Witness Stones Project Inc.

Restore History, Educate, and Honor Humanity

Student Work

Noble Horizons to Premiere Film by Salisbury School Students

· ·

The grave of Mars in Salisbury

From the Litchfield County Times on May 19, 2021

SALISBURY — Noble Horizons, a senior retirement community at 17 Cobble Road, will premiere Coloring Our Past, a film made by Salisbury School students in Rhonan Mokriski’s 2020-21 Searching for Slavery class, on May 26 at 7 p.m.

The film chronicles their discovery of the lost stories of local Black and Indigenous peoples whose contributions have been hidden from history for the last 200-plus years, an announcement said. Throughout the year, the students have conducted extensive research, field work, interviews and other efforts to uncover the lives of people who have long been buried, forgotten, or ignored, the announcement said. Continue reading. 

James Mars Day

· ·

Salisbury School students honor James Mars’s legacy.

 

Black American Slave James Mars’s Story in Virtual Program

· ·

The Litchfield County Times on March 25, 2021

SALISBURY — Noble Horizons will host “The Life and Times of James Mars: The Story of a Connecticut Slave,” a virtual presentation, on April 1 at 7:15 p,m.

Registration for this free Zoom program is at noblehorizons.org.

Salisbury history teacher Rhonan Mokriski and his students will discuss their extensive research into the buried story of James Mars and other Black American slaves in Connecticut that have been hidden from history for over a century, an announcement said. As Mokriski explained, “We believe that efforts like this will help refute the impression that American history is inherently white.” Continue reading.

Kingswood Oxford Students Make Important Progress in Witness Stones Project

· ·

In the Kingswood Oxford News published on January 21, 2021.

The Witness Stones Project is an ongoing one in the Kingswood Oxford School history department each year that engages the students in authentic, real-world learning. The project seeks to honor the humanity and contributions of the enslaved people who helped build the community we live in today. Since its inception in 2019, students work to build on the work that was done by classmates before them. Each year, different pieces of the puzzle are uncovered, carefully put into place, and a bigger piece of the local historical fabric completed. Continue reading.

Salisbury School Students Chronicle the Lives of African Americans

· ·

James Mars

A blog on the Atlantic Black Box Project, started on December 24, 2020.

History teacher Rhonan Mokriski and his students at the Salisbury School have been pursuing a project-based learning course in public history focused on uncovering the lives of free and enslaved African American families in northwestern Connecticut. Continue reading. 

Country School Students Record, Honor Life of Enslaved Madison Resident

· ·

The Country School students will install a marker commemorating enslaved Madison resident Lettuce Bailey in front of the First Congregational Church in Madison. (Photo by Jesse Williams/The Source)

By Jesse Williams in Zip06.com on July 8, 2020

MADISON — After months of research, writing, and conversations, students from The Country School (TCS) have finished up their research on one of Madison’s enslaved residents as part of the Witness Stones Project, with plans to come together and install a marker in front of the First Congregational Church next month. Continue reading.

Country School Students Tell the Stories of Slavery in Their Community

· ·

From The Country School, published April 2020.

Eighth Graders at the School began participating in the Witness Stones Project in the fall of 2019, setting out to tell an untold story about a woman named Lettuce Bailey, who was enslaved in Madison, Connecticut, until she was freed in the late 18th century, first in 1791 and then again in 1793. By recovering and sharing Lettuce’s story and installing a brass Witness Stones memorial in her honor, students also sought to tell a broader, and largely unknown, story about our local community. Continue to the Country School website.

From The Country School website, published April 2020.