Event | Venture Smith Day Festivities on 9/11

The 25th annual Venture Smith Day Festivities will be held on Saturday, September 11th from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the First Church Cemetery, 499 Town Street (RT. 151), East Haddam, Connecticut, where Venture Smith (1729-1805) is buried. Learn more here Son of an African king, Venture Smith was the first black man to … Continue reading Event | Venture Smith Day Festivities on 9/11

Event | Venture Smith: An African American in 18th Century Connecticut

Hosted by the Gilder Lehrman Center Wednesday, July 28, 2021 • 6:00 to 7:30 pm Register here Join Joy Burns, Elizabeth Normen, Nancy Steenberg, and Tom Thurston as we discuss teaching Venture Smith’s extraordinary life to better understand slavery and freedom in 18th century New England.  The first 30 teachers to register and attend the workshop will receive a free copy … Continue reading Event | Venture Smith: An African American in 18th Century Connecticut

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

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