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A trip through the heart and history of Hartford's most vibrant neighborhood
Frog Hollow: Stories from an American Neighborhood is a collection of colorful historical vignette. Frog Hollow is an ethnically diverse neighborhood just west of the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford. Its row houses have been home to inventors, entrepreneurs and workers, and it was one of the first neighborhoods in the country to experiment with successful urban planning models, including public parks and free education. From European colonists to Irish and Haitian immigrants to Puerto Ricans, these stories of Frog Hollow show the multiple realities that make up a dynamic urban neighborhood. Features 40 illustrations.
Author's Note- In Which the Author Explains: Why Write a Book? • Introduction- In Which the Author Explains: Why Frog Hollow? • Chapter 1: The Difficult Dream-The Babcocks Dig a Well and Launch a Newspaper • Chapter 2: An Opportunity for Each-Colonel Pope Comes to Town and Helps Build an Industrial Powerhouse • Chapter 3: A Dream of Social Order- The Government Segregates a Neighborhood • Chapter 4: The Fullest Stature- Original Residents Are Pushed Out, the Neighborhood Gets a Reputation – And Everyone Is Baseball Crazy • Chapter 5: To Be Recognized- The Children of Frog Hollow Find Champions, and the Newsies Fight Back • Chapter 6: Each Man and Woman- The Reverend Pennington Is Free • Chapter 7: Growing Weary and Mistrustful- The Neighborhood Gets an Orphanage • Chapter 8: They are Innately Capable- Dominick Burns Opens a Bank, and Maria Sánchez Shepherds a Political Force • Chapter 9: Regardless of Fortuitous Circumstances- The Ghosts That Walk Frog Hollow's Streets, and Where They're Heading • Notes
Susan Campbell is the author of the memoir Dating Jesus: Fundamentalism, Feminism, and the American Girl and Tempest-Tossed: The Spirit of Isabella Beecher Hooker.
"Susan Campbell brings the history of Frog Hollow alive. We relive the struggles and triumphs of the ordinary –and not so ordinary- people who traversed this complex, dynamic neighborhood since the arrival of the first Europeans, and before. For the reader who is familiar with Frog Hollow, this book is an eye-opening gift. It's fascinating to lean about the human dramas that played out on the streets named Russ, Lawrence, Putnam or Babcock St. and even discover the origins of these street names."
~Pablo Delano, Professor of Fine Arts, Trinity College Hartford Connecticut
"Campbell's book goes into great detail about the misfortunes, the corporate decisions and the governmental missteps that contributed to bringing Frog Hollow low. But despite a sometimes sorrowful tone, the book ends on a hopeful note."
~Hartford Courant
"With a journalist's keen eye and nose for storytelling, Campbell indeed peels the layers of the thick, historical onion (her term) of one gritty New England city neighborhood."
~Elizabeth J. Normen, publisher, Connecticut Explored
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