Tag Archives: Witness Stones Project

‘Witness Stones Project’ Merges with Massachusetts-based Preservation Group

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This Witness Stones plaque commemorating the life of the enslaved Jack Howard is located at 5 Lyme Street, the parsonage of the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme.

HAVERHILL, MA–Two organizations committed to recovering hidden histories, commemorating enslaved individuals and fostering a deeper understanding of the country’s complex past have joined forces. 

The Connecticut-based Witness Stones Project, which includes an active presence in Lyme and Old Lyme, has been absorbed by Historic New England, a preservation organization out of Massachusetts that goes back to 1910. 

The merger was announced Thursday in a press release from Historic New England. It brings the Witness Stones Project under the banner of Historic New England’s Stopping Stones initiative, which honors enslaved Americans through the installation of permanent markers and community ceremonies. 

Both the Witness Stones Project and Stopping Stones use small plaques in the ground to mark sites of enslavement – including 300 Witness Stones in seven states and more than 90 Stopping Stones from Vermont to Texas – but only the Witness Stones program incorporates a robust educational component. 

The Witness Stones Project in a website announcement said former Witness Stones Director of Operations Liz Lightfoot, of Lyme, will take on the role of Stopping Stones school and youth program manager. She will continue to use Witness Stone’s trademarked curriculum to help students explore historical records and to tell the stories of forgotten individuals, the group said. 

The Witness Stones announcement said schools, churches, and community organizations involved locally can rest assured their work is being preserved and will serve as a foundational part of the expanded effort. 

“And for the communities where we are currently working and will work in the future, the important research, education, and installations will proceed with the full backing of Historic New England’s resources,” the group said.

The Witness Stones Project was founded in 2017 by Dennis Culliton of Guilford. Stopping Stones, which is part of Historic New England’s Engagement Arts Fund, began in 2020 under the leadership of Paul Growald. 

Growald said joining with the Witness Stones Project enables his group to add a “powerful educational dimension” to the physical markers. 

“I have long envisioned curriculum components that accompany our memorials, inviting participants of all ages into this work,” he said. “This partnership fulfills that vision, aligning remembrance with education and community dialogue in a way that can truly transform how America reckons with its history.”

The expanded Stopping Stones team is led by director Pat Wilson Pheanious, a ninth-generation descendant of enslaved individuals in Guilford whose family history was among the first researched by the Witness Stones Project eight years ago. She is the founding chairman and a former executive director of the Witness Stones Project. 

“Embracing the past is vital to shaping America’s future,” Pheanious said in the Historic New England release. “This collaboration ensures that the work of these programs will remain strong, protected, and accessible to communities everywhere.” 

Historic New England CEO Vin Cipolla said the new collaboration will allow both groups to expand their reach nationwide by pairing memorial installations with classroom learning and community dialogue. 

“By uniting the Witness Stones curriculum with the national reach of the Stopping Stones program, we can ensure that the lives and legacies of enslaved people are recognized, remembered, and taught to future generations,” he said. 

Both initiatives are inspired by Germany’s Stolpersteine Project, which commemorates Holocaust victims with “micro-monuments” placed in public spaces. 

The merged groups will operate as part of Historic New England’s Recovering New England Voices (RNEV) initiative. RNEV supports research, storytelling, and public engagement to elevate underrepresented histories, including those of Indigenous people, women, immigrants, LGBTQ communities, and enslaved individuals. 

The public is invited to join the conversation at the Historic New England Summit, Nov.13–14. 

More information on the transition is available on the Witness Stones and Stopping Stones websites.

Juneteenth Celebration Brings Jazz, Poetry, Reflection to Old Lyme

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Witness Stones Old Lyme poets at the Juneteenth celebration. From left to right: Rhonda Ward, Antoinette Brim-Bell, Kate Rushin and Marilyn Nelson. All photos courtesy of Witness Stones Old Lyme.

OLD LYME—The north lawn of the Florence Griswold Museum earlier this month filled with music and poetry as the community gathered for a Juneteenth celebration honoring those who once lived enslaved in the historic town of Lyme.

The Avery Sharpe Quartet performing at the Juneteenth event.

The June 22 event in partnership with the Witness Stones Old Lyme organization featured a powerful performance by renowned bassist and composer Avery Sharpe and his Quartet—Zaccai Curtis on piano, Haneef Nelson on trumpet, and Yoron Israel on drums—whose dynamic jazz rhythms set the tone for an afternoon of remembrance and hope.

Artists gather at the Juneteenth Jazz & Poetry event on Sunday, June 22. Left to right: Poets Marilyn Nelson, Kate Rushin, Rhonda Ward and Antoinette Brim-Bell with musicians Zaccai Curtis, Avery Sharpe, Yoron Israel, and Haneef Nelson

Interwoven with the music were readings by four of Connecticut’s most distinguished poets: Marilyn Nelson, Kate Rushin, Rhonda Ward, and Antoinette Brim-Bell. Their verses, inspired by the lives of those commemorated through the Old Lyme Witness Stones Project, gave voice to the past and called listeners to deeper understanding and reflection. 

Audience members enjoy the sounds of live jazz and poetry on the lawn of the Florence Griswold Museum.

The poets, who began their partnership with the Witness Stones Project in 2021, created a cycle of poems that was later published in Poetry magazine. Their verse continues to serve as a poignant tribute to the lives, labor, and humanity of those long forgotten by history.

Photographer William Earle Williams signs copies of the exhibition catalogue for poets Rhonda Ward, left, and Kate Rushin.
Photographer William Earle Williams signs copies of the exhibition catalogue for poets Rhonda Ward (left) and Kate Rushin.

Following the program, the Florence Griswold Museum welcomed guests to view Their Kindred Earth: Photographs by William Earle Williams on its closing day. Drawn by his interest in the Witness Stones Project, Williams became the museum’s third artist-in-residence and made stunning photographs that reveal historic sites of enslavement in Old Lyme and elsewhere in Connecticut.

Witness Stones Old Lyme

Between 1670 and 1826 at least 300 enslaved and indentured African Americans and Native Americans labored in the historic town of Lyme.

Today, Witness Stones honor the humanity and the contributions of vital members of our community. The bronze plaques that mark sites of enslavement on Lyme Street restore forgotten history and serve as memorials to those once held here in bondage. 

Each of the 60 Witness Stone placed on Lyme Street, McCurdy Road, Old Shore Road, the Sill Lane Green and at the Lyme Public Library includes the name of an enslaved individual, along with details about their lives and circumstances derived from land records, emancipation certificates, and other available historical documents.

An interpretive sign installed on the lawn of the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library provides a map showing the locations of the small brass plaques that are installed flush with the ground on Lyme Street and elsewhere in the community.

For more information about the Witness Stones Project in Old Lyme, visit the Witness Stones Old Lyme website: https://www.witnessstonesoldlyme.org/

Editor’s Note: Liz Frankel is a member of the Witness Stones Old Lyme Committee.