Photo by Brian Hathaway, Town of Windham
by Karen Stevens
It was at the Windham Free Library that I enjoyed my first library paychecks. I loved working there, but I also loved my cup of coffee. I learned to cut back before heading out to work in the morning—but then every job has its challenges and rewards.
This venerable building first served its New England community as a central bank. Today it is a library. The red brick Neo-Grecian structure, stately with its four Doric columns, maintains a proud presence on the historic green. Windham (founded in 1692) was the first “shire town” or county seat of Windham County.
A library housed in a former bank building situated in the original county capital sounds imposing, hardly a likely candidate for Connecticut’s smallest freestanding library. “It measures approximately 660 square feet,” states Library Director Carol Santa Lucia. In fact, the architectural footprint is small; there is but one floor, not counting primitive basement and attic crawlspace. Windham Center, once a county hub, today is located in northeastern Connecticut on the rural fringes of Willimantic, the Thread Mill City. Willimantic’s own city library is located right downtown on Main Street, and multiple banks serve the area.
Bucolic Windham Center has survived as a pre-industrial pocket of history, and its sturdy little library reflects this heritage. Many patrons still walk to their destination, although a few cars may be parked just outside the door where once the horse and buggy waited. School children continue to walk there with their classes to obtain their hometown library cards and to make their book selections.
The neighborhood enthusiastically supports its small but vital library. The Friends group adds to the coffers with its annual outdoor jazz concert. A lively book discussion group thrives. And the director and her staff continue the long tradition of library service to the community. Books and periodicals, DVD’s, videos, and recorded books are immediately available for loan or may be interlibrary-loaned from other Connecticut libraries. A bookcase of new titles is ever popular, yet time tested “oldies but goodies” line neighboring shelves. A mystery collection is highlighted. There is a local history reference area. A non-fiction section is located in the back, and on its highest shelves are stacked archival boxes preserving historic items. A children’s collection is arranged in its own space cunningly utilizing shelves and bins. A computer station is housed beneath one of the two front windows, providing patrons with iConn databases and Internet access.
Entering Windham Center is almost like stepping through the mists of time into a village tucked away, protected from the passage of years. The old ghost-haunted inn still stands across from the Congregational Church and near the charming little post office. Historic New England homes stand proud around the tree-shaded green and along neighboring lanes. Not far from the library, a Connecticut commemorative oak planted years ago continues to thrive.
Some things do change with the times, but others endure and are cherished. Despite modern advances, a distinctly nostalgic atmosphere greets all who enter the Windham Free Library. It’s not just the time-honored architecture of this modest public building. Once one opens the heavy paneled door and steps across the threshold, it is immediately apparent that here the past blends companionably with the present.
The diminutive library contains not only a tantalizing array of books; it is also a veritable cabinet of treasures and curiosities. An heirloom grandfather clock graces a central spot. Reflecting the pride of yesteryear’s accomplished young ladies, two early needlework samplers hang in places of honor. Framed art abounds. If the old Ralph Earl portrait is no longer in evidence, much does remain. There are multiple Windham scenes in various media, reflecting the legacy of generations of area artists.
A curious collection of ceramic and metal frogs is to be found throughout the library. And in a glass case fronting the circulation counter, another frog is on display along with other memorabilia. This frog is featured on a small, flat oblong of paper that, upon close inspection, proves to be the legal tender of its time. The original bank printed its own paper money, a perfectly legal practice in its day. If one continues to examine this early currency, two distinctive, engraved portraits emerge as well. They represent 18th century Windham lawyers, Jedediah Elderkin and Eliphalet Dyer. And herein lie the elements of a puzzle: frogs and lawyers, lawyers and frogs.
And it is here that one begins to cross that fine line where history blends into local legend and myth. The basic tale tells of a night alarm rousing the slumbering village with waking nightmares of an Indian attack. Only at dawn’s light was the nocturnal cacophony determined to be but a mighty chorus of protest from a multitude of croaking frogs summarily dispossessed of their watering hole. Perhaps fierce drought brought on the clamorous competition. Some say a freakish waterspout emptied the pond. Others say a farmer did not foresee the consequences of removing the barrier dam in a season with a bumper crop of the critters. Their thundering debate sounded a lot like the emphatic rhetorical responses of lawyers opposed in law and politics, “Elderkin...Dyer, Elderkin...Dyer, Elderkin...Dyer!!!” Afterwards, Windham residents never lived down the image of their guns raised against such a threatening hoard. They became the object of jokes, songs, poetry and even an operetta. The librarian can guide you to multiple printed versions.
The legend survives to this day: Willimantic, now the city portion of Windham, has recently become famous for the four impressive sculptures of giant frogs astride great spools of thread, which greet everyone who crosses the arching bridge that spans the old mill river.
When exiting the library, pause and glance above the portal or you might pass beneath the celebrated Windham Bacchus unaware. The jolly little god of revelry and wine rides eternally astride his keg, grape leaves in his hair. In 1776, British prisoners of war incarcerated in the Windham jail not far from the green, whittled while they served their sentence. This plump and charming fellow gradually emerged, a hefty 26 x 2 1/2 x 21 inches of solid wood. As a rule, he would not be mistaken for a tavern signboard but, as they say, necessity is the mother of invention. It seems the jail keeper’s wife also ran a busy local tavern in need of signage. When hoisted into the tree in front of her establishment, our Bacchus served very well as a symbol of hospitality for the thirsty traveler. That the prisoners made their escape shortly after completing their project, might lead one to ponder. (Rumor has it they were recaptured, although they never returned to the Windham jail.) The little woodcarving journeyed away from its place of origin as well but in time he returned to stay. He is now back home on permanent display as one of Connecticut’s most celebrated tavern signs, a unique jewel of local history. The Windham Free Library is itself a gem—both a lending library and a museum. It may be small, but then, as we all know, good things really do come in small packages.
I represented the Windham Free Library at the 1990 Governor’s Conference on Libraries and Information Services. Our informal topic was whether one kept THE KEY at the circulation desk, available on request, or left the lavatories unlocked. Uncharacteristically, I said not a word. My colleague to the right, the librarian from Greenwich, turned to me and asked what we did at my library, and I said, “Oh, we don’t pee in Windham,” then explained that there was no running water in our historic little library. Incredulous, Fairfield County stared at Windham County as if through a time warp.
Karen Stevens has worked in several Connecticut libraries and has served as a trustee on her local library board. She lectures on aspects of vanishing Americana and has a special interest in the local histories, legends, and tales associated with Connecticut libraries. She lives in Scotland and can be reached at librlady@gmail.com.
Posted: 03.03.2008