CT Freedom Trail Celebration Honoring Constance Baker Motley - CANCELLED BECAUSE OF WEATHER FORECAST FOR Saturday, Oct. 21. Look for us in 2024
The Constance Baker Motley Preserve in Chester, a CT Freedom Trail heritage site, will be honored on Saturday, October 21, 1 - 3 pm, when its popular “Little Rock Nine” hiking trail and newly installed history plaque are dedicated.
The event is part of a celebration of Connecticut’s Freedom Trail that honors exceptional achievements in the struggle for freedom and human rights by the state’s African American community. The state Trail was created by an act of the Connecticut General Assembly in 1995, and now has more than 160 historic sites.
The Chester Preserve, named after New Haven-born Constance Baker Motley (1921-2005), was created in 2017 by the Chester Land Trust. It honors a legendary civil rights attorney, a pioneering federal judge, and a long-time resident of Chester (1965-2005).
Motley’s role in the American Civil Rights movement was central after the 1954 US Supreme Court ruling, Brown v. Board of Education, declared all-white public schools unconstitutional. She became its chief legal enforcer, winning 200 desegregation cases and the admission of Black students in thousands of public schools across the South.
Among her most famous was the 1957 “Little Rock Nine” case where she successfully helped integrate nine Black students into all-white Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas—assisted by 1,000 U.S. Army soldiers. Their use marked the first time since the Civil War that federal troops had been deployed to enforce Black civil rights.
The “Little Rock Nine” students: MinniJean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, Carlotta Walls, 1957
This landmark case gave its name to Chester’s new hiking trail. Its history is told at the Preserve on the new plaque supplied by the Chester Historical Society.
The celebration and dedication take place at 100 Cedar Lake Road, Chester. History program with speakers, light refreshments. All are welcome. Parking is available. The occasion is co-sponsored by the Chester Land Trust and Chester Historical Society. For more information: marta.daniels@snet.net CHECK THIS WEBSITE IN CASE OF INCLEMENT WEATHER