By Andreina Barajas Novoa Often, we might lose a city’s most prominent figures to time. Such was the case for the city of New Haven’s prominent engineer, activist, and “Black governor,” William Lanson. In order t o recognize Lanson and his extensive contributions to New Haven, the Amistad Committee, a Connecticut-based non-profit that educates the public about African American history, and the New Haven City Plan Department coordinated the construction of a statue to Lanson, writes reporter Simisola Fagbemi in the Yale Daily News . Lanson’s contributions to the city of New Haven often go unnoticed. According to the Connecticut History site, “in 1810, Lanson was the only contractor able to complete the complicated 1,350-foot extension to the town’s Long Wharf.” From working on the Farmington Canal and other building contracts, Lanson was able to purchase more property, and such status gave him the right to vote, writes Katherine J. Harris in the book African American Connecticut Explore...

 B y Derrick Arnold Immortalized in bronze, the statue of Nathan Hale sits outside of Connecticut Hall at Yale University.  Hale is depicted with one arm to the side and the other behind his back, indicating the nature of his work.  Hale fought and gave his life for the American cause during the Revolution, he was caught and executed by the British.  Hale is now seen as an American hero to many, he is a martyr in the cause for American independence. He serves as an archetypical young, loyal hero in the cause for freedom. However, it was not always this way.  Prior to the late 1800s, Hale was relatively unknown, during his life he received no praise for the work he did, he was buried in an unmarked grave by the British.  However, by the work of a few different individuals and groups, the memory of Nathan Hale was able to be revived. Nathan Hale’s New Haven Statue, erected in 1907, is one of the first instances of Hale being memorialized in this way (only pre...

By Emily Lange     You ’ re  sitting at the stop sign on West Park Avenue in New Haven ready to turn right onto Whalley Avenue. You look over to you r  left and see a structure with a sort of barrier  around it. What is it? It’s the Holocaust Memorial that i s dedicated to the  six million Jews that  were brutally murdered as part of the Nazi's Final Solution during World War Two . It is  for us to remember and grieve this loss. This memorial is thus a constant reminder of the tragedy that happened in hopes that something similar never again occurs.   While you might just see a structure when you look at it, there is so much more to  the memorial than may originally meet the eye.  Originally, the design was supposed  to  only  be six  small  trees in the shape of the Star of David .   However,  architect Augustus Franzoni, who was not Jewish, wanted to donate his time  and  skill   t...