Rosetown Review: Recalling the Spirit of 1976

By Richard Franklin Donohue

Town Historian

Submitted Photos

“The second of July will be the most memorable ‘epocha’ in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival … it ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”

John Adams, July 3, 1776.

Five units of Revolutionary War era reenactors held an event in the fields near Cromwell High School in October of 1976.   Photo Credit to Bessie Johnston, Cromwell Historical Society

While these words of John Adams to his wife Abigail were at the time little more than a dream, he was spot on in his prediction of how future Americans would observe the anniversary of the founding of their nation. In 1777, the occasion was marked in Philadelphia just as Adams predicted and the practice quickly spread throughout the country.

Aside from 1826, however, during which formal celebrations in Washington, D.C., marked the Declaration of Independence’s 50^th anniversary, Independence Day itself was not recognized as a holiday until 1870 when the nation started preparing to celebrate its 100^th anniversary.

In 1876, the United States of America’s centennial featured a massive six-month exposition at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia during which 11 million visitors eagerly viewed the offerings of 30,000 exhibitors spread throughout 200 buildings. Fifty years later, a sesquicentennial exhibition was also held in Philadelphia but poor attendance led Variety magazine to crown the event America’s “greatest flop.”

Students at Cromwell High School began their observance of the bicentennial with an All-American Fashion Show in March of 1975.

Determined to successfully commemorate the country’s 200^th anniversary, Congress formed the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission in 1966 to undertake a grand exhibition to be called Expo ’76. The commission was fraught, however, with disagreements over location, finances, and, most significantly, varying sentiments about holding a national celebration during the Vietnam War era.

In December of 1973, Congress finally dissolved the commission and created the American Revolution Bicentennial Association, which subsequently transferred the concept of (and responsibility for) a single nation-wide event into a coordinated series of local and more directly relevant activities.

In Connecticut, plans for the bicentennial had already begun in 1971 when the state formed its own commission designed to coordinate with national organizers as well as to encourage, plan and implement bicentennial programming among the state’s local governments and organizations.

Chairman Eric Hatch called on each of Connecticut’s communities to play its part in the celebration “just as each town made its individual contribution to American freedom 200 years ago.”

In 1974, Cromwell became one of the first towns in the country to be designated by the national association as a bicentennial community. First Selectman William J. Salwocki appointed the Cromwell Historical Society as the official commission for the town’s commemoration and former Superintendent of Schools Simon Moore was named chairman.

Photo Credit to Bessie Johnston, Cromwell Historical Society, The Congregational Church held several events related to the bicentennial including a recreation of a 1776 church service and the replacement of the “lantern’ portion of the church's spire.

The Congregational Church held several events related to the bicentennial including a recreation of a 1776 church service and the replacement of the “lantern’ portion of the church's spire.

At the group’s first meeting, Moore recognized that the country was experiencing emotional and political unrest not unlike that in 1776 and stressed the need for the work of the commission “to be a lasting contribution to the future of the town of Cromwell.”

The opening salvo of Cromwell’s bicentennial celebration began with a ceremony on Valour Memorial Green on July 3. With thunder rumbling in the distance, historical society President Anna Doering presented the town with a Connecticut bicentennial flag that was then raised to the sound of trumpets and saluted by a volley from the 3^rd Connecticut Regiment of the Continental Army.

Douglas Partridge led the remainder of the ceremony with prayers from the town’s clergy and music from the Cromwell Grenadiers Ancient Fife & Drum Corps. In his keynote speech, Chairman Moore encouraged townspeople to see the bicentennial as an opportunity to make Cromwell better with a spirit of regeneration.

Over the summer, delegates from every town organization including churches, political parties, fraternal orders, the fire department and the Cromwell Fish & Game Club joined the commission to broaden its scope and promote “the rebirth and growth of Cromwell as a better place to live.” In the fall, events continued with a big-band concert at Cromwell High School featuring 12 members of the Federation of Musicians of New York led by James Corvo.

Photo Credit to Bessie Johnston, Cromwell Historical Society. The renovation of the Stevens Frisbie House was considered Cromwell’s most ambitious bicentennial project. The opening ceremony included music by the Cromwell Grenadiers Ancient Fife & Drum Corps.

In November the historical society minted a 1.5-inch coin in commemoration of both the bicentennial and the simultaneous 150^th anniversary of the founding of the town. The coin, designed by Lois Franklin Donohue, was available in golden bronze or sterling silver and included the Great Seal of the United States on one side and the town seal featuring the Academy, then the Belden Library, on the other.

By the end of the year the historical society commission had planned more than 28 events related to the bicentennial over the coming two years. 

Among the earliest groups to become actively involved in the celebration was the Bicentennial Club formed at the high school “with the purpose of arousing interest in the student body for the coming bicentennial year.” In March of 1775, the group presented an “All-American Fashion Show” featuring costumes from several eras of American history from 1620 through the Jazz Age.

Later in the year and into 1976 the Nathaniel White Middle School offered several programs related to the bicentennial including a concert of 200 years of American music, a colonial school day and a recreation of the Battle of Bunker Hill. The Edna C. Stevens School received special recognition from the Connecticut Bicentennial Commission for its programming throughout the bicentennial.

In August of 1975, the historical society undertook Cromwell’s “most ambitious bicentennial project” with the development of the Stevens-Frisbie House as a museum to Cromwell history. Several large donations were presented to the society including one from the state’s Bicentennial Commission in the amount of $3,500.

In total, more than $8,000 (nearly $46,000 in 2026) was raised to convert the second floor of the house into display rooms and to furnish the first floor “in a Victorian atmosphere.” 

Everette Kandarian of the Governor's Foot Guard stopped in Cromwell on July 3, 1976, on his way to Harford.

The excitement of the bicentennial year began in the spring of 1976. “A Salute to Women” honoring famous women from America’s history was presented by the Women’s Guild at St. John’s Church in April and a 1776-style church service was held at the Congregational church in May with all of the participants dressed in 18^th century-inspired clothing.

On May 16, the historical society held a ceremony celebrating the completion of the Frisbie House renovation and on Memorial Day the American Legion staged a special ceremony at the Old Burying Ground. The highlight of the ceremony was the dedication of 36 new stones obtained by historian Elizabeth Maselli marking the graves of Cromwell’s Revolutionary War and War of 1812 soldiers.

The “most spectacular activity of the celebration” came on June 5 when 62 marching units including fire departments, military units, school bands, 20 organizational floats and nine fife and drum corps stepped off in the town’s Bicentennial Parade.

Beginning at the Stevens School on Court Street, the parade proceeded down Main Street led by the Cromwell Grenadiers and ended at Community Field, today’s Pierson Park. At the close of the parade all nine fife and drum corps united at the field for a massive performance of Revolutionary War music. 

October was the celebration’s busiest month full of events and projects intended to inspire and extend the bicentennial spirit beyond 1976. On Oct. 9 a special gathering dubbed “Town Meeting ‘76” was held at the high school during which residents discussed the town’s cultural, social and economic challenges and created recommended solutions for the future.

Members of the 3^rd Connecticut Regiment of the Continental Army reenactor group took part in the opening ceremony of Cromwell's bicentennial celebration.

The next day, a reenactment of the 18^th Century camp life of the Connecticut soldier took place near the high school presented by five recreated Revolutionary War units from around the state. A week later, the Belden Library offered a “Bicentennial Bash” open house that included a display of books and items dating back to the town’s earliest days.

On Oct. 21 the Home Club hosted “Fashions Through the Centuries” at the high school featuring heirloom clothing belonging to residents and presented by 21 models. The month of celebration “came to a beautiful close” with a Bicentennial Ball hosted by the Cromwell Lions at the Elks Club.

In late June of 1976, Everett H. Kandarian of the Connecticut Governor’s Foot Guard embarked on a five-day horse ride from Independence Hall in Philadelphia to the Hartford Courant building in Hartford. His mission was to deliver a copy of the Declaration of Independence to the Courant via the Post Road just as it had been 200 years prior.

On July 3, Kandarian made a stop at Riverdale Farm on Prospect Hill in Cromwell to rest his horse for the final leg of his journey the next day. Among the hundreds of spectators along Prospect Hill Road was a 4-year-old boy with his mother, who told him to watch carefully. As in a dream or a movie, all the noise, all the cars, everyone else in the crowd seemingly disappeared as the post rider galloped by in an aura of fiery excitement that the boy had never seen before.

Later, while Kandarian was greeting the crowd and signing copies of the Declaration of Independence at the top of the hill, the reluctant boy, urged on by his mother, shyly approached Kandarian for an autograph. Once again, the world seemed to disappear as the 18^th century rider handed down the signed document, locking eyes momentarily with the boy who walked away knowing without a doubt that he had been part of something colossal.

For two and a half centuries we the succeeding generations of Americans have celebrated the founding of our nation essentially as Adams predicted in 1776. Many, if not most, of these celebrations have taken place during times that in one way or another can be described as troubled.

In 1976, the people of Cromwell observed the bicentennial amidst the bitterly divisive turmoil of the Vietnam War era. Today, we approach the semiquincentennial and the 175^th anniversary of the founding of this town with daily challenges and questions about the meaning of the unalienable rights outlined in the Declaration of Independence.

Commemorating our founding with grand celebrations every 50 years (or every single year) is crucial to remembering the events and people involved in our establishment, but it is also essential as a reminder that we, 250 years later, are part of the revolution that must continue “forward, forever more.” CL