Asher Joseph photo
Otis Johnson, Alder Morrison, Henry Fernandez, and Victoria Stewart at Q House plaza's rededication ceremony.
“I didn’t know your grandfather did all that,” a friend told Victoria Stewart on Thursday evening at the newly rededicated Daniel Y. Stewart Plaza at 197 Dixwell Ave, where a lightbox featuring infographics and images taken by Daniel Stewart is set to be installed to commemorate his legacy.
Honoring Daniel Stewart in the Q House plaza.
Stewart, a pillar in New Haven’s Black history, was a writer, historian, and community leader who was instrumental to the establishment of the Q House, Dixwell’s community center. The plaza adjacent to the former Q House building was named in his honor in 1969, and was recently rededicated to mark the recently reopened Q House’s centennial celebration. The project has been in development since 2019.
Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison opened Thursday’s event, welcoming the 30 attendees to the rededication ceremony. “We had to stand on a lot of shoulders to get the Q House to 100, and Mr. Stewart exemplifies that dedication.”
Morrison reflected on the legacy of the Q House and its role in the Dixwell community, saying, “I was talking to Mr. [Edward] Cherry over here about 1,000 meetings that we had to rebuild this place. I mean, look at this place — every time someone tells me that they’re doing something at the Q House, I think, ‘it was all worth it.’”
The Q House, first established in 1924 before expanding into a second building designed by Cherry in 1969, has been a landmark of the Dixwell neighborhood for the past 100 years. The community center closed in 2003 due to a lack of funding, but reopened with a third building in 2021 after revitalization efforts headed by Dixwell community leaders.
Retired former New Haven Probate Judge Clifton Graves delivered a prayer on behalf of the next-door Dixwell Avenue Congregational United Church of Christ, before turning it over to Dixwell’s “honorary historian,” Charles “Chaz” Warner, to deliver a brief history of Daniel Stewart’s life.
During his time in New Haven, Stewart wrote for several publications including the Chicago Defender, published four books, and played an integral role in developing the Q House.
“Mr. Stewart made known the happenings of African-Americans in New Haven in the thirties and forties… he is a pillar of New Haven who will not be lost to the dustbins of history,” said Warner.
Before Victoria Stewart could conclude the ceremony, attendee Otis Johnson had an impromptu addition to the program.
“My parents were longtime residents of New Haven, and then did everything they could to preserve its history. When I heard about this event, I went digging through their old files and I found this.” Johnson presented to Stewart a program from the Dixwell Consul Banquet on May 8, 1957, which not only named her grandfather as an honoree, but was also signed by that year’s guest of honor, Jackie Robinson.
“I think my grandfather is looking down with a big smile of gratitude and pride. It’s not everyday that you meet someone who wrote four books in five years, and was a journalist, and a community leader, and that’s not the kind of person that you can forget,” said Victoria Stewart at the reception following the ceremony, watching a slideshow of images taken by her grandfather.
“I definitely didn’t get all of his amazing DNA, so it took some maturing for me to realize how impactful his work was. Especially with this rededication, I think the Q House is well on its way to continuing his legacy.”