We were honored to be included in the Juneteenth events that weekend. Juneteenth, also known as Jubilee Day, is the day on June 19, 1865, that enslaved African Americans in Texas were told slavery had ended — two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed and two months after the Confederates surrendered to Union troops. It’s been celebrated by the black community ever since then but only just became a federal holiday in 2021.

In 1989, Norwich was the first city in Connecticut to celebrate the holiday — establishing a prophetic link to Juneteenth.

Norwich resident Ben Haith created the Juneteenth flag that is used nationally. He was honored at David Ruggles Freedom Courtyard the day before the unveiling.

In an emotionally charged debate two days before a team from Castle retraced the steps Smith took to escape slavery, the Connecticut House of Representatives voted to approve Juneteenth as a state holiday. The State Senate approved the bill the day before on May 3.

Castle launched Next Day Mercy on Juneteenth 2020, following the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. The premise was drawn from the Biblical story of the Good Samaritan, who not only immediately helped the needs of an injured man of a different ethnicity who was found suffering in a public place — but he came back the next day to make things right. We believe healing takes time and work and people who, instead of walking by the hurting to advance their own personal or political agendas and theories, decide to act with compassion and empathy with those hurting right in front of them.

Smith and Fayerweather were contemporaries in the Jail Hill Neighborhood, which is directly behind the church and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They both embody the spirit of resilience and offer a more inclusive view of our city’s amazing history.

James Lindsey Smith escaped slavery in Virginia in 1838 before settling as a community leader, businessman and minister in Norwich. His 1881 autobiography is a true city treasure that we hold in high regard.  Smith described how he nearly quit. His two companions had to go on without him because a childhood accident that left him permanently injured in one leg meant he couldn’t keep up. But a voice told him to press on and if he got caught to let it be “heading toward freedom.”

Sarah Harris Fayerweather was the the first black student to request and gain attendance at Prudence Crandall’s school in Canterbury. She and others had to endure racial hostility and violence when the wealthy parents of her white peers objected to their attendance with lies that eventually stirred an attack by an angry mob.

The sketch of Smith and the low resolution photo of Fayerweather weren’t usable for this large size of the mural. So with expert input, we selected models with deeply meaningful connections to artistically represent both subjects. Rebecca Bayreuther Donohue, a historic costume consultant with the Dirty Blue Shirts, used a photograph in Smith’s 1881 autobiography and a historic photo of Fayerweather provided by the Prudence Crandall Museum to dress the models. The Cromwell Historical Society loaned the period clothing.