2026 Portsmouth Guided Walking Tours

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Sonya Arroyo

On this special Ona Judge Day Tour, you will hear the true story of a young woman's quest for freedom. See the waterfront where Ona landed and visit the Portsmouth properties of some of America's most famous families - the Langdons, Warners, and Lears - whose stories are also bound to her incredible journey.

In 2022, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu signed a bill that declared May 21 st to be Ona Judge Day. The declaration honors that day in 1796 on which Ona Maria Judge Staines left the residence of President George and Martha Washington in Philadelphia, boarded a ship to Portsmouth, and lived a long and dignified life in New Hampshire, free, but a fugitive.

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters | 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Sonya Arroyo

Hear the story of Ona Judge and her courageous journey to self-emancipation.

During President George Washington’s final months in office, a woman named Ona Marie Judge was enslaved in the household of the First Family. In the spring of 1775, she sought her freedom, escaping from the Washingtons' executive mansion in Philadelphia with the aid of that city’s free Black community and making her way to Portsmouth.

On this tour, you will hear the true story of Judge’s quest for freedom and the President’s relentless efforts to get her back. See the waterfront where she lands and visit the properties of some of America’s most famous families: the Langdons, Whipples, and Lears, whose stories were also bound to hers.

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters | 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Bob Sheppard

Join Sankofa Scholar Bob Sheppard, son of a Tuskegee Airman, for a powerful new walking tour exploring the legacy of Black military service from the Revolutionary War to the Vietnam War era.

Walk the streets of Portsmouth as you uncover the story of Prince Whipple, who fought for freedom during the American Revolution; hear about the imprisonment of Harvey and Daniels at the Navy Yard during the Vietnam War; and learn about Rosary Cooper’s vital contributions on the home front during World War II.

Led by a guide with a personal legacy of military service, this story-driven tour invites you to reflect on the meaning of service, sacrifice, and belonging.

Be among the first to experience this new tour—reserve your spot today.

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters, 222 Court St, Portsmouth, NH 

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Nur Shoop

Step into the streets of Portsmouth and trace the powerful connections between past and present through a journey that spans more than three centuries.

This walking tour brings historic landmarks to life—from the early 1600s through the twentieth century—revealing how local stories are deeply tied to national and global movements for freedom and justice.

Drawing from colonial newspapers and firsthand accounts, you’ll uncover Portsmouth’s role in the Atlantic slave trade, the courageous actions of freedom-seekers, and the fierce debates between abolitionists and those who opposed them. 

The tour continues into the twentieth century, where the legacy of this history shaped ongoing struggles for equality. This is more than a look at the past—it is an opportunity to understand how history lives on in the present.

Meeting place: BHTNH Headquarters, 222 Court St, Portsmouth, NH 

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Valerie Fagin

Can you imagine the hustle and bustle of a prosperous colonial seaport town?

This interactive tour invites you to discover the world of past and present Portsmouth from the perspective of African-born and next-generation African American women. Learn how, in spite of enslavement and the burdens of racial discrimination, these pioneers of change fought for justice and freedom, defied a sitting United States president, and educated generations of children.

Hear the stories and celebrate the resilience, versatility, and courage revealed in our shared seacoast his/herstory!

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters | 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Daniel Comly

Join Daniel Comly for a moving walking tour that reveals the deeply human stories of love, family, and resilience in early Portsmouth.

Guided through careful research and a commitment to sharing histories beyond his own lived experience, Daniel brings forward the voices and lives of Black families who, in a time marked by enslavement, separation, and uncertainty, formed relationships, married, raised children, and built strong communities.

As you walk through the streets where their lives unfolded, you’ll hear powerful, true stories of connection and courage—stories of families who refused to be defined by the limits placed on them and instead claimed their place, their dignity, and their future.

Through storytelling and conversation, this tour invites you to reflect on what it means to build a home, sustain love, and fight to belong

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters | 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Bob Sheppard

Join Sankofa Scholar Bob Sheppard, son of a Tuskegee Airman, for a powerful new walking tour exploring the legacy of Black military service from the Revolutionary War to the Vietnam War era.

Walk the streets of Portsmouth as you uncover the story of Prince Whipple, who fought for freedom during the American Revolution; hear about the imprisonment of Harvey and Daniels at the Navy Yard during the Vietnam War; and learn about Rosary Cooper’s vital contributions on the home front during World War II.

Led by a guide with a personal legacy of military service, this story-driven tour invites you to reflect on the meaning of service, sacrifice, and belonging.

Be among the first to experience this new tour—reserve your spot today.

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters, 222 Court St, Portsmouth, NH 

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Nur Shoop

Step into the world of Black travelers navigating a segregated America, where every journey demanded courage, strategy, and community. This walking tour explores the Portsmouth sites that provided safety and welcome when racial discrimination in the North often barred African Americans from hotels, restaurants, and public spaces.

Inspired by the Negro Motorist Green Book, you’ll discover how travelers relied on networks of Black-owned businesses, private homes, and church communities to move without fear of humiliation or harm.

But the guidebook tells only part of the story. As you walk through the city, you will hear stories about the individuals who opened their doors, the quiet acts of resistance, and the connections that made travel, joy, and movement possible.

You’ll also learn how these spaces supported civil rights organizing, how many disappeared after 1964, leaving only the stories behind.

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters, 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Valerie Fagin

Can you imagine the hustle and bustle of a prosperous colonial seaport town?

This interactive tour invites you to discover the world of past and present Portsmouth from the perspective of African-born and next-generation African American women. Learn how, in spite of enslavement and the burdens of racial discrimination, these pioneers of change fought for justice and freedom, defied a sitting United States president, and educated generations of children.

Hear the stories and celebrate the resilience, versatility, and courage revealed in our shared seacoast his/herstory!

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters | 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Sankofa Tour Guide: Stanford Cross

Experience a unique journey into history. Get an intimate understanding of Prince Whipple, the brave men who stood with him in signing the Petition of Freedom, his personal insights into the debates for Independence, and his service in the NH militia.

The tour takes you to significant sites from his life after gaining freedom, including his family home and the First Lady's African Charitable School, established by his wife, Dinah. Discover the lesser-known side of Prince Whipple as an influential event manager.

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters | 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Daniel Comly

Join Daniel Comly for a moving walking tour that reveals the deeply human stories of love, family, and resilience in early Portsmouth.

Guided through careful research and a commitment to sharing histories beyond his own lived experience, Daniel brings forward the voices and lives of Black families who, in a time marked by enslavement, separation, and uncertainty, formed relationships, married, raised children, and built strong communities.

As you walk through the streets where their lives unfolded, you’ll hear powerful, true stories of connection and courage—stories of families who refused to be defined by the limits placed on them and instead claimed their place, their dignity, and their future.

Through storytelling and conversation, this tour invites you to reflect on what it means to build a home, sustain love, and fight to belong

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters | 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Nur Shoop

Step into the streets of Portsmouth and trace the powerful connections between past and present through a journey that spans more than three centuries.

This walking tour brings historic landmarks to life—from the early 1600s through the twentieth century—revealing how local stories are deeply tied to national and global movements for freedom and justice.

Drawing from colonial newspapers and firsthand accounts, you’ll uncover Portsmouth’s role in the Atlantic slave trade, the courageous actions of freedom-seekers, and the fierce debates between abolitionists and those who opposed them. 

The tour continues into the twentieth century, where the legacy of this history shaped ongoing struggles for equality. This is more than a look at the past—it is an opportunity to understand how history lives on in the present.

Meeting place: BHTNH Headquarters, 222 Court St, Portsmouth, NH 

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Daniel Comly

Join Daniel Comly for a moving walking tour that reveals the deeply human stories of love, family, and resilience in early Portsmouth.

Guided through careful research and a commitment to sharing histories beyond his own lived experience, Daniel brings forward the voices and lives of Black families who, in a time marked by enslavement, separation, and uncertainty, formed relationships, married, raised children, and built strong communities.

As you walk through the streets where their lives unfolded, you’ll hear powerful, true stories of connection and courage—stories of families who refused to be defined by the limits placed on them and instead claimed their place, their dignity, and their future.

Through storytelling and conversation, this tour invites you to reflect on what it means to build a home, sustain love, and fight to belong

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters | 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Sonya Arroyo

During President George Washington’s final months in office, a woman named Ona Marie Judge was enslaved in the household of the First Family. In the spring of 1775, she sought her freedom, escaping from the Washingtons' executive mansion in Philadelphia with the aid of that city’s free Black community and making her way to Portsmouth.

On this tour, you will hear the true story of Judge’s quest for freedom and the President’s relentless efforts to get her back. See the waterfront where she lands and visit the properties of some of America’s most famous families: the Langdons, Whipples, and Lears, whose stories were also bound to hers.

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters | 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Valerie Fagin

Can you imagine the hustle and bustle of a prosperous colonial seaport town?

This interactive tour invites you to discover the world of past and present Portsmouth from the perspective of African-born and next-generation African American women. Learn how, in spite of enslavement and the burdens of racial discrimination, these pioneers of change fought for justice and freedom, defied a sitting United States president, and educated generations of children.

Hear the stories and celebrate the resilience, versatility, and courage revealed in our shared seacoast his/herstory!

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters | 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide:  Garrett Walker

Step onto Portsmouth’s waterfront and into the world of Black mariners, “Black Jacks,” who found both opportunity and uncertainty on the open sea.

Between 1740 and 1865, seafaring offered one of the few paths to independence for Black men—both enslaved and free. Some were forced into labor aboard ships, while others seized the chance to earn wages, travel the world, and claim a measure of freedom beyond the constraints of life on land.

On this immersive walking tour, you’ll encounter the story of Jack Staines, a Black mariner whose life intersected with one of the most remarkable freedom stories in American history—his wife, Ona Judge Staines, who escaped enslavement by George and Martha Washington.

As you walk through Portsmouth’s historic streets and along the waterfront, you’ll experience the city through the eyes of those who lived between land and sea—navigating danger, opportunity, and the constant question of freedom.

This is a story of risk, resilience, and the search for independence in a world that offered few safe harbors.

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters | 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Sankofa Tour Guide: Stanford Cross

Experience a unique journey into history on our Living History Tour. Get an intimate understanding of Prince Whipple, the brave men who stood with him in signing the Petition of Freedom, his personal insights into the debates for Independence, and his service in the NH militia. The tour takes you to significant sites of his life after freedom, including his family home and the First Ladies African Charitable School established by his wife Dinah. Discover the lesser-known side of Prince Whipple as an influential event manager.

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters | 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Daniel Comly

Join Daniel Comly for a moving walking tour that reveals the deeply human stories of love, family, and resilience in early Portsmouth.

Guided through careful research and a commitment to sharing histories beyond his own lived experience, Daniel brings forward the voices and lives of Black families who, in a time marked by enslavement, separation, and uncertainty, formed relationships, married, raised children, and built strong communities.

As you walk through the streets where their lives unfolded, you’ll hear powerful, true stories of connection and courage—stories of families who refused to be defined by the limits placed on them and instead claimed their place, their dignity, and their future.

Through storytelling and conversation, this tour invites you to reflect on what it means to build a home, sustain love, and fight to belong

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters | 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Garrett Walker

Step onto Portsmouth’s waterfront and into the world of Black mariners, “Black Jacks,” who found both opportunity and uncertainty on the open sea.

Between 1740 and 1865, seafaring offered one of the few paths to independence for Black men—both enslaved and free. Some were forced into labor aboard ships, while others seized the chance to earn wages, travel the world, and claim a measure of freedom beyond the constraints of life on land.

On this immersive walking tour, you’ll encounter the story of Jack Staines, a Black mariner whose life intersected with one of the most remarkable freedom stories in American history—his wife, Ona Judge Staines, who escaped enslavement by George and Martha Washington.

As you walk through Portsmouth’s historic streets and along the waterfront, you’ll experience the city through the eyes of those who lived between land and sea—navigating danger, opportunity, and the constant question of freedom.

This is a story of risk, resilience, and the search for independence in a world that offered few safe harbors.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Sonya Arroyo

During President George Washington’s final months in office, a woman named Ona Marie Judge was enslaved in the household of the First Family. In the spring of 1775, she sought her freedom, escaping from the Washingtons' executive mansion in Philadelphia with the aid of that city’s free Black community and making her way to Portsmouth.

On this tour, you will hear the true story of Judge’s quest for freedom and the President’s relentless efforts to get her back. See the waterfront where she lands and visit the properties of some of America’s most famous families: the Langdons, Whipples, and Lears, whose stories were also bound to hers.

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters | 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Nur Shoop

Step into the streets of Portsmouth and trace the powerful connections between past and present through a journey that spans more than three centuries.

This walking tour brings historic landmarks to life—from the early 1600s through the twentieth century—revealing how local stories are deeply tied to national and global movements for freedom and justice.

Drawing from colonial newspapers and firsthand accounts, you’ll uncover Portsmouth’s role in the Atlantic slave trade, the courageous actions of freedom-seekers, and the fierce debates between abolitionists and those who opposed them. 

The tour continues into the twentieth century, where the legacy of this history shaped ongoing struggles for equality. This is more than a look at the past—it is an opportunity to understand how history lives on in the present.

Meeting place: BHTNH Headquarters, 222 Court St, Portsmouth, NH 

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Sonya Arroyo

During President George Washington’s final months in office, a woman named Ona Marie Judge was enslaved in the household of the First Family. In the spring of 1775, she sought her freedom, escaping from the Washingtons' executive mansion in Philadelphia with the aid of that city’s free Black community and making her way to Portsmouth.

On this tour, you will hear the true story of Judge’s quest for freedom and the President’s relentless efforts to get her back. See the waterfront where she lands and visit the properties of some of America’s most famous families: the Langdons, Whipples, and Lears, whose stories were also bound to hers.

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters | 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Sankofa Tour Guide: Stanford Cross

Experience a unique journey into history. Get an intimate understanding of Prince Whipple, the brave men who stood with him in signing the Petition of Freedom, his personal insights into the debates for Independence, and his service in the NH militia.

The tour takes you to significant sites from his life after gaining freedom, including his family home and the First Lady's African Charitable School, established by his wife, Dinah. Discover the lesser-known side of Prince Whipple as an influential event manager.

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters | 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Valerie Fagin

Can you imagine the hustle and bustle of a prosperous colonial seaport town?

This interactive tour invites you to discover the world of past and present Portsmouth from the perspective of African-born and next-generation African American women. Learn how, in spite of enslavement and the burdens of racial discrimination, these pioneers of change fought for justice and freedom, defied a sitting United States president, and educated generations of children.

Hear the stories and celebrate the resilience, versatility, and courage revealed in our shared seacoast his/herstory!

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters | 222 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH.

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Nur Shoop

Step into the streets of Portsmouth and trace the powerful connections between past and present through a journey that spans more than three centuries.

This walking tour brings historic landmarks to life—from the early 1600s through the twentieth century—revealing how local stories are deeply tied to national and global movements for freedom and justice.

Drawing from colonial newspapers and firsthand accounts, you’ll uncover Portsmouth’s role in the Atlantic slave trade, the courageous actions of freedom-seekers, and the fierce debates between abolitionists and those who opposed them. 

The tour continues into the twentieth century, where the legacy of this history shaped ongoing struggles for equality. This is more than a look at the past—it is an opportunity to understand how history lives on in the present.

Meeting place: BHTNH Headquarters, 222 Court St, Portsmouth, NH 

Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Bob Sheppard

Join Sankofa Scholar Bob Sheppard, son of a Tuskegee Airman, for a powerful new walking tour exploring the legacy of Black military service from the Revolutionary War to the Vietnam War era.

Walk the streets of Portsmouth as you uncover the story of Prince Whipple, who fought for freedom during the American Revolution; hear about the imprisonment of Harvey and Daniels at the Navy Yard during the Vietnam War; and learn about Rosary Cooper’s vital contributions on the home front during World War II.

Led by a guide with a personal legacy of military service, this story-driven tour invites you to reflect on the meaning of service, sacrifice, and belonging.

Be among the first to experience this new tour—reserve your spot today.

Meeting Place: BHTNH Headquarters, 222 Court St, Portsmouth, NH