Lesson 1 Landscape of New Haven
Objectives
Students will be able to identify and describe the natural features that define New Haven.
Students will be able to identify and describe man-made landmarks that define New Haven.
Materials
- Mill River Watershed Plan pages 8-11. Includes maps and reading for context
- Topographical GIS map of New Haven
- Google maps
Learning Activities
Students will complete a scavenger hunt using Google Maps or Google Earth as an initial strategy to familiarize themselves with the layout and natural and man-made features of the city. After they have successfully completed this exercise they will match features from the scavenger hunt to locations on the topographical map of New Haven focusing on the relationship between elevation and population distribution and location of industry and transportation infrastructure. Finally, students will read pages 8-11 from Mill River Watershed Plan, again using the maps included in the reading to match with what they see in the topographical map and Google Maps/Earth.
Lesson 2
How has New Haven changed over time? Introduction to historical maps
Objectives
Students will be able to use a series of historical and contemporary maps to identify and describe the major changes over the growth and development of the city.
Students will be able to identify and describe the specific changes we see in connection with the Mill River.
Materials
- Map of New Haven 1641(1881 map)
- A plan of the town of New Haven: with all the buildings in 1748
- Map of New Haven 1775
- Map of New Haven 1867
- City of New Haven 1879 (panoramic bird’s eye map)
- Map of New Haven 1882
- Map of New Haven 1889
- Map of New Haven 1889
- Map of New Haven 1943-47
- Map of New Haven 1954-59
Learning Activities
Students will view the series of historical maps of New Haven using the boundaries of water as an initial guide to major changes in the city. Working in groups students will do their best to arrange the maps in chronological order, as not all maps have a date clearly indicated. As they do this, they will mark specific locations on each map, allowing them to compare changes more effectively. These locations will overlap with the scavenger hunt in the previous lesson. Students will also record any and all questions they have. We will use this collaborative list of questions to check in with over the course of the unit to see which questions we can answer and which may require more research.
The intent in these activities is to introduce students to the way the city grew in its relationship to water and to practice question generation as one of the key aspects of the inquiry process. Guiding questions for their comparison of consecutive maps are; What specific changes do we see? Where can we identify residential areas? Where can we identify industrial areas? Why might this pattern of development exist in New Haven? How might these changes have shaped the lives of city residents at the time? Students should be able to identify changes to the coastline of the harbor and river banks in their work, as well as make the connections between the waterfront, industry and transportation.
Lesson 3
Mill River as source of energy at the Eli Whitney Dam and Armory
Objectives
Students will be able to identify and describe the natural features that determined the placement of the Eli Whitney Dam.
Students will explore the impact the building of the dam and resulting industry had on the river itself and the connection to the development of the community of Whitneyville.
Students will compare what they have observed in the historical record with the present reality of the site.
Materials
- The Whitney Armory Helps Progress in Hamden - Connecticut History (Secondary Source)
- Image of “Hamden Whitney Fire-Arms” engraving 1862 (primary source)
- Image of “Whitney Arms” engraving 1880 (primary source)
- Hints for the layout of East Rock Park 1882 (primary source)
- Mill River Dam photograph circa 1890 (primary source)
- Library of Congress collection of Photographs of the Eli Whitney Dam and Armory complex
- Topographic Map of New Haven
- Map of New Haven 1954-59
Learning Activities
Using the Topographic Map of New Haven and the Map of New Haven 1954-59 students will locate the Eli Whitney Dam and use compass points and natural features to describe its location. After successfully completing this task they will use information from the two maps to explain why the specific site may have been chosen for a dam and mill. What opportunities does this location offer? Students responses will be shared with the class and recorded for future reference.
While reading The Whitney Armory Helps Progress in Hamden, examining the images included, and exploring the primary sources listed above students will collaborate to build a list of questions and observations they have based on the material. Students will also work to theorize where each photograph was taken from and connect landmarks in the images with the landmarks on the maps.
Finally, students will use Google Earth or Google Maps to connect to the present, confirm or modify their theories of photograph locations, and add to the class list of questions and observations. This lesson is intended to prepare for a visit to the Eli Whitney Dam and Museum followed by a hike up Whitney Peak and to the Soldiers and Sailors monument.
Lesson 4 East Rock Park
Objectives
Students will examine the historical record as a basis for comparison with contemporary East Rock.
Students will consider the purpose of East Rock and green space more broadly in the context of New Haven.
Materials
- New Haven from East Rock 1915 painting
- Hints for the layout of East Rock Park 1882
- East Rock Park with Soldiers' Monument and the Mill River, New Haven photograph circa1880’s
- Mill River Watershed based plan
- Mullen, Arthur. “New Haven’s Great Park.” Roger Sherman house, September 5, 2019.
- org. “Whitneyville from East Rock, Hamden and New Haven | Cths,” 2020. Photograph
- Current map of East Rock Park
Learning Activities
Students will work to match images with maps to determine how the park and surrounding area has changed over time. What does the changing use of the park say about the society and culture of different moments in New Haven history? How was the park created through the collaborative efforts of city elites? Given a modern map, students will work to determine how the banks and course of the Mill River have been altered for the development of additional housing, Wilbur Cross Highschool, highways, industry, and other uses. This lesson is to be followed by a visit to East Rock park and a hike along the Mill River.
Lesson 5
Preservation of greenspace and highways
Objectives
Students will explore plans for highway construction in New Haven, the reaction and attitudes of residents and officials of the time, and compare areas where highways were built and where they were prevented.
Students will make explicit connections between the ideas and materials in the East Rock lesson with the proposed layout of highways in New Haven, and their present configuration.
Materials
- “Richard Lee’s Urban Renewal in New Haven - Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project,” July 28, 2020.
- Yale Daily News. “Urban Renewal in New Haven,” February 4, 2018.
- Wood, John. “Highways to Gird Yale.” Yale Daily News, May 2, 1967.
- Wood, John. “More ‘Urban Removal?’” Yale Daily News, May 4, 1967.
- kurumi.com. “The East Rock Connector.” Accessed May 1, 2023.
Learning Activities
Students will use the following questions to guide their exploration and discussion based on the document collection listed above along with notes, sketches, and photographs taken during walking field trips. How did the building of highways impact the neighborhoods of New Haven? How do the highways continue to shape neighborhoods? What is the legacy of these changes? Given past exploration of the Mill River and East Rock park, how might the East Rock Connector have changed the river and the park?
Lesson 6
Industrial development and environmental justice
Objectives
Students will explore the history of the Ball Island and English Station along with efforts to remediate and restore the site.
Students will assess existing proposals for addressing the challenges of Ball Island and the wider Mill River District and argue in support of the plan they feel is best.
Materials
- “‘Welcome to a New Haven Urban Oasis!’: The Battle over a Fair Haven Power Plant’s Future.” Yale Daily News
- Brownfields in New Haven; A look into the Past, Present, and Future of Industrial Pollution
- Mill River District Planning Study
- English Station Remediation
- “Could Housing Be Built at New Haven’s Former English Station Power Plant Site? That Depends.” New Haven Register
- New Haven Board of Alders Homepage
Learning Activities
Inquiry project
Given the essential question, “What should be done with Ball Island and the Mill River District?” Student will work together to develop and refine a series of supporting questions, explore current reporting on the issues involved, and examine proposals for redevelopment. As they move through the inquiry process they will record information, gather evidence, and contact community activists and Alder people in order to decide as to what they believe is the most beneficial course of action. Groups will then present their findings to the class and final products will be displayed for the general audience of the student body.
Student Reading List
Note: Several of the sources listed below are rather long. In these cases, specific sections will be assigned for class, with further reading available as an extension.
Wessels, Tom, Brian D Cohen, and Ann H Zwinger. Reading the Forested Landscape : A Natural History of New England. New York The Countryman Press, 1999. Chapter 1
Besche, John, Olivia Tucker 12:21 am, Feb 28, and 2020. “‘Welcome to a New Haven Urban Oasis!’ : The Battle over a Fair Haven Power Plant’s Future.” Yale Daily News, February 28, 2020. https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2020/02/28/welcome-to-a-new-haven-urban-oasis-the-battle-over-a-fair-haven-power-plants-future/.
“By the Numbers: 78,000 People, 7 Towns, 38 Square Miles, 7 Tributaries,” n.d. Accessed April 25, 2023.
Devlin, William E. “Rivers of Outrage: The Forgotten Fights over Stream Pollution in Late Nineteenth-Century Connecticut, 1880-1925.” Connecticut History Review 59, no. 1 (April 1, 2020): 3–39. https://doi.org/10.5406/connhistrevi.59.1.0003.
“Mill River Watershed Based Plan,” 2018.
New Haven (Conn.). East Rock Park Commission. “Hints for the Layout of East Rock Park.” May 1882. A Report to the Commissioners on Lay-out of East Rock Park / by Donald G. Mitchell, LL.D.
Wood, John. “The Scene (First of a Three-Part Series on Proposed Highway Construction in New Haven, the People Who Are Fighting It. And what it Will Mean for Yale),” n.d. Accessed June 26, 2023.
www.kurumi.com. “The East Rock Connector.” Accessed May 1, 2023.
Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project - Stories about the people, traditions, innovations, and events that make up Connecticut’s rich history. “The Whitney Armory Helps Progress in Hamden - Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project,” October 4, 2021.
Mullen, Arthur. “New Haven’s Great Park.” Roger Sherman house, September 5, 2019.
Maynard, Preston, Marjorie B Noyes, and New Haven Preservation Trust. Carriages and Clocks, Corsets and Locks : The Rise and Fall of an Industrial City--New Haven, Connecticut. Hanover, N.H.: University Press Of New England, 2004.
Rubin, Elihu. “A People’s Guide to Infrastructure in New Haven.” campuspress.yale.edu. Accessed July 5, 2023.