Sankofa Walking Tour: Port of Entry: Boys and Girls for Sale

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. This 90-minute narrated trolley tour goes from farmlands to waterways and touches four centuries of human history. Hear the stories and remember. Register Online Arrive by 1:45pm to park at the Christ Episcopal Church, 1035 Lafayette Rd., Portsmouth NH.

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. Register Online

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Nur Shoop Colonial Portsmouth newspapers testify to the local slave trade, runaways, 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 in news about de facto segregation in housing and public places. This tour includes many of those historic landmarks from the early nineteenth through the twentieth centuries. Register Online

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Tammi Truax During the Spring of 1796, George Washington’s final months in office, Ona Judge, an enslaved woman owned 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…

African Burial Ground Memorial, Chestnut Street Help Support Our Mission During NH Gives Days In times like these, when some are fostering hate and fear, the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire counters the narrative with inspiring stories of inclusion, courage, and hope.  We are building a way for New Hampshire to proudly present its history with its African American roots that extend to 1645.  Your gift ensures that truth is among our highest values in this state and that humanity and the way we connect…

Sankofa Scholar: Tammi Truax Hear the stories of Black children's work life and living conditions in town and on the farm, by author and storyteller Patricia Wall. Learn how captive child servants experienced Election Day celebrations, funerals, slave auctions, the Revolutionary War, and more. This tour is from 11 am to noon for children 8 & up. Register Online NOTE: Tour meets at 11am at Warner House, 150 Daniel Street, Portsmouth NH

Sankofa Tour Guide: Valerie Fagin Can you imagine the hustle and bustle of a prosperous Colonial seaport town? This tour invites you to discover the world of early Portsmouth from the perspective of African American women. In spite of enslavement and hardship, these women fought for freedom, defied a sitting president, and educated generations of children to follow. Hear their stories about love and faith and struggle, as you walk past the homes of the families who enslaved them. Register…

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 seamen 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 Jack Staines, husband to Ona Judge Staines, the President and Martha Washington’s…

Sankofa Tour Guide: Jubilee Byfield Local newspapers carried merchants’ ads for ships returning to the port of Portsmouth laden with cargo from trade ports on the West Coast of Africa, the West Indies and the middle Atlantic coastal cities of Colonial America. Visit local wharves and auction sites related to the Atlantic Slave Trade, where a captive could be exchanged for “cash or good lumber” to serve in the master’s house or work on the docks or aboard a ship.…

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 newly-freed Black adults share households with still enslaved children and elders. It is a time of possibilities, hope and tension. True stories about these families will describe how a community of African refugees were claiming their place as Americans. Register Online