Witness Stones Project, Inc.

Restore History, Educate, and Honor Humanity

You are here: Home / News

News

Stonington School Project Tells the History of Enslaved Local Man

· ·

Rev. Norman Erlendson says a few words Friday, April 28, 2023, after receiving the Cato Cuff Witness Stone during the installation ceremony at the First Congregational Church of Stonington. The ceremony was held to commemorate the life of Cato Cuff and presented by the Stonington Middle School eighth-grad class. Donna Brandelli, right, a descendant of the first minister of the First Congregational Church listens in the background. (Dana Jansen/The Day)

 

By Carrie Czerwinski, Special to The Day, on April 28, 2023

Stonington ― Stonington Middle School students presented the findings of their research on Cato Cuff, an enslaved man who was freed after his military service in the Revolutionary War, to members of the public at the Road Church on Friday.

Cuff was a member of the church, also known as the First Congregational Church, and married Flora Palmer there in 1820.

“This was a project that took weeks and weeks, but I think it was really important to have the opportunity to think and learn about slavery in a very local type of way, because I think it can be hard to really empathize people when all you see are statistics,” said eighth grade student Solana Thagnabouth. Continue reading.

Honoring Rose and Jack in Rye, New York

· ·

On April 27, 2023, students from the School of the Holy Child and the Rye Historical Society gathered the community to share the stories of Rose and Jack to place Witness Stones in their memory.

Witness Stones Project Receives CT Cultural Fund Operating Support Grant from CT Humanities

· ·

The Witness Stones Project was recently awarded a $6900 CT Cultural Fund Operating Support Grant from CT Humanities (CTH). CT Cultural Fund Operating Support Grants assist organizations as they recover from the pandemic and maintain and grow their ability to serve their community and the public.

Witness Stones Project Co-Founder and Executive Director Dennis Culliton says that the CT Cultural Fund Grant will enhance the Witness Stones Project’s ability to serve all interested communities across the state, regardless of the local resources.

The Witness Stones Project was one of 723 organizations in Connecticut receiving a CT Cultural Fund Operating Support Grant. Totaling more than $8.5M, these grants are part of a two-year, $30.7M investment in arts, humanities, and cultural nonprofits by the CT General Assembly and approved by Governor Ned Lamont.

This CT Cultural Fund Operating Support Grant is provided to the Witness Stones Project from CT Humanities, with funding from the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) from the Connecticut State Legislature.

CT Humanities (CTH) is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. CTH connects people to the humanities through grants, partnerships, and collaborative programs. CTH projects, administration, and program development are supported by state and federal matching funds, community foundations, and gifts from private sources. Learn more by visiting cthumanities.org.

The Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) is the state agency charged with fostering the health of Connecticut’s creative economy. Part of the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development, the COA is funded by the State of Connecticut and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Bearing Witness at Wayside Cottage

· ·

Wayside Cottage courtesy of the Junior League of Central Westchester

By Todd Sliss in the Scarsdale Inquirer on April 6, 2023

History doesn’t change. What we learn about history does and how we view it over time certainly evolves. And while some people and groups are trying to bury history, others are trying to unearth it.

The Junior League of Central Westchester (JLCW), a nonprofit educational women’s volunteer organization based out of the Wayside Cottage in Scarsdale since taking stewardship of the historic house in 1953, has partnered with Witness Stones Project to uncover the true history of the people who called the Cottage home.

Witness Stones Project (www.witnessstonesproject.org) was founded by now-retired schoolteacher Dennis Culliton, who initially was looking for a way to educate his students in Guilford, Connecticut, about the local history of slavery. Witness Stones Project was inspired by Stolpersteine in Germany, which has put over 70,000 stones in the ground where Jewish people were last known to live or work freely prior to the Holocaust. Continue reading.

If Stones Could Talk

· ·

Witness Stones Chair delivered the Palm Sunday Sermon at the First Congregational Church of Woodstock. We invite you to watch here.

Social Studies ConneCTion

· ·

Social studies leaders Steve Armstrong and Tony Roy connect with educators and advocates from across the state on their Social Studies ConneCTion podcast. Witness Stones Project founder and Executive Director joined them for a fascinating discussion on how school districts across Connecticut embark on a journey into our state’s dark past. Dennis’s work in the Witness Stones Project not only commemorates the lives of those who endured enslavement but works to honor those of the past and help students and educators appreciate localized history coming to life. We invite you to listen to the episode here.

Thank You for Support of Church Program

· ·

Letter from the Reverend Jan Gregory-Charpentier and Tony Jones to the Westerly Sun on March 13, 2023

On behalf of the entire Kingston Congregational Church and our Kingston Witness Stones Project task force, we want to offer a tremendous “thank you” for all of the efforts in helping to promote our Witness to History event on Saturday, March 4. It was a smashing success with broad community attendance!

Thank you all for the support of Dr. Christy Clark-Pujara’s timely presentation. Many attendees expressed that they were grateful they came.

The writers are senior pastor and communications director, respectively, of Kingston Congregational Church.

Connect with Us