Thirst for Freedom: From NH’s Slave Trade to its Civil Rights Movement

The Lies We Were Taught: The Black Family

Black Heritage Trail of NH Main Office 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH, United States

Sankofa Tour Guide: Daniel Comly At the turn of the 19th century, Black abolitionists are changing public attitudes about slavery and challenging racial bias in the courts. In Portsmouth, never-enslaved and now-freed Black adults share households with not-yet-free elders and children who are owned by their buyers. It is a time of possibilities, hope and fear. True stories about these families will describe how a community of Black Americans were striving to create a life and place in this northern…

$10 – $20

15th Annual Black New England Conference Crossing River Jordan: Healing Racial Wounds Through Accountability & Truth-Telling

A Virtual/Hybrid Conference October 22-23, 2021 Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, NH #BNEC2021 Traditional African spirituality acknowledges that there is no real separation between the spiritual and the rich fabric of everyday life. In this traditional worldview, spirituality informs everything including politics, economics, survival, healing, death and rebirth. The 2021 Black New England Conference explores paths forward from legacies of racism to collective accountability and collective healing. Presenters will examine the ongoing impacts of enslavement, murder, mass incarceration, unethical medical…

$125

Lives Bound Together: The Washingtons and Ona Marie Judge in NH

Black Heritage Trail of NH Main Office 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH, United States

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Sonya Martino During the Spring of 1796, George Washington’s final months in office, Ona Judge, an enslaved woman held by the First Family, escaped the Executive Mansion in Philadelphia with the aid of that city’s free Black community and made her way to Portsmouth. On this tour, you will hear the true story of Ona’s quest for freedom and the President’s relentless efforts to get her back. See the waterfront where she lands and visit…

$10 – $20

We Remember: Cemeteries and Burying Grounds

Black Heritage Trail of NH Main Office 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH, United States

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Angela Matthews 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. Hear the stories and remember. ** These tours will meet at 222 Court Street, walk to the African Burying Ground, then return to individual cars at 222 Court Street to drive to the remaining cemeteries.

$10 – $20

Thirst for Freedom: From NH’s Slave Trade to Its Civil Rights Movement

Black Heritage Trail of NH Main Office 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH, United States

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Nur Shoop Colonial Portsmouth newspapers identify the local slave traders, runaways, abolitionists and anti-abolitionists, and abolitionist activities, followed by conflicting opinions of the Civil War. By the 20th century, the legacy of that early history was reflected in news about de facto segregation in housing, employment, and public places. This tour includes many of those historic landmarks from the early nineteenth through the twentieth centuries.

$10 – $20

“Divisive Concepts:” A Chilling Effect on Teaching History

Portsmouth Middle School 155 Parrot Ave, Portsmouth, NH, United States

Location: Stokel Commons, Portsmouth Middle School Presenters: Nikita Stewart, Assistant Editor, New York Times Elizabeth DuBrulle, Director of Education & Public Programs, NH Historical Society Erin Bakkom, Social Studies teacher, Portsmouth Middle School. Moderator: Sen. David Watters, NH State Senator and Professor Emeritus Department of English, University of New Hampshire States across the country have seen new laws prohibiting the teaching of so-called “divisive concepts” that present critical perspectives on histories, laws, social practices, and literature that have excluded the opposing voices…

Free

Absented Presence: “They All Died Off” and Other Myths About Native Americans

Portsmouth Public Library, Livingston Room 175 Parrott Ave, Portsmouth, NH

Location: Levenson Room, Portsmouth Public Library Presenters: Paul & Denise Pouliot, Chief Speakers for the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook and Abenaki People Kathleen A. Blake, Retired Educator James Edgell Jr., Mohawk/Mi’kmaq and Micmac/Newmarket Chick Wabanaki Relation Anne Jennison, NH Commission on Native American Affairs, Affiliate Faculty Member for the UNH Native American & Indigenous Studies Minor, Northeast Native American storyteller. Moderator: Svetlana Peshkova, Associate Professor of Anthropology & Coordinator of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Minor, UNH Many organizations across the state have been…

Free

The Myth of The Model Minority

Portsmouth Middle School 155 Parrot Ave, Portsmouth, NH, United States

Location: Stokel Commons, Portsmouth Middle School Presenters: Pawn Nitichan, Executive Director, City-Year New Hampshire Samuel Hyun, Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Advocate, and Public Speaker Sandeep Bikram Shah, Senior Program Officer at New Hampshire Charitable Foundation Moderator: Delia Konzett, Professor of English and Women’s and Gender Studies, UNH. The mass shooting in Atlanta last year and the rise in anti-Asian attacks during the Co-Vid 19 pandemic have brought to the forefront the long history of discrimination and injustice toward Asian Americans. Since the…

Free

The Lingual Divide: ¿Y Tu Abuela Donde Esta?

Portsmouth Public Library, Livingston Room 175 Parrott Ave, Portsmouth, NH

Location: Levenson Room, Portsmouth Public Library Panelists: Andres Mejia, Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice, Exeter Region Cooperative School District (SAU 16) Shantel Palacio, Administrative Education Officer, New York City Department of Education Pedro Altagracia, Director of Diversity and Inclusion for Easter Seals New England Moderator: Larissa Baia (TBC), President, Lakes Region Community College, Laconia, NH Traditionally, Black and Brown American populations have seen themselves in a natural alliance in a country historically dominated by whites — an alliance of mostly poorer, darker-skinned…

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Conflicted by Race: Family Structures & Racial Identities

Portsmouth Public Library, Livingston Room 175 Parrott Ave, Portsmouth, NH

Location: Levenson Room, Portsmouth Public Library Gene Martin, Associate Director Development, and Plymouth SU Alumni Association Board Chair Plymouth State University Elizabeth Lahey, Attorney and former head of the Civil Rights Unit of the NH Department of Justice Sharon Tarleton, Bias Response & Support Coordinator, UNH Moderator: Anthony Poore, Executive Change Agent, and Consultant According to the 2020 Census, the fastest-growing group in the United States is the multiracial community, and nationwide studies show that 44% of adoptions in America are transracial. Coming from households…

Free
Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire

The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire promotes awareness and appreciation of African American history and life in order to build more inclusive communities today.

Contact Info

Mail: 222 Court Street, Portsmouth NH 03801
Phone: 603-570-8469
Email: info@blackheritagetrailnh.org
COVID 19 waiver
Office Hours:
M - F 10 - 4 pm

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