Witness Stones Project, Inc.

Restoring History & Honoring Humanity

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History of the Project

Guilford Project Researching Slavery Finds Descendant Living in Connecticut

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Photo credit: Meghan Friedmann

By Ed Stannard in the New Haven Register on November 4, 2018

GUILFORD — Patricia Wilson Pheanious was sitting on the porch of her Ashford home when her husband came out and told her that someone was on the phone and wanted to talk about her ancestry.

Dennis Culliton, co-founder of the Witness Stones Project, in which markers are placed where enslaved Guilford residents lived or worked, had found a living descendant, the sixth-great-granddaughter of Montros and Phillis, Africans brought from Barbados to Connecticut in 1710.

Students Lay Stones To Address Town’s History Of Slavery

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By Michael Walsh in the Hartford Courant on October 4, 2018

Retired West Hartford high school history teachers Tracey Wilson and Liz Devine worked with Conard High School students and the Noah Webster House and West Hartford Historical Society to lay the first in a series of witness stones that address the town’s connection to slavery. Continue reading.

Witness Stones Project Takes Root In West Hartford

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The Witness Stones Project was present for another milestone today when the Witness Stones West Hartford Project a committee of the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society along with West Hartford Public Schools held their first installation ceremony honoring George and Jude.

Thank you to Tracey Wilson and Liz Devine for shepherding this project, teacher Sean O’Connor inspiring his AP U.S. History class, and most importantly for the students at Conard High School for doing the heavy lifting it takes to: “Restore the history and honor the humanity and contributions of the enslaved individuals, George and Jude, who helped build our communities.”

Thank you to Connecticut Humanities for sponsoring the growth of this project within Connecticut!