Educational Program:
Docents are available week days Mon - Friday from Noon to 2:00 pm weather permitting. These tours are provided by our summer students until August 8th..
Please come down and pay us a visit.
Essay Contest:
The contest is open to all high school students in the greater Hartford area. Students are asked to write a 400-600 word essay about someone buried in the Ancient Burying Ground. They are given background materials and are encouraged to do their own research.
UCONN Independent Study Program:
Thomas Hooker Awards
The Ancient Burying Ground Association seeks to preserve and promote the history of this cemetery - the city's oldest historic landmark - located at the corner of Main & Gold Streets near Center Church in Hartford. Between 1640 and 1810, 6,000 people were interred at the Ancient Burying Ground. Among those individuals are Hartford's founders, the Reverend Thomas Hooker and Samuel Stone.
In 1638, Thomas Hooker preached a sermon proclaiming the radical concept that government derives its authority from the will of the people. This principle was incorporated into the Fundamental Orders. These laws established the Connecticut Colony as a constitutional democracy and have been hailed as the first written constitution in human history.
To continue the legacy of the Reverend Thomas Hooker, an award in his name is bestowed on one or two individuals each year for their leadership, entrepreneurship, and work to improve the quality of life in the community. Past recipients of the Thomas Hooker Award include the following:
- Ellsworth Grant (1987)
- Dorothy Archibald and the Honorable William O’Neill (1988)
- James English, Jr. and Shepherd Holcombe (1989)
- David Coffin (1990)
- Eunice Groark (1991)
- Appleton Seaverns (1992)
- Dr. Edythe Gaines and Charles Kaman (1993)
- John M.K. Davis and Michael Peters (1994)
- William Peelle (1995)
- Wilson Wilde (1996)
- Morrison Beach (1997)
- Geno Auriemma and Mercedes Croutch (1998)
- Wilson Faude (1999)
- Helen & Harry Gray (2000)
- Dollie & Jackie McLean (2001)
- James B. Lyon (2003)
- John B. Stewart, Jr. (2004)
- Kathy Marr and Marty Flanders (2005)
- David W. Dangremond and David F. Ransom (2006)
- John H. Riege (2007)
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