
for Mark Twain tourism and research. With 55 Connecticut towns and
cities now connected to Mark Twain, and many of these connections
relating to existing museums and/or public buildings there is very
little effort required to bring this plan to fruition.
By connecting 55 Connecticut towns and cities
to Mark Twain:
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We increase the chances of a significant
Mark Twain Conference/Convention being held here in Connecticut.
Hartford would be the host city with our Twain Connections providing
plenty of sight seeing opportunities for conference attendees.
-
We increase the foot traffic to Connecticut
museums, libraries, and public buildings.
-
We provide a tourism program that can
be expanded upon in the future. i.e. If the Twain Tourism angle
works we could expand the idea to showcase 'Connecticut's Greatest
Residents'.
- We raise Redding, Twain's final home,
to the level and status of the other Mark Twain Sites- Hartford,
Hannibal, Buffalo, Berkeley, Elmira.
The Plans We Have
to Disseminate Information to the Public About Our Project
From a marketing standpoint, the timing of this project is favorable
as 2010 marks a number of 100 year Mark Twain related anniversaries
and celebrations. Connecticut has already recognized our efforts
and proclaimed April 21, 2010 as Mark Twain Day, and a nationwide
Mark Twain Day effort is currently being led by the State of Missouri.
We have been disseminating information to the public about our project
for well over two years. Through our sites, blogs and social networks
we have a very strong internet presence in place, offline our efforts
have been featured in newspapers, magazines, and television interviews.
The offline and online projects will be tied
together via an aggressive cross marketing campaign. Our new web
site will be explained and promoted in all of our 2010 exhibit materials
and maps, we will also explain our online project during slideshow
presentations that will be made at all of our host locations. Conversely,
our offline exhibits will be showcased on the web site.
Planning and Progress
1. Our request to make April 21, 2010 Mark
Twain Day in Connecticut has been approved by Governor Rell. This
proclamation provides the perfect kick-off to our 2010 exhibits
across the State.
2. We are making connections daily using
a number of online and offline resources. We are also actively marketing
our idea across the State via newspaper articles and television
interviews. We have submitted requests for assistance from local
historical societies and historians. State librarians have also
been made aware of our project and have been asked to participate.
To date we've been amazed by the number of
people and towns connected (55) to his life and we cannot wait to
make others aware of these connections, people and their own individual
accomplishments. Feedback on the project has been very positive.
3. Exhibit materials:
- The artwork has been created but needs
to be printed and framed.
- Destination Map, Photos, information brochures
still need to be compiled and printed.
- We are in discussions with www.curatour.com
to create a custom GPS driven iPhone app of these locations
- We are in discussions with ConneCTions
History Tours of Darien to help promote the locations that have
strong connections to Mark Twain and can provide enhanced experiences
to visitors.
4. Funding. Sponsorships and donations are
essential to the success of the project. We are currently sending
out funding inquires and proposals. All donations are tax-deductible
and our sponsors will be prominently featured in all of our offline
and online exhibits.
5. Project Prototype. We're using Illinois'
Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition as prototype, especially
in the brochure aspect of the project.
6. Project information is shared with the
public daily via updates posted at our project blog: http://www.twainproject.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BrentMColley
We are also sharing updates via e-mail through
the Mark Twain Forum, Connecticut History Forum and Connecticut
Librarian Forum.
Project Team:
Mark Twain Library Director, Heather Morgan
Portrait Artist, Susan Durkee
Redding Historian, Brent M. Colley, bcolley@colleyweb.com,
860-364-7475.
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