In Keynote Address at The Hartford, Acclaimed Civil Rights Leader Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr., Tells Hartford Community: "We Have Got to Talk!".

The Hartford confers Coexistence Award on Dr. LaFayette at grand opening of Coexistence, an international outdoor art exhibition extolling tolerance

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: HIG) proudly presented Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr., Ed.D, its Coexistence Award in recognition of his lifetime achievement in advancing the principles of peaceful coexistence. The award was given to Dr. LaFayette on May 30 at the opening reception for Coexistence, an internationally recognized outdoor art exhibition celebrating the universal messages of diversity and acceptance. The Hartford is hosting the exhibition on its World Headquarters campus through June 17.

"When we set out to host Coexistence, and to establish a temporary place for this fabulous exhibition here in our city, we also wanted find a person to honor with The Hartford's Coexistence Award whose life of work embodies the themes contained in these images," said Neal S. Wolin, The Hartford's executive vice president and general counsel. "While these images are here with us temporarily, the life's work of Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Jr., is a permanent monument to the hope and dream of coexistence in our country and around the world."

At the event, Dr. LaFayette commented that nonviolence is coming alive now more than ever. "I believe that if we can conquer outer-space and all the challenges it takes to get there, we can also conquer the inner-space between our ears. We can learn to live side by side in peace and harmony," said Dr. LaFayette. "Violence is the language of the inarticulate, we have got to talk. We cannot have a no-talk policy. We have got to talk!"

Dr. LaFayette co-founded the Student National Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960 and has been a Civil Rights Movement activist, minister, educator, and lecturer. He is currently the director for the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies at The University of Rhode Island, an organization that works to help build a world of mutual understanding among people, in which nonviolent processes are used to reconcile conflicts and build community.

In receiving the award, Dr. Lafayette said, "I am very pleased to be here. Since I first stepped on this campus I've actually been overwhelmed. The exhibit itself is inspiring, but I have been deeply moved by your commitment and concern for this community and the world. It's a different kind of insurance. It's a protection of our values. Bringing this exhibition here is a testimony of that deep commitment, feeling and concern."

The reception began outside on the company's landscaped grounds overlooking Asylum Avenue where Coexistence is on public display. About 350 attendees turned out to the event. The exhibition viewing was followed by an indoor program in the company's Wallace Stevens Theatre, where The Hartford's chairman and chief executive officer Ramani Ayer and Neal S. Wolin, executive vice president and general counsel played host to civic and community leaders and Hartford employees. In addition to the presentation of the Coexistence Award, Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez provided remarks, thanking The Hartford for opening the dialogue on diversity, tolerance and coexistence. Another highlight from the evening was the recitation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, "I Have A Dream" speech by Charles Anderson, Grade 4, and Abigail Tryon, Grade 5, from the University of Hartford Magnet School.

In his comments, Dr. LaFayette spoke of his own personal history, living in segregation but knowing that things could be different. Dr. LaFayette recounted how he was arrested 27 times and beaten and left for dead three times during the Civil Rights Movement. An authority on the strategy for nonviolent social change, he was a leader of the Nashville Movement in 1960 and of the Freedom Rides in 1961 and the 1965 Selma Movement. Dr. LaFayette directed the Alabama Voter Registration Project in 1962, and was appointed National Program Administrator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and National Coordinator of the 1968 Poor Peoples' Campaign by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

An ordained minister, Dr. LaFayette earned his B.A. from the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee, and his Ed.M. and Ed.D from Harvard University. He has served on the faculties of Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta and Alabama State University in Montgomery, where he was Dean of the Graduate School. He also was principal of Tuskegee Institute High School in Tuskegee, Alabama and a teaching fellow at Harvard University.

Open to the public from May 26 through June 17, 2007, Coexistence is comprised of approximately 45 large-scale works that focus on the universal messages of diversity and acceptance. The exhibition was initiated and created by curator Raphie Etgar and the Museum on the Seam in Jerusalem supported by the von Holtzbrinck family of Germany. First shown in Jerusalem in 2001, Hartford is the 30th city that the exhibition has visited on its continuing world tour.

For more information regarding COEXISTENCE and related community events, visit www.thehartford.com/coexistence, contact [e-mail] or call 860-547-2239.

The Hartford, a Fortune 100 company, is one of the nation's largest financial services and insurance companies, with 2006 revenues of $26.5 billion. The Hartford is a leading provider of investment products, life insurance and group benefits; automobile and homeowners products; and business property and casualty insurance. International operations are located in Japan, Brazil and the United Kingdom. The Hartford's Internet address is www.thehartford.com.

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