2018 Past News & Events

In Remembrance for Memorial Day Weekend 2018 Portsmouth NH, May 26, 2018 – Led by Sankofa Scholars Valerie Cunningham and Jubilee Byfield, a small group gathered to leave flowers at the gravesites of enslaved and free Africans who were among those serving the Seacoast area’s most prominent Revolutionary Era colonial families. Gravesites at the African Burying Ground at Langdon Farm, the Old North Cemetery on Maplewood Ave., and the African Burying Ground Memorial at Chestnut Street were honored. Adjacent to…

Descendants of a former slave and Revolutionary War veteran buried in a small cemetery in Plainfield gathered [last weekend May 19, 2018], alongside descendants of a family who enslaved him. Together, they’ll commemorate a new headstone for the man, Derrick Oxford. Read the full article by New Hampshire Public Radio.

A new exhibition at the Governor John Langdon House Opening Reception Friday, June 1, 5:30-7:30 PM Governor John Langdon House, Portsmouth, NH You are invited to celebrate the opening of the art exhibition featuring the bold, colorful work by Portsmouth artist Richard Haynes. Co-presented by Historic New England and the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire. The Langdon family story and enslaved Africans in Portsmouth goes back to the mid-seventeenth century. The house history includes Cyrus Bruce, an emancipated man…

May 1, 2018

The BHTNH is recognized with a 2018 Yankee Magazine Editor’s Choice Award for Best NH Walking Tour!

By Elizabeth Dinan | May 1, 2018

PORTSMOUTH — A lawyer, local historian and son of a Portsmouth police officer, John “Jack” McGee is working with the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire to sell the nonprofit his historic 222 Court St. building, where he’s been practicing law for the past 33 years.

BY MARK OKRANT, NH TRAVEL GURU, APRIL 21, 2018
There were literally hundreds of roadside attractions located along the nation’s blue highways years ago. These promised everything from the world’s largest ball of string to a Redstone rocket. Most travelers were unaware that a treasure-trove of significant cultural artifacts was a day’s drive from where they were passing.

One organization that has worked tirelessly to share an authentic part of the state’s legacy is the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire (BHTNH).

Portsmouth Herald | 3/27/2018 PORTSMOUTH – During Lent, all around the world, Christians and churches enter into a time of self-examination, fasting, studying and prayer as they consider their spiritual health. This time of introspection ends on Good Friday, when many follow symbolically in the steps of Jesus as he carried his cross through Jerusalem to the site of his crucifixion. On Friday March 30th at 1:30 p.m., a Pilgrimage of 14 Stations of the Cross will be a tour…

Historic Portsmouth: Facing up to American Minstrelsy By J. Dennis Robinson, Posted Feb 15, Fosters.com  It has been a rough week of research here. Shocking, embarrassing, and sad. I’m working all this year on a history of the performing arts in Portsmouth, from the city’s settlement to the present day, and I’m loving the trip. But facts can tear up the page like bullets. Truth is, the most popular form of mass entertainment in America in the late-1800s was blackface…