BLACK HISTORY

African-Americans’ experiences in New England, as told by learning centers and landmarks across the region, are complex and compelling. There are tragic stories, but tales of triumph and heroism as well: The famed Amistad rebellion, for example, is so gripping that it inspired a major motion picture. New exhibits continually bring forward narratives too long left untold, speaking to us about universal themes—family, community, culture— and about Black New Englanders’ past and present contributions.

When you visit the African Burying Ground Memorial Park in Portsmouth, NEW HAMPSHIRE , you’ll see the work of acclaimed sculptor Jerome Meadows, who created life-sized male and female figures reaching toward each other from opposite sides of a slab. It’s an emotional artwork symbolizing both the separation and the resilience of the Africans who once arrived in this port city as captives. The memorial park can be your starting point for a self-guided tour of 23 additional sites along the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail, or you can book one of the guided tours offered in Portsmouth and beyond by the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire.

Before slavery was abolished, New England was the site of many stops on the Underground Railroad, with one of the best-preserved examples found in VERMONT. At Ferrisburgh’s Rokeby Museum, you’ll be introduced (by way of a multimedia exhibit) to Simon and Jesse, two “passengers” on the Underground Railroad who found safe shelter and employment at this Quaker farm. Tour the grounds, and you’ll learn even more about how fugitives from slavery became part of their new communities.

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▲ VERMONT: The story of two fugitives from slavery comes to life in the permanent exhibit “Free & Safe: The Underground Railroad in Vermont” at Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburgh.

▼ NEW HAMPSHIRE: This poignant sculpture marks the entry to Portsmouth’s African Burying Ground Memorial Park, on the site of the only African burying ground of its kind in New England.