Connecticut’s Complicity in Slavery

To what extent was Connecticut a “slave state”?

Learn More

Anti-Racist Allies and Accomplices in Connecticut History

In what ways are both anti-racist allies and anti-racist accomplices important in the struggle for social justice?

Learn More

The Role of Enslaved People in Founding Connecticut

Why should enslaved people be seen as “founders” of Connecticut?

Learn More

Understanding the Census: Tracking Connecticut’s Black Population

How did attitudes towards slavery and Black Americans change over time in early Connecticut?

Learn More

Amos Beman: Freeman, Freedom Fighter, and Agent of Change

How do people become agents of change within systems of oppression?

Learn More

William Lanson: New Haven Entrepreneur, Abolitionist, and Black Governor

In a land of opportunity, how have the successes of African Americans, Indigenous, Latinx, and other People of Color challenged the status quo?

Learn More

Freedom and Liberty in 1776

What did “freedom” mean at the time of the American Revolution?

Learn More

A Petition for Freedom in 1779

How did laws and rules in the colonies both promote and hinder freedom and equality?

Learn More

From Freedom Seeker to American Success: James L. Smith in Norwich

To what extent was the North a “land of opportunity” for people of color in the early 1800s?

Learn More

Making a Difference: Individuals in Connecticut History

What is the significance of Connecticut’s contribution to America’s story?

Learn More

Asian American History in the Civil War Era: Connecticut’s Connection to the Trade in Indentured Chinese Workers

How have American conceptions of freedom and equality changed throughout U.S. history for members of various racial, ethnic, religious, and gender minority groups?

Learn More

Words Change the World: Teaching About Racial Injustice Through the Work of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Ta-Nehisi Coates

To what extent can fiction and non-fiction both help us learn, change, and adapt our understanding of an historic or contemporary moment?

Learn More

Learning by Looking: Reading a Post-Civil War Photograph

What can we learn from an anonymous historical photograph?

Learn More

William Grimes – Seeking Freedom in Connecticut

How can we find out about people and places in the past?

Learn More

The Amistad Incident and the Face of Slavery

What role did the Amistad incident play in the abolitionist movement in the United States?

Learn More

Recruitment poster for George Washington’s Continental Army

To Join, or Not to Join, George Washington’s Army

Why do people enlist in the military?

Learn More

The Black Law in Connecticut

What is social justice?

Learn More

George Washington’s Slave Census

What did the Founding Fathers really think about slavery?

Learn More

Venture Smith: From Slavery to Connecticut Businessman

How can a former slave prosper in a colony where slavery is legal?

Learn More

Nancy Toney

Abolition and African Americans in Connecticut

In what way did the abolition of slavery indicate progress, or decline, for the lives of African Americans?

Learn More