On Sunday, West Hartford educator, historian, and activist Tracey Wilson passed away after a years-long battle with melanoma.
“Tracey was just one of the most inspiring people I have ever met,” said longtime friend Anne Stanback. “She believed in equity and fairness for everyone, and she didn’t just talk about it. She acted on it every day and we need to emulate how she lived her life.”
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WATCH HEREWilson is known for her LGBTQ+ advocacy, civil rights activism, and her pursuit of equality. The 70-year-old leaves behind four children, a grandchild, and wife Beth Bye.
“The outpouring of support, has been, just blown our family away,” said Bye. “There’s been so much, and it just speaks to how she was a quiet leader in this community.”
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SIGN UP Bye, who is also the state’s early childhood commissioner, married Wilson in 2008. The couple was the first same-sex couple to get married in the state.
“Tracey wanted to be the first one married in West Hartford and we thought that would be cool,” said Bye. “It turned out it was the first marriage performed in the state, so it felt great.”
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Wilson went on to be a champion for LGBTQ+ activism, but her advocacy didn’t end there.
“She was so much more,” said Stanback. “To call her an activist I think is accurate and it’s not enough.”
She put a spotlight on the Witness Stones Project, which highlights enslaved individuals, and she created curriculum at Conard High School in West Hartford to teach African American history.
“Tracey was a changemaker and a changemaker for the right things,” said Paul Vicinus Jr., who is the current Superintendent of West Hartford Public Schools and worked alongside Wilson. “To be able to be open to other perspectives -- that’s really who Tracey was as a person.”
Wilson worked alongside Vicinus as a teacher in West Hartford, where she taught students for nearly 40 years. People who knew her say she aimed to make her classroom a welcoming and open environment.
“To have even one teacher where a young person can feel that they can be their authentic self, makes all the difference,” said Stanback.
Wilson's funeral is set for March 6 at the Meeting House of First Church of West Hartford at 11 a.m. and will be followed by a reception at the West Hartford Town Hall Auditorium.
