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04/20/2016 08:00 AMBorn and raised in East Haven, Frank Barron was always interested in local history. His family has roots in East Haven and Branford and Frank grew up as a member of the Children of the American Revolution, Sons of the Revolution, and Boy Scout Troop 1.
“My parents were very patriotic and interested in history themselves,” says Frank, who spent hours at the Hagaman Memorial Library poring over the books on town history when he was young.
While he’s lived in Branford since 1980, he’s never given up his interest in his hometown’s history. After joining the Facebook group The Good Things About East Haven, he began sharing stories and historical pictures.
“Quite a few people post saying they didn’t know East Haven had this kind of history,” says Frank. “When you live in town, you want to know who are these people who came before me. People are interested in history and famous people from the area.”
Frank has endless stories about the history of the town, as well as many of the people who have helped to shape East Haven. One public figure who stands out to Frank is Coach Frank Crisafi, who is “someone I revere and hold dearly.” Crisafi coached generations of East Haven youth from the 1950s to the 1980s.
Frank’s knowledge of the town’s history, though, goes much farther back. Originally called East Farms, the town used to be larger before the town had to sell off land to pay off bridge debt and paying community members who had fought in the Civil War.
“East Haven went from the [New Haven] Harbor, including what is now Morris Cove, to the Branford line and out to Foxon, but repaying debt proved costly and annexation was the solution,” says Frank. “There was the great panic in 1880s and money was tight so East Haven gave up about one-third of its total territory that people had lived in.”
East Haven, as well as surrounding communities, also played a large role in Revolutionary War. Frank recounts the story of when the British stormed the harbor on July 4, 1775, and residents from the area towns held off the attack.
“The British threatened to burn down East Haven, but the patriots were there,” says Frank. “The whole area is rich in Revolutionary history, Indian history, and more.”
When Frank went to Defiance College in Ohio after graduating East Haven High School in 1968, he had considered studying history. By his sophomore year, he knew that teaching was his calling. He earned a bachelor’s in English, teaching English and journalism in Ohio for eight years before moving back to Connecticut where he took a job teaching the same subjects at Daniel Hand High School in Madison in 1980.
“History and English go hand-in-hand because you have to be well-versed in history if you’re going to be English teacher since the literature is so hooked up to historical eras,” says Frank, who got his MA from Fairfield University School of Corporate and Political Communications. “I got interested in journalism in college. You get to learn about people and their history by interviewing them and listening.”
Frank taught at Hand for more than 40 years before retiring in 2013. Frank was also the advisor to the student newspaper, an assistant football coach,and the head lacrosse coach.
Lacrosse is another of Frank’s passions. When he was young, his grandparents lived across from Yale Bowl and Frank would often watch the lacrosse games.
“I always enjoyed lacrosse and it also has many historical ties,” says Frank, who coaches the Connecticut Cardinals, a club lacrosse team out of Middletown. Frank, who was inducted into the Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2011, has been an assistant coach for the Branford High School lacrosse team for the past 17 years.
Frank has found it has been important to research the history of each of his hometowns, learning much about East Haven; Defiance, Ohio; and Branford throughout his years in each place.
“History and people go together and when you understand the history and background of a location and the roots people put down, it gives you a better sense of who you are and allows you to understand yourself a little better,” says Frank. “When you plant roots someplace and find something out, it enriches life as you live there and makes you a better citizen.”