On October 22, 2022, Historic Deerfield unveiled 19 Witness Stone memorials along the mile long Old Main Street. The historic organization had affiliated with the Witness Stones Project initiated by a middle school teacher in Connecticut who wished to restore history and memorialize the enslaved individuals that helped build our communities.
The project was inspired by the Stolpersteine or ‘Stumbling Stones’ project that began in Berlin, Germany. Artist Gunter Demnig wanted to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust.
As a result, efforts were accumulated to install 4’’ by 4’’ bronze plaques in the front steps of the residences where the enslaved had lived.
Historic Deerfield is the first Witness Stones installation in Massachusetts that has been built on over 20 years of research the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (PVMA) and Historic Deerfield have been doing on slavery and the valley.
Oftentimes, lives and labor of enslaved people have been obliterated from the landscape. The bronze plate only records a brief description of the slave, some even without a name.
Brian Hamilton, Head of the Deerfield History Department, emphasizeds on how fast the history of slavery could disappear from record: “Enslaved people lived in labor in Deerfield at least from the 1690s and, even after emancipation, came to Massachusetts. Tthere were still records of people enslaved here until the 1880s. And that’s has been a very hard fact to get stuck in the collective conscience of Deerfield resident Massachusetts residents in general.” Mr. Hamilton praises the sStones as a way for theway the Deerfield town to reviveof reviving the records of their livelihood and acknowledges history.
The organization relies on a range of sources for information: enslavers’ wills, churches’ baptizing files, shopkeepers’ accounts, and criminal records of fugitives. Researchers also examine Negro Slavery in Deerfield, a book published in 1893 by George Sheldon, who lived in Deerfield and knew many enslaved people on Old Main personally. However, many accounts are not complete, and some stones, such as the one in front of Stebbins House, state the individual’s name is “no longer known.”
The lack of information may invite viewers to dig deeper into this realm of history, which is often neglected. Dean of Academic Affairs Anne Bruder said, “The sparseness of those details is incredibly provocative for students, who may go on to ask a series of questions about what’s missing from the record and what they can do with just a few nuggets to go on.”
History Department Chair Brian Hamilton noted that this opportunity could allow Deerfield students to explore the stories of slavery in the Valley. “Looking from the perspective of our history department, it’s a really wonderful project to investigate in terms of thinking about how people tell stories of the past,” said Mr. Hamilton. “Many of our US history classes have wandered across the street to investigate them.”
Isaac Bakare ’24 visited the Witness Stones last spring with his Honors United States History class. “It was strange to see a part of Deerfield’s history that’s rarely spoken of put out for the world to see and learn from,” he said. “I was glad we got the opportunity to experience that piece of history so close to our campus.”
The memorials may play a larger part in Deerfield’s campus in the future. Over the past year, the Academy has been communicating with the Board of Trustees and Historic Deerfield about creating a complete record of enslaved individuals along all of Old Main Street.
“Right now, we know that we will participate in the program,” Dr. Bruder said. “Historic Deerfield is currently doing the research necessary for stones that will be placed on Academy property.”
One of the stones they plan to install will be at the Manse, honoring a man named Prince, who was enslaved on the property in the 18th century. Historic Deerfield researchers discovered parts of Prince’s story from a 1749 newspaper advertisement his enslaver posted after he escaped, and a death record from 1752 indicating he had died enslaved. The researchers hope to place this, and up to 15 other stones, on Academy property and around the town in the fall of 2024.
Mr. Hamilton expressed his excitement about the installation, saying, “I think we can do some sort of unveiling once they’re installed and it’s a great moment for history classes to engage with and see new stories being told in real time.”