The Connecticut River Museum in Essex has received a $25,000 grant from CT Humanities to support research for a new exhibit that will expand scholarship involving African, African American, Indigenous, and other non-European people who were part of the substantial maritime trade industry.

This under-researched focus area will be the basis for a 2026 exhibit at the museum that will broaden scholarly knowledge of maritime trades in the River Valley, including a greater diversity of voices represented. The research uncover related themes and stories.

Connecticut River Museum Executive Director Elizabeth Kaeser said in a statement that this project “will fill in gaps in the American story as the nation approaches its 250th year. Undertaking this research will have a lasting and positive impact on the historic record as well as a specifically positive impact on our Museum’s ability to better tell a more complete history of maritime trades. We hope the research that is completed will enable the Museum to present, in an accessible manner, new scholarship that may challenge the traditional narrative of African, African American, Indigenous, and other non-European people in the River Valley.”

Although this research will be presented in a temporary exhibit in 2026, the information gleaned will be incorporated into permanent museum spaces and may result in changes to the museum’s permanent galleries. All research will remain accessible in the museum archives at the Stevens Library.

The grant will be used to fund a Project Scholar who will work to rediscover stories related to the maritime trade industry in the River Valley beginning in the 17th century and continuing through the steamboat era.

CT Humanities is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities that connects people to humanities through grants, partnerships and collaborative programs.