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--- cannons [2023/12/13 20:50] – bant07
+++ cannons [2025/02/10 15:18] (current) – bant07
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 {{tag>places}}
 ====== USS Hartford Cannon ======
+[{{ :kosinski-cannonussconstitution-ca_1953.jpg?400|One cannon, about 1953. Photo Credit: [[https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.35003315|Trinity College Archives.]]}}]
-[{{ cannons.png?400|The first of two //USS Hartford Cannon// on the main quad. The second cannon can be seen in the far-right background. Photo credit: Amanda Matava}}]
+[{{ cannons.png?400|One of two //USS Hartford// Cannon on the main quad, 2022. The second cannon can be seen in the far-right background. Photo credit: Amanda Matava}}]
 Trinity College President [[funston_g._keith|G. Keith Funston '32]] acquired two cannon ((NOTE: the plural of 'cannon' is 'cannon')) from the 1858 Union steamship //USS Hartford// for the Trinity [[summit_campus|campus]] in 1950.
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 The cannon carriages bear plaques commemorating the 105 Trinity alumni who fought in the Civil War. 79 fought for the Union and 26 for the Confederacy; 12 gave their lives for the Union and 6 for the Confederacy.
-At about 10 p.m. on September 11, 1951, the cannon were fired, disturbing the Hartford community with tremors and noise. When detectives arrived to investigate, students stated that they had done it "in honor of the resumption of classes, soon to take place." A story later circulated that the students had filled the cannon with blasting caps, nuts, bolts, and silverware in an effort to dismantle the [[memorial_field_house|Memorial Field House]]. Richard A. Freytag wrote in 1955 that "the administration, feeling that although the cannon had once helped smash the Confederacy, they should not be used by the Trinity student body to help smash the campus, promptly plugged the cannon with cement." ((The Trinity Tatler, Spring 1955))
+At various times between 1950 and 1951, "[[pranks|prankish]] students" fired the cannon, disturbing the Hartford community with tremors and noise. In 1951, College administration stated that the cannon would be "jammed in such a way they won't be able to be fired again." ((Hartford Courant, 09/07/1951)) Only a few days later, Hartford was once again disrupted with "mysterious explosions" that shook their windows. When detectives arrived to investigate, the students explained that they had filled the cannon with blasting caps, nuts, bolts, and silverware in order to celebrate the new semester starting. A story later circulated that the students were actually attempting to take down the [[memorial_field_house|Memorial Field House]]. Richard A. Freytag wrote in 1955 that "the administration, feeling that although the cannon had once helped smash the Confederacy, they should not be used by the Trinity student body to help smash the campus." ((The Trinity Tatler, Spring 1955)) As promised, the administration promptly plugged the cannon with cement.
 In 1994, the Navy League borrowed and refurbished the cannon to mount on authentically designed carriages for display in Groton, Connecticut to celebrate the second //USS Hartford//, an attack submarine. While the original carriages were made of white oak, the Navy League used red oak, and the carriages needed replacing by 2006. Under the direction of Mike Roraback, construction trades foreman with the Trinity buildings and grounds department, the carriages were rebuilt and improved using white oak as in the original carriages.
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 The USS //Hartford// was the first ship in the U.S. Navy to be named for the city of Hartford. She was an 1858 steam-powered sloop-of-war and the flagship of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron under the command of Admiral David G. Farragut.
-The USS //Hartford// saw combat in the Battle of New Orleans (1862), Vicksburg (1862-1863), Siege of Port Hudson (1863), and most famously, the Battle of Mobile Bay (1864), in which Farragut reportedly told the squadron, as they faced running through a minefield, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.” During the battle, the //Hartford// fought the Confederate ironclad //Tennessee//, a moment captured in the [[https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/the-battle-of-mobile-bay-by-william-h-overend-news-photo/640265921|famous painting]] by William Heysham Overend, now in the Wadsworth Atheneum, which shows a gun in action, Farragut in the mizzen rigging. The work shows how close the vessels were in the battle. Two Black sailors, Landsman Wilson Brownand Landsman John Lawson, were awarded Medals of Honor for their valor on board the //Hartford// that day.
+The USS //Hartford// saw combat in the Battle of New Orleans (1862), Vicksburg (1862-1863), Siege of Port Hudson (1863), and most famously, the Battle of Mobile Bay (1864), in which Farragut reportedly told the squadron, as they faced running through a minefield, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.” During the battle, the //Hartford// fought the Confederate ironclad //Tennessee//, a moment captured in the [[https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/the-battle-of-mobile-bay-by-william-h-overend-news-photo/640265921|famous painting]] by William Heysham Overend, now in the Wadsworth Atheneum, which shows a gun in action, Farragut in the mizzen rigging. The work shows how close the vessels were in the battle. Two Black sailors, Landsman Wilson Brown and Landsman John Lawson, were awarded Medals of Honor for their valor on board the //Hartford// that day.
-Two Trinity alumni served on the USS //Hartford//. Henry Howard Brownell, Class of 1841 and [[brownell_thomas_church|Thomas Church Brownell's]] nephew, was Admiral Farragut’s secretary, in time holding the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Soon after the war he published //War Lyrics and Other Poems,// and Oliver Wendell Holmes called him “Our Battle Laureate.” Two long poems, “The River Fight” and “The Bay Fight” are significant descriptions of the capture of New Orleans and the Battle of Mobile Bay.
+Two Trinity alumni served on the USS //Hartford//: Henry Howard Brownell, Class of 1841 and Joseph Hugg, Class of 1858. Henry, [[brownell_thomas_church|Thomas Church Brownell's]] nephew, was Admiral Farragut’s secretary, in time holding the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Soon after the war he published //War Lyrics and Other Poems,// and Oliver Wendell Holmes called him “Our Battle Laureate.” Two long poems, “The River Fight” and “The Bay Fight” are significant descriptions of the capture of New Orleans and the Battle of Mobile Bay. Joseph Hugg was an Assistant Surgeon aboard the //Hartford//, tending the flagship’s ill, wounded, and dying.
-Joseph Hugg, Class of 1858 was an Assistant Surgeon aboard the //Hartford//, tending the flagship’s ill, wounded, and dying.
 The //Hartford// was decommissioned and recommissioned several times, and rebuilt in the late 1890s. In 1898, the city of Hartford acquired four of her cannon and positioned them at the corners of the [[old_campus|State Capitol Grounds]]. At some point, the cannon went into underground storage before two were acquired by Trinity College, though the //Hartford's// figurehead still remains at the State Capitol and the bell at the Old State House in Hartford.
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 Sponsored by Liz Foster '22, among others, the SGA resolution reads in part: "it is morally unconscionable to honor the soldiers of the Confederacy as their mission in rebelling against the United States of America was to preserve slavery and white supremacy...the presence of these memorials is to perpetuate and honor the legacy of slavery and racial oppression." SGA President and co-sponsor Jederick Estrella '22 stated that "to suggest the Confederacy fought for the right principles stands as an oxymoron to stances Trinity has historically taken in the past and even recently with their commitment to an accurate portrayal of Trinity's history in association with Slavery through the creation of the [[primus_project|Primus Project]]."
-In 2022, President [[berger-sweeney_joanne|Joanne Berger-Sweeney]] announced a new, [[https://www.trincoll.edu/primus-project/wp-content/uploads/sites/115/2023/12/Policy-for-Considering-Petitions-to-Change-Names-or-Commemoratives-on-Trinity-Colleges-Campus.pdf|formal process]] for the renaming of buildings, spaces, and commemoratives. Through this process, SGA raised a new petition in 2023 with the possibility of the cannon being removed altogether. According to the new document, the cannon cause “contention and pain...exacerbated by [their] orientation towards the Hartford community.” (([[https://trinitytripod.com/opinion/student-government-associations-plans-for-civil-war-plaques-suggest-a-misunderstanding-of-college-history/|"Student Government Association’s Plans for Civil War Plaques and Cannons Suggest a Misunderstanding of College History"]])) While the cannon have always faced east, student myths and legends have circulated about where or towards whom the cannon are truly aimed -- whether it be Wesleyan, Amherst, Yale, or the City of Hartford. //Tripod// author Edward Lawrence Jr. wrote in 1950 that the plaques which were to be placed on the cannon will designate "their significance to Broad Street residents as well as to future Trinity students," implying that the local residents (then largely white) should have no difficulty understanding that the aim of the cannon was memorializing rather than militaristic.
+In 2022, President [[berger-sweeney_joanne|Joanne Berger-Sweeney]] announced a new, [[https://www.trincoll.edu/primus-project/wp-content/uploads/sites/115/2023/12/Policy-for-Considering-Petitions-to-Change-Names-or-Commemoratives-on-Trinity-Colleges-Campus.pdf|formal process]] for the renaming of buildings, spaces, and commemoratives. Through this process, SGA raised a new petition in 2023 to remove the plaque. According to the new document, the plaque “is a source of contention and pain, exacerbated by the cannons' orientation towards the Hartford community.” (([[https://trinitytripod.com/opinion/student-government-associations-plans-for-civil-war-plaques-suggest-a-misunderstanding-of-college-history/|"Student Government Association’s Plans for Civil War Plaques and Cannons Suggest a Misunderstanding of College History"]])) While the cannon have always faced east, student myths and legends have circulated about where or towards whom the cannon are truly aimed -- whether it be Wesleyan, Amherst, Yale, or the City of Hartford. //Tripod// author Edward Lawrence Jr. wrote in 1950 that the plaques which were to be placed on the cannon will designate "their significance to Broad Street residents as well as to future Trinity students," implying that the local residents (then largely white) should have no difficulty understanding that the aim of the cannon was memorializing rather than militaristic.
 This was not the first time students spoke out about Confederate iconography. In 2017, [[fraternities|Pi Kappa Alpha]] supported the removal of a [[chapel|Chapel]] [[pew_ends|pew end]] depicting a man holding a Confederate flag, which was installed by the fraternity in 1957. Nicknamed PIKE, the fraternity was founded almost exclusively by students who fought for the Confederacy.
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 (2021) by the Student Government Association.
-[[https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=trinslavery|Confederate Symbolism at Trinity College]] (2019) by Tyler Hartmeyer '19.
+[[https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.39166763|Confederate Symbolism at Trinity College]] (2019) by Tyler Hartmeyer '19.
 [[https://www.proquest.com/hartfordcourant/docview/257078707/B937EF15A5AC4EC1PQ/1?accountid=14405|"Bringing Back the Big Guns." The Hartford Courant]], 11/15/2006.