Venture Smith Program: Hidden in Plain Sight

On Feb. 23, at 7 pm, the  will host a program on , the legendary 18^thcentury freed black slave who lived and owned land on Haddam Neck and Stonington, CT, and represented an important historical figure in Colonial times with a relevant message for the present. The speakers will be Marta Daniels, a writer and independent historian from Chester, and Dr. Karl Stofko, East Haddam’s Town Historian. 

Smith, who is buried in the First Church cemetery in East Haddam, and whose gravesite is on the CT Freedom Trail, left an important slave Narrative that provides a rare glimpse into slavery as it was practiced in the northern colonies before and after the Revolution. His struggles and final victory over oppression paralleled those of theColonists over the British in the same time period, and his coeval success merits our recognition. 

Smith’s road to freedom in the early Republic, and his ultimate triumph over slavery through land ownership, will be the primary focus of the evening.

Hidden in Plain Sight, a powerpoint presentation, will highlight the recent discovery of Smith’s first land purchase in CT,the precise location of which had been lost for two centuries. Marta Daniels, one of the co-discoverer’s, will discuss thehistorical significance of the land, how it was scientifically located, and why its preservation is important. 

By focusing on Smith’s land acquisition, Daniels’ presentation explores how Venture’s economic, political, social and cultural successes, allowed him to live the American Dream even before there was an America. By his moral authority, social capital, enormous physical strength and hard work, Smith became American’s first black entrepreneur. Once a commodity himself, he successfully learned to achieve mastery over commodity trading in Haddam and Stonington, and, in the ultimate commodity paradigm, used land ownership to re-establish his identity—an identity that the slave trade had taken from him. 

Through the story of Venture Smith, Daniels shows how Connecticut’s history unfolds as part of the founding ofthe early Republic, and continues to reverberate through time, offering a vital and compelling message for us today. Not only did Smith overcome the structural, economic and racial roadblocks that were in place, he succeeded in mastering the means to achieve economic wealth and cultural prominence when everything was set against him to fail. This was a unique achievement for his time, and can be a model for ours.

Preceding the main slide presentation, a brief overview of Smith’s life from birth in Africa in 1728, to his death on Haddam Neck in 1805, will be provided by noted Venture Smith authority, Karl Stofko, East Haddam’s Town Historian.

Date: Thursday, February 23, 2012
Location: Haddam Firehouse, 439 Saybrook Road, Higganum
Time: 7 p.m.
Donation: $5 suggested
Light refreshments

Information: 860-345-2400 or contact@haddamhistory.org

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Marta Daniels is a co-discoverer of Venture Smith’s first 26-acre parcel of land in Stonington, CT. She is a writer and researcher, and the author of several biographies of notable Americans. Her interest in Venture Smith spans two decades and includes her short biography of him, The Life and Times of Venture Smith, written for theStanton-Davis Homestead Museum in Stonington. Her professional career prior to this spans 30 years as executive director of several state and national non-profit organizations in which she led public policy projects for the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Connecticut Humanities Council and the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation. She is the owner of Spiritus Mundi Antiques and lives in Chester, CT.