Restoring History & Honoring Humanity
Engaging with the Legacies of Northern Slavery
April 5 @ 9:15 am - 5:45 pm
A one-day conference to explore the historical and ongoing legacies of slavery in Northern communities, focusing on the completion of the Witness Stones memorials in Deerfield and featuring presentations on research, interpretation, and activism related to this history.
Pricing
- Virtual Programming: $35
- In-Person Programming: $50 (does not include lunch)
- In-Person Programming With Lunch: $86 (includes a sandwich buffet at the Deerfield Inn)
- In-Person “Slavery, Labor, and Freedom” Walking Tour: free
Registration
- Click here to purchase a virtual only registration.
- Click here to purchase an in-person only registration (including choosing the option for lunch and/or registering for the free walking tour).
9:15–9:30 a.m. Welcome: John Davis, President and CEO of Historic Deerfield, and Pat Wilson Pheanious, Executive Director of Witness Stones, Inc.
9:30–10:15 a.m. “From Lorenzo Greene to Gloria McCahon Whiting: The History, Historiography, and Future of New England Slavery Studies”
Jerrad Pacatte, Associate Research Fellow with the “Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery Project” at Harvard University
10:15–11 a.m. “A Constellation of Hope & Freedom: Literary Activism, A Black American Tradition”
Erika Slocumb, Director of Interpretation and Visitor Experience at the Stowe Center for Literary Activism in Hartford, CT, and Ph.D. candidate of Black Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst
11–11:20 a.m. Break
11:20 a.m.–12:05 p.m. “From Chains to Change”
Anika Lopes, Founder and President, Ancestral Bridges Foundation Inc.
12:05–2 p.m. Lunch and time for exploration of the Witness Stones
2–2:45 p.m. “Discard all associations that bind [you]”: Rethinking the relationship between slavery in Deep South and Western Massachusetts”
Dr. Ousmane Power-Greene, Professor of History at Clark University
2:45–3:30 p.m. “Interpreting Slavery as Part of the 21st-Century Civil Rights Movement”
Kristin Gallas, Founder and Principal, MUSE Consulting
3:30–3:50 p.m. Break
3:50–4:35 p.m. Perspectives from Pat Wilson Pheanious, Executive Director of Witness Stones, Inc.
4:35–4:45 p.m. Concluding remarks
5:00–5:45 p.m. Optional: “Slavery, Labor, and Freedom” Walking Tour. This tour is included in the program but requires pre-registration.
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