On September 22, 1776 -- 250 years ago today -- the British hanged Nathan Hale for spying on behalf of the Patriots. He is reputed to have said “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”
Hale was born and raised in Coventry, Connecticut. He was educated at Yale, where he graduated with honors before starting a career as a teacher. His room at Yale is in Connecticut Hall, this brick building in Yale's Old Campus. The statue by Bela Lyon Pratt was placed here in 1914.
Nathan Hale's strong Connecticut ties and the brave last words attributed to him have given rise to several Connecticut statues in Hale's honor. This 1889 statue by Enoch Smith Woods is in front of
the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford.
And, Hale has a position of honor in the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford. This 1886 statue by Karl Gerhart is in the east entrance of the Capitol lobby. On October 1, 1985, by an act of the General Assembly and the efforts of the Nathan Hale Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, Nathan Hale officially became Connecticut's State Hero.
