Free and open to the public, no advance reservations required

Museum admission waived 3-5pm

Between 1670 and 1826 upwards of 300 enslaved African-descended and indentured Indigenous people labored in the historic town of Lyme. Today, Witness Stones mark 60 former sites of enslavement and indentured servitude. Join us for a Juneteenth celebration on the Museum’s north grounds featuring music by the Avery Sharpe Quartet and readings by the Witness Stones Poets Marilyn Nelson, Kate Rushin, Rhonda Ward, and Antoinette Brim-Bell, who will present their moving tributes in verse to those remembered with Witness Stones plaques. Seating will be provided under a tent and additional lawn chairs are welcome and encouraged.

Concluding the event, Artist-in-Residence William Williams, who created the 120 photographs of Old Lyme and greater Connecticut, will be signing copies of the newly released exhibition catalogue, Their Kindred Earth. Copies will be on sale at the event and in the FloGris Shop.

In the event of rain, the celebration will be held at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, 2 Ferry Road.