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Let’s Not Fight the Civil War Again

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Witness Stones Project Co-Chair Pat Wilson Pheanious. Photo by Lester Smith.

By Jackie Hemond in the Suffield Observer on June 30, 2021

 

In June, I witnessed an amazing dialogue. For two days, the Phelps-Hatheway House hosted two programs, both featuring Joe McGill, a national figure and founder of the Slave Dwelling Project. The hook for the Project is ingenious. McGill sleeps in slave quarters for a night. He has done this at 150 sites in 25 states so far. He does not review how comfortable a slave bed is. The point of his sleepovers is threefold: to preserve former slave dwellings; lift slavery from the footnotes of history; and engage his audience in a thoughtful, non-combative discussion about slavery, racism, race relations and racial equity.

We were engaged! So engaged that both programs ran overtime. The second day was a panel discussion when McGill was flanked by Dennis Culliton, Founder and Executive Director of the Witness Stones Project and Pat Wilson Pheanious, Co-Chair of the Witness Stones Project. Suffield will soon be placing a witness stone for Tamer, an enslaved woman, purchased “as a slave for life” when she was seven by Luther Loomis who lived at the corner of Bridge and Main Streets. Continue reading.

West Hartford Witness Stones Students Argue for Change

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By Katrina Koerting in the Register Citizen on

WEST HARTFORD — Some streets around town could get new names under an ordinance to honor people or historic events.

Local officials said there are still logistical issues to finalize, but the ordinance was largely supported by public speakers and adopted by the Town Council. Continue reading.

West Hartford’s Town Green Rededicated as ‘Unity Green’

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From left: Adrienne Billings-Smith, Rosemarie Tate, Gai Crockett, Tammy Exum, Carol Anderson Blanks, Judy Casperson, and Lorna Thomas-Farquharson at the dedication of Unity Green on June 20, 2021. Photo credit: Ronni Newton.

 

By Ronni Newton on We-Ha.com on June 20, 2021

West Hartford’s second annual Juneteenth celebration, held over the weekend of June 19-20, 2021, was full of joy juxtaposed by serious messages and actions, with the observation culminating late Sunday morning as a crowd gathered for the rededication of the town’s green as Unity Green.

West Hartford’s town green – that narrow triangle of land that splits the northbound and southbound lanes of South Main Street just south of Farmington Avenue and is the longtime site of banners and public gatherings – had previously been named Goodman Green, in honor of Timothy Goodman, who deeded it to First Church, which in turn has leased the land to the town since 1924. Recent research into the town’s history conducted as part of the Witness Stones project brought to light the fact that, along with some of West Hartford’s other prominent families for whom roadways and buildings have been named, Goodman was, indeed, a slaveholder. Continue reading.

Juneteenth Celebrations Begin with Witness Stones Installation in Old Center Cemetery

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State Rep. Tammy Exum. Juneteenth Witness Stones Project at Old Center Cemetery Photo Credit: Sophie Christensen.

By Sophie Christensen and Lily Guberman on We-Ha.com on June 19, 2021

Even before entering the cemetery, the powerful sound of Afro Caribbean drumming could be heard from a block away. The sounds of the drums traveled far, but they could not overpower the enthusiastic voices of the crowd, about50 people of many ages and backgrounds.

Sixteen speakers each placed a new Witness Stone in the cemetery. Before placing the stones, speakers shared information about the enslaved person’s life. They also shared poems and words of gratitude for the organizers of the Witness Stones Project. Similar sentiments ran through every speech: triumph and joy for Juneteenth’s status as a national holiday, but also sadness and solemn acknowledgement for the history of enslavement in West Hartford. Continue reading.

Suffield to Celebrate Juneteenth on Saturday

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Journal Inquirer Staff on June 18, 2021

SUFFIELD — A local group is planning to hold the town’s first Juneteenth celebration Saturday on the town green. Juneteenth is a celebration of the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas learned that they were freed by the emancipation proclamation. The local celebration is organized by Anti-Bias, Anti-Racist Suffield, or ABAR. It will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on the town green. Continue reading.

Town Dedicates Second Witness Stone in Honor of Madison Woman

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By Jesse Williams on Zip06.com on June 15, 2021

MADISON — More than 200 years ago, here on the same beaches where Madison residents are currently laid out on the sand catching some sun, a shipwreck washed ashore. From that ship, a handful of people emerged, people who mostly would be spending the rest of their lives working, living, praying, and raising families in what was then known as East Guilford.

Very little is known about these shipwreck survivors. For the most part, their lineages haven’t been traced; their descendants cannot look back on old letters or follow some long record of property ownership to a plot of land in Madison, as many others in town can.

That is because these people were enslaved by the Reverend John Todd of Madison First Congregational Church, having been forcibly removed from their families and homes likely in West Africa, enduring the long Middle Passage across the Atlantic to become unwilling, unsung early settlers on the Connecticut shoreline. Continue reading.

Witness Stone Would Mark Location Where Slave Lived in Suffield

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By Matthew P. Knox in the Journal Inquirer  on June 15, 2021

SUFFIELD — Residents who walk by the corner of North Main Street and Bridge Street may soon stumble upon a new addition.

A witness stone, a plaque 4 inches in length and width, is going to be embedded in the stone wall along the sidewalk to honor the life of Tamer, an enslaved woman who worked in a home at the location in the late 1700s. Continue reading.

West Hartford Juneteenth Activities Begin with Witness Stones

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By Katrina Koerting in the West Hartford News on June 14, 2021

The weekend of events kicks off at 10 a.m. Saturday with an installment ceremony of the Witness Stones Project at Old Center Cemetery. This is the project’s fourth installation, which brings attention to the enslaved people and honors their contributions to West Hartford through research, education and civic engagement. Continue reading.

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