Neighbors Dance On ​“Dr. Robinson Way”

A seemingly ordinary street corner morphed into a dance floor, a concert hall, and a classroom, in honor of a beloved neighbor and teacher who has made history by remembering it.

Two marching bands and 50 community members gathered at the intersection of Dixwell Avenue and Argyle Street on Saturday morning to unveil a new corner sign declaring the intersection ​“Dr. Ann E. Garrett Robinson Way”.

In September, the Board of Alders formally named that corner after 90-year-old Dr. Robinson: a retired psychologist and professor as well as a lifelong community historian and Dixwell advocate who lives across the street. Robinson was the first Black woman to join the Trinity College faculty, one of the earliest Black women to be a researcher at Yale, and the first Black certified psychological examiner in the New Haven Public Schools system. 

She taught legions of students at Gateway Community College. She wrote musicals and plays. She brought attention to the city’s first known Black resident — an enslaved woman named Lucretia, who, thanks to Robinson, has a corner of her own Downtown.

Robinson made a point of building roots in the historically Black Dixwell neighborhood that has often been dismissed or overlooked — a neighborhood that now permanently bears her name.

“It makes me feel so good to be a New Havener,” she said of the corner naming on Saturday. ​“I am so glad to be part of the trail that leads from where we were, with the Quinnipiac, until now, right here on Dixwell Avenue.”

“We are part of a story,” she added. ​“That story can be better and better.”

To flesh out the beginnings of that story, City Historian Michael Morand came to the celebration equipped with research on the history of the corner itself. He found out that the corner’s earliest residents included a shoemaker and a nurse — fittingly, he said, because Robinson ​“makes us walk” and injects care into her community.

A series of speakers included Mayor Justin Elicker, former alder and soon-to-be state representative Steve Winter, and current alder Troy Streater, who presented Robinson with a citation from the Board of Alders.

Among the listeners was Vanette Lloyd, a former student of Robinson’s. Lloyd, who is now 77, credited Robinson with inspiring her to take on a leadership role in her career as an educator. ​“I always remember seeing such a small-statured lady with so much knowledge,” Lloyd said. ​“Not only did she teach us, she taught us to love learning.”

Soon, the Hillhouse and Amistad marching bands took turns producing a triumphant, intricately-coordinated beat. Their music inspired the multi-generational crowd to fill the street with dancing — including some moves from Dr. Robinson herself, a former baton twirler.

Then, Robinson’s former student and unofficial goddaughter Trina Greene belted a resolute, theatrical song that Robinson wrote as part of a musical when she was younger.

“It’s October… and I wait faithfully for news of my destiny,” Greene sang.

From a seat on her corner, Robinson hummed quietly along.