AMENIA — Seeking to build on the legacy of commitment to inter-racial progress that underpins the significant history of the Troutbeck conference center in Amenia, the 2023 Troutbeck Symposium was held over three days, celebrating the year-long work of 14 local schools.
Students in area independent and public schools had set out to explore the many aspects of the history of racial, religious and ethnic divides, the forgotten narrative of the marginalized. This was the second symposium following last year’s event.
Over three days from Sunday, April 30 to Tuesday, May 2, the students’ work was a focal point of the symposium that also presented lectures by renowned educators who explored the well-known, little-known and forgotten narratives of the American experience for Black citizens, Native Americans and other minority populations.
Troutbeck’s early owners, Amy and Joel Spingarn, had engaged with and supported the early history of the NAACP, when their estate had hosted the Amenia Conferences of 1916 and 1933, establishing the enduring legacy of social reform.
“I’m trying to learn this history along with my students,” said Rhonan Mokriski, history teacher at Salisbury School at the opening session on Sunday, April 30, adding that he and his students are engaging with themes of accessibility and sustainability, amplifying the stories of all people who contributed to the building of our country.
“Why do we still have these inequalities,” asked Christina Proenza-Coles of the University of Virginia, speaking at the Sunday opening. “We are trying to retell the narrative of American history to illustrate the best of our ideals.”
Helping to establish context and a definition of place, Proenza-Coles provided an outline of the centuries of the history of the Western Hemisphere and its substantial population of indigenous peoples, nations and tribes. She also covered the influx of the Spaniards and their influence on the Caribbean culture, the migration of Africans to South America and the history of slavery in North America.
Many of the early western cowboys were Black or Hispanic, she noted.
How people over history strive for and achieve their freedom was a focus of the narrative, Proenza-Coles said.
“White people are trapped in a history they don’t comprehend,” she said, suggesting that people reach toward the freedom achieved by knowing more, paying attention to the detail afforded by historical reality.
A feature of the Sunday session was “Cotton,” a documentary created by Sharon Center School students to tell the story of local artist Katro Storm’s guest teaching at their school about cotton as a plant, cotton as a crop, and the relationship between cotton and slavery in the history of the southern states. He also guided the young students in interpreting that history in individual art projects.
“This work is not academic; it’s the work of recovery,” Mokriski told the audience. “Students sought the ignored stories seeking a more open story, a new vision of history,” he added.
The Civil Rights Act of the 1964 was not the end result, Mokriski said, explaining that there was then an obsession with the idea of racial integration, the idea that proximity to white people was the overarching goal. It was not, he said. The goal was equal treatment and the rights afforded by freedom, a struggle that continues to the present day.
“We will be looking to you,” Mokriski told the students. “Take this project experience and reimagine your space and you will see that it shapes the trajectory of our nation.”
Student-produced documentaries were part of the “Coloring our Past” project initiated through The Salisbury School and now extended to all 14 of the participating schools. Topics explored local stories linked to Black and Indigenous narratives where students interacted with local and area historical societies to uncover fragmentary evidence and do the detective work to piece those puzzles together, shaping the stories of courage and commitment.
A highlight of the symposium was the participation of Prof. Hasan Kwame Jeffries of The Ohio State University who offered his thoughts on each of the schools’ presentations.
Jeffries said, “We need to teach the true history of the past. It has to be taught across the curriculum. People need to study the place of activists and their positive effect over time.”
One documentary produced by Housatonic Valley Regional High School students had explored the local connection to the 1958 state action to close schools in Little Rock, Arkansas, rather than to integrate them, leading two Black students to be invited into a Lakeville home and welcomed into HVRHS to continue their high school years and graduate.
On Monday, May 1, students from The Salisbury School presented the story of “someone who was meant to be forgotten.” The story of Rachel Cesar, an Algonquian sachem needed to be told, but it was made difficult by “the elusiveness of the lost detail of the historical narrative.” A sachem was a high-ranking representative, a king, elected by the tribe rather than by inheritance or appointment.
In a departure from the documentary genre, the young students from Cornwall Consolidated School had chosen to create a “Crankie Theater,” telling their story of Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School using a scroll powered by a hand crank. It proved to be a crowd favorite.
Both guest educators offered high praise for the Troutbeck Symposium. Proenza-Coles proclaimed it to be the best symposium she had ever attended in her entire career of attending innumerable symposia, and Prof. Jeffries said that he intended to brief his brother, House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), on the whole Troutbeck Symposium experience.
“It’s an example of what can happen when a community gets behind and supports its teachers,” Jeffries said. “This is a model of possibility,” he added.
Region One Superintendent Lisa Carter spoke on Tuesday, May 2, praising the project.
“This symposium is really important, where all area students can come together as a community,” Carter said.
A selection of projects from the symposium will be on display in Salisbury Association’s Academy Building from May 6 to June 3. Representing the Salisbury Association at the symposium was Executive Assistant Lou Bucceri.
Students and faculty delegations representing 14 area public and independent schools assembled on Monday, May 1, at the 2023 Troutbeck Symposium in Amenia. Photo by Leila Hawken
A featured speaker at the final day of the 2023 Troutbeck Symposium was Michael Morand, director of community engagement, at Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library in New Haven, Conn. Photo by Leila Hawken
Sophia DeDominicis Fitzpatrick, 18, a junior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, addresses the crowd during the Salisbury “No Kings” rally.
In Salisbury, organizers began early on the lawn of the White Hart Inn, placing signs along Route 44 and setting up a hay wagon to serve as a bandstand. They also strung a line of pennants where attendees were invited to write messages.
As roughly 400 people gathered ahead of the program, many shared their reasons for attending, citing a wide range of concerns and frustrations. Several pointed to what they described as growing injustice, while others focused on war, government spending and broader national priorities.
About 400 people gather in Salisbury for a “No Kings” rally on March 28. Aly Morrissey
“It’s the injustice of it all,” said Kay Blass of Falls Village.
John McGuire, aVietnam War veteran from Canaan, said he opposed the latest war.
“I’m active in the Veterans of Foreign War and would like to see no new members of that organization.”
He also noted with frustration, “We can spend loads of money on missiles, but we can’t support poor people.
Stephen Furnstand of Sharon was brief. “There are multiple problems, but the overarching one for me is corruption.”
Sophia De Boer, one of the organizers, opened the program by engaging the crowd with a call-and-response, asking who cares about issues such as rising health care costs, immigrants’ rights and victims of sex trafficking. The crowd answered in unison: “Not this president.”
State Rep. Maria Horn (D-64) of Salisbury, told the crowd that she was energized by the smiles, camaraderie and sense of compassion she saw in the crowd.
She said the Connecticut General Assembly is focused on addressing high prices and ensuring fair elections amid developments in Washington. “We need to make a change in November and forever after,” she said.
Amy Lake, another organizer, recited the Declaration of Independence, inviting the audience to fill in key phrases, while Deron Bayer listed the document’s 27 grievances against King George III and asked, “Does that sound familiar?”
Salisbury “No Kings” rally.Aly Morrisey
The Rev. Heidi Truax attended with her dog Rosso, who wore a coat reading “Love Wins.”
She said the message serves “as a reminder that in the long run, cruelty burns itself out, fearmongering eventually collapses...We’re here to say this country does not belong to a would-be king. It belongs to the people. And we will keep standing up, speaking out and caring for one another.”
The event’s youngest speaker, Sophia DeDominicis Fitzpatrick, 18, a junior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, spoke about the importance of advocacy and human rights.
“Over the years, I’ve learned more and more each day of the importance of standing up for others and yourself, and speaking out on human rights. That is why I am here speaking today. What’s going on in our country is unconstitutional and wrong. The women our age see what is going on and we are taking a stand against it. We are strong.”
Fitzpatrick was there with several other teens.
James Speyer of Sharon, a member of Lawyers Defending American Democracy, delivered an impassioned speech, opening by addressing the crowd as “fellow radical left lunatics.”
He invoked the “No Kings” theme to describe those who, he said, respect the Constitution, exercise their First Amendment rights to assemble, value kindness over cruelty, and call out what he characterized as unprecedented corruption in a democratic society.
He urged attendees to recognize what is happening in the country and respond by saying, “No. This will not stand on our watch.”
Speyer said that while there is a new attack on democracy every day, people cannot dim their outrage or mute their voices because, as he put it, “every belief is on the line.”
Thanking participants, he added, “It means more than you think. Years after this madness has passed—and it will pass—your grandchildren will ask you: ‘What did you do when the fascists were on the march?’ And you will be able to say, ‘I did not look the other way. I was not a bystander. I made my voice heard.’”
More than 300 people gather at the intersection of Routes 7 and 4 in Cornwall Bridge for a “No Kings” rally.Ruth Epstein
Cornwall
A similar scene unfolded in nearby Cornwall, where another group of residents gathered to make their voices heard.
Organizer Dick Sears looked out over the crowd at the triangle where Routes 7 and 4 meet in Cornwall Bridge and expressed his satisfaction with the turnout.
“Our counter believes we have more than 300 here,” he said.
Rallies have been held in the town every Saturday for a year now, he said proudly.
“We’re showing solidarity with others.”
A couple of participants continually circled the area, chanting, “Show me what democracy looks like” and “Hey, hey, ho, ho. Oligarchs have got to go.”
Barbara Wolkowitz called Donald Trump “a totally scary president,” while her husband, Richard Wolkowitz, is upset by what he views as the lawlessness of Donald Trump. “And his party won’t stand up to him.”
Rebecca Ridgway said she wants peace, not war. “We need a better future for everyone.”
Residents line both sides of Main Street in Kent, waving signs during a “No Kings” rally.Ruth Epstein
Kent
In Kent, a similarly strong turnout brought residents to Main Street to demonstrate their concerns.
There was a strong showing with rally goers waving signs and getting honks of support from passersby.
Father-and-son team Dan and Ben Foster of Sharon have been going to protests around the area every Saturday. “Sitting around home is not getting us anywhere,” said Dan Foster. “What got me out is the threat of ethnic cleansing,” Ben Foster said. “They want you to hate anyone who isn’t white.”
Rick Morgan and his wife, Pat, came from Pawling, NY. “I want no more lies, no more crazy,” he said.
Patricia Oris of Kent said she was there to protest “millions of issues. I also like connecting with people who feel the same way.”
Estimates had the turnout at over 250.
Protesters at Fountain Square in Amenia on March 28.Aly MOrrissey
Amenia
Meanwhile, in nearby Amenia, more than 200 people filled Fountain Square, as organizer Kim Travis pointed to growing momentum across rural communities and concern about the direction of the country.
“And we’re not stopping,” Travis said.
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