News

By Sarah Heinone in the The Reminder on March 6, 2024

LONGMEADOW — This May, two of the 16 people who were known to be enslaved in Longmeadow will have their lives and stories memorialized in stone.

First Church of Christ of Longmeadow hosted a presentation by Dennis Culliton, founder of the Witness Stones Project, on Feb. 29.

He provided historical records of Massachusetts’ participation in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Culliton explained how, in the 1700s, the enslavement of Native Americans was phased out due to the likelihood of them running away and disappearing into forests they knew well. Instead, enslaved people from Africa and the Caribbean, unfamiliar with the area and without nearby friendly communities, were bought to be used for labor. Continue reading.

By Kristina D’Amours on WWLP-TV on February 27, 2024

By Wojciech Zylm on Bnnbreaking.com on February 27, 2024

In a remarkable community effort to embrace and educate about its complex past, Longmeadow, Massachusetts, has partnered with the Witness Stones Project, a non-profit organization, to shed light on the local history of slavery. This collaborative initiative, which recently kicked off with a public lecture at the First Church of Christ in Longmeadow, seeks to honor and remember the enslaved individuals who contributed significantly to the development of the area. Dennis Culliton, a key figure from the Witness Stones Project, underscored the importance of recognizing not just the prominent individuals in history but also those enslaved people whose labor and lives were integral to the early growth of Longmeadow. The project, which aims to involve Longmeadow Public School and the Longmeadow Historical Society, represents a step towards acknowledging and understanding the region’s historical complexities. Continue reading.