Every year during February, Kingswood Oxford plans activities to inform students of Black history. However, this year KO decided to approach the subject of Black history differently. Instead of only celebrating during February, KO chose to host a series of webinars with local historian and KO alum Allison Kyff ’14. Students will participate in these webinars in advisory throughout the spring semester.
The inspiration for these webinars originated from Form Five’s Witness Stone projects that students completed in their US history courses. This project was started by history teacher Katie McCarthy and involves students investigating the past of enslaved people who lived in West Hartford. “That project, in particular, has been a game-changer for us to realize so much of the history of West Hartford that we don’t know that we should know,” history Department Chair David Baker said.
The first webinar, held in early February, covered material on voter suppression and the voting rights of Black Connecticut residents from the 18th century to the present. Students in their advisory groups watched a short video created by Ms. Kyff about the history of voter suppression in Connecticut. Advisors then handed out a packet that included questions to discuss and informational graphs regarding voter turnout. Mr. Baker said that he thinks the first webinar was a success. “We got about 10 students interested in planning the next one, which is pretty cool,” he said. “I’ve heard some great feedback from faculty and students.”
The upcoming webinars will also be focused around themes. The second webinar will be about Black triumph stories that are not commonly known. “There are stories and histories worth knowing and that we should honor,” Mr. Baker said, “that are stories of success and or stories of resistance and finding ways to thrive.” This webinar will include the history of Black governors in Connecticut and other success stories that students investigated in their Witness Stone projects. This webinar will be only run by students interested in the topic.
The third and fourth webinars will be held after March break and will cover “feel-good Black narratives.” The final webinar in April is going to be on the power of activism. Since KO has a student-run activism club, Mr. Baker is planning to reach out to them to see if they would like to become involved in the final webinar.
The ultimate goal of these webinars is to inform the KO community, both faculty and students, about local Black history. It the history department’s hope that KO as a community will become more aware that there are still systems intact today that impact Black people. “Hopefully we highlight and plant some seeds in people about the challenges of Connecticut’s history and the complexity of it,” Mr. Baker said, “and also make people aware that there are systems in place that still have an impact on people today.”
