Local Histories of [un]Freedom: Student and Community Historian Conference

March 29rd, 2025 

1:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Evans Hall, Cummings Art Center, Connecticut College

or 

Students and local community historians will share research in progress, with a focus on the craft of shaping historical narrative. Faculty and alumni will discuss published research and insights into their historical practices.

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CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

1:00pm-1:10pm: Introduction

1:10pm-2:00pm: Keynote

Jennifer Rycenga

Schooling the Nation: The Success of the Canterbury Academy for Black Women

2:00pm-2:15pm: Coffee Break & Refreshments

2:15pm-3:40pm: Community Historian Panel

Beth Sabilia

From History to Housing: Understanding New London's Evolving Housing Needs

Nicole Thomas

Challenging the Narrative

Tom Schuch

Discovering Long Hidden Networks of Community “Just Below the Radar”

Bill Morse

Places to Crash that are Mostly Gone: Main Street Neighborhoods, 1920s–1960s

3:45pm-5pm: Alumni & Honors Thesis Student Panel

 Taylor Desloge

Segregation and Community on New London’s Hempstead Street

Madison Taylor

Meeting Unmet Needs: The Evolution of Housing and Aid in New London 1910-1950

Eli Prybyla

Exploring the Archives: Domestic Servitude in New London, 1900-1950

Jack Lavorel

The Power of Community: The History of African American Education in New London

Jon Dayan

From New London to the College on the Hill: Lois Taylor (‘31) and the Black Working Class Experience at Connecticut College

5pm-5:50pm: Student Research Flash Presentations

Gabriella Miotto Leal, Natalia Hall, Grace Flynn, Penny Doyle, Lucas Rodi

5:50pm-6:00pm: Closing Remarks

The Unfreedom Colloquium Conference was an inspiring final chapter to this spring’s [Un]freedom series. The conference brought together local researchers who uplifted stories of resilience and determination in New London’s history. Each story provided insight into New London’s place in the United States’ complicated history with freedom–-from Dr. Jennifer Rycenga’s research on the Canterbury Academy for Black Women in Canterbury, CT, to student researcher Jon Dayan’s thesis presentation on Lois Taylor, Connecticut College’s first Black student.

As the conference progressed, common figures and locations arose out of the town’s history. These were all figures whose significance may have been lost without student and community researchers’ determination to uncover artifacts foregrounding their impact on New London. It was fascinating to watch researchers identify relationships between nationally prominent abolitionists including William Lloyd Garrison and local activists such as Sarah Harris Fayerweather, who was a founding member of the Canterbury Academy. The Conference ended on an exciting note with flash presentations from students in the midst of their own research into the theme of “unfreedom” in New London’s history.

--Grace Flynn '25

The Unfreedom Conference was an enlightening and thought-provoking experience that deepened my understanding of Connecticut and New London’s histories. The conference had a wide range of engaging talks, but I was particularly moved by Jennifer Rycenga’s presentation on her research into the nineteenth-century Canterbury Academy that educated over two dozen Black women in its eighteen-month existence before it was attacked and destroyed.

Rycenga’s work traced intricate connections between the school’s original graduates, their children and grandchildren, and their successes in building careers, alliances, and networks across Connecticut and the nation. This intergenerational success was a testament to the importance of educational access, not just for the individual students, but for entire families and communities even within the short timeframe it was operational. Seeing these long-term patterns reinforced for me the critical role that education plays in breaking cycles of exclusion and inequity. It was a powerful reminder that when one generation gains access to education, the benefits ripple outward, shaping future opportunities for those who follow.

--Penny Doyle '25

Location & Parking Information

• Follow [Un]Freedom parking and event signs

• Evans Hall can be accessed by either the first or second floor of the Cummings Art Center.

• The South Parking Lot is the closest to the Cummings Art Center.