1000 Museums

Polly Ludington, an American born in 1799, is known to have drawn a Map of Connecticut now in the collection of the Connecticut Historical Society Museum. She would have been just 14 when she completed this map, modeled after Amos Dolittle\’s map published in 1795. Drawing maps would have been standard for school children in order so that they might better understand their region. As early as 1640 public schools were available in Connecticut but they were generally only available to boys. If girls wished to continue their education they were taught by a family member, tutor, or sent to boarding school. Ludington was born in Bethlehem, Connecticut and married Colonel Seymour Knapp in January 1818, when she was nineteen years old.