March 2006
Happy St. Patrick’s Day

History Club Meetings
The History Club meets every Wednesday at 12:00 PM in the Carlton Meeting Room in the Student Center.  The club is open to all students, regardless of major.  If you can’t attend the meetings but would like to be involved and know what we’re doing, email us at historyclubccsu@yahoo.com. 

Events in and around Campus

• 9^th Annual Connecticut Collectors and Explorers lecture series:
  Excellence in Excess: The Art, Architecture, and Landscape of the Victorian Era
  Presented by the Antiquarian & Landmark Society.  Visit http://www.hartnet.org/als or for more details.
• Hartford St. Patrick’s Day Parade
  March 11^th
  Downtown Hartford.  Visit http://www.centralctceltic.com for more information and the parade route.
• New Haven St. Patrick’s Day Parade
  March 12^th
  Downtown New Haven.  Visit http://www.stpatricksdayparade.org for more information and the parade route.

For more events in and around campus, be sure to visit our ‘events’ page at http://clubs.ccsu.edu/HistoryClub 

Why do we Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day,
and what do all the symbols mean?
Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday.
One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. And this stems from a more bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.
The St. Patrick's Day custom came to America in 1737. That was the first year St. Patrick's Day was publicly celebrated in this country, in Boston.
Today, people celebrate the day with parades, wearing of the green, and drinking beer. One reason St. Patrick's Day might have become so popular is that it takes place just a few days before the first day of spring. One might say it has become the first green of spring. Copyright © 1999, 2005 by Jerry Wilson

Who was St. Patrick?
St. Patrick was called the Apostle of Ireland, Christian prelate. His birthplace is uncertain, but it was probably in southwestern Britain; his British name was Succat. At 16 years of age he was carried off by Irish marauders and passed his captivity as a herdsman near the mountain Slemish in county Antrim (as tradition has it) or in county Connacht (Connaught).
The young herdsman saw visions in which he was urged to escape, and after six years of slavery he did so, to the northern coast of Gaul (now France). Ordained a priest, possibly by St. Germanus (378–448), at Auxerre, he returned to Ireland. Patrick was appointed, sometime after 431, successor to St. Palladius, first bishop of Ireland. Patrick concentrated on the west and north of Ireland. It is possible that he visited Rome and returned with relics.
His reported use of the shamrock as an illustration of the Trinity led to its being regarded as the Irish national symbol. A strange chant of his, called the Lorica, is preserved in the Liber Hymnorum (Book of Hymns), and what purports to have been a handbell he used during Mass is shown in the National Museum, Dublin. His traditional feast day is March 17. 
Funk & Wagnalls® New Encyclopedia. © 2005

Inside a Book:
The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight-The Fate of the World and What we can do about it.
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The inspiration for Leonardo DiCaprio’s web movie Global Warning, The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight details what is happening to our planet, the reasons for our culture’s blind behavior, and how we can fix the problem. Thom Hartmann’s comprehensive book, originally published in 1998, has become one of the fundamental handbooks of the environmental activist movement.
Now, with fresh, updated material and a focus on political activism and its effect on corporate behavior, The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight helps us understand--and heal--our relationship to the world, to each other, and to our natural resources.  http://www.amazon.com

International Earth Day 2006
Help do your part to save the Earth that we call our home by taking part in International Earth Day 2006.  On March 20^th at 1:26 PM (our time), begins International Earth Day, a day celebrated around the world to the preservation of the world.  Go to http://www.earthsite.org to learn more about International Earth Day and pledge your help.  This Earth Day will be taking place during Spring Break at Central, so wherever you might be going this spring (Cancun, Florida, wherever) try to remember to do your part to help.

History Links
There are several Historical Holidays during the early spring.  If you want to know more, here are some places to look.

• Library of Congress: 
  http://www.loc.gov
• The History Channel:
  http://www.historychannel.com
• Encyclopedia Britannica:
  http://www.britannica.com
• The White House:
  http://www.whitehouse.gov
• National Civil Rights Museum:
  http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org
• St. Patrick’s Day:
  http://www.St-Patricks-Day.com
• Environmental Protection Agency
  http://www.epa.gov
• International Earth Day 2006
  http://www.earthsite.org

Anything to add?
Is there something you’d like us to address in the Chronicle?  Email us at historyclubccsu@yahoo.com and tell us!  Any requests are due by the 25^th of the month.

 

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