Ronald Thomas Rendition
Artist's rendering of Lucretia.
We don’t know where in Africa Lucretia was born. We don’t know where she’s buried. We do know where she lived in New Haven — and Ann Garrett Robinson and Steven Winter are working, four centuries later, to make sure her name lives on there.
Lucretia is believed to have been the first Black person to have lived in New Haven. She worked as a slave for then-Gov. Theophilus Eaton shortly after the establishment of New Haven Colony in 1638.
Orange Street didn’t exist then. If it did, the corner of Orange and Elm would have probably been at the center of Eaton’s estate. So Robinson, a retired educator and writer, has joined with Winter, her alder, and other volunteers to gather petitions to rename Orange and Elm “Lucretia’s Corner.”
They need to collect signatures of at least 250 city residents, at least two-thirds of them from the surrounding loosely-defined “neighborhood” of Orange and Elm. Then Winter can submit a resolution to the Board of Alders to rename the street, which would lead to a public hearing and vote.
“Lucretia deserved to be honored,” Robinson said during a conversation on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
“This is a story that needs to be told.”
Lucretia was married to a fellow enslaved person named John Cram. We don’t know what her last name was. We do know she is the first recorded African slave in New Haven, according to Robinson. We know she had many responsibilities and helped keep the Eaton estate running. We know that he at some point freed her, according to Robinson.
That’s more than enough to know she deserves recognition, Robinson said.
“You’ve got 40 people. You had 41 fireplaces. You had all this land. That was Lucretia’s responsibilities,” she noted. “She worked hard and helped to build New Haven” and “was a fierce and unremitting crusader for caring about the aged.”
Her story showed that enslaved African-Americans were involved in the establishment and development of New Haven from the beginning, Robinson noted.
Paul Bass Photo
Steve Winter and Ann Robinson at WNHH FM.
Robinson, a writer and psychology professor with a long history of civic involvement, first learned about Lucretia 25 years ago, when she was invited to help create a museum inside the Prince Hall Masonic Temple on Goffe Street, a site along the Connecticut Freedom Trail which served as the home of the city’s first brick school for “colored children” from 1863 – 1874.
She learned more about Lucretia over the years. In recent years she told her alder, Winter, about Lucretia’s story and suggested the city recognize her.
“I was always after him,” Robinson said. “And he listened!”
“This is a story that really needs to be told,” Winter agreed.
Winter noticed that other alders succeeded in having corners named after old important figures in Connecticut. More recently, amid a national revisiting of the nation’s racial history, including U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s successful quest to have Congress recognize Judge Constance Baker Motley, Winter concluded the time was right for Lucretia’s turn.
Ward 1 Alder Alex Andres Guzhnay has signed up to help spread the word and collect signatures as well.
If you would like to sign or help circulate the petition, contact Winter at 203 – 903-4342; visit the Office of Legislative Services on the second floor of City Hall between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays (or during evening Board of Alders meetings); or email [email protected].
Click above to watch the full interview Ann Garrett Robinson and Steve Winter on WNHH FM's "Dateline New Haven."
Fascinating and so important. Thank you!