Noah Webster and his New Haven, Connecticut Home

Exterior of the Noah Webster House at its Original Site, New Haven, Connecticut, March 31, 1934

Photographic print

This is textbook pioneer and spelling reformer Noah Webster's home on its original site in New Haven, Connecticut. Henry Ford admired Webster and recognized his house as an important piece of American history. Ford had the building moved to Greenfield Village - his historical outdoor museum in Dearborn, Michigan. This view documents architectural details, including second floor bay windows not moved with the house.

Exterior of the Noah Webster House at its Original Site, New Haven, Connecticut, 1936

Photographic print

This is textbook pioneer and spelling reformer Noah Webster's home on its original site in New Haven, Connecticut. Henry Ford admired Webster and recognized his house as an important piece of American history. Ford had the building moved to Greenfield Village - his historical outdoor museum in Dearborn, Michigan. This view documents the original back porch and additions not moved with the house.

"The Elementary Spelling Book; Being an Improvement on the American Spelling Book by Noah Webster," circa 1848

Book

Noah Webster's speller offered simple guidelines for spelling and pronouncing American English words. Age-appropriate lessons taught schoolchildren to read and write, helping to define and unify American language. Known by its colored cover, Webster's "blue-backed speller" remained popular for more than 100 years. It sold so well that Webster was able to construct his New Haven, Connecticut, home using the proceeds.

Copy of Oil Portrait of Noah Webster, after 1823

Painting (Visual work)

Noah Webster was an influential American educator and patriot. He is most famous for his American Dictionary of the English Language. But shortly after the American Revolution, and before the dictionary, Webster created an American spelling textbook to replace British and European books. Known as the "Blue-Backed Speller," the book was popular in American schools for more than a century.

Rebecca Greenleaf Webster, Wife of Noah Webster, circa 1825

Photographic print

Eliza Webster Jones, Daughter of Noah Webster, circa 1825

Photographic print

This is Eliza Webster Jones, one of Noah Webster's eight children. Webster was a family man, doting on his children and grandchildren and delighting in their activities. Eliza lived with her parents and the younger Webster siblings in the New Haven, Connecticut, home after it was completed in 1823. She married Henry Jones in 1825, probably about the time this painting was done.

Noah Webster Home

House

Noah Webster and his wife Rebecca had this comfortable New Haven, Connecticut, home built in their later years to be near family and friends, as well as the library at nearby Yale College. While living in this house, Webster published his famous American Dictionary of the English Language in 1828. His dictionary aimed to capture distinctively American words and spellings for the first time.

Exterior of the Noah Webster House at its Original Site on Temple Street in New Haven Connecticut, circa 1927

Photographic print

Noah and Rebecca Webster built their comfortable home in a fashionable middle-class neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut, during the early 1820s. They lived only a few blocks from New Haven's town green and very near Yale College. The house, shown here (far right) about 1927, was situated close to the street, as were most urban homes of the early 19th century.

Noah Webster Home at Its Original Site, New Haven, Connecticut, circa 1912

Photographic print

This is textbook pioneer and spelling reformer Noah Webster's home on its original site in New Haven, Connecticut. Henry Ford admired Webster and recognized his house as an important piece of American history. Ford had the building moved to Greenfield Village - his historical outdoor museum in Dearborn, Michigan. This view documents side and rear additions not moved with the house.

Silhouettes of Noah and Rebecca Webster by Samuel Metford, 1842

Silhouette

"An American Dictionary of the English Language" by Noah Webster, 1828, Volume 1

Dictionary

Noah Webster wrote the first dictionary of American English. It was a radical attempt to foster a uniform language for the United States. Webster's first edition in 1828 contained about 70,000 entries -- some 12,000 more than had appeared in earlier vocabulary lists. Webster added many technical and scientific terms, included common Americanisms, and suggested new ways of spelling and pronouncing words.

"An American Dictionary of the English Language" by Noah Webster, 1828, Volume 2

Dictionary

Noah Webster wrote the first dictionary of American English. It was a radical attempt to foster a uniform language for the United States. Webster's first edition in 1828 contained about 70,000 entries -- some 12,000 more than had appeared in earlier vocabulary lists. Webster added many technical and scientific terms, included common Americanisms, and suggested new ways of spelling and pronouncing words.