![Part of an October 21, 1884 Hartford Courant article reporting on Ada Brown's murder. The headline says "Murder in Sheldon Street: Ada Brown, a Depraved Woman, Stabbed To Death"](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/7cbf633/2147483647/strip/true/crop/597x458+0+0/resize/880x675!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwnpr%2Ffiles%2F202105%2Fscreen_shot_2021-05-25_at_7.18.35_am.png)
In 1884, a young Hartford woman named Ada Brown was murdered in her home. It made national news, but Ada’s story faded into obscurity. This hour, we learn why a history class at University of Saint Joseph spent the past semester digging into her story, 136 years later.
And we learn what it meant to one of Ada’s descendants.
![Black and white photo of tenemant buildings alongside the Park (Hog) River in Hartford, circa 1895. Laundry hangs on clotheslines across the river in front of ramshackle tenemant buildings.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3580814/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2982x2357+0+0/resize/880x696!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwnpr%2Ffiles%2F202105%2Fpark_river_west_2_1.jpg)
![Sepia photo of Elena Brown as a young woman. She holds her hands up beside her face.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/830cec9/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1963x2420+0+0/resize/880x1085!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwnpr%2Ffiles%2F202105%2FIMG_0993.jpg)
GUESTS:
- Jennifer Cote - Associate Professor of History at University of Saint Joseph
- Lily Stilson - 2021 graduate of University of Saint Joseph, where she majored in history
- Eileen Newman - descendent of Ada Brown
Cat Pastor contributed to this show.