Newtown Historical Society Digs For African American Roots

The African diaspora in America that began nearly 400 years ago lost much of its cultural roots over that long expanse of time. Those traits that did survive are often found in folk art and music; only rarely do we have a chance to observe the harder artifacts of archeology, and still more rare is the opportunity to examine architecture and the domestic objects of daily life. In its first program of Newtown’s Tercentennial year, the Newtown Historical Society will feature Town Historian Dan Cruson’s first public presentation of his findings from archeological excavations at the homestead of Cato Freedom, a slave in Newtown who received his freedom about 1784. The program will be Monday, January 10, at 7:30, in the Community Room of the Booth Library, 25 Main Street (route 25) .

Cato had been a slave belonging to Moses Platt. On Mr Platt’s death, his widow Hannah inherited Cato, and set him free soon after; Cato adopted his surname in commemoration. Cato was soon able to purchase a small lot in Newtown and build a house. This house stayed in the Freedom family for more than 100 years, and even after subsequent changes in ownership the house has remained largely in its original form. The original building, before Cato added a kitchen wing, measured 24 feet square, perhaps a survival of an old African tradition of building in units of 12 feet rather than the European standard of 16 feet. Working both outside and inside the house, Mr Cruson has found a number of artifacts reflecting on the professional and personal lives of Cato Freedom and his descendants, including African spiritual beliefs that survived immersion in the dominant white American culture of New England.

In addition to being Newtown’s first official town historian, Dan Cruson is a past president of the Newtown Historical Society, and is a member of its Board of Trustees. He is also a past president of the Connecticut Archeological Society. He has for many years been a teacher of local history and anthropology at Joel Barlow High School in Redding, and is the author of several works on the history of Newtown. While he is often called upon to lecture before organizations in the area, this will be his first presentation of his experiences in excavating in and around this extremely interesting and important black history site, Newtown’s Cato Freedom House.

All Newtown Historical Society programs are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served following the presentation. For further information, call the society at 426-5937.