The Lies We Were Taught: The Black Family

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Kevin Wade Mitchel as Jack Staines Seafaring was one of the most significant occupations among both enslaved and free Black men between 1740 and 1865. Black sailors sailed on whalers, warships, and privateers. Some were enslaved and forced to work at sea, but by 1800 most seamen were free to seek adventure and economic opportunity aboard ship. On this tour you will meet a mariner who was also husband to Ona Marie Judge, the escaped…

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Nur Shoop There were many variations of the Green Books that were used as a tool by African Americans who went places to enjoy themselves without concerns of experiencing racism On this tour you will see the places and hear the stories of the local people whose homes served as safe vacation spots for African American travelers who wanted to find safety places and avoid the humiliation often experiencing discrimination that could, without warning, prohibit…

Tour Guide: David Nelson Harriet E. Wilson was the first African American of any gender to publish a novel on the North American continent. Her book Our Nig, or Sketches from the Life of a Free Black was published in 1859. Born a free person of color in New Hampshire, Wilson was orphaned when young and bound until the age of 18 as an indentured servant. She struggled to make a living after that, marrying twice; her only son George died at…

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…

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Angela Matthews Institutionalized slavery in Colonial America provided immense wealth and material culture to many European immigrants and their descendants in the Americas, as Portsmouth’s house museums bear witness. This tour brings into focus an economic system dependent upon the international slave trade with its constant supply of kidnapped unpaid African workers and their descendants, who, against the odds, created one of this country’s oldest Black communities.

Tour Guide: Barbara Rimkunas Walk in the footsteps of Exeter’s earlier generations and explore the racial history of the town—the conflicts, concessions and changes that have taken place over time. This tour will explore how racial identity has shaped Exeter’s history and will serve to open a dialogue that will help shape its future. Tour meets at the Town Hall, 10 Front Street.

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.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Kevin Wade Mitchel as Jack Staines Seafaring was one of the most significant occupations among both enslaved and free Black men between 1740 and 1865. Black sailors sailed on whalers, warships, and privateers. Some were enslaved and forced to work at sea, but by 1800 most seamen were free to seek adventure and economic opportunity aboard ship. On this tour you will meet a mariner who was also husband to Ona Marie Judge, the escaped…

Tour Guide: David Nelson Harriet E. Wilson was the first African American of any gender to publish a novel on the North American continent. Her book Our Nig, or Sketches from the Life of a Free Black was published in 1859. Born a free person of color in New Hampshire, Wilson was orphaned when young and bound until the age of 18 as an indentured servant. She struggled to make a living after that, marrying twice; her only son George died at…

Historians Rebecca Courser & Lynn Clark will take us on a journey in Warner, NH that will commemorate and make visible the town’s Black community that dates back to the 1700s. This tour will begin at the Soldier’s Monument near the town hall.