DANBURY, CONN. — Scott Conetta, a Long Island native and student at Western Connecticut State University, is studying history with the goal of becoming an educator. A history major with a minor in archeology, Conetta focuses on a wide range of subjects, from the world of piracy to the city of Danbury.

While acquiring as much historical knowledge as possible from his courses and expert faculty, Conetta was encouraged to take his education a bit further by venturing into the Danbury Museum & Historical Society on Main Street in Danbury and putting his hands on as much information and as many artifacts as possible.

“What better place to learn about the city’s history than the Danbury Museum?” Conetta pondered. “It is completely available to students. As a history major, you are able to witness preserved structures of Danbury. You are almost taking a step in the footprints of the people who used to live here.”

From the city’s involvement in the Revolutionary War to Colonial and post-Colonial life and to the hatting industry – Danbury had once been the national hatting headquarters, there is much to research and learn from the Main Street museum campus.

“When you go into the museum, you know you will see hatting. When you leave you know how the industry worked,” Conetta said.

Conetta said his courses at Western gave him solid writing and research skills and a better understanding of history in general. Now he can add archival research to that skill set.

“As an historian, you need to be able to access archives,” he said. “A lot of research that historians do is done in a museum – it starts in a museum. I have learned a lot here at Western. I learned how to research and part of that was learning to distinguish between reliable online sources and unreliable sources.”

Conetta said he can walk into a museum and research whatever subject is of interest and “wouldn’t even need the assistance of a curator,” he said.

Dr. Laurie Weinstein, professor of anthropology, said she has had students over the past 12 years work with the museum.

“Many of our students intern there as an important part of their Cultural Resource Management minor,” Weinstein said. “Students have worked on identifying the ceramic collections; they have helped organize databases and worked with education staff on tours. Our students have loved working there and their service is greatly appreciated by the museum.

Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England’s best small private universities.