Learn with us - PROGRAMS
Sunday, Sept. 21, 4 p.m., at Masonicare at Chester Village - An illustrated lecture by Marta Daniels
“The Amazing Mrs. Motley: Chester’s Trailblazer for Justice, Agent of Change”
Constance Baker Motley (1921-2005) was an attorney, politician, federal judge and our Chester neighbor of 40 years. As a young NAACP civil rights lawyer, she litigated cases in southern courtrooms, helping desegregate thousands of public schools after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling. By 1964, she became New York’s first Black female state senator, and was then elected President of Manhattan’s Borough Council. In 1965, she purchased her Chester home, and in 1966, President Johnson appointed her to the federal bench—the nation’s first Black female federal jurist. Her rulings over 39 years expanded rights for women, workers and the disenfranchised. Her Chester home became her restful refuge, and was later designated a state Heritage Site on the CT Freedom Trail. In 2024, the USPS created a first class Forever stamp in the Black Heritage series to honor her legacy. This is part of the Chester 250 year-long calendar.
Saturday, Oct. 25, 1 p.m. (rain date Oct. 26), West End Cemetery
Guided Cemetery Walk
Led by the Chester Cemetery Commission and the CHS, this guided walk and historical talk meanders through the 1813-founded West End Cemetery that overlooks Cedar Lake.
Sunday, Oct. 26, 5 p.m., at Chester Meeting House, by Don Perreault “Saybrook’s Witchcraft Trial of 1661” The year was 1661 and Saybrook (of which Chester was a part) faced the greatest crisis to the fledgling community. For three years the settlement had been rocked by a series of events that threatened their very existence. As these events played out, suddenly accusations were being thrown around. Not just any accusations, but those of witchcraft. The ensuing witchcraft trial had all the ingredients of a town in crisis, a population looking for answers, and victims who were the perfect target. This little known event would be a turning point in the history of Saybrook.
Sunday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m. - “Heroes of the Revolution: Fighting for Liberty” and “Heroes in the Fight for Freedom” at Masonicare at Chester Village - An illustrated lecture by Don Perreault
From the Siege of Boston to battles at Valcour Island, Long Island, Trenton and Princeton, Chester heroes fought beside George Washington for liberty and equality. The next generation carried this forward, making Chester a hub of abolitionist activity. As stationmasters on the Underground Railroad, they kept the fight for freedom alive. This is part of the Chester 250 year-long calendar.
Sunday, April 12, 4 p.m., Chester Meeting House - An illustrated lecture by Marta Daniels
“The Amazing Mr. Hungerford: Chester’s Entrepreneur, Abolitionist, Philanthropist, Change Agent”
Edward C. Hungerford (1827-1910), born in Hadlyme, CT, became a prospector, engineer and businessman in Michigan’s upper peninsula in the 1850s, building and operating iron foundries to fuel America’s industrial revolution. Opposing slavery and active in the new Republican party, he risked severe punishment under the Fugitive Slave Act for harboring runaway slaves. Returning east in 1868, he became a leader of the Middlesex County Republican party, and was later elected Chester’s First Selectman. As a land investor he helped develop Chester’s Main Street, co-founded its first bank, and secured land for Chester’s public library and high school. “Deacon Hungerford” was also a leader in Chester’s Congregational Church. As a philanthropist in the 1890s, he escaped a lynch mob in Orlando, Florida, when confronted about donating land and money for the first Black school in central Florida, where Hungerford had a winter home. The 1897 “Hungerford School” successfully educated thousands of Black children through the mid-20th century. This is part of the Chester 250 year-long calendar.