“With dozens of compelling applications … this was a very competitive round of grants,” said Jason R. Mancini, executive director of CT Humanities. The funded projects “illuminate important humanities issues in organizations across the state. We hope that Connecticut residents and visitors will explore and enjoy the rich histories of our state's cultural organizations.”

The new exhibit at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum delves into the financial world of LeGrand Lockwood, who built the mansion and was one of America's first millionaires, and some of his famous colleagues, while also examining the roles and challenges faced by women and individuals from marginalized groups who sought to break through Wall Street's “glass ceiling” and go public in 19th-century America, the museum said in a statement.

It will also examine the birth of Wall Street, which became the country's economic engine, helped self-made men achieve new wealth and at the same time changed the economic development of American society, the statement said.

“We are very grateful to Connecticut Humanities for providing important funding for this thought-provoking and exciting exhibition on 19th-century American finance,” museum chairman Douglas Hempstead and executive director Susan Gilgore said in a statement.

“Bulls of Wall Street,” featuring pictures, letters, descriptions, costumes and important artifacts from the period, is the first temporary exhibition after the museum's multi-year renovation. The exhibition is curated by Alexander Dubois, collections curator of the Litchfield Historical Society.

CT Humanities, a nonprofit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, also awarded planning and implementation grants of $25,000 to the Connecticut Heritage Foundation Inc. in Hartford, $25,000 to the Connecticut River Foundation at Steamboat Dock in Essex, $25,000 to the Mystic Seaport Museum Inc. in Stonington, $9,766 to the University of Connecticut Foundation Inc. in Mansfield and $19,182 to the University of Hartford/Maurice Greenberg Center in West Hartford.

For more information about the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum (295 West Ave.) and “Bulls of Wall Street,” visit www.lockwoodmathewsmansion.com or call 203-838-9799.