Witness Stones Project, Inc.

Restoring History & Honoring Humanity

#WestHartfordCT

In the Wake of George Floyd’s Death, a Connecticut Town Marks Juneteenth and Recalls Its Own Legacy of Enslaving Men, Women and Children

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Witness stones, to commemorate the lives of slaves who lived in West Hartford, rest next to a headstone in the Old Center Cemetery in West Hartford. (Kassi Jackson/The Hartford Courant)
By Susan Dunne in the Hartford Courant on June 19, 2020

WEST HARTFORD — On Aug. 20, 1740, John Hosmer of West Hartford settled a debt with his neighbor. He didn’t settle the debt with money, but by handing over Ned, a 9-year-old Black child valued at 115 pounds. Continue Reading.

 

Students Find and Share an Untold History of the Enslaved People of West Hartford

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From left: Retired educators Denise deMello, Elizabeth Devine, and Town Historian Tracey Wilson serve as the co-directors of the Witness Stones Project. Pictured in front of the bronzed stones memorializing enslaved people in West Hartford in Old Center Cemetery on North Main Street. Photo credit: Lisa Brisson (we-ha.com file photo)

 

By Ronni Newton in We-Ha.Com on October 24, 2019

History involves the study of what happened in the past, but we all know there is more than one side to most stories.

There are also stories that have yet to be told.

When Tracey Wilson and Liz Devine started the Witness Stones Project in West Hartford, they wanted to find those stories, the stories about the lives of the enslaved people who are a part of the town’s history. People whose made contributions that few, if any, know about today. They wanted to acknowledge that slavery existed in West Hartford, and commemorate the lives of those who were enslaved while at the same time inspiring community conversation. Continue reading. 

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