History
In January 2011, Capital Community College was awarded a Humanities Initiatives grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities, a grant that was recognized by the NEH under their "Bridging Cultures" and "We the People" initiatives. With this support, a team of fourteen Capital faculty members embarked on a study program that included seventeen full-day seminars on the Hartford’s arts, culture, and history. The readings, information, and relationships fostered in these seminars enabled the Hartford Heritage team to create and implement a variety of new courses and programs for Capital students that make Hartford an extension of the classroom. Today, HHP has grown into  a hub for engaging students in their courses, building community with classmates and a sense of belonging to the college, and exploring opportunities in Hartford that students might not encounter on their own, thereby fostering pride of place and civic engagement.
Mission
As a place-based learning initiative, the Hartford Heritage Project promotes significant and sustained interaction between the college and its surrounding communities, particularly between college classes and Hartford arts and cultural institutions. The HHP does this by fostering relationships with local institutions, supporting faculty in developing place-based lessons, and encouraging students, staff, and faculty to take part in HHP events and programming.
Timeline
2011
In January, the Hartford Heritage Project launches with support of a $100,000 National Endowment for the Humanities "Humanities Initiatives" grant​, and the One Play partnership with Hartford Stage begins, opening with the October premiere of Water by the Spoonful.
2012
Faculty introduce place-based curriculum in a variety of courses.
2013
Our first institutional partnerships are established, allowing easy access to museums.​ HHP is awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant.​ Workshops for second-year nursing students begin at Wadsworth Atheneum.
2015
Our first fully place-based course is offered: Studies in American Literature at The Mark Twain House & Museum and the Stowe Center for Literary Activism.
2016
The Isham-Terry House workshop is established with CT Landmarks as a continuing place-based location for nursing students their first year at CT State Capital.
2018
The Liberal Arts Action Lab is launched with Trinity College in January​, the Hartford History Lecture Series is founded with Bill Hosley.
2019
Capital@TWH is established, and opens with a CT State Capital-dedicated performance of American Son at TheaterWorks Hartford.
2020
The pandemic hits.
2021
The National Endowment for the Humanities awards a $150,000 grant for the Hartford Heritage Project to launch our Black Heritage Project.
2022
The first Pennington Lecture features speaker Sarah Lewis, founder of Vision & Justice and the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities and Associate Professor of African and African-American studies at Harvard University, with Christopher Webber, author of more than two dozen books, including American to the Backbone, a biography of James W.C. Pennington, HHP is named one of 20 history game-changers in Connecticut by CT Explored Magazine.
2023
Herencias Latinas launches with CT State Capital-dedicated events at TheaterWorks and Hartford Stage with Pulitzer-winning playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes, the Black Heritage Project holds our second annual Pennington Lecture with speaker Jelani Cobb, Dean and Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism at the Columbia Journalism School, Columbia University.