Students from the Foote School began working with the Witness Stones Project in 2019. In 2023, they created a website to document their research. Please click here to visit their site.
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William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund Supports New Witness Stones Project Partnership
The Witness Stones Project, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to restore the history and honor the humanity of the enslaved individuals who helped build our communities, today announced a new affiliation with James Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Connecticut.
This new collaboration is funding by a generous gift from the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund in Hamden, Connecticut. The Director’s Discretionary Grant from Executive Director R. David Addams will allow Hillhouse students to discover and chronicle the local history of slavery in New Haven.
James Hillhouse High School’s mission to graduate students prepared for success in a world of increasing diversity, technological change and global challenges.
The New Haven Museum stimulates inquiry, increases understanding and fosters appreciation of greater New Haven’s history and heritage.
The William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund’s mission is to achieve equity in education by working with those affected and inspiring all to end racism and poverty.
Connecticut Project Lays Stones to Commemorate Former Enslaved People
By Andrew DaRosa in the Connecticut Post on
Gathered at the Trinity Church on the Green in New Haven one early June morning, students and community leaders came together as part of a ceremony to honor the lives of emancipated slaves Lucy and Lois Tritton.
The Trittons were purchased at an auction in 1825 by abolitionist Anthony P. Sanford, who subsequently freed them. The sisters were the last two enslaved individuals to be auctioned in the city of New Haven, according to the Trinity Church.
This event was just one among many hosted by the Witness Stones Project, a Guilford-based organization whose mission it is to “honor the humanity of enslaved individuals.” The organization works with kids from K-12 and crafts projects that have students and teachers analyze primary-source documents and other curriculum to better understand the lives of enslaved individuals in the state. The culmination of each project is the laying of Witness Stone Memorials, which honor the life of a specific enslaved individual relevant to the area where the stone is placed. Continue reading.
