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

Since the pandemic, experts pointed to the bold action President Franklin D. Roosevelt took during the Great Depression as an example of the scale and scope the pandemic response should achieve. The New Deal put millions of desperate Americans to work, created massive job programs, and established a safety net for the unemployed and elderly. However, these programs did not benefit everyone who needed help. Black people, Hispanics, and women were disproportionately excluded from access. With an eye on the…

The median income of a New Hampshire household is not enough to rent a median priced apartment in places like Portsmouth and Manchester. The data is far worse for a single person earning the New Hampshire median income. A single person would need at least two roommates to afford a median priced, apartment. Burdened by high rents, households strain to cover other necessary expenses, such as food, health care, clothing, and transportation. Households paying more than 30 percent of their…

Franklin D. Roosevelt included “The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health” as one of the fundamental rights of Americans. In subsequent decades Medicare and Medicaid were enacted as part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society, and the Affordable Care Act of 2010 expanded health care insurance to more Americans. This panel explores the realities of New Hampshire’s health care today and the further strains the Covid 19 pandemic put on the system.…

Social programs of the Great Society were aimed at utilizing relief and social programs to prevent crime. The Law Enforcement Assistance Act of 1965 changed the emphasis from creating jobs as a tool to prevent crime to funneling federal funds to support increased policing. This legislation laid the foundation for high incarceration rates for African Americans and people of color. This trend was further intensified by the establishment of mandatory sentencing laws in the 1980s. This panel will discuss these…

Roosevelt’s New Deal led to experimentation with federal education programs. But it was not until 1965, with the passage of the Johnson’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act, that federal funding for education was directed toward increasing the resources in poor communities. Project Head Start and funding for education in school districts whose student body consisted of a majority of low-income students were key elements of Great Society programs. Here in New Hampshire public education is tied to property taxes. Since…

St. John’s Episcopal Church presents The American Spiritual Ensemble live in concert at 3pm on Sunday, April 7, 2024. Admission $30 suggested donation available to purchase online, or at the door.

On the eve of the passage of Great Society civil rights legislation in the mid 1960s, Martin Luther King addressed a vast audience of marchers from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. In his speech he referred to “the promissory note” owed to all Americans, guaranteeing that all would share the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Now, 60 years later, we ask if that debt has been paid.  What constitutes a just society and how…

Exeter had the highest percentage of Black residents in NH in the first US census, at nearly 5%. Close to a dozen Black Revolutionary War veterans made Exeter their home upon their return from the War. They raised families and are a strong presence for nearly 60 years. They veterans got their military pensions in the building that is not the American Independence Museum. Black citizens attended integrated schools. One of these citizens, James M. Whitfield, became a nationally known…

Prince Whipple, a young native of Africa, was transported during the Atlantic slave trade to America, and enslaved by William Whipple, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. In 1779, Prince Whipple, together with 19 other enslaved Africans, submitted a Petition for Freedom to the New Hampshire state legislature. Centuries later, the descendants of African Prince Whipple and the white Whipple and Moffatt families join together in Portsmouth in a conversation about their discoveries of slavery and its legacy through…

Seafaring was one of the most significant occupations among both enslaved and free Black men between 1740 and 1865 when Black mariners sailed on whalers, warships, and privateers. Some were enslaved and forced to work at sea, but by 1800, most seamen were free, legally or by self-emancipation, to seek adventure and economic opportunity aboard ship. On this tour, you will meet Jack Staines, husband to Ona Judge Staines, who was enslaved by the President and Martha Washington, and experience…