News
WSP Looks Forward to Working with New Historic Deerfield President
The Greenfield Recorder on September 27, 2021
DEERFIELD — Historic Deerfield welcomed John Davis, the museum’s new president and CEO, earlier this month as he begins his job after being hired in May.
Davis, the former provost and undersecretary for museums, education and research at the Smithsonian Institution, said in a press release that he is ready to help Historic Deerfield move forward in the 21st century. Continue reading.
Suffield Fund Awards Grant to Witness Stones Project
By Journal Inquirer Staff on September 24, 2021
SUFFIELD — Ten local organizations have received grants totaling $80,753 from the Amiel P. Zak Public Service Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
The fund, which benefits local organizations, was established in 2002 by Michael Zak to honor his late father, Amiel, a teacher at Suffield High School for 35 years who also served on numerous town boards and civic and public associations. According to Michael, his father often expressed frustration when the town did not have the budget to meet what he considered important community needs. Continue reading.
Witness Stones Project to Partner with CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts in Hartford, Connecticut
The Witness Stones Project, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to restore the history and honor the humanity of the enslaved individuals who helped build our communities, today announced a new affiliation with CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. A generous grant from the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund will allow the school to use the Project’s curriculum and landscape markers to expand their teaching of the history of slavery in colonial Connecticut. The Witness Stones Project’s Local Corporate Partner in Hartford, Pro Bono Partnership, is also providing support for the Project.
Students will examine primary source documents, such property, church, and vital records; wills and probate inventories; and census data, in order to understand the reality of slavery and to restore the memory of those individuals who were enslaved. They will learn how to document and describe the dehumanization and paternalism of slavery; the economic and legal framework that supported slavery; and, the agency, resistance, and contributions of the enslaved to our local and national history. Finally, these students will be inviting their community to witness as they install memorial stones for individuals who were enslaved in their town.
The Witness Stones Project was founded in 2017 in Guilford, Connecticut. Since then, the Project has expanded to work with affiliated institutions in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.
The CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts provides a rigorous college-preparatory academic education and pre-professional arts education in a an equitable, culturally competent environment.
The William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund’s mission is to achieve equity in education by working with those affected and inspiring all to end racism and poverty.
Pro Bono Partnership, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, provides free business and transactional legal assistance to other nonprofits. The Partnership recruits and supports volunteer attorneys with a range of specializations to help nonprofits in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York achieve their goals, avoid risk, increase capacity, and better serve their constituencies.
Religion, Race, and Slavery in Colonial New England
Searching for Tamar, Finding Ourselves
This book was written by students from the Country School of Madison in remembrance of Tamar.
Witness Stones Project Receives Funding in Hebron
In the Journal Enquirer on August 23, 2021
HEBRON — Eleven projects have received funding from the Hebron Greater Together Community fund through the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
The Friends of the Office of State Archaeology received $4,400 for a multidisciplinary project at the Cesar Peters home site with RHAM Middle and High School students, along with projects at the state archaeologist office, Hebron Historical Society, and the Witness Stones Project. Continue reading.
Witness Stones West Hartford Receives West Hartford Greater Together Community Fund Award
By Ronni Newton on We-Ha.comi on July 28, 2021
The West Hartford Greater Together Community Fund, which announced in January plans to award the first $25,000 of grant money to local nonprofits, announced Wednesday that seven organizations have will receive awards in the inaugural cycle.
The program, formed by The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and administered by an all-volunteer advisory committee of town residents, considered applications for grants to fund projects that would “improve or enhance the quality of life in West Hartford or otherwise contribute to address a direct need” in the town, the committee said in a news release announcing the grants. Continue reading.
New Memorials First to Acknowledge Difficult Truth of Slaves in Greenwich
By Don Snyder in Greenwich Time on July 14, 2021
Memorials to victims of the Holocaust, known as “stolpersteine” or “stumbling blocks,” are found throughout Europe from Trondheim, Norway to Thessaloniki, Greece. More than 75,000 of these brass plaques, created by German artist Gunter Demnig, have been placed outside the former homes of the victims, whose names are engraved on the plaques. “Emordet”— “Murdered” — appears under their names. Continue reading.
Our 2021 Annual Report
