Conversations at Noon

get ready for an engaging and thought-provoking experience like no other – Conversations at Noon

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Every 4th Tuesday, we dive into the rich history of Connecticut’s Freedom Trail by featuring diverse guests, including bestselling authors, celebrated historians, museum educators, and descendants of first families. Conversations at Noon is your gateway to discovering the fascinating stories and legacies behind some of the most significant historical sites in the state.

Join us as we explore the intricate connections between the past and the present and shed light on the remarkable achievements of those who have come before us. Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to enrich your knowledge and from accomplished individuals.

The Connecticut Freedom Trail was established in 1995 with the goals of documenting and designating sites that embody the struggle toward freedom and human dignity; celebrating the accomplishments of the state’s Black and African American communities; and promoting heritage tourism. The Trail includes sites associated with the Amistad Case of 1839-1842; buildings reported to have been used on the Underground Railroad; and gravesites, monuments, homes and buildings associated with the heritage and movement towards freedom of Connecticut’s African American citizens. Today the Trail serves and promotes 160 sites across the state, with more sites considered for inclusion. Join Dr. Jason Mancini, historian and Executive Director of CT Humanities for this talk on Native New England History. Over nine million acres of Indian Country in southern New England and adjacent Long Island was reduced to less than 30,000 acres by the American Revolution. Indians across the region adjusted in different ways to this rapidly changing world. Colonial censuses reveal Indian invisibility as well as diaspora. This talk connects 17th century Indian wars with 20th century Indian casinos and addresses the changing nature of Indian land tenure, tribal citizenship and racial boundaries, Indigenous labor, mobility, and migration, as well as political and legal agency in the face of unrelenting settler-colonial acquisition. The CT Democracy Center at CT’s Old State House is administering the CT Freedom Trail on behalf of the State Historic Preservation Office. The work of the CT Freedom Trail is led by CT Freedom Trail Outreach Director, Tammy Denease and the CT Freedom Trail Committee. Jan 26, 2022

The Mary and Eliza Freeman Houses in Bridgeport serve a critical role in the history of Bridgeport and of the Black community in Connecticut. Their homes became the center of Little Liberia – a neighborhood of free people of color that included a luxurious seaside resort hotel for wealthy Blacks, Bridgeport’s first free lending library, a school, businesses, fraternal organizations, and churches. From this community, only the Mary and Eliza Freeman homes survive. Join the Connecticut Freedom Trail and Maisa Tisdale, President and CEO of The Mary & Eliza Freeman Center, who has advocated for the preservation of the homes and the former Little Libera neighborhood in Bridgeport’s South End since 1994. Ms. Tisdale will discuss Digital Reconnaissance: Re(Locating) Dark Spots on a Map on Tuesday, April 26th 2023 at 12 pm focusing on the preservation efforts and tools used to recreate the history of the Freeman Houses and Little Liberia with Connecticut Freedom Trail Outreach Director Tammy Denease.