Connecticut Explored Game Changer Award
for advancing the way we study, interpret, and disseminate Connecticut history
Connecticut Council for Social Studies Special Project Award
for developing the innovative curriculum that prepares students to tell the story of the enslaved in their own communities
Guilford Preservation Alliance’s Charles Hubbard Award
for research and public education on local slavery
“Cuff’s local ties made the history much more real for students and made them want to learn his story.”
—Stonington Middle School Social Studies Teacher Dan Agins
“The Witness Stones Installation Service Honoring Frost Blackwell was very much enjoyed…. Faculty, students and participants should be commended for their research, artistry, musicianship and presentations. I thank all for giving such a memorable service which was deeply appreciated and will not be forgotten.”
—Dallas Chester Allen, Jr., descendant of Frost Blackwell
“This is the perfect program for what we would like to promote at the State Department of Education.”
—Connecticut Department of Education Social Studies Coordinator Stephen Armstrong
“It was a truly extraordinary experience for the kids — one that I know they will take with them wherever they go next.”
—Wallingford Historic Preservation Trust Trustee Emily Brenner
“By sharing a more complete and complex history, you’ve shined a light on a path to the future.”
—National Green Valley Heritage Corridor Executive Director Lois Bruinooge
“This [installation ceremony] is such a beautiful event for us not just to embrace our history, but to do it in such a way that it brings hope and promise to our future.”
—Connecticut House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora
“Watching the students at work, the input that they had, what they learned from a civics perspective, and a history perspective…I am just very proud.”
—West Hartford, Connecticut, Mayor Shari Cantor
“Having the opportunity to learn about Hester has opened my eyes to the stark reality of American history and has made me think more critically about what has been recorded and what has been omitted from the records.”
—Greenwich Academy student Eliza Carroll
“Watching the progress of the Project has been extraordinary. The ceremonies provide us with insight and a physical reminder to pay tribute to the lives that helped build this community.”
—Connecticut State Senator Christine Cohen
“A project like the Witness Stones Project is something that I am tremendously grateful for as I understand who we were and who we are now as truly diverse people, drawing strength from that diversity.”
–Rye, New York, Mayor Josh Cohn
“I applaud the Witness Stones Project and its partners for bringing together the community to learn, to heal, and to grow.”
—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro
“We hope that the Witness Stones Project continues to engage us in ongoing and involving conversations, crucial and hard conversations, compassionate conversations.”
—First Congregational Church of Old Lyme Associate Pastor the Reverend Laura Fitzpatrick-Nager
“Our children are going beyond their role as student and are embracing the role of historian. That they are embracing that history critically and honestly makes me proud of Guilford students.”
—Superintendent of Guilford Public Schools Dr. Paul Freeman
“It is critical that we, as a school, thoughtfully shine light on our dark moments, so that we, as a people, can grow from a clearer view of both our past and present. My hope is that the work we do here at Foote — both with the Witness Stones Project and beyond it — helps to shape a more just and equitable future.”
—Foote School Head of Middle School Barrington Fulton Jr.
“We hope that these people will not be forgotten and these histories will be revealed.”
—Old Lyme, Connecticut, First Selectman Tim Griswold
“Rich and robust history is made up of many stories. The only way that we can move forward is to tell the truth about those stories.”
—Congresswoman Jahana Hayes
“I am proud of a community and school district that teaches history as it really was, not as we wished it was.”
—Guilford, Connecticut, First Selectman Matt Hoey
“It is the most incredible experience, because we want all our young scholars to do the research and to tell the stories.”
—Former Executive Director Rye Historical Director Sheri Jordan
“I felt like this was an amazing project. It was inspiring to actually be a historian, and to look over primary documents and connect the pieces of this forgotten figure’s life.”
—Foote School student Daven Kaphar
“My students were real historians who restored history and gave honor and humanity to woman forgotten…. Worth every minute and something I want to do again and again in my classroom.”
—Ridgefield Middle School teacher Keira Kowalcyzk
“The humanizing of these individuals is so important and powerful. I am so thankful for the Witness Stones Project.”
–New York State Senator Shelley Mayer
“The Witness Stones Project is important because it reminds us all that there are stories and forgotten lives hidden in the margins of recorded history.”
—Country School teacher and Director of Community Engagement Will McDonough
“We can understand and value the lives of people who built our towns, our cities, our states, and our country.”
—Elisabeth C. Adams Middle School student Ella Montalvo
“The more we learned, the more impressed we became with James Mars. We also began telling his story to educate others.“
—Salisbury School student Clarence Nurse
“The students felt they had a much more tangible grasp on the past.”
—CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts teacher Kaitlyn Oberndorfer
“The best way to understand our history is to make sure our history tells the full story of America.”
–New York State Assemblyman Steven Otis
“This Witness Stones Project is an example of our school’s mission in action.”
—Holy Child Head of School Colleen Pettus
“It makes me feel proud to be able to tell these stories. We are giving a voice back to these people.”
—New Haven Museum Education & Engagement Director Khalil Quotap
“Partnering with the Witness Stones is a great, concrete first step in telling these people’s stories.”
—St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church Rector the Reverend Marissa Rohrbach
“It opens up the students’ eyes to the world around them.”
—Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School teacher Heather Saia
“These young men and women will be much better off having worked on the Witness Stones Project.”
—Connecticut State Representative Sean Scanlon
“A group of teachers and students in Connecticut began the Witness Stones Project…. Ultimately it is those small, neighborhood-, community-, and city-based initiatives that make the most impact and have the most potential to change minds, to change hearts, to change our understanding of ourselves.”
—Bestselling author of How the Word Is Passed Clint Smith
“I think it was really important to have the opportunity to think and learn about slavery in a very local type of way, because I think it can be hard to really empathize with people when all you see are statistics.”
—Eighth-grade student Solana Thagnabouth
“By placing a Witness Stone, we witness it. We see it. When you see, you cannot unsee.”
—West Hartford Board of Education Vice-Chair Dr. Lorna Thomas-Farquharson
“The Witness Stones Project has been one of the most extraordinary projects I have ever worked on…. We were doing things that actual historians do. That feeling is something I hadn’t experienced before.”
—Foote School student Cordelia Thompson
“The work on the Witness Stones has just been fantastic…. History needs to be told, and that’s what you’re doing.”
—West Hartford, Connecticut, Town Councilor Ben Wenograd
“The work that the Project is doing is critical.”
—Executive Director of the Connecticut Democracy Center Sally Whipple
“The part of the project that was most inspirational is working with students and teachers who analyze documents and amplify the stories through poetry, art, music and reflection.”
—West Hartford, Connecticut, Town Historian Tracey Wilson
“This research gave me a distinct perspective and an opportunity to learn about topics I wouldn’t be able to absorb as well or even at all in a textbook.”
—Foote School student Gus Witt
“This project had an effect on me. We can’t move forward unless we understand the past.”
—Chief Deputy Connecticut Senate Republican Leader Kevin Witkos
“Learning about the fact that there were slaves in West Hartford, an area that I have been in my whole life, is profound. As an African American living in West Hartford, Peleg’s story struck me deeply.”
—Kingswood Oxford student Isais Wooden
