Witness Stones Project, Inc.

Restoring History & Honoring Humanity

In The Media

Greenwich Historical Society Holds Witness Stones Placement Ceremony

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In the Greenwich Sentinel on August 10, 2022

Since 2019 the Greenwich Historical Society has collaborated with The Witness Stones Project on this initiative that seeks to teach school-aged children about the enslaved persons who lived in their hometowns. Students and teachers from Sacred Heart Greenwich and Greenwich Academy work in conjunction with the Historical Society in researching the daily lives of those enslaved at the Bush-Holley House. The annual placement ceremony is the culmination of their work over many months.

On May 25, two new Witness Stone memorials were placed in honor of Jack, eldest son of Candice and brother of Hester, and Cull Jr. youngest son of Cull Bush Sr. and Patience. A total of six stones have been placed at the site in a garden below an attic where it is believed most of the enslaved people lived. The remaining nine individuals who worked at this historic home will be honored in future years as the initiative expands to other schools in town.

For more information, visit https://greenwichhistory.org/witness-stones/

Poets Celebrate Juneteenth in Old Lyme

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Professor Kate Rushin (far right) poses with poets Antoinette Brim-Bell, Rhonda Ward and Marilyn Nelson at the Juneteenth celebration.

From the Connecticut College News on June 29, 2022

At the Florence Griswold Museum’s Juneteenth celebration, Conn Professor of English and Poet-in-Residence Kate Rushin read “Fishing for Shad,” a poem she wrote about the story of Jack Howard, who was born enslaved in Old Lyme, Connecticut, in 1795 and was willed to another person at the age of 14.

“I don’t know where I belong
but I know I don’t belong here.
I don’t know much
but I know what is right.
I don’t have much
but I have myself.
I’m not a man yet
but I’m not a child.
I don’t want much
but I want more than this,” she recited.

Rushin was one of four acclaimed Connecticut poets to participate in the June 18 event, which also featured the Nat Reeves Quartet in a celebration of jazz and poetry. Rushin and fellow poets Marilyn Nelson, Rhonda Ward and Antoinette Brim-Bell read a verse cycle written in collaboration with the Old Lyme Witness Stones Project, about 14 African-descended persons once enslaved in Old Lyme. Continue reading.

St. Matthew’s Aims to Tell the Story of Wilton’s Forgotten Enslaved people

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Members of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Wilton stand in the cemetery, a site where some members believe former enslaved persons to be buried.

By J.D. Freda in The Hour on June 19, 2022

WILTON — St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church is committing itself to educating the community and paying tribute to the enslaved peoples of Wilton.

The goal is to spend the remainder of the calendar year digging through historical land and personal records, with the help of the Wilton Historical Society, to tell a proper story of an enslaved Wiltonian whose history has been lost in time. When the research has been completed, the church community anticipates a permanent, physical memorialization, in the form of a stone, somewhere in town to pay tribute to that individual. Continue reading.

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