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Restore History, Educate, and Honor Humanity

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St. Matthews Church Brings Witness Stones Project to Wilton, Sharing Stories of CT’s Enslaved People

WSP · Feb 28, 2023 ·

It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten. – Akan proverb

Through a collaboration of local faith communities, area youth in grades 6-9 will have the opportunity to explore and chronicle the history of slavery in Connecticut.  In a series of workshops, participants will research historical documents and create a narrative through art, story, music, video, and poetry about a person who was enslaved in Wilton.

The Witness Stones Project is an educational initiative with a mission to restore the history and honor the humanity of the enslaved individuals who helped build local communities. It is not a religious program; it is a secular history curriculum that has been used in public and private schools across Connecticut and beyond.

Julie Hughes, Ph.D., a local historian and Wilton archivist with the Wilton Public Library, recently spoke at a forum at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in which she shared about the deep significance of slavery in our area. She told numerous stories about individuals who are known to have worked, lived, and worshipped in Wilton, Norwalk, Redding, New Canaan, and beyond.

“It’s hard to imagine our quaint little towns having a past with enslaved people, working and living here. I try to imagine what life was like for these individuals,” Nathan Pawelek, who oversees children and youth faith formation at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Westport, said.

Beginning on Wednesday, March 1 from 6-8 p.m. and continuing for two more sessions on March 8 and March 15, youth will have the opportunity to be guided by project leaders in learning the history of slavery locally and regionally while exploring five themes that were instrumental in establishing slavery in Connecticut. Using primary documents from Dr. Hughes’ research, participants will create stories to honor the enslaved. The program will culminate with a community ceremony in late Spring 2023.  During the ceremony, participants will share their creative expressions and a “Witness Stone” will be installed to permanently honor the enslaved of our community.

The first session on March 1 is open to the public, including parents and any other adult who is interested in learning about the mission of The Witness Stones Project, Inc. The following two sessions are for the participating teens.

Participation is free and registration is required.  All sessions will be held at the WEPCO complex located at 48 New Canaan Rd. in Wilton.

To register and learn more, visit the Witness Stones Project Wilton website or email Sharon Ely Pearson.

Witness Stones Project Announces New Partnership in Wilton

WSP · Nov 16, 2022 ·

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  the Wilton Congregational Church. The church will be using the Project’s curriculum and landscape markers to expand their teaching of the history of slavery in Connecticut.

 

St. Matthew’s Aims to Tell the Story of Wilton’s Forgotten Enslaved people

WSP · Jun 19, 2022 ·

Members of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Wilton stand in the cemetery, a site where some members believe former enslaved persons to be buried.

By J.D. Freda in The Hour on June 19, 2022

WILTON — St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church is committing itself to educating the community and paying tribute to the enslaved peoples of Wilton.

The goal is to spend the remainder of the calendar year digging through historical land and personal records, with the help of the Wilton Historical Society, to tell a proper story of an enslaved Wiltonian whose history has been lost in time. When the research has been completed, the church community anticipates a permanent, physical memorialization, in the form of a stone, somewhere in town to pay tribute to that individual. Continue reading.

The Witness Stones Project Comes to Wilton, Connecticut

WSP · Apr 7, 2022 ·

Wilton event

Witness Stones Project Announces New Partnership with St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Wilton

WSP · Mar 31, 2022 ·

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 St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church. The congregation in Wilton, Connecticut, will be using the Project’s curriculum and landscape markers to expand their understanding of the history of slavery in colonial Connecticut.

Wilton Witness Stones Collaboration

WSP · Dec 1, 2021 ·

Wilton Witness Stones is a collaboration of churches from Wilton, Norwalk, and Westport, Connecticut seeking to explore the history of slavery in colonial Connecticut and honor the humanity of the enslaved individuals who helped build our communities. Working with the Witness Stones Project, Inc., youth will gather with community leaders to learn and then compose narratives through story, music, drama, poetry, and/or video to tell the story an enslaved person through primary documents from the Wilton Historical Society’s research. Finally, a Witness Stone will be laid in the person’s honor in a public ceremony.

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