Pat Wilson Pheanious, JD, MSW, directs the Stopping Stones Program at Historic New England. A Connecticut native who attended Ashford Elementary and EO Smith, she earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in law and social from UConn.  Pat taught graduate courses at St. Joseph College before joining state service in 1988,.  She  was appointed Commissioner of Social Services in 1999 and served until retirement in 2007).  Pat returned to public service in 2018 to represent Ashford, Tolland, and Willington in the Connecticut House (2018–2021).

Research in 2017 traced generations of her father’s family enslaved in colonial Guilford, inspiring her leadership in the Witness Stones Project™—she became its board chair in 2019, executive director in 2024, and in August 2025 integrated the Project into Historic New England as the Stopping Stones educational program.

Pat will describe her work with Historic New England’s Stopping Stones program to recover, honor, and share Black history. Using family documents and photographs, she will focus on the meaning of the “Tuskegee Army/Air Force Experiment”, and  on the early life and legacy of her father, Lt. Col. Bertram Wilson—a decorated Tuskegee Airman who served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, later worked at UConn as Director of Personnel, and co-founded Perception House. The talk will include recorded recollections from his flight training and combat, video excerpts, poetic tributes, and personal memories illustrating his lessons in responsibility, patriotism, and courage.