Witness Stones Project, Inc.

Restoring History & Honoring Humanity

In The Media

West Hartford Town Council Approves Procedure for Honorary and Historic Renaming of Public Streets

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Kingswood Oxford student Regina Miller advocates for renaming New Street to honor Peleg Nott, a former enslaved man from West Hartford. Photo credit: Ronni Newton.

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.

Commemorating the Lives of Enslaved People in Connecticut

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 By Tess Terribile and Nancy Nalpathanchil of Where We Live

How should we remember painful events in our history? There are more than 70 Witness Stones installed throughout our state. The markers commemorate the lives of the enslaved people that lived in Connecticut. 

Witness Stones Project Executive Director Dennis Culliton joins Bill Sullivan of the Suffield Historical Society Trustee and Suffield Academy, and Susi Ryan, a fiber artist and descendent of Venture Smith, for this discussion.

 

WSP’s Executive Director Receives a Beacon Award

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Shore Publishing’s Beacon Awards recognize a few of the outstanding individuals who selflessly step up to help fulfill the Shoreline community’s promise as a place of opportunity, well-being, and safety for all.

The Witness Stones Project Executive Director’s commendation noted:

A retired teacher, [Dennis Culliton] continues to work on the Witness Stones Project, listening humbly and adapting to new dialogue about race, and serving as an educational resource as educators grapple with these issues. Through this project, Dennis brought to light the history of slavery in our shoreline towns, helping our communities understand how many early settlers and residents were making wealth directly or indirectly from the buying and selling of slaves.

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