Lives of Enslaved Honored on Juneteenth at Pardee-Morris House

New Haven, Conn.(June 2, 2022)—As the New Haven Museum celebrates Juneteenth 2022, Dennis Culliton, the founder and executive director of the Witness Stones Project, will visit the Pardee-Morris House to inform visitors of the lives of Pink and Stepna, two enslaved individuals who are now memorialized with Witness Stones at the historic site, on Sunday, June 19, 2022, from 12 – 2:30 p.m. The historic site will remain open for free tours until 4 PM.

Witness Stones Memorials are cement and bronze markers which note the names of enslaved individuals, their trades, and whether they were emancipated or died enslaved, along with corresponding dates.

In 2021, students from Cold Spring School and The Foote School researched Pink and Stepna and presented their work at PMH. One of the stones at PMH honors Stepna Primus, a farmer enslaved by Amos Morris, Isaac Forbes and Enos Hemingway. He was emancipated in 1796 and died in 1818. The second stone honors Pink, Stepna’s wife and a mother, who was enslaved by Amos Morris and later became a landowner. Pink was emancipated in 1800 and died circa 1850.

For more information on theWitness Stones Project visit www.WitnessStonesProject.org.

The Museum thanks its community partners: WSHU 91.1 FM, The Howard Gilman Foundation, Avangrid/UI Lighting Up the Arts, and Alder Salvatore E. DeCola for supporting the 2022 summer season.