Telling New Stories: Ties to the Caribbean
Thursday, January 18 | 6pm
Presented by Dr. Katherine Hermes
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Presented in partnership with the
CT Museum of Culture & History
This program will feature a variety of diverse stories that illuminate the people who built connections between Connecticut and the Caribbean. This includes Connecticut merchants looking for new markets and products; enslaved people from Antigua serving in households in Hartford; a West Indian enslaved man brought to Guilford who later opened a thriving grocery story in Hartford; and a French woman fleeing the Haitian Revolution. The lecture is in conjunction with the online exhibition Telling New Stories.
From Africa to Middle Class Hartford – Two Generations of the Maguira Family
Thursday, February 22 | 7:00 pm | Online
Admission: $10; Free for ABGA members.
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Pauline C. Merrick is a genealogist and historian whose research into Black Revolutionary War soldiers led her to discover the descendants of Peter Maguira in Hartford. Maguira was born in Africa and enslaved in Colchester, Connecticut. He was emancipated as tensions were building up with the British and served in the war. We will follow his path using historical documents such as pension applications, vital records, deeds, and city directories. At least three of his children were landowners and living in Hartford as part of the city’s Black Middle Class before the Civil War. Genealogical and Historical research processes will be illustrated.