History

The year 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the Windsor Freedom Trail.

In 1995, the Connecticut General Assembly established September as Connecticut Freedom Trail Month. Numerous sites across the state were subsequently designated as Connecticut Freedom Trail sites to honor the heritage and contributions of Connecticut’s African Americans, including locations associated with the Amistad case and the Underground Railroad. The Freedom Trail includes monuments, gravesites, homes, and other structures, as well as individuals who symbolize concepts of freedom, civil rights, African American resilience, and human dignity.

In January 1996, two Windsor sites were designated as part of the original list of Connecticut Freedom Trail sites: the Joseph Rainey House and the Palisado Cemetery/Nancy Toney gravesite. Soon after, the leadership team of the Connecticut Freedom Trail organized a Freedom Trail Relay Run, which took place on Saturday, September 27, 1996, with runners from Bloomfield, Farmington, Hartford, and Windsor, Connecticut, culminating at Bushnell Park in Hartford.

The Windsor Freedom Trail Relay Run kicked off Windsor’s leg of the statewide relay with runners carrying a symbolic lantern, beginning at the Archer Memorial African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Zion Church on Hayden Station Road at 5:30 a.m. A brief history presentation of the church and its historic cemetery was given by Mr. Alfred Narcisse, who served for many years as the church’s historian. The initial plan had been to begin the relay at the Joseph Rainey House on Palisado Avenue. However, Mr. Narcisse insisted that the relay should begin at the A.M.E. Zion Church because of its rich African American history within the Hayden Station neighborhood and the broader Windsor community.

The church played a vital role in supporting the religious needs and social life of the African American community, particularly in Windsor’s Hayden Station/Pond Road neighborhood, which experienced significant growth after the Civil War. Rooted in the A.M.E. Zion “Freedom Church” tradition of abolition, civil rights, and social justice, the church became a center of faith, family, fellowship, and communal connection for this growing African American community, and eventually, formally organized in 1887, becoming the first Black church in Windsor.

The Joseph Rainey House, the summer home of the first African American to serve in the nation’s House of Representatives, was the second stop along the relay route. The third stop was Palisado Cemetery, where Nancy Toney—who had been enslaved by the Chaffee and Loomis families—is buried. After presentations on the history of these sites, the Windsor runners continued to the entrance of Keney Park on Windsor Avenue in Windsor, where they passed the symbolic lantern to runners from Hartford, who continued the relay through their city to Bushnell Park.

Although the Archer Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church and cemetery were not included on the original list of Connecticut Freedom Trail sites, Mr. Alfred Narcisse took the necessary steps to add both the church and cemetery to the Windsor and Connecticut Freedom Trails in 1997. He and his wife, Patricia, then served as chairs of the Windsor Freedom Trail until their passing in 2021 and 2022.

Riverside Cemetery became the next Windsor site added to the Connecticut Freedom Trail in 2002, honoring African American Civil War veterans buried there. Additional African American Civil War veterans are also buried in Palisado Cemetery. In 2007, another Windsor site was added to the Connecticut Freedom Trail: the William Best House on Hayden Station Road. Mr. Best was the first African American police officer hired in Windsor. In April 2026, a seventh Windsor Freedom Trail site was added to the Connecticut Freedom Trail: the U.S. Colored Regiments Memorial Monument. The monument honors the legacy of the African American Civil War veterans who answered the call to serve as volunteers during one of the nation’s most defining conflicts. It commemorates not only for their military service, but also their courageous fight for freedom, dignity, manhood, and the rights of citizenship. The monument was erected and unveiled on May 9, 2026, at Windsor Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

Since its inaugural year, the 7.4-mile Relay Run had ended at the entrance of Keney Park. This route remained unchanged for several years after the initial event that operated as a joint Relay Run with Hartford ended. Then, the route was shortened, and the event was renamed the Windsor Freedom Trail Run. Initially, the new run route ended at Windsor Town Hall. In 2002, the route was revised again to a 3.9-mile run ending at Riverside Cemetery. In September 2012, the Windsor Freedom Trail Walking Tour was introduced as a second annual event to accommodate individuals who wished to participate but were unable to join the run. The run is held annually on the third Saturday of September, and the Walking tour is held annually on the fourth Saturday of September.

In addition to the annual Windsor Freedom Trail Run and the Windsor Freedom Trail Walking Tour, over the years, the freedom trail team has sponsored, supported, and collaborated on a variety of educational programs and activities that celebrate and raise awareness of the journey and achievements of African Americans.

These programs and activities have included a trip to the Connecticut 29th Monument Dedication Ceremony in New Haven, Connecticut; Gospel festivals on the Windsor Town Green; a Summer Winds Freedom Gospel Festival collaboration, featuring gospel artist CeCe Winans; a Windsor Freedom Trail March and Family Day; Black Inventions exhibits with Windsor schools; the Windsor Freedom Trail skit, A Journey Through Time; an archaeology presentation by Dr. Warren Perry; a 20th Year Windsor Freedom Trail Anniversary Family Day on the Windsor Town Green; a Windsor Freedom Trail Documentary; a 25th Year Windsor Freedom Trail Anniversary Camp Meeting and Activity Day; the Connecticut Freedom Trail Quilting Bee, the 1998 Connecticut Freedom Trail Bicycle Tour, Juneteenth Celebrations in Windsor, the CT River and Routes Festival in Windsor, and participation in a collaborative project at Archer Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church with Central Connecticut State University’s Anthropology Program.

The Windsor Freedom Trail will continue to serve the community by preserving and sharing the stories of African American history, heritage, resilience, and the ongoing journey toward freedom for generations to come.