Witness Stones Project Inc.

Restore History, Educate, and Honor Humanity

Event

St. Matthews Church Brings Witness Stones Project to Wilton, Sharing Stories of CT’s Enslaved People

· ·

It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten. – Akan proverb

Through a collaboration of local faith communities, area youth in grades 6-9 will have the opportunity to explore and chronicle the history of slavery in Connecticut.  In a series of workshops, participants will research historical documents and create a narrative through art, story, music, video, and poetry about a person who was enslaved in Wilton.

The Witness Stones Project is an educational initiative with a mission to restore the history and honor the humanity of the enslaved individuals who helped build local communities. It is not a religious program; it is a secular history curriculum that has been used in public and private schools across Connecticut and beyond.

Julie Hughes, Ph.D., a local historian and Wilton archivist with the Wilton Public Library, recently spoke at a forum at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in which she shared about the deep significance of slavery in our area. She told numerous stories about individuals who are known to have worked, lived, and worshipped in Wilton, Norwalk, Redding, New Canaan, and beyond.

“It’s hard to imagine our quaint little towns having a past with enslaved people, working and living here. I try to imagine what life was like for these individuals,” Nathan Pawelek, who oversees children and youth faith formation at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Westport, said.

Beginning on Wednesday, March 1 from 6-8 p.m. and continuing for two more sessions on March 8 and March 15, youth will have the opportunity to be guided by project leaders in learning the history of slavery locally and regionally while exploring five themes that were instrumental in establishing slavery in Connecticut. Using primary documents from Dr. Hughes’ research, participants will create stories to honor the enslaved. The program will culminate with a community ceremony in late Spring 2023.  During the ceremony, participants will share their creative expressions and a “Witness Stone” will be installed to permanently honor the enslaved of our community.

The first session on March 1 is open to the public, including parents and any other adult who is interested in learning about the mission of The Witness Stones Project, Inc. The following two sessions are for the participating teens.

Participation is free and registration is required.  All sessions will be held at the WEPCO complex located at 48 New Canaan Rd. in Wilton.

To register and learn more, visit the Witness Stones Project Wilton website or email Sharon Ely Pearson.

West Hartford to Celebrate Juneteenth on Sunday

· ·

By Fox61 on June 19, 2022

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — West Hartford will be hosting its third annual Juneteenth CommUNITY Celebration on Sunday, June 19 at Blue Back Square.

At 12:30 p.m., at Blue Back Square, the Witness Stones Project will dedicate 14 new Witness Stones. This project seeks to restore the history and honor the humanity and contributions of enslaved individuals, who in part, built our community. Continue reading.

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

· ·

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.

WSP Affiliate Historic Deerfield to Celebrate Juneteenth Through Song

· ·

Performers at Sunday’s Juneteenth concert will include La’Shelle Allen, Eric Brown, Kathy Bullock, Mat Callahan and Yvonne Moore, Tim Eriksen and the Pioneer Valley Shapenote Singers, and Christella Philippe.

By Chris Larabee in the Greenfield Recorder on June 16, 2022

DEERFIELD — Historic Deerfield is inviting residents to celebrate Juneteenth and learn about local ties to abolition through song on Sunday.

The museum is hosting “Songs of Abolition: A Juneteenth Concert Celebration at Historic Deerfield” to commemorate Juneteenth, which marks the day in 1865 when the last enslaved Americans in Texas were emancipated. The concert will feature 19th-century songs about abolition, early gospel tunes and music from a new documentary titled “Songs of Slavery and Emancipation.” Continue reading.

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

· ·

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 is an affiliate of  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

· ·

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.

 

 

Lives Of Enslaved Couple Honored on Juneteenth At Pardee-Morris House

· ·

Ellyn Santiago for Patch.com on June 6, 2022

NEW HAVEN, CT —Stepna Primus, a “husband and farmer,” was enslaved by Amos Morris, Issac Forbes, and Enos Heminway, at the Morris house in New Haven. In 1796, Primus was emancipated. Also enslaved at the Morris House was his wife, Pink, “mother, wife and landowner,” who was emancipated in 1800. The lives of these two enslaved peoples have been memorialized with Witness Stones at what is now called the Pardee-Morris House. Continue reading.

Connect with Us