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Black History Month: Who was Pharaoh Necho?

Connecticut’s role in slavery cannot be overlooked. By the time of the Revolutionary War, our state had the largest number of slaves in New England, and the enslaved worked as farm hands, household servants, in businesses and on ships. Connecticut was very slow and cautious to bring freedom to the enslaved and passed the Gradual Abolition Act of 1784 which did not immediately free slaves but granted freedom only to those born into slavery and after they reached the age of 25. Slavery did not end in Connecticut until 1848, long after our neighboring states.

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Posted 2/17/2022

Black History Month: "Black Jane"

“An old lady of dignity of character, highly respected and universally esteemed as an old saint”. These were the words used to describe Jane Smith, Haddam resident and former slave who died at the age of 90 in 1880.

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Posted 2/3/2022