February Third Thursday Event: The History of the New London Black Heritage Trail, Lonnie Braxton, Laura Natusch, Tom Schuch, Nicole Thomas,
Connecticut State Library 231 Capitol Avenue, HartfordThe New London Black Heritage Trail was officially unveiled on October 8, 2021, the result of a year-long collaborative effort led by former New London City Councilman Curtis K. Goodwin, the New London Economic Development Coordinator Felix Reyes, and a research team from New London Landmarks, along with other supporters. The Trail, a self-guided tour complete with audio narrations and some video accessed via QR codes, includes16 sites, each marked with a bronze plaque featuring a facet of the history of New London’s Black community. Together they tell a three-centuries-long story of Black resilience, resistance, and achievement. The Trail owes its existence to two serendipitous incidents: the accidental discovery in 2018 of the Ichabod Pease story by New London historical researcher (and co-author of this article) Tom Schuch and encouragement from another New London historian, Nicole Thomas, to her friend Curtis K. Goodwin (the other co-author) to attend an upcoming local lecture about Mr. Pease in summer 2019