Accomplished Trinity Alumna Tracey Wilson ’76 Passes

Lucy Sheldon ’27

News Editor

On Sunday, Feb. 23, Tracey Wilson, Trinity Class of 1976, passed away. A dedicated educator in West Hartford and LGBTQ+ activist, Wilson made incredible contributions to the Connecticut community. 

Wilson was among the first women to matriculate at Trinity College, earning her Bachelor’s Degree in history and Teaching Certificate in 1976. Until 1969, Trinity College was a single-sex institution that only accepted male students. Wilson went on to earn her Master’s degree and Ph.D. in history from Trinity College and Brown University, respectively. 

After earning her Bachelor’s degree, Wilson began teaching in West Hartford at Talcott Junior High and Conard High School. Wilson worked as a history teacher in Hartford for 38 years. She taught AP U.S. History, focusing on Local History and African American History. Wilson’s focus on African-American history began at Trinity and only furthered during a summer program in West Africa in 1977. 

Beyond the classroom, she continued working with students by organizing movements, facilitating opportunities and advising clubs: Wilson arranged human rights exchange trips for her students to travel to Robben Island, South Africa; she worked with her students to change the stereotyped mascot of Conard High School; she led her students to participate in Empty Bowls to raise money for food-related charities; she also advised the Gay Students Alliance club at her school.

In addition to the work Wilson did for her students, she was also a dedicated historian, always committed to learning more. In 2004, she became West Hartford’s town historian; as town historian, Wilson participated in two initiatives, the Witness Stones Project and the Hidden History Project, to acknowledge the painful and neglected history of enslaved people in West Hartford. Through the Witness Stones Project, two brass plaques were installed in the Old Center Cemetery with the names of enslaved people to commemorate their lives. The Hidden History Project, alternatively, mobilized schools in West Hartford to tell the stories of enslaved people. Students were invited from various schools to participate in a Juneteenth commemoration at Noah Webster Library in West Hartford. Students used primary sources to communicate the accounts of enslaved people. This event involved the audience, as audience members were provided with one to three names of enslaved persons to say aloud. The work Wilson did on the Witness Stones and Hidden History project to document the existence of slavery in West Hartford, CT, ensures the history and stories of enslaved people are never forgotten.

On the day gay marriage was officially legalized in Connecticut, Tracey Wilson and Beth Bye became the first same-sex couple to exchange wedding vows and become wife and wife. Wilson’s wife, Beth Bye, is no less remarkable in her work for Connecticut residents. Bye served in the Connecticut General Assembly for over a decade; from 2007 to 2010, she served in the House, and from 2011 until 2019, she served in the Senate. In 2013, she pioneered the effort to establish the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC), which creates and oversees early childhood care, education, and development programs. Now, she sits as the Commissioner for the OEC.

Tracey’s contribution to her students and the State of Connecticut shall never be forgotten. She leaves behind her four children, grandchild and wife Beth, as well as an extraordinary legacy of commitment and service to preserving history, supporting students and enacting change.