Prudence Crandall Museum

Name: Prudence Crandall Museum
Address: 1 South Canterbury Road (Junctions of Routes 14 & 169), Canterbury, CT, 06331, US
Telephone: (860) 546-7800
Price range: $

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Prudence Crandall Museum

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Museum is the site of the 1831-1834 Canterbury Female Boarding School; a National Historic Landmark & International Site of Conscience. "Crandall v.

The Prudence Crandall Museum is the site of the Canterbury Female Boarding School and a National Historic Landmark located in Canterbury, CT. In 1832, Crandall, the white principal of the Canterbury Female Boarding School, was approached by a young Black woman named Sarah Harris asking to attend the school. Encouraged by conversations with both Harris and Maria Davis, a Black woman who shared copies of the Abolitionist newspaper "The Liberator" with her, Crandall agreed to admit Harris. When residents protested the school’s integration and parents threatened to withdraw their students, Crandall closed her school and reopened in 1833 for non-white students. Students traveled from several states. Connecticut responded by passing the “Black Law,” which prevented out-of-state Black and Brown people from attending school in Connecticut towns without local town approval. Crandall was arrested, spent one night in jail, and faced three court trials before the case was dismissed. In September 1834, a nighttime mob attack closed the school. These events made national and international news in the 1830s and galvanized the burgeoning Abolitionist movement. Many of the students, such as Julia Williams, Mary Miles, and Mary Harris, went on to become educators, reformers, and leaders in their communities. Connecticut" impacted two U.S. Supreme Court decisions and laid the framework for the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Prudence Crandall Museum is a member of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience. Owned by the State of Connecticut, the Museum is operated by the State Historic Preservation Office.

10/19/2026

NEXT Monday, October 26--Last day museum is open for the season--the Prudence Crandall Museum observes National Cat Day!

Free admission to a Prudence Crandall Museum guided tour with donation of unopened cat food (wet or dry, any brand/any flavor), brand-new cat toys and supplies (not accepting litter-related items at this time), or paper towels and garbage bags. All items will be donated to the Paws Cat Shelter, a no-kill shelter in Putnam, CT. In recognition of violence perpetuated against women, children, and animals, the museum honors National Cat Day by collecting food and supplies to keep our feline friends safe.

The museum is open by timed guided tours only: 10 am, 11:30 am, 1:30 pm, & 3 pm. Tour tickets can be reserved through Eventbrite (use the National Cat Day ticket to reserve your spot if you plan to bring a donation).

10/11/2026

The Prudence Crandall Museum is open today! However, we will be closed tomorrow, Monday, October 12 for Indigenous Peoples Day.

10/09/2026

Tickets for guided tours for National Cat Day at the museum (observed Monday, October 26) are selling quickly! Tickets can be purchased in advance through Eventbrite--links in the comments below. We hope you can join us!

10/05/2026

The Prudence Crandall Museum celebrates the freedom to read during Banned Books Week.

10/03/2026

"Excellent scholarship + interpretation – so impressive for a small museum! I appreciate how the museum is focused on the scholarship (esp on the students + not just Crandall) in a way that differs from many house museums." --visitor, 2024

The museum is open for guided tours Saturdays and Sundays at 11:30 am & 3 pm; tours on Fridays and Mondays start at 10 am, 11:30 am, 1:30 pm and 3 pm. We hope you can join us!

10/02/2026

Museum staff loves when visitors of all ages leave Kindness Stones in the Peace Garden for others to discover!

09/28/2026

Wonderful news! "Surrounded" has won a Ringo Award for "Best Non-Fiction Comic Work," rising above five other finalists! Congratulations to author Wilfrid Lupano and illustrator Stephane Fert! Afterword for the book written by the Prudence Crandall Museum. (Ringo Awards link in the comments below)

"Surrounded" can be purchased on-site during museum open hours. Shipping is not available at this time.

09/27/2026

The museum is open for guided tours today at 11:30 am & 3 pm! We hope you can join us!

09/25/2026

09/21/2026

Happy International Peace Day! The Prudence Crandall Museum is a site that historically embodies peace. Join us on Saturday, September 26 from 11 am to 3 pm for a free peace-themed art activity with Shine Your Light CT in our Peace Garden!

Two hundred years ago, in 1826, in Brooklyn, CT Unitarian minister Samuel J. May and Quaker George Benson, Sr. founded the Windham County Peace Society. Both May and Benson would become two of the strongest supporters of the Canterbury Female Boarding School (also located in Windham County).

Later, in 1832, the Windham County Peace Society became the first publishers in the United States of the writings of Jonathan Dymond. Dymond was an English Quaker who argued for radical nonresistance and nonviolence.

Dr. Jennifer Rycenga, in her book "Schooling the Nation" argues that Prudence Crandall and the students of her Canterbury School read Dymond’s writings as part of their philosophy curriculum, and that students likely found in his work the concept of peace as a way of creating what historian Donald Yacovone called “radical social change.”

Address

1 South Canterbury Road (Junctions Of Routes 14 & 169)
Canterbury, CT
06331

Telephone

(860) 546-7800

Website

https://portal.ct.gov/ECD-PrudenceCrandallMuseum

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