Rhonan Mokriski Connecticut, Salisbury School, The Logbooks

The Extraordinary Cesar Women!

The Cesar Women (L to R): Olive Cesar Peters, Nancy Cesar, Nancy Cesar, Mary Cesar Lassiter, and Mathilda Cesar Willams (ca. 1947ish). Over the past academic year, history teacher Rhonan Mokriski and his students at a high school in Salisbury, Ct have been pursuing a project-based learning course in public history focused on uncovering the … Continue reading The Extraordinary Cesar Women!

James King Connecticut, Research methods, Salisbury School, The Logbooks

The Library and Searching for Slavery

By James King, Library Director at Salisbury School James Mars didn’t complain of “many things,” but one thing troubled him his entire life: the lack of “opportunity to go to school as much as I should, for all the books I ever had in school were a spelling-book, a primer, a Testament, a reading-book called … Continue reading The Library and Searching for Slavery

Rhonan Mokriski Connecticut, Salisbury School, The Logbooks

A Deepening Lesson

(https://images.app.goo.gl/T3xTWF7ajq9xWFio6) Over the past academic year, history teacher Rhonan Mokriski and his students at the Salisbury School have been pursuing a project-based learning course in public history focused on uncovering the lives of free and enslaved African American families in northwestern Connecticut. This blog chronicles that journey. By Caleb May '21, a senior at salisbury … Continue reading A Deepening Lesson

Jared Ross Hardesty Bibliographies, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Research methods, Rhode Island, The Logbooks, Vermont

Researching Slavery and Black Life in Early New England: An Introduction

By Jared Ross Hardesty Some of the most common questions I receive after giving a talk about my book or a workshop about slavery in New England concern research. Where do you start? What types of sources are available? How accessible are those sources? In this post, I hope to clarify some of these questions … Continue reading Researching Slavery and Black Life in Early New England: An Introduction

Atlantic Black Box Connecticut, Events, Witness Stones Project

Event: Gilder Lehrman Center hosts the Witness Stones Project on 2/11

GLC@Lunch: Dennis Culliton and Joy Burns, Witness Stones Project February 10, 2021 at 12:00 pm Registration required Dennis Culliton and Joy Burns discuss the Witness Stones Project, A research partnership with local schools, students, and historical societies, which seeks to restore the history and honor the humanity and contributions of the enslaved individuals who helped build our communities. … Continue reading Event: Gilder Lehrman Center hosts the Witness Stones Project on 2/11

Bill Sullivan Adult Education, Connecticut, Online Learning, Witness Stones Project

Author Talk with Elizabeth Normen, Venture Smith, Tuesday, (1/26), 7-8pm on Zoom

Purchase copies here: https://venturesmithcolonialct.org/product/venture-smiths-colonial-connecticut-single-copies/ On January 26th, from 7:00-8:00pm, the Suffield Historical Society will host a free Zoom program with Elizabeth Normen, author of Venture Smith’s Colonial Connecticut, a new book for middle schoolers and about the founding of Connecticut as told through the 1798 first-person narrative of Venture Smith. She will speak about this new … Continue reading Author Talk with Elizabeth Normen, Venture Smith, Tuesday, (1/26), 7-8pm on Zoom

Atlantic Black Box Connecticut, Events

Event: Explore primary sources related to the lives of enslaved people @ Gilder Lehrman

Presented by Inside the Vault Thursday, January 21 at 7:00 pm ET RSVP to Inside the Vault Please join our curators and guests, Corey Winchester, 2020 Illinois History Teacher of the Year, and Antuan Raimone from the cast of HAMILTON Inside the Vault. While researching for the film Twelve Years a Slave, director Steve McQueen and his team came to the Gilder Lehrman Collection to view original primary sources. … Continue reading Event: Explore primary sources related to the lives of enslaved people @ Gilder Lehrman

Katie McCarthy Connecticut, The Logbooks, Witness Stones Project

How to Bring the Witness Stones Project to Life

This 2020-2021 academic year marks the third year that my students at Kingswood Oxford in West Hartford have participated in the Witness Stones Project and it’s been the most inspiring and meaningful work of my teaching career.  It’s also been the most doubt-inducing, time-consuming work as well. Teaching about race, conducting the slow, laborious historical … Continue reading How to Bring the Witness Stones Project to Life

Rhonan Mokriski Connecticut, Salisbury School, The Logbooks

Venture Smith – A Story About a Hero

Over the past academic year, history teacher Rhonan Mokriski and his students at the Salisbury School have been pursuing a project-based learning course in public history focused on uncovering the lives of free and enslaved African American families in northwestern Connecticut. This blog chronicles that journey. By Hurst Thompson '21, senior at salisbury school The … Continue reading Venture Smith – A Story About a Hero

Rhonan Mokriski Connecticut, The Logbooks

Learning Northern Slavery Through Twitter @SlaveryNorth

I have asked my students to summarize some of their first trimester's work in a blog post. Over the next week, I will share some of them on here. - RM My name is Simba Chen, I am a member of the Searching for Slavery class. My responsibility is to man the class twitter account. This trimester, I am … Continue reading Learning Northern Slavery Through Twitter @SlaveryNorth

Rhonan Mokriski Connecticut, Events, The Logbooks

We Noble African Citizens

The Cesar Family: Noble African Citizens of Northwest Connecticut, A Black History Conversation with with Cesar family historian Katherine Overton, and history teacher Rhonan Mokriski December 5 | 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm EST Presented in collaboration with the Salisbury Association  Historical Society and the Hotchkiss Library What do the words “We Noble African Citizens”, … Continue reading We Noble African Citizens

Atlantic Black Box Connecticut

Now streaming: Ghosts of Amistad, by Tony Buba and Marcus Rediker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUCPo0DSstY&feature=emb_err_woyt “Ghosts of Amistad: In the Footsteps of the Rebels,” directed by Tony Buba and produced by Marcus Rediker, is based on Rediker’s book, The Amistad Rebellion: An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom (Penguin 2012). The film chronicles a journey to Sierra Leone in 2013 to visit the home villages of the rebels who … Continue reading Now streaming: Ghosts of Amistad, by Tony Buba and Marcus Rediker

Christy Clark-Pujara Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, The Logbooks

How the Myth of a Liberal North Erases a Long History of White Violence

Anti-black racism has terrorized African Americans throughout the nation’s history, regardless of where in the country they lived. By Christy Clark-Pujara and Anna-Lisa Cox This article was originally published on the blog for the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History as the first of a five-part series titled "Black Life in Two Pandemics: Histories of … Continue reading How the Myth of a Liberal North Erases a Long History of White Violence

Rhonan Mokriski Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Witness Stones Project

Resources from the CAIS Webinar Witness Stones and #Hard History

I recently had the good fortune to be on a planning committee with Dennis Culliton of the Witness Stones Project @witnessstones. He is one of the most dedicated, passionate, knowledgeable, and giving educators I have every had the privilege to engage. In that spirit, I asked him if I could share his works cited list … Continue reading Resources from the CAIS Webinar Witness Stones and #Hard History

Dennis Culliton Connecticut, The Logbooks, Witness Stones Project

Witness Stones and Teaching Teachers Hard History

The Witness Stones Memorial in Guilford, CT to remember Dinah/Dinah Gardner who was held there in captivity. For all of the educators reading this post: Have you ever questioned the fact that you can teach in front of dozens of students every day and never be nervous, but when get up to talk to a … Continue reading Witness Stones and Teaching Teachers Hard History