6000+ Declarations of Independence

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July 4 Community Celebration Join us for a family-friendly July 4 celebration inspired by 6000+ Declarations of Independence, an America250CT project exploring how Black abolitionists declared their own freedom through storytelling, art, and activism. Throughout the day, visitors are invited to experience history through live interpretation, creative workshops, and community gathering—reflecting on the many ways freedom has been imagined, claimed, and expressed. What to Expect Live interpreters portraying Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, and Josiah HensonComic book workshop with artist Joe Young all day!Kemet character appearanceReadings of freedom narratives and declarations of independenceOutdoor programming on the Stowe Center grounds (weather permitting) Families and visitors of all ages are welcome. 6000+ Declarations of Independence Speakers and First-Person Interpreters: Joe Young Joe Young is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker, award-winning cartoonist, producer, writer, and teaching artist with more than 35 years of experience in media, education, and community engagement. He is the creator of the nationally recognized KEMET comic property and President of Joe Young Entertainment, LLC, producing original content for television, film, and streaming platforms including Amazon Prime and Tubi. Young is also the President and Co-Founder of Hartford’s Got Talent and leads CAN DO, Inc., organizations dedicated to empowering youth through arts, entrepreneurship, and creative education programs. His work and leadership have been recognized nationally through multiple awards, media features, a Guinness World Record, and a statewide proclamation honoring his contributions to arts and youth development. Tammy Denease Tammy Denease. An accomplished Performing Artist, Storyteller, Actor, and Playwright, Tammy Denease specializes in bringing to life the lives of very important, yet “hidden” women in history. Among her favorites are Bessie Coleman (first internationally licensed pilot in the world) and Elizabeth Keckly (former enslaved woman who worked at Lincoln’s White House), Margu (Amistad captive) and Elizabeth “MumBet” Freeman – one minute a free woman. Tammy performs at historical sites, libraries, schools, theaters, and corporate events. When Tammy is not bringing historical figures to life, she vividly tells folktales where she takes the audience into a world in which animals set the scene for life lessons! Dr. Dexter Gabriel Dr. Dexter Gabriel is a professor of History at the University of Connecticut. He earned his B.A. in history from Texas State University-San Marcos, an M.A. in history also from Texas State University-San Marcos, and his Ph.D. in history from Stony Brook University-New York. His research interests include the histories of slavery, resistance, and freedom in the Black Atlantic, as well as interdisciplinary approaches to slavery within popular culture and media. He teaches courses on the UCONN campus ranging from African American History to 1865, Comparative Slavery in the Americas, and Slavery in Film—to name a few. His most recent published book, Jubilee’s Experiment: The British West Indies and American Abolitionism, explores British Emancipation in the Anglo-Caribbean and its impact on abolitionist strategies in the nineteenth-century United States. Fiona Vernal Fiona Vernal is Associate Director of the Africana Studies Institute (ASI), Associate Professor of History and Africana Studies at the University of Connecticut and the Director of Engaged, Public, Oral, and Community Histories (EPOCH), a public-facing initiative at UConn aimed at integrating research, teaching, and scholarship in broader public policy interventions and capacity-building for community organizations. Her teaching and research center African, Caribbean, African Diaspora histories. She is currently working on a book and digital humanities project, Hartford Bound that integrates oral histories, archival research, and GIS methodologies to offer new visual and spatial histories of race, ethnic belonging, migration, and community succession in Hartford, Connecticut. Nadia Sims Nadia Sims is a Manchester based poet spreading her message of grace across CT, NY and MA. The Princeton graduate is the proud author of “A Soft Place to Land”, “We Know the Dark” and “Apostle, Interrupted.” Godfrey Simmons Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. New England HartBeat Ensemble: My Children! My Africa!, The Trump Card and Possessing Harriet; Hartford Stage: It’s A Wonderful Life: A Radio Play, All My Sons, and Two Trains Running (CT Critics Nom); TheaterWorks Hartford: The Old Settler, Circus Fire; Chester Theatre: Mr. Joy (Berkie Award); Silverthorne Theatre: Bulrusher. Off-Broadway Epic Theatre Ensemble: A More Perfect Union, Widowers’ Houses (co-adapted), Einstein’s Gift, MacBeth; Playwrights Horizons: Betty’s Summer Vacation; Primary Stages: The Old Settler (Audelco Award); Working Theater: Free Market. Theatre Companies HartBeat Ensemble, Hartford—Artistic Director; Civic Ensemble, Ithaca, NY—Co-Founder; Epic Theatre Ensemble—former Producing Artist in charge of New Artist Development; Ensemble Studio Theatre—Lifetime Member. Teaching Current: Trinity College—Visiting Lecturer; Cornell University, Binghamton University, John Jay College, Marymount Manhattan College, UConn Hartford. Gerry Williams Gerry Williams is currently the weekday morning host for WIHS Radio in Middletown Connecticut. He conducts weekly interviews for the WIHS Journal News And Public Affairs program.He graduated from the Connecticut School Of Broadcasting in 2006. His Passions are the things of God, family, the performing arts, Stand Up Comedy, fishing and Raider football. Ysanne Ysanne has a way of offering an experience to the audience in many different perspectives. From opening up for Juelz Santana to playing “Motormouth Maybelle” in Dean College production Hairspray, there is no stage Ysanne can’t dominate! As a performer at Six Flags New England Amusement Park Ysanne was cast as the original actress to play the role of “Cleo” in the debut of Graveyard Groove in 2014, where she performed in front of nearly 10,000 people that season alone. Fall of 2021 Ysanne played in a one woman show about the one and only Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grille at The Rep in Porthsmouth, NH. Sponsored by Travelers and the Greater Hartford Arts Council. Free museum access during Long Weekend is sponsored by as part of the America 250 | CT Commemoration