News
Bringing to Life the Hidden Lives of Four Greenwich Slaves with Honor and Witness Stones
By Anne W. Semmes in the Greenwich Sentinel on June 12, 2021
Forces have joined in the town of Greenwich to tell its hidden history, “To return the colors to the historical fabrics of our community,” so said Dennis Culliton, co-founder of the Connecticut-based Witness Stones Project that “seeks to restore the history and to honor the humanity and contributions of the enslaved individuals who helped build our communities.” Continue reading.
West Hartford Prepares for Juneteenth
Dr. Tracey Wilson describes the Witness Stone work in Hartford on EyeWitness News 3.
We invite you to watch here:
West Hartford Town Council Approves Procedure for Honorary and Historic Renaming of Public Streets
By Sophie Christensen on We-Ha.com on June 9, 2021
In a January Letter to the Editor, Aliza Sadiq and Regina Miller (two Kingswood Oxford students) asked the West Hartford Town Council to rename New Street in Blue Back Square. They wish to honor Peleg Nott, who had been enslaved in West Hartford but according to research was an extraordinary man eventually elected to the honorable position of “Black governor.”
After their research for the Witness Stones Project, Aliza and Regina discovered shocking truths about the history of slavery in town. There were about “70 people enslaved in West Hartford alone, which is double the number we thought it was four years ago,” they said in the letter. Continue reading.
Witness Stones Project Announces New Collaboration in Norwich, Connecticut
The Witness Stones Project today announced a new affiliation with the Leffingwell House Museum and the Norwich Free Academy. Students at the coeducational independent school will be using the Project’s curriculum and landscape markers to expand their understanding of the history of slavery in colonial Connecticut.
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 communities to witness as they install memorial stones for individuals who were enslaved in their town.
The Leffingwell House Museum’s mission is the education and promotion of the history of Norwich.
The Norwich Free Academy is committed to providing a safe, nurturing and rigorous academic environment in which all students gain the knowledge and develop the skills to become resourceful members of their local, national, and world communities.
Witness Stones Celebration Highlighted Installation of Plaques Marking Sites of Enslavement in Old Lyme
OLD LYME – The Old Lyme Witness Stones Partnership held an installation ceremony last Friday, June 4, celebrating the town’s newly installed Witness Stones—historical plaques commemorating the lives of 14 individuals, who were once enslaved on Lyme Street.
The project expands the understanding of local history and honors the humanity and contributions of those formerly held in bondage. Continue reading.
Students from the Country School Remember Tamar
In the fall of 2020, eighth graders at the Country School began researching the life of Tamar. Tamar began her life in west Africa around the year 1744 and was captured and transported to New England, where she was enslaved by the Reverend Jonathan Todd, the second pastor of the First Congregational Church of East Guilford (now Madison). Student artwork and writing inspired by their research can be found here. A Witness Stones for Tamar was installed alongside her daughter Lettuce’s Witness Stone. These memorials honor the mother and daughter and all they brought to our community.
Old Lyme Installs Witness Stones
Honoring the Forgotten
By Jim Altman on Fox61 News
OLD LYME, Conn. — The Witness Stones Project, a non-profit initiative that honors enslaved people that worked and lived in Connecticut centuries ago has now made its mark in Old Lyme.
Outside the Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library, a ceremony took place to recognize 14 Witness Stones that are along Lyme Street in town. Continue reading.
Witness Stones Dedicated to 14 Enslaved in Old Lyme
By Cate Hewitt in CTExaminer on June 4, 2021
OLD LYME — Cato, Lewis Lewia, Humphrey, Caeser, Jack Howard, Jenny Freeman, Luce, Crusa, Nancy Freeman, Temperance Still, Jane, Pompey Freeman, Samuel Freeman, and Arabella — 14 African Americans who were once enslaved along what is now Lyme St.
Until recently, their history had been almost entirely unknown and untold, and few people knew the history of slavery in Connecticut. Continue reading.
