2019 Trolley & Bus Tours
Our well-trained and experienced Sankofa Scholars narrate an hour and a half tour of sites that tell the stories of Black people from the time they arrived on the colonial-era wharves lining the waterfront, to laboring in the local maritime-related industries, until New Hampshire joined the Union by adopting the MLK Holiday in 2000.
BHTNH offers these special Sankofa Trolley Tours in partnership with Great Bay Limo, a locally owned and operated transportation company. Trolleys are comfortably climate controlled and seat 30 people.
Seating is limited, so advance reservations are strongly encouraged. $25 pp
Unless otherwise noted, Portsmouth trolley tours meet at 2 pm at 222 Court Street. Please plan to arrive by 1:45 pm. For parking information in Portsmouth, please visit: PARK PORTSMOUTH
Portsmouth Trolley Tours
May 26, 2019
We Remember: Cemeteries and Burying Grounds
The African Burying Ground Memorial is one of at least six locations in the city where Black Americans and Africans have been laid to rest. This 90-minute narrated trolley tour goes from farmlands to waterways and touches four centuries of human history. Hear the stories and remember.
June 30, July 28, August 25, September 29, 2019
And Still We Rise: From Slavery to Redlining & MLK
A 90-minute overview of the Black Heritage Trail is just right for a first visit to Portsmouth or for those who prefer an alternative to a walking tour. Our well-trained and experienced Sankofa Scholars tell the stories of Black people from 1645, as they arrived on the colonial-era wharves lining the waterfront, until the year 2000 when New Hampshire joined 49 other states by adopting the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
Portsmouth Bus Tours
September 1 (Includes Greenland) 2019
Ona Maria Judge Staines: Enslaved Child, Self-Liberated Woman, Wife & Mother
This two-hour guided tour goes to the neighboring town of Greenland, where a courageous young runaway chose to live her life not with privileges but with freedom – and she outlived everybody!
In Honor of Those Who Served: African American Military Veterans
Date TBA. The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is included in this special 2-hour tour on wheels. Details TBA.
Hancock Black Heritage Trail Guided Bus Tour
Sunday Sept 8, 2019, 10 am
Asserting Freedom: A Tour of Cellar Holes & Sites in Hancock, NH
Tour Guide: Eric Aldrich
Bus meets in Hancock at the town hall.
Hancock, a quintessential New England village, defies the march of time. At first glance, this little village seems to be slumbering away quite peacefully. However, buried just beneath the Colonial veneer of this seemingly all-white town is a vibrant history of early Black settlers who worked, bought land, built homes, challenged the church and struggled for freedom. Today, all that is left are the abandoned artifacts of that early life: their roads, their walls, their cellar holes, and their scant records.
Discover the stories of Jack Ware a formerly enslaved man and members of the Due family on this part walking part driving tour with Eric Aldrich as you explore the holes their homes left behind.
When he’s not working for The Nature Conservancy or moving trail cameras around in the woods of Hancock, Eric Aldrich is seeking cellar holes and researching the fascinating lives of the characters that lived there.
Warner Black Heritage Trail Guided Bus Tour SOLD OUT!
Sunday October 6, 2019, 10 am
A Small New Hampshire Town Remembers Its Black History
Tour Guides: Rebecca Courser & Lynn Clark
Bus meets in Warner at the Simonds Elementary School on Church street. Please plan to arrive at 9:45 a.m.
Warner is a small rural community nestled twenty miles northwest of Concord, N.H. The main village lies between the peak of Mt. Kearsarge and the rolling Mink Hills. It was mainly an agricultural community until settlers took advantage of the falls along the Warner River to establish a variety of industries. By 1810, several black families and individuals had settled in Warner and this community would continue to expand for the next hundred years. Five African American men are listed on the Soldier’s Monument as serving in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War.
Discover the stories of Anthony Clark, musician and dance master; James Haskell veteran of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Regiment; and William Haskell an accomplished basket maker. Several children attended one-room schools throughout Warner. After the Civil War, families employed servants from Virginia and North Carolina to cook, clean and work on their farms.
Lynn Clark is Director of the Warner Historical Society and Rebecca Courser is the retired director. When not researching Warner history they are researching the lives of black families throughout the area.
Milford Black Heritage Trail Guided Bus Tour
Friday October 25, 2019 9 am-Noon
Trailblazer Harriet E. Wilson: From Servitude to Authorship
Bus leaves from and returns to Southern NH University
This tour is part of the 2019 Black New England Conference at Southern NH University.
