Diane Stroman with Raymond Tatten and Marc Strickland, family members of the late Charles S. Tatten.
ANSONIA — Family members of the city’s first black police officer, Sgt. Charles S. Tatten – the same man that went with a special military contingent to announce the emancipation of slaves in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865 – gathered in Ansonia Wednesday (June 19) for a Juneteenth celebration.
“I hope, up there, that’s he’s proud that this event is happening here today,” said Marc Strickland, of New Haven, the great-great-great-grandson of Tatten.
Raymond Tatten, of Bridgeport, Tatten’s great-great-grandson, was grateful to the city for hosting the event. He touched on the contributions made by Tatten, who held the rank of First Sergeant in the 29th Connecticut Colored Infantry Regiment during the Civil War.
“You have to appreciate the City of Ansonia for doing this, and the fact they would honor Charles Tatten, it’s kind of hard to believe that this is happening,” Tatten said.
Tatten’s delivery of the message, alongside around 2,000 other messengers from the Union Army, heralded the end of slavery for the last enslaved Black people in Texas in 1865. Nearly 160 years later, the anniversary of that message continues to be celebrated as Juneteenth on June 19.
Wednesday’s celebration outside Ansonia City Hall, at Veteran’s Park, drew about 75 people. The crowd gathered on seats beneath large trees, shading them from the sweltering heat. Various local and state officials, including state Rep. Kara Rochelle, state Sen. Jorge Cabrera and neighboring Derby Mayor Joseph DiMartino were on hand for the hour-long celebration.
“Today we celebrate freedom,” said Valley NAACP President Greg Johnson. “Juneteenth is a major, major moving point in history back in 1865, and it was a monumental moment where folks who did not know they were not slaves were informed that they were free human beings.”
Johnson encouraged people to keep fighting for justice and equality. He urged city leaders all over the Valley to continue to bring more people of color into city halls, schools, public departments and more.
“Across the board, we have to do better,” Johnson said. “We need more color in management, administration and on the front lines.”
Juneteenth has been celebrated in various communities since the end of the Civil War, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. In June 2021, Juneteenth – also known as the country’s “second independence day,” according to the museum – was recognized as a federal holiday.
Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti celebrated the day’s legacy while addressing the crowd.
“And now 159 years later, we Ansonians embrace and celebrate this wonderful day, when all of us, every race, of every creed, of every color, stand united and recognize that our humanity is bound by the recognized humanity of our fellow citizens,” Cassetti said.
David Morgan, TEAM, Inc. president and CEO, spoke on how the Valley and the work of the Valley MLK Committee, in particular, is working to ensure equity, justice and opportunity for allt.
Morgan pointed to the strides the Valley has made in recent years in creating a prominent bust of Martin Luther King Jr. which graces the front of Ansonia City Hall. He also spoke about an in-the-works project to create a mural of MLK somewhere on a prominent building in neighboring Derby.
Morgan said the committee is working to create a Valley MLK fund at the Valley Community Foundation to ensure the work of creating busts, murals and other projects to commemorate history lives on. Morgan, speaking to the crowd, asked them to put any and all differences aside on a day celebrating freedom.
“Beyond today, I challenge you to go have lunch today with somebody you don’t know, go have lunch with somebody that doesn’t look like you or doesn’t agree with you or doesn’t share the same values or different cultures,” Morgan said.
Pastor Brian Riley of Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church in Ansonia closed out the program, reading letters of support for Wednesday’s Juneteenth event from U.S. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy. He commended the city and TEAM for its efforts to mark the day.
Those interested in making a donation for the MLK mural and learning more about the project can visit TEAM’s website here.
