Church & Town History of Slavery

As part of our commitment to learning and growing in our understanding of justice issues, and since our church is almost 300 years old, we wanted to research our own history with slavery. 

What we found is that members of the Rocky Hill Congregational Church as well as others in Rocky Hill, owned enslaved persons. There is evidence remaining today that enslaved persons were segregated in the balcony area known as the "slave gallery." A portion of that area can be found in the balcony behind a door next to the choir loft entrance.

In 2024, we mounted a plaque near this area in solemn remembrance of the enslaved persons who were held behind these walls.

For more information:

• Slave Gallery: A 2023 presentation based on newspaper articles and Rocky Hill Congregational Church documents

• Slavery and Wethersfield by Martha Smart

• The Enslaved in Rocky Hill, 1712–1808: A well-researched list of the names of enslaved persons garnered from church records of births, deaths, and marriages in the parish

Juneteenth

Rocky Hill Congregational Church celebrates Juneteenth, the date when news of their freedom finally reached slaves in Galveston, Texas, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth became a state holiday in Texas in 1980, and other states followed suit. In 2021, Juneteenth was made a federal holiday. The day is also celebrated outside the United States to recognize the end of slavery and to honor the culture and achievements of African Americans.