NEW HAVEN >> The first African American appointed as ambassador to Haiti, Ebenezer D. Bassett, will be honored Saturday in celebration of Freedom Trail Month.

Bassett was born in 1833, son and grandson of leaders of Derby. He was the first black student accepted at New Britain’s State Normal School (now Central Connecticut State University) and was principal of Philadelphia’s Institute for Colored Youth, which became Cheney University, the nation’s first historically black college. He lived in New Haven for many years.

Speakers will include Mayor Toni N. Harp, Marian O’Keefe, a preservation consultant, and Carl Lovitt, provost of CSCU. The ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Grove Street Cemetery with a reception following in Jean Pope Park, next to the cemetery.

For more information, call 203-387-0370 or email Amistad.nai@rcn.com.