A Quest to Thrive: Economics of Slavery & Portsmouth’s Early Black Community

Harriet E. Wilson was the first known African American to publish a novel on the North American continent. Born a free person of color in New Hampshire, Wilson was orphaned when young and bound as an indentured servant until the age of 18. Follow a trail to places where the child-servant went as she was growing up and where she struggled to make a living. Learn about Harriet's only son, George, who died in a poor house while she was…

Nestled below the summits of Mount Skatutakee and Thumb Mountain in Hancock, NH, Jack's Pond is a remote and inspiring place. It is named after Jack, a formerly enslaved man who became free and lived near the pond from the late 1700s until his death in 1826. The pond and surrounding land are now protected and managed by the Harris Center for Conservation Education. Sankofa Tour Guide: Eric Aldrich.  Meeting Place: The Harris Center for Conservation Education, 83 King's Highway,…

During President George Washington’s final months in office, a woman named Ona Marie Judge was enslaved in the household of the First Family. In the spring of 1775, she sought her freedom, escaping from the Washingtons' executive mansion in Philadelphia with the aid of that city’s free Black community and making her way to Portsmouth. On this tour, you will hear the true story of Judge’s quest for freedom and the President’s relentless efforts to get her back. See the…

Can you imagine the hustle and bustle of a prosperous colonial seaport town? This interactive tour invites you to discover the world of past and present Portsmouth from the perspective of African-born and next generations of African American women. Learn how, in spite of enslavement and burdens of racial discrimination, these pioneers of change fought for justice and freedom, defied a sitting United States president, and educated generations of children. Hear the stories and celebrate the resilience, versatility, and courage…

Historians Rebecca Courser and Lynn Clark will take us on a journey in Warner, NH that commemorates and makes visible the town’s Black community dating back to the 1700s. Meeting Place: The corner of Main Street and Kearsarge Mountain Road. Sankofa Tour Guides: Rebecca Courser & Lynn Clark 

Colonial Portsmouth newspapers testify to local involvement in the slave trade, runaway freedom-seekers, abolitionists, and anti-abolitionist activities, followed by conflicting opinions of the Civil War. In the 20th century, the legacy of that early history was reflected locally in newspaper reports of the struggles to end de facto segregation in housing, employment, and public places. This tour includes many of those historic landmarks from the early seventeenth through the twentieth centuries. Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Nur Shoop

Soldiers of African descent – enslaved and freed - fought against tyranny alongside colonial patriots who called themselves the Portsmouth Sons of Liberty. It was a fight that did not guarantee freedom for enslaved soldiers. Some who were sent to war by their enslavers received a bounty that, in turn, could be used to buy their freedom. Others were self-emancipated volunteers with the British. This tour of 18th-century Portsmouth is offered from the perspective of Black men who served New…

Despite many obstacles, Black men and women — both enslaved and free — met, nurtured relationships, married, and built families. Learn about obstacles and how they were overcome. True stories about these families describe how Portsmouth’s community of African people and their descendants claimed their place as Americans. Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Dan Comly

Colonial Portsmouth newspapers testify to local involvement in the slave trade, runaway freedom-seekers, abolitionists, and anti-abolitionist activities, followed by conflicting opinions of the Civil War. In the 20th century, the legacy of that early history was reflected locally in newspaper reports of the struggles to end de facto segregation in housing, employment, and public places. This tour includes many of those historic landmarks from the early seventeenth through the twentieth centuries. Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Nur Shoop

Can you imagine the hustle and bustle of a prosperous colonial seaport town? This interactive tour invites you to discover the world of past and present Portsmouth from the perspective of African-born and next generations of African American women. Learn how, in spite of enslavement and burdens of racial discrimination, these pioneers of change fought for justice and freedom, defied a sitting United States president, and educated generations of children. Hear the stories and celebrate the resilience, versatility, and courage…