To formally commemorate
the Emancipation Proclamation, the Verdin Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, has been commissioned to cast a 255 pound
bronze bell specifically for Norwich, Connecticut. The Norwich Freedom Bell will be permanently installed in a prominent location
near the City Hall for everyone to see for generations to come.
The Norwich Freedom Bell is intended to pay tribute to, remember, respect and honor all of the people who were forced
into slavery and had no control over the destiny of their life on this earth. It will ring out the hope of a people committed
to the belief that all persons shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.
The existence of the Norwich Freedom Bell will likely gain national attention and make known the connection Norwich
has with Abraham Lincoln, the Freedom Trail and many other aspects of the abolition of slavery.
The actual bell casting will be an event unto itself! We are planning to have the public contribute in the bell-casting
during the 2012 Juneteenth Celebration which is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in
the United States.
