Installation Ceremony Honoring Frost Blackwell
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Witness Stone Installation Ceremony in Pennington, New Jersey
Witness Stones Project Students Recognized by Hopewell Valley Historical Society
By Amie Rukenstein on MercerMe.com on October 3, 2022
At its annual meeting on Sunday, September 18 at the Watershed Institute, the Hopewell Valley Historical Society announced award winners and attendees were treated to a talk about the historic Drake house and its most famous inhabitant, Muriel Gardiner Buttinger, who went to Europe to meet Sigmund Freud, fought the nazis with her husband Joseph Buttinger, and finally settled on the grounds of what is now the Watershed Institute.
Among the award winners were the entire 2021/22 8th grade class for their work on the Witness Stones project. Their Principal, Nicole Gianfredi told MercerMe: “I am so proud of our Timberlane students and their work with the Witness Stones Project. With the guidance of our social studies teachers, our eighth grade students engaged in research and civic engagement, while restoring the history and honoring the humanity of Friday Truehart. While it was an extraordinary learning opportunity for the students, it was an incredibly impactful experience for everyone at the [Witness Stones] Ceremony.” Continue reading.
Friday Truehart, Once Enslaved in Hopewell, Commemorated in Witness Stone Project Ceremony
Timberlane Middle School became the first in the state to partake in a project that culminated on Thursday with the placement of a permanent brass stone in Hopewell Boro to honor the life of an enslaved individual.
Through the Witness Stones Project, eighth grade students have learned about the life of Friday Truehart, a thirteen-year-old boy who came to Hopewell Valley as the slave of Rev. Oliver Hart. Truehart’s life was documented in the book If These Stones Could Talk by his descendant Beverly Mills and fellow historian Elaine Buck. Continue reading.
Witness Stones Project Comes to New Jersey to Honor, Remember Enslaved Teen
By Michael Mancuso for NJ Advance Media for NJ.com on April 28, 2022
More than 240 years ago, in Charleston, South Carolina, a 13-year-old African American boy named Friday Trueheart was separated from his mother Dinah, when their enslaver, the Rev. Oliver Hart, came north to New Jersey and took the young teen with him.
Oliver would become the new pastor at the Old School Baptist Church, which still stands on West Broad Street in Hopewell.
On Thursday, a Witness Stone — a permanent brass marker to memorialize an enslaved individual — was unveiled on the ground in front of the church by Truehart’s direct descendant and family matriarch Patricia True Payne. Continue reading.
Witness Stones Installation Ceremony: Honoring Friday Truehart
We invite you to watch the program below and to read the program here.
Students from Timberlane Middle School Honor Friday Truehart
April 28, 2022
Students from Timberlane Middle School gathered today to honor Friday Truehart. This is the capstone of work they have been doing this spring with the Witness Stones Project. The have shared their work on their website. We invite you to visit to learn more.
Timberlane Middle School to Hold Ceremony Honoring Enslaved People
From CentralJersey.com on March 15, 2022
Timberlane Middle School (TMS) will hold the first-ever Witness Stones ceremony in the state on April 28.
TMS, located in the Hopewell Valley Regional School District in Pennington, will host the ceremony from 9:30-10:45 a.m. at the Hopewell Old School Baptist Meeting House, 46-48 W. Broad St., Hopewell.
Timberlane Students Will Be First in New Jersey to Undertake a Witness Stones Project
Timberlane Middle School will hold the first annual Witness Stones ceremony on Thursday, April 28, 2022 from 9:30am to 10:45am at the Hopewell Old School Baptist Meeting House at 46-48 W Broad St, Hopewell, NJ 08525.
Due to the small size of the venue, the event is by invitation only.
The Witness Stones Project, Inc. of Guilford, Ct., seeks to restore the history and honor the humanity of the enslaved individuals who helped build our communities. The Project provides research assistance, teacher development, and curriculum support to help middle school students study the history of slavery in their own communities. The students explore the lives of enslaved individuals through primary source documents.
Timberlane students will bring the Hopewell community together to place a Witness Stone (a permanent brass marker) to memorialize an enslaved individual, Friday Truehart, who came to this region with the Reverend Oliver Hart from South Carolina, when he was a thirteen year boy. This stone will honor where Friday lived, worked, and worshiped in the Hopewell region.
At public installation ceremonies, students, faculty, administrators, historians, public officials, local clergy, and the larger community will remember and honor the forgotten through music, poetry, oration, and reflection. The Project’s hope is that the students’ work and the public memorials inspire communities to learn their true history, dismantle current inequities, and build a just future.
The project and event will be completed and organized in conjunction with the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum and its founders, Elaine Buck and Beverly Mills. Timberlane Middle School is proud to be the first school in the state of New Jersey to undertake a Witness Stones Project.
Somerset County Awards Grants to Support Local History Projects
By Mike Deak on MyCentralJersey.com on April 18, 2021
The Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum – General operating funds will aid in the maintenance, enrichment and expansion of programs and outreach, including planning for a new Education and Exhibit Center on the top of Sourland Mountain in Hillsborough, virtual programming for signature events and enhancing the Sourland African American History Trail with an expanded map and signage. The grant will also support the creation of a new program, the Witness Stones Project, which will be brought to area schools. Continue reading.
