About us
You can visit 59 Witness Stones that we have placed at the Old Center Cemetery in West Hartford to honor the lives of enslaved individuals in the West Division .
Dr. Tracey Wilson West Hartford Town Historian, retired West Hartford Public School social studies teacher, Gilder Lehrman state history teacher of the year, national presenter for Advanced Placement, developer of WHPS course U.S. History through the African American Experience .
Elizabeth Devine, retired social studies teacher in the West Hartford Public Schools. Devine was the 2009 - 2010 National Social Studies Teacher of the Year and was the West Hartford Teacher of the Year in 2000-2001.
Denise deMello retired West Hartford teacher / media specialist brings her research and technology skills to the team.
Our team has been researching slavery in Connecticut since 2018. We have created lessons for teachers, developed materials for students to engage in primary source documents, presented to students at elementary, middle and high school, community groups, teachers, and museum professionals.
We researched the lives of more than 60 individuals, led civic engagement projects to honor the lives of formerly enslaved people including the placement of 59 Witness Stones in the Old Center Cemetery, changing the name of a street and the town green, and adding a name to the Revolutionary War Memorial in West Hartford .
