A Quest to Thrive: Economics of Slavery & Portsmouth’s Early Black Community

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.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Nur Shoop Colonial Portsmouth newspapers would 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 the 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.

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 novel 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…

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Sonya Martino 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, NH. 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…

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.

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. Meeting place: Exeter Town Hall, Front Street

Sankofa Tour Guide: Daniel Comly Despite a horde of obstacles, Black men and women, both enslaved and free, met, established relationships, married, and built families. Learn about these obstacles and how they were overcome. True stories about these families will describe how members of the African community claimed their place as Americans.

Sankofa Tour Guide: Lyonel Loveless, Stanford Cross This tour will provide visitors with a closer look at Prince Whipple and the men who joined him in signing the Petition of Freedom as well as Prince Whipple’s first-hand knowledge of the debates for Independence and in the NH militia. The tour highlights sites of significance to his life after he regained his freedom including the sites of the house where he and his wife Dinah lived and where Dinah established the…

"When Dr. King and Miss Scott visited Portsmouth, NH on October 26, 1952 he gave a sermon titled "Going Forward by Going Backward." In 1952 the enduring value of Reverend King's words was not fully appreciated, and his legacy and martyrdom, were unimaginable. This brightly illustrated picture book imagines that day, and gives a colorful picture of a special day in a small New England Town." Meet author Tammi Truax and Illustrator Rev. Lillian Buckley as they talk about their…

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Sonya Martino 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, NH. 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…