Play Reading, “Ben Butler” – an Important Part of Black History

Tour Guide & Sankofa Scholar: 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…

Tour Guide & Sankofa Scholar: 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

Tour Guide & Sankofa Scholar: 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

Tour Guide & Sankofa Scholar: 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…

This informative overview of the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail is just right for a first visit to the city or for those who prefer an alternative to a walking tour. Our well-trained and experienced Sankofa Scholars narrate an hour and a half tour of sites that tell the stories of Black people from the time they arrived on the colonial-era wharves lining the waterfront, to laboring in the local maritime-related industries, until New Hampshire joined the Union by adopting the…

Tour Guide & Sankofa Scholar: JerriAnne Boggis 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…

Tour Guide & Sankofa Scholar: 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

Asserting Freedom: A Tour of Cellar Holes & Sites in Hancock, NH Tour Guide: Eric Aldrich Maximum people for this tour is 25. This is a part driving part walking tour. A bus will meet you at the Town Office in Hancock. Town Office Building at 50 Main St, in Hancock. Parking is available behind the Town Office. Please wear sensible walking shoes for this tour. No heels or sandals. You will have a 1/2 mile walk to see old…

Join JerriAnne Boggis of the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire; Richard Haynes, artist and University of New Hampshire educator; and Ken Turino of Historic New England for a discussion on how African Americans are represented in art and historical contexts, issues around representation in historic houses and museums, and issues of visibility and erasure. Free and open to the public. Please call 603-436-3205 for more information.

Tour Guide & Sankofa Scholar: 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’s from the perspective of African American women. In spite of enslavement and hardship, these women fought for freedom, defied a 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.…