Reaching its peak between the late 1800s and World War II, Bangor’s African American community experienced what is simultaneously a microcosm of America’s history and a very special local history within Maine.
Opportunity | Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations Seeks Executive Director
The Permanent Commission is an independent entity with a mission to work toward ending structural racism so all communities can thrive. For too long, Maine and the United States have allowed the institutions and policies that drive structural racism to continue. These structures hurt all of us, including rural Mainers, Black and African American people, … Continue reading Opportunity | Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations Seeks Executive Director
Event | Caesar Freeman: An 18th-century Free Black Man in Bowdoin, Maine on 2/23/23
Jym St. Pierre will present his research on Caesar Freeman, one of the first settlers of the Town of Bowdoin, Maine and a free Black man.
Event | Freedom’s Cause: Historical Black Communities and George Washington’s Cambridge Camp on 2/8/23
Hosted by Wellesley Free Library Wednesday, February 8, 2023 from 7:00pm - 8:00pm Register here From 1775-1776, 105 Brattle Street (today Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site) became General George Washington’s first major headquarters of the Revolution. While Washington’s time at Cambridge Headquarters is well-documented, this site also provides a lens into intersections of Black … Continue reading Event | Freedom’s Cause: Historical Black Communities and George Washington’s Cambridge Camp on 2/8/23
Event | Communities of Practice: Interpreting Histories of Enslavement and Freedom on 1/31/23
Hosted by New England Museum Association January 31, 2023Noon - 1:00 pm (Virtual) Communities of Practice: Interpreting Histories of Enslavement and Freedom Historic sites across New England are currently embarking on a process of reinterpreting their museums' role in the institution of slavery (direct or indirect), as well as the discourse around the history of … Continue reading Event | Communities of Practice: Interpreting Histories of Enslavement and Freedom on 1/31/23
Event | A Window on the Past – West Indies trade is subject of historical society lecture on 1/18/23
Hosted by the South Portland Historical Society With Seth Goldstein Wednesday, Jan. 18th, at 6:30 p.m.South Portland Community Center “Regardless of what was to be a Maine boy’s occupation or profession, an indispensable part of his upbringing was a voyage or two in the West India trade. In the days when the privateers of France … Continue reading Event | A Window on the Past – West Indies trade is subject of historical society lecture on 1/18/23
Event | No Right to an Honest Living: The Struggles of Boston’s Black Workers in the Civil War Era with Jacqueline Jones on 1/18/23
Before, during, and after the Civil War, white abolitionists and Republicans refused to secure equal employment opportunity for Black Bostonians, condemning many of them to poverty. Still, Jacqueline Jones finds, some Black entrepreneurs created their own jobs and forged their own career paths.
Fellowship | Applications for 2023-2024 Lapidus Center Fellowships Due 1/9/23
By Lapidus Center at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture If you are a researcher studying the slave trade, slavery, and anti-slavery in the Atlantic World, consider applying to the short and long-term fellowships at the Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery at the Schomburg Center. Fellows receive access to … Continue reading Fellowship | Applications for 2023-2024 Lapidus Center Fellowships Due 1/9/23
Resource | Report from the Equal Justice Initiative: American port cities from New England to New Orleans were shaped by the Transatlantic Slave Trade
The Equal Justice Initiative's new report examines the economic legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which created generational wealth for Europeans and white Americans and introduced a racial hierarchy that continues to haunt our nation. Introduction, by Bryan Stevenson The enslavement of human beings occupies a painful and tragic space in world history. Denying a … Continue reading Resource | Report from the Equal Justice Initiative: American port cities from New England to New Orleans were shaped by the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Event | Bryan Stevenson on the History of Racial Terror in the United States on 12/12/22
Hosted by Zinn Education Project Monday, December 12, 2022 • 7:00 pm ET Register here On Monday, December 12, 2022, author, lawyer, and professor Bryan Stevenson will discuss his book Just Mercy and the history of racial terror in the United States. This session is part of the Zinn Education Project’s Teach the Black Freedom Struggle online people’s history series.Under Stevenson’s leadership, the Equal … Continue reading Event | Bryan Stevenson on the History of Racial Terror in the United States on 12/12/22
Event | The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family with Pr. Kerri Greenidge
Sarah and Angelina Grimke are revered figures in American history, famous for rejecting their privileged lives on a plantation in South Carolina to become firebrand activists in the North. Yet retellings of their epic story have long obscured their Black relatives.
Event | Contradictory Place: Cotton Mills Alongside Anti-Slavery Efforts in Lowell MA on 12/7/22
From the 1830s through the Civil War, many Lowellians from all walks of life engaged in concerted efforts to block the expansion of slavery and helped freedom seekers even when this meant defying federal law. “A Contradictory Place” offers viewers a way to learn about an important, but too often neglected, chapter of our history.
Event | I Will Be Heard: Antislavery Printing and Youth Activism at William Lloyd Garrison’s Liberator Office on 12/10/22
The 3rd Annual William Lloyd Garrison Lecture, delivered this year by historian Kabria Baumgartner, will examine the lesser known role that Garrison and his radical antislavery newspaper played in teaching Black youth communication arts skills that they used to advance the antislavery movement and their own careers in diverse occupations.
Event | Indian Law & History Lecture on 11/18/22
Hosted by University of Maine School of Law Friday, November 18, 2022 12:00 PM to 1:30 PMOnline Zoom Webinar Register here The 2nd Annual Indian Law & History Lecture will explore the Doctrine of Discovery, a millennia old legal principle, which forms the foundation for Western property law and was first espoused by the Pope … Continue reading Event | Indian Law & History Lecture on 11/18/22
Event | Overlooked Stories and Histories: African Americans in Maine on 11/10/22
This Great Falls Forum panel will share stories to advance our knowledge of African Americans in Maine. Along with building a more honest and inclusive narrative of the community’s racial-ethnic heritage, panelists offer creative ways to preserve and celebrate told and untold stories of work, community-building, and the region's multifaceted heritage.
Event | New Insights into Indigenous and Enslaved People in Colonial Portland on 11/16/22
Hosted by the Tate House Museum Zoom Lecture presented by:Holly K. Hurd, Executive Director Laura F. Sprague, Consulting CuratorWednesday, November 16 at 5:30 p.m. Register here The lecture will highlight new research about colonial Portland & perspectives on Indigenous and Enslaved people that will expand the interpretation of historic Tate House. The lecture will be moderated by … Continue reading Event | New Insights into Indigenous and Enslaved People in Colonial Portland on 11/16/22
Tomorrow! Walking Tour of Slavery & Freedom with Hidden Brookline
November 5th, 1:00pm - 2:30pm Hosted by Hidden Brookline Sign up here This lively 90-minute tour visits three sites to tell the history and stories of slavery and freedom. We begin at Town Hall where participants look for evidence of slavery that is hidden, but in plain sight. The walk continues to an Underground Railroad … Continue reading Tomorrow! Walking Tour of Slavery & Freedom with Hidden Brookline
Question: How likely is it that enslaved people in 18th-century MA were buried with their enslavers?
This question is from Barbara Brown of Hidden Brookline. The Friends of Brookline's Old Burying Ground are planning to place markers in the cemetery to mark and honor the enslaved buried there. At this point, we have confirmed 10 enslaved people as buried in the cemetery, with 8 out of the 10 listed as buried … Continue reading Question: How likely is it that enslaved people in 18th-century MA were buried with their enslavers?
Course | Transitional Justice: Truth, Reconciliation, Reparations & Community Building
This course is geared toward people interested in learning about and exploring the future of creating grassroots truth telling, reparative initiatives across the state of Maine. Register now! Course launches 10/26
News | ‘Here Lies Darby Vassall’ installation honors the life of anti-slavery advocate and activist
Story by Tiziana Dearing and Andrea Perdomo-HernandezWBUR Radio BostonOctober 12, 2022 Christ Church Cambridge hosted a special event Wednesday to honor a man who shares a crypt with two people who enslaved him and his parents. "Here Lies Darby Vassall" is a multimedia installation by Harvard University Graduate School of Design student Nicole Piepenbrink, commemorating Darby … Continue reading News | ‘Here Lies Darby Vassall’ installation honors the life of anti-slavery advocate and activist