Westport, Connecticut, has long been one of the wealthiest towns in Connecticut. It probably still ranks as one of the wealthiest towns in the country, especially given the recent migration of New Yorkers fleeing the chaos in nearby New York City.
A recent page 1 article in my local newspaper, the CT Post, indicated that a complaint had arisen about a “Eurocentric” historical marker outside Westport’s Town Hall. The complaint was lodged by Ramin Ganeshram, executive director of Westport’s Museum for Culture and History, who noticed that the marker referred to the “first white settlement here in 1648,” but did not mention “the contributions—or explanation—of indigenous people or enslaved Africans.”
Ganeshram went on to explain that the marker omitted the fact that “the town was built largely through the forced labor of indigenous and African slaves.”
According to Ganeshram there may have been indigenous people in southwestern Connecticut for 7500 years, but they built no town or Museum of Culture and History. Even if indigenous natives were captured in battle, they were of no use as slaves or laborers. Sad to say, the colonists resorted to exchanging them for slaves of African descent in the West Indies.
There is no doubt that there were African slaves in Connecticut during the Colonial period, but it is a ridiculous over-statement to say that Westport or any town in Connecticut was built on the forced labor of African slaves. Not only were most of the slaves household servants, but also there were not enough of them to build a town.
The late Dr. Vincent Rosivach of Fairfield University created a database of slaves in Connecticut that listed only nine slaves of African descent in Westport during the whole eighteenth century.
Imported in small numbers from the West Indies to serve as household servants, there can be no doubt that their life in Connecticut was far better than what it was in the sugar cane fields of the West Indies.
To say that Westport or any other town in Connecticut was built on the forced labor of indigenous people or African slaves is not only a gross distortion of history, but also a disservice to the waves of immigrants from Europe who built Westport and most other Connecticut towns.
For example, perhaps a marker should be placed on the Westport Town Hall to commemorate the role of Italian immigrants in building the town. During my working career I had clients in all of the towns along Connecticut’s Southwestern coastline. Practically every town along the coastline had its Italian section where the workers lived who actually did most of the construction work. Even super-rich Greenwich had its Byram section, centered on St. Roch’s church. Saugatuck was the Italian section of Westport whose annual Italian festival attracted thousands during its heyday.
A chess buddy of mine came to this country from Italy after World War II. He had been born in Fiume before the war, but the city was taken over by Communist Yugoslavia after the war. Eventually, his family managed to flee to Italy, and he spent his teen years in a refugee camp. Finally, they managed to emigrate to the USA where he got a job as a laborer with a small construction company. After a while, he decided to go out on his own and become his own boss.
Against all odds, he made the transition and eventually his company became one of the largest construction and home renovation companies in the area. He built thousands of homes and condos throughout Fairfield county. Westport was his prime location and his work can still be seen throughout the town.
It was people like my friend who actually built Westport. They worked for profit but usually harder than any slave. Moreover, their work profited generations to the point where now towns like Westport are exclusive showcases that can afford the luxury of a Museum of Culture and History.
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