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Episode 2: A family learns their ancestors were enslaved in Connecticut

Pat Wilson Pheanious and Cheo Hodari Coker interviewed at Hyland House in Guilford, Connecticut. Unforgotten: Connecticut's Hidden History of Slavery. Still Image. Montros and Phillis Segment.
Meghan Lyden
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Connecticut Public
Pat Wilson Pheanious and Cheo Hodari Coker interviewed at Hyland House in Guilford, Connecticut. Unforgotten: Connecticut's Hidden History of Slavery. Still Image. Montros and Phillis Segment.

It started with a phone call from a stranger. A teacher told Pat Wilson Pheanious that her ancestors were enslaved – in Connecticut. They included Candace, who in the late 1700s worked in what is now the Hyland House Museum in Guilford. The discovery “gave me a family I didn’t know that I had,” Wilson Pheanious said. She describes it as “the best gift of my life.”

In our second podcast episode, reporter/producer Diane Orson and editorial consultant and curator Frank Mitchell discuss what slavery looked like in Connecticut. Mitchell talks about recovering family stories, DNA research and ethical questions that arise when restoring ancestral histories.

Click here to learn more, including videos, photos and digital stories.

Support the project at ctpublic.org/donate

This podcast was produced by Cassandra Basler.

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Diane Orson is a special correspondent with Connecticut Public. She is a longtime reporter and contributor to National Public Radio. Her stories have been heard on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Here and Now; and The World from PRX. She spent seven years as CT Public Radio's local host for Morning Edition.