#OldLymeCT

In LymeLine.com on June 14, 2023

OLD LYME – On Saturday, June 17, in honor of Juneteenth—a federal holiday that commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans—Witness Stones Old Lyme will present a celebration of Jazz and Poetry on the lawn of The Side Door at the Old Lyme Inn.

The celebration takes place from 2 to 4 p.m. Admission is free. All are welcome.

The event features a quartet led by New Haven jazz legend Jesse Hameen II and new work by Connecticut poets Marilyn Nelson, Kate Rushin, Rhonda Ward, and Antoinette Brim-Bell, who in 2021 created a tribute in verse to those enslaved in historic Lyme. The jazz quartet features the inspirational percussionist Jesse Hameen II, drums; Rodney Jones, guitar; Zwelakhe Bell Le Pere, bass; and Joe McWilliams, piano. Continue reading.

In LymeLine.com on June 7, 2023

OLD LYME — On June 2, a large audience, along with musicians, singers, genealogists, poets, and descendants, gathered on the lawn of the Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library to honor the lives of enslaved persons who lived in Old Lyme.

The Old Lyme Witness Stones Project, with the support of its many local partners, recently installed new historical plaques on a grassy triangle on Old Shore Road. The plaques detail the names and stories of eight enslaved African-Americans and indentured Indigenous people, who lived and labored in the Black Hall section of the historic town of Lyme in the 17th and 18th centuries. Continue reading.