Lucretia was the first individual of African birth or descent whose residency in New Haven can be definitively documented. (No surname is known -- she appears simply as "Lucretia" in early records.) The first known enslaved person in the New Haven Colony, she was owned by Theophilus Eaton, co-founder of the New Haven Colony and Governor between 1639 and 1658. Eaton's home, where Lucretia lived and worked, was located a block from the Green near the corner of Elm and Orange Street. 

Little is known about Lucretia's life. Records show that Lucretia was married to an enslaved man named John Cram. In 1646 she gained her freedom when Eaton took the unusual step of freeing his slaves. Following their emancipation, John and Lucretia lived the rest of their lives on two acres of land that had been subdivided from Eaton's estate.

Slavery in the New Haven Colony was not uncommon. Both founders of the Colony, Eaton and clergyman Rev. John Davenport, owned slaves, as did many other wealthy and prominent individuals. Enslaved populations included both Native Americans and Africans. Slavery was not fully outlawed in Connecticut until 1848.

Culminating a decades-long effort to recognize Lucretia by psychology professor and community leader Dr. Ann Garrett Robinson, the corner of Elm and Orange was officially re-named "Lucretia's Corner" in November 2022.

Text source courtesy Aaron Goode and photo from the New Haven Independent’s article by Thomas Breen: "Ida Ruth Wells Corner Christened," New Haven Independent, May 10, 2019.