Through programs developed with our partners, CT Humanities connects communities to the specific places, or “sites of conscience,” in Connecticut that highlight the legacy, relevance, and persistence of issues that have influenced our state and our nation and which continue to drive public discourse.
Connecticut's Sites of Conscience
Race and Racism. Equity and Access in Education. Civil Rights. Criminal Justice Reform. Civic Engagement. Indigenous Sovereignty. These are some of the issues polarizing and paralyzing our communities and our legislative bodies.
We thank The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their generous support of this initiative and the Pulitzer Prizes for their partnership.
The Sites:
- Freeman Houses | Bridgeport
- Prudence Crandall House | Canterbury
- Old Newgate Prison | East Granby
- Connecticut’s Old State House | Hartford
- Pequot Hill | Mystic – Mashantucket (Western) Pequot and Eastern Pequot Tribal Nations (Site interpretation at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center)
Connecticut’s Sites of Conscience is part of the “Democracy and the Informed Citizen” initiative, administered by the Federation of State Humanities Councils. The initiative seeks to deepen the public’s knowledge and appreciation of the vital connections between democracy, the humanities, journalism, and an informed citizenry.
This project is coordinated in collaboration with the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, a global network of historic sites, museums, and memory initiatives that connect past struggles to today’s movements for human rights – turning memory into action.
Shown above are Dr. Jason Mancini, seated (Executive Director, CT Humanities), Sally Whipple (Executive Director, CT’s Old State House), Joshua Carter (Executive Director, Mashantucket Pequot Museum), Liz Shapiro (Director of Arts, Preservation and Museums, CT Office of the Arts), Jodi Polsgrove (Curator of Education, State Historic Preservation Office/State Museums), Morgan Bengel (Curator and Site Administrator, Old New-Gate Prison & Copper Mine), Mariana García de la Noceda (Museum Educator, Connecticut’s Old State House), Sarah Griswold, (Board Secretary, The Mary & Eliza Freeman Center for History and Community), and Linda Norris (Senior Specialist in Methodology and Practice, International Coalition of Sites of Conscience).
Connecticut’s Sites of Conscience Convening
August 9, 2022 | Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center
We shared a conversation within and between Connecticut communities about how narratives are shaped and how those narratives influence our understanding of, and dialogue about, issues such as education equity, criminal justice, civic engagement, and Indigenous history. Themes included learning and unlearning narratives and systems that expand and suppress knowledge.
