Witness Stones Project Inc.

Restore History, Educate, and Honor Humanity

Event

Juneteenth Commemoration to Feature Jazz Quartet, Poets at Florence Griswold in Old Lyme

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Nat Reeves

By Emilia Otte in the Connecticut Examiner on June 17,

OLD LYME — The town will be ushering in Juneteenth with a mixture of jazz and poetry led by a well-known jazz quartet and four Connecticut poets who will be reading verses in commemoration of slaves who lived in Old Lyme.

The event is a partnership with the Old Lyme Witness Stones Project. The project is modeled after Berlin’s Stolpersteine, or “Stumbling Stones” — individual plaques that appear throughout the city to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. In Old Lyme, the organization has installed 30 brass plaques in different areas of the town as a way of honoring the lives of the enslaved people who once lived in the town. Continue reading.

Juneteenth Witness Stones Celebration at the Florence Griswold Museum Features Jazz Quartet & Poets

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OLD LYME – The Witness Stones Poets will join the Nat Reeves Quartet in a Juneteenth celebration of jazz and poetry on the lawn of the Florence Griswold Museum, 96 Lyme St. in Old Lyme, Connecticut, on Saturday afternoon, June 18, at 2 p.m.

The acclaimed Connecticut poets – Marilyn Nelson, Kate Rushin, Rhonda Ward and Antoinette Brim-Bell – will read a verse cycle written in collaboration with the Old Lyme Witness Stones Partnership. The poems commemorate 14 African-descended persons once enslaved in Old Lyme.

The internationally-renowned bassist and bandleader Nat Reeves will offer a musical tribute to those once held in bondage in the community.

Juneteenth is a federal holiday that commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. The celebration takes place outdoors from 2 to 4 p.m., rain or shine. Limited seating is offered. Lawn chairs or blankets for additional outdoor seating are recommended.

Admission is free. 

The event has received generous support from the Side Door Jazz Club and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of the Arts, which also receives support from the federal ARPA program.

The Old Lyme Witness Stones Partnership’s goal is to expand the understanding of local history and honor the humanity and the contributions of those formerly enslaved in the community.

The partnership’s founding members include the Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library, the Florence Griswold Museum, Lyme-Old Lyme Schools, and the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme.

Community partners include the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center, St. Ann’s Episcopal Church, Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau, and the Old Lyme Historical Society.

The Partnership has received generous support from a Health Improvement Collaborative of Southeastern Connecticut (HIC) Partnership Grant for Racial Equity.

Witness Stones Old Lyme partnered with The Witness Stones Project, an organization that seeks to restore the history and honor the humanity of the enslaved individuals who helped build our communities.

For further information, visit https://www.witnessstonesoldlyme.org.

Juneteenth Celebration of Jazz & Poetry in Old Lyme, June 18

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Marilyn Nelson speaking to the students at the Witness Stones installation ceremony.

In the Middletown Press on June 14, 2022

OLD LYME – The Witness Stones Poets will join the Nat Reeves Quartet in a Juneteenth celebration of jazz and poetry on the lawn of the Florence Griswold Museum 2 p.m., June 18, 96 Lyme St.

The poems commemorate 14 African-descended persons once enslaved in Old Lyme, according to a new release.

The internationally renowned bassist and bandleader Nat Reeves will offer a musical tribute to those once held in bondage in the community.

Juneteenth is a federal holiday that commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. The celebration takes place outdoors from 2 to 4 p.m. and offers limited seating. Lawn chairs or blankets for additional outdoor seating are recommended. Admission is free.

The event has received support from the Side Door Jazz Club and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of the Arts, which also receives support from the federal ARPA program.

 

 

A Special Service at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme

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On February 20, 2022, Antoinette Brim-Bell, Marilyn Nelson, Kate Rushin & Rhonda Ward, the poets that gave voice to some of the enslaved people who lived in Lyme, read their poetry at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme.

They were joined by musicians Cara Cheung, Joshua Davey, Cedric Mayfield & Lisa Williamson.

The Power of Local History

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Participants in a Witness Stones class fill a jar with dirt from the ground where Frank was forced to work for his enslavers.

 

By Tracey Wilson on We-Ha.com on April 3, 2021

On Monday, March 29, five members of the Community Witness Stones Class filled a jar with dirt from where Frank (c. 1730-1810) was forced to work by his enslavers. On Albany Avenue, in the woods west of Renbrook School, bordering on the reservoir, the group walked into the woods and dug in the ground, thinking about Frank’s captivity at the hands of Rachel and Ebenezer Welles and their son Ashbel. Continue reading.

A Witness to History: Brown Chairs Witness Stone’s Juneteenth at Hyland House

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Stephanie Little Brown at the Hyland House Museum. (Photo: Pam Johnson / The Courier)

By Pam Johnson on Zip06.com on June 12, 2019

GUILFORD — “When we did the first Juneteenth last year, the first question we asked the audience was, ‘How many people know what Juneteenth is?’” recalls Stephanie Little Brown. “Now this was in a crowd of about 80 adults. Probably eight hands went up. That’s through no fault of their own—they didn’t know what they didn’t know. But that just solidified, for me, how important it is to keep this going. Because if you don’t know your history, you are going to be doomed to repeat it.” Continue reading.