Downtown Corner Renamed For City’s First Black Resident

Four centuries after New Haven’s first recorded Black resident left her mark as an activist and enslaved domestic worker, the corner of Elm and Orange is slated to bear her name.

The Board of Alders voted unanimously on Thursday to honor Lucretia, whose last name is unknown, by naming that intersection ​“Lucretia’s Corner.” 

While details about Lucretia’s life are sparse, it’s been documented that Lucretia was enslaved by Theophilus Eaton, the governor of New Haven Colony at the time, in the mid-17th century. Eaton had a household of at least 30 people, located in the vicinity of what’s now Orange and Elm Streets, which Lucretia kept running. Later in her life, she was freed from slavery and became an advocate for the rights of elderly enslaved people.

Local psychology professor and writer Ann Garrett Robinson has spent 25 years researching Lucretia. In recent months, she enlisted her alder, Newhallville/Prospect Hill/Dixwell’s Steve Winter, in championing the corner naming.

The team gathered a required 250 signatures, at least two-thirds of which came from the corner’s neighborhood, before bringing the matter before the Board of Alders.

“We seek to honor her place in New Haven’s history,” Winter said to his colleagues on Thursday evening. Lucretia’s labor ​“likely included much clothes washing and caring for the governor’s household.” Lucretia ​“increasingly agitated for the better treatment of the enslaved elderly,” he added.

“We are so happy to be a part of history,” reflected Garrett Robinson after the meeting’s conclusion. ​“I love New Haven even more, because it broadens its perspective and widens its circle. Lucretia is finally in the circle.”

Having successfully garnered recognition for Lucretia’s contributions to New Haven, Garrett Robinson made sure to recognize the group of people who helped advocate and collect signatures for the corner: Alders Winter, Eli Sabin, and Alex Guzhnay, as well as George Robinson, R.J. Robinson Thomas, Alberta Witherspoon, Alan Gales, Joy Flynn, Dorthula Green, Amy Smedley, Quinn Melton, Deacon Prince Davis, Sharon Davis, and Trina Bostic-Greene.