Drawn Here: Stories from Hartford’s North End
Connecticut Museum of Culture and History
Hartford
Feb. 12, 2026
It’s not every day that I get to be part of history, instead of just writing about it.
That day came with the opening of the brand new exhibition Drawn Here: Stories from Hartford’s North End at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History. I was interviewed for the project late last year, and I’d been eagerly anticipating the opening of the exhibition.
Drawn Here tells the 400-year story of the North End, which has seen immigration and migration from Europe, the Caribbean, and the American South. Some of the people were passing through; others made that part of the Capitol city their home. While most of my life has been spent in Hartford, I consider myself a North End migrant. I didn’t move to the North End until I was an adult. I spent eight years off of Vine Street and Main Street, and those years were as formative to me as any other part of my life.
The exhibit is the result of two years of effort by the staff at the museum, led by Director of Exhibitions Katie Heidsiek. The project encompasses art from five artists, exhibits featuring items from across the North End’s history that were donated by more than twenty organizations, and oral history from 20 current and former North End residents, including yours truly.
The museum partnered with student volunteers from Classical Magnet School, who conducted the oral interviews. Three of the students spoke about their experience working on the project, including Kiara Hill, the brilliant young woman who interviewed me. She said that the project encouraged her to plan to double major in English and Art History when she goes to college.
“Hartford gets such a bad rap all the time, and now we get to take control of this narrative,” she said to a standing room only crowd. “We deserve to have our own stories told, and we can’t give up on each other because that’s where we lose.”
The oral histories are only a part of the overall exhibit, which covers most of the museum’s third floor. Another standout element of the exhibit is the original art contributed by the talented team. The walls of the exhibit were covered by stories told through comic book-style art that leapt out at viewers. Tyrone “Zerosnake” Motley contributed A Family Story, which follows the fictional story of the Smith family on their journey from Georgia to Hartford. The story resonates with me, as my mother made the same journey from Sylvester to Hartford.
Of course, I couldn’t leave without finding my own little piece of the exhibit. There were several listening booths dispersed throughout the exhibit. I found myself finally, riffing about the ways in which pollution impacts the lives of the predominately people of color who call the North End home.
The North End was my home, and it was where I raised my son for the first half of his life. I’m thankful to the CT Museum and all the people who worked so hard to capture the history and importance of a part of Hartford that means so much to me.
NEXT
Jamil travels to East Hartford to check out a new gallery featuring tattoo art.
