A ceremony honoring the Life and Legacy of Tamar, an enslaved woman who lived at the Hart House in Old Saybrook, was held at the First Church of Christ in Old Saybrook on Tuesday, October 28, 2025. The event featured Pat Wilson Pheanious and Don Perreault, who shared their expertise and personal connections to the study of slavery in colonial Old Saybrook. The ceremony also featured 10 8th-grade volunteers who read original poems, letters, and biographies that they had written. Those readers were: John Kenney (“Tamar’s Forgotten Story”), Kayla Franklin (“Until We Meet Beyond the River”), Hadley Casertano (“They Said” and “In Loving Memory”), Isla Pugliese (“Hidden”), Clara Hurdis (“It’s For Their Own Good” and “The Hart House”), Kyle Citarella (“Tell Me Why”), Kenya Maikowski (“Resilience and Strength”), Samuel Valle (“Tamar’s Connecticut”), Sofia Vieyra (“A Letter to Tamar”), and Gavin Haim (“Tamar’s Legacy”). Finally, the 24-student OSMS 8th-grade Chorus, led by Mrs. Malvezzi, performed the hymns, “Left Every Voice and Sing” and “Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel?” A Witness Stone commemorating the life of Tamar was placed next to her daughter's Witness Stone(Rose Jackson), whose life was celebrated two years ago in a similar ceremony.
It was an amazing event!
