Boston African American National Historic Site

Boston African American
National Historic Site
Boston African American; National Historic Site
	The African Meeting House in Boston, built by African Americans in 1806
Location	Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Nearest city	Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°21′36″N71°03′53″W / 42.36000°N 71.06472°W
Area	0.18 acres (0.073 ha)
Established	October 10, 1980
Visitors	327,921(in 2011)
Governing body	National Park Service
Website	Boston African American National Historic Site

Last updated March 08, 2024

The Boston African American National Historic Site, in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts's Beacon Hill neighborhood, interprets 15 pre-Civil War structures relating to the history of Boston's 19th-century African-American community, connected by the Black Heritage Trail. These include the 1806 African Meeting House, the oldest standing black church in the United States.

Overview

The historical site is located on Beacon Hill, a neighborhood just north of Boston Common. The site was designated in 1980 to "preserve and commemorate original buildings that housed the nineteenth-century free African-American community on Beacon Hill."^[3] That year President Jimmy Carter signed bills authorizing this and the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, as well as one to establish the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce, Ohio. He said:

The two bills that I will sign today represent a three-pronged effort to preserve a vital, but long neglected, part of American heritage; the history and culture of Americans of African ancestry and their role in the history of our nation.^[4]

Boston's first African residents arrived as slaves in 1638 with early colonists. Over time, more of their descendants were born free to white mothers; in other cases slaveholders freed slaves for service. After the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts effectively abolished slavery by the terms of its new constitution. By the 1790 census, no slaves were recorded in Massachusetts. Subsequently, a sizable community of free Blacks and escaped slaves developed in Boston, settling on the north face of Beacon Hill, and in the North End. With a strong abolitionist community, Boston was long considered a desirable destination for southern Black slaves escaping slavery via the Underground Railroad. African Americans became activists in the abolition movement, also working to gain racial equality and educational parity with whites. They engaged in political processes to meet their objectives.^[3]

Before the Civil War, more than half of the 2,000 African Americans in Boston lived on the north slope of Beacon Hill; blacks also lived in the West End north of Cambridge Street, and in the North End.^[5] These areas gradually were occupied by new groups of immigrants after African Americans moved to southern areas of Boston. (The North End became a center of Italian immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.)

The historic site is one of 39 African-American Heritage Sites of the National Park Service.^[6]^[7]

Black Heritage Trail

The National Park Service wrote:

The historic buildings along today's Black Heritage Trail^® were the homes, businesses, schools and churches of a thriving black community that organized, from the nation's earliest years, to sustain those who faced local discrimination and national slavery, struggling toward the equality and freedom promised in America's documents of national liberty.

Historical sites along the 1.6 mile (2.5 km) Black Heritage Trail in Beacon Hill include:^[3]^[5]^[8]^[9]

Robert Gould Shaw / 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment Memorial – commemorates the first African-American regiment of the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War and the officer who led the 54th Regiment until his death at the Battle of Fort Wagner in SC. This monument depicts their farewell march down Beacon Street, which was erected at the edge of Boston Common, across Beacon Street from the Massachusetts State House. Poet Robert Lowell won a Pulitzer Prize in the 20th century for his poem, "For the Union Dead," about this monument and soldiers. The regiment's heroic battle at Fort Wagner was the subject of the film Glory (1989).
African Meeting House – built in 1806, the oldest standing African-American church in the country is operated as part of the Museum of African American History. Displays include speeches from well-informed orators. Built in 1806, the meeting house is the oldest surviving African-American church building in the United States; it became known as the Black Faneuil Hall during the abolitionist movement. Here Frederick Douglass gave many speeches, including his impassioned call for blacks to take up arms against the South in the American Civil War.
Abiel Smith School – built in 1834, now adapted and operated as the Museum of African American History
Charles Street Meeting House – built in 1807, the church had segregated seating. In the 1830s some of the members formed the First Baptist Free Church, which became Tremont Temple. It was considered to be one of the first integrated churches in America.
John Coburn House – home of John Coburn, an African-American abolitionist, soldier and recruiter, who aided people on the Underground Railroad.
Lewis and Harriet Hayden House – Lewis Hayden was an escaped slave, abolitionist leader, recruiter for the 54th regiment during the Civil War. Afterward, he became a Grand Master of the Prince Hall Masons and was elected as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Active with the Underground Railroad, Hayden protected escaped slaves in his home, including Ellen and William Craft.
George Middleton House – One of the oldest standing homes in Beacon Hill. Middleton led the black militia, Bucks of America, during the Revolutionary War. He helped found the Free African Society and served as Grand Master of the Prince Hall African Masonic Lodge.
Phillips School – one of Boston's first integrated schools
Smith Court Residences – The five Smith Court homes typify those of black Bostonians in the 1800s. Two notable residents of 3 Smith Court are William Cooper Nell and James Scott, both involved in the abolitionist cause. Nell was an author and considered one of the nation's first black historians.
John J. Smith House – Smith was an abolitionist leader who helped fugitive slaves on the Underground Railroad. He recruited for the all-black 5th Cavalry during the Civil War. Afterward he was elected as a three-term member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Smith lived in this house from 1878–1893.

Most sites on the trail are still used as residences and are not open to the public, except the African Meeting House, Abiel Smith School, and the 54th Regiment Memorial.^[3]

Park rangers provide free, two-hour guided tours of the trail during the summer; off-season tours are available by reservation. A self-guided trail map and information is available online, at the Boston African American Historic Site, the Boston National Historic Site center, and at the Abiel Smith School.^[3]^[10]

Educational programs

Staff collaborated on the Freedom Rising: The 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and African Military Service in the Civil War on May 2–4, 2013. The multi-day and multi-location program in Boston included historian Henry Louis Gates and actor Danny Glover, with exhibits at Harvard University and the Museum of African American History.^[11]

Black Boston highlights (1638–1909)

**Black Boston Highlights** (1638–1909)^[5]^[9]
Year	Image	Event
1638		First enslaved Africans brought to Boston aboard the slave ship Desire.
1641		Massachusetts enacted Body of Liberties defining legal slavery in the colony.
1770		In 1770, Crispus Attucks, an escaped slave, was the first colonist killed in Boston Massacre. He was a national symbol of black men, like the black Revolutionary War soldiers, who helped bring a free nation into being.
1783		Slavery abolished in 1783 in Massachusetts. Quock Walker, an escaped slave, sued for his liberty in 1783. With his victory, Massachusetts abolished slavery, declaring it incompatible with the state constitution.
1790		When the first federal census was recorded in 1790, Massachusetts was the only state in the Union to record no slaves.
1798		First private black school in Primus Hall's home.
1800		Free black population nears 1,100.
1806		African Meeting House opened as First African Baptist Church. Establishment of the African Baptist Church drew many blacks to hear the church's minister, Thomas Paul. The meeting house hosted a school, community groups, musical performances, and antislavery meetings. .
1808		Hall house school moved to African Meeting House
1826		Massachusetts General Colored Association, a black abolitionist group, founded in African Meeting House. It was one of Black Bostonians' organizations, like the African Society and Prince Hall Masons, that publicly opposed racial discrimination and slavery over the next decades. Prince Hall denounced the ill treatment of blacks in Boston, Maria Stewart called black men to greater exertions on behalf of their race, William C. Nell spearheaded the successful movement for school integration, Lewis Hayden defied southern slave catchers, and Frederick Douglass inspired black men to enlist in the Civil War to end slavery.
1829		David Walker published The Appeal, an essay urging slaves to fight for their freedom.
1831		William Lloyd Garrison began publishing The Liberator (anti-slavery newspaper) , promoting interracial anti-slavery alliances and the protection of fugitive slaves on the Underground Railroad.
1832		Garrison formed the New England Anti-Slavery Society at the African Meeting House.
1835	The Abiel Smith School, the first dedicated for black children, opens
1849–1850		Sarah Roberts unsuccessfully challenged segregation in Boston public schools.
1850		The Fugitive Slave Act required states (even free ones) enforce the return of fugitive slaves to their owners. Antislavery protests followed passage of this law, and black and white Bostonians joined in direct actions to protect and some times rescue fugitives seeking shelter in the city. The slavery trial of Anthony Burns in Boston galvanized Northern opposition to the Fugitive Slave Law. After the trial, U.S. marshals and a company of marines were required to escort Burns to a ship to take him back to Virginia and slavery. See also Shadrach Minkins.
1855		Boston integrated public schools; Abiel Smith School closed.
1861		Civil War started.
1863		Emancipation Proclamation signed. Responding to pressure from black and white abolitionists and the need to bolster the Union forces, President Lincoln admitted African-American soldiers to the Union forces. 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry formed, the first all-black regiment raised in the North. Black Bostonians formed the core of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. On July 18, 1863, the 54th regiment led an assault on Fort Wagner in an attempt to capture Confederate-held Charleston, S.C. In this hard-fought battle, Col. Robert Gould Shaw and many of his soldiers were killed. Sgt. William Carney of New Bedford was wounded while saving the flag from capture.
1865		Civil War ended; 13th Amendment abolished slavery. After the Civil War, many freed African Americans moved north. Boston's black population increased from fewer than 2,500 in 1860 to nearly 12,000 by 1900. Most newcomers came from the Southeast. During Reconstruction, some were relocated by the Freedmen's Bureau for training and employment as domestic servants. The newcomers expanded black residential areas, settling in Boston's South End and Roxbury. Gradually long-time black residents of Beacon Hill moved their businesses and homes to that area.
1897		Robert Gould Shaw Memorial honoring 54th Massachusetts Regiment was dedicated in Boston Common.
1898		The Black congregation of the African Meeting House moved to Roxbury; the meeting house became a Jewish synagogue, representing new immigrants. By 1930 the South End and Roxbury were home to most of Boston's 21,000 African Americans.
1900		Sgt. William H. Carney, veteran of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, received Medal of Honor for rescuing the flag during Battle of Fort Wagner, S.C. in 1863. He was the nation's first black Medal of Honor recipient.
1901		William Monroe Trotter (a descendant of Elizabeth Hemings, a slave of Thomas Jefferson) founded the African-American newspaper, The Boston Guardian .
1909		National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) founded, attracting many black and white Bostonians.

19th century population

African American population in 19th century Boston^[12]
Year	Number	Percent of population
1820	1,690	3.90
1830	1,875	3.05
1840	2,427	2.60
1850	1,999	1.46
1860	2,261	1.27
1870	3,496	1.40
1880	5,873	1.62
1890	8,125	1.81

While the black population increased markedly during this period, extensive immigration from Europe overshadowed that growth, with new immigrants from Ireland, Italy, the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires, and other parts of eastern and southern Europe.

Related Research Articles

The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The unit was the second African-American regiment, following the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment, organized in the Northern states during the Civil War. Authorized by the Emancipation Proclamation, the regiment consisted of African-American enlisted men commanded by white officers.

Beacon Hill is a historic neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, and the hill upon which the Massachusetts State House resides. The term "Beacon Hill" is used locally as a metonym to refer to the state government or the legislature itself, much like Washington, D.C.'s Capitol Hill does at the federal level.

The African Meeting House, also known variously as First African Baptist Church, First Independent Baptist Church and the Belknap Street Church, was built in 1806 and is now the oldest black church edifice still standing in the United States. The church also established a school, at first holding classes in its basement. After serving most of the nineteenth century as a church, it then served as a synagogue until 1972 when it was purchased for the Museum of African American History. It is located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent to the historically Black American Abiel Smith School, now also part of the museum. It is a National Historic Landmark.

The Charles Street Meeting House is an early-nineteenth-century historic church in Beacon Hill at 70 Charles Street, Boston, Massachusetts.

Abiel Smith School, founded in 1835, is a school located at 46 Joy Street in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, adjacent to the African Meeting House. It is named for Abiel Smith, a white philanthropist who left money in his will to the city of Boston for the education of black children.

Lewis Hayden escaped slavery in Kentucky with his family and reached Canada. He established a school for African Americans before moving to Boston, Massachusetts. There he became an abolitionist, lecturer, businessman, and politician. Before the American Civil War, he and his wife Harriet Hayden aided numerous fugitive slaves on the Underground Railroad, often sheltering them at their house.

William Cooper Nell was an American abolitionist, journalist, publisher, author, and civil servant of Boston, Massachusetts, who worked for the integration of schools and public facilities in the state. Writing for abolitionist newspapers The Liberator and The North Star, he helped publicize the anti-slavery cause. He published the North Star from 1847 to 18xx, moving temporarily to Rochester, New York.

The William C. Nell House, now a private residence, was a boarding home located in 3 Smith Court in the Beacon Hill neighbourhood of Boston, Massachusetts, opposite the former African Meeting House, now the Museum of African American History.

Robert Morris was one of the first African-American attorneys in the United States, and was called "the first really successful colored lawyer in America."

Leonard Andrew Grimes was an African-American abolitionist and pastor. He served as a conductor of the Underground Railroad, including his efforts to free fugitive slave Anthony Burns captured in accordance with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. After the Civil War began, Grimes petitioned for African-American enlistment. He then recruited soldiers for the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

John J. Smith House was the home of John J. Smith from 1878 to 1893. Smith was an African American abolitionist, Underground Railroad contributor and politician, including three terms as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He also played a key role in rescuing Shadrach Minkins from federal custody, along with Lewis Hayden and others.

John James Smith was a barber shop owner, abolitionist, a three-term Massachusetts state representative, and one of the first African-American members of the Boston Common Council. A Republican, he served three terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He was born in Richmond Virginia. He took part in the California Gold Rush.

The John Coburn House was the home of John P. Coburn (1811–1873), an African-American abolitionist who aided people on the Underground Railroad. The home is currently a private residence. It is on the Black Heritage Trail and its history is included in walking tours by the Boston African American National Historic Site.

The Phillips School was a 19th-century school located in Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts. It is now a private residence. It is on the Black Heritage Trail and its history is included in walking tours by the Boston African American National Historic Site. Built in 1824, it was a school for white children. After Massachusetts law from 1855 required school desegregation, Phillips was one of the first integrated schools in Boston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lewis and Harriet Hayden House</span> Historic abolitionists house in Boston

Lewis and Harriet Hayden House was the home of African-American abolitionists who had escaped from slavery in Kentucky; it is located in Beacon Hill, Boston. They maintained the home as a stop on the Underground Railroad, and the Haydens were visited by Harriet Beecher Stowe as research for her book, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852). Lewis Hayden was an important leader in the African-American community of Boston; in addition, he lectured as an abolitionist and was a member of the Boston Vigilance Committee, which resisted the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

The Boston Women's Heritage Trail is a series of walking tours in Boston, Massachusetts, leading past sites important to Boston women's history. The tours wind through several neighborhoods, including the Back Bay and Beacon Hill, commemorating women such as Abigail Adams, Amelia Earhart, and Phillis Wheatley. The guidebook includes seven walks and introduces more than 200 Boston women.

Until 1950, African Americans were a small but historically important minority in Boston, where the population was majority white. Since then, Boston's demographics have changed due to factors such as immigration, white flight, and gentrification. According to census information for 2010–2014, an estimated 180,657 people in Boston are Black/African American, either alone or in combination with another race. Despite being in the minority, and despite having faced housing, educational, and other discrimination, African Americans in Boston have made significant contributions in the arts, politics, and business since colonial times.

John P. Coburn (1811–1873) was a 19th-century African-American abolitionist, civil rights activist, tailor and clothier from Boston, Massachusetts. For most of his life, he resided at 2 Phillips Street in Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood. Coburn was one of the wealthiest African Americans in Boston of his time. His property on the North Slope of Beacon Hill had the third highest real property value in an 1850 census. Coburn was heavily involved in abolition-related work within his community, specifically work related to the New England Freedom Association and the Massasoit Guards.

Elizabeth Cook Riley was an African-American Bostonian abolitionist who aided in the escape of fugitive slave Shadrach Minkins. She was a member of the committee which raised the first funds towards William Lloyd Garrison's The Liberator, a prominent antislavery newspaper. Afterwards, she was active in the Boston abolitionist community, helping to organize meetings and events.

References

↑ "Listing of acreage – December 31, 2011" (XLSX). Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved December 26, 2012. (National Park Service Acreage Reports)
↑ "NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report". National Park Service. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
1 2 3 4 5 David L. Scott; Kay W. Scott (1997). Guide to the National Park Areas, Eastern States . Globe Pequot. pp. 110–112. Retrieved April 26, 2013.
↑ "Carter Signs Bills For King and Boston African American Historic Sites". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. November 6, 1980. p. 13. ISSN 0021-5996 . Retrieved April 26, 2013.
1 2 3 "Boston African American NHS Park Brochure, Side 1" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved April 26, 2013. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Park Service .
↑ "African American Sites - Travel America's Diverse Cultures (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
↑ "National Park Service: African American Heritage". www.nps.gov. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
↑ Fodor's (December 16, 2008). The Official Guide to America's National Parks (13th ed.). Fodor's Travel Publications. pp. 441–. ISBN 978-1-4000-1628-0 . Retrieved April 26, 2013.
1 2 "Boston African American NHS Park Brochure, Side 2" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved April 26, 2013. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Park Service .
↑ Susan Wilson (May 15, 2004). Boston Sites & Insights: An Essential Guide to Historic Landmarks In and Around Boston. Beacon Press. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-8070-7135-9 . Retrieved April 26, 2013.
↑ "Event Details – Boston African American National Historic Site". Nps.gov. April 22, 2013. Retrieved April 26, 2013. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Park Service .
↑ May Melvin Petronella (August 11, 2004). Victorian Boston today: twelve walking tours. UPNE. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-55553-605-3 . Retrieved April 27, 2013.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[area-1] "Listing of acreage – December 31, 2011" (XLSX). Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved December 26, 2012. (National Park Service Acreage Reports)

[visits-2] "NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report". National Park Service. Retrieved December 26, 2012.

[Scott-3] 1 2 3 4 5 David L. Scott; Kay W. Scott (1997). Guide to the National Park Areas, Eastern States . Globe Pequot. pp. 110–112. Retrieved April 26, 2013.

[4] "Carter Signs Bills For King and Boston African American Historic Sites". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. November 6, 1980. p. 13. ISSN 0021-5996 . Retrieved April 26, 2013.

[NPS_BOAF-S1-5] 1 2 3 "Boston African American NHS Park Brochure, Side 1" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved April 26, 2013. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Park Service .

[6] "African American Sites - Travel America's Diverse Cultures (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved March 11, 2019.

[7] "National Park Service: African American Heritage". www.nps.gov. Retrieved March 11, 2019.

[Fodor's2008-8] Fodor's (December 16, 2008). The Official Guide to America's National Parks (13th ed.). Fodor's Travel Publications. pp. 441–. ISBN 978-1-4000-1628-0 . Retrieved April 26, 2013.

[NPS_BOAF-S2-9] 1 2 "Boston African American NHS Park Brochure, Side 2" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved April 26, 2013. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Park Service .

[Wilson2004-10] Susan Wilson (May 15, 2004). Boston Sites & Insights: An Essential Guide to Historic Landmarks In and Around Boston. Beacon Press. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-8070-7135-9 . Retrieved April 26, 2013.

[11] "Event Details – Boston African American National Historic Site". Nps.gov. April 22, 2013. Retrieved April 26, 2013. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Park Service .

[12] May Melvin Petronella (August 11, 2004). Victorian Boston today: twelve walking tours. UPNE. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-55553-605-3 . Retrieved April 27, 2013.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

v t e Underground Railroad
People	William Brinkley John Brown Owen Brown Samuel Burris Levi Coffin Richard Dillingham Frederick Douglass Calvin Fairbank Isaac S. Flint Thomas Garrett Frances Harper Laura Smith Haviland David Hudson Daniel Hughes Peg Leg Joe William Cooper Nell Harriet Forten Purvis Robert Purvis John Rankin Hetty Reckless Gerrit Smith William Still Calvin Ellis Stowe Harriet Beecher Stowe Charles Turner Torrey Harriet Tubman Delia Webster
Places	List of Underground Railroad sites houses churches Underground Railroad in Indiana British Methodist Episcopal Church, Salem Chapel
Events	Emeline and Samuel Hawkins flight (1845) Pearl incident (1848) Kentucky raid in Cass County (1847) The South Bend Fugitive Slave Case (1849) Christiana Riot (1851) Jerry Rescue (1851) Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852 book) Joshua Glover rescue (1854) Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp (1856 book) Dover Eight (1857) Oberlin–Wellington Rescue (1858) Tilly Escape (1856) Ann Maria Jackson and her seven children (1859) Thirteenth Amendment (1865)
Topics	Abolitionism in the United States Abolitionism opponents of slavery African-American opponents publications Fugitive slaves Fugitive slave laws 1850 Quilts Reverse Underground Railroad Signals lawn jockey Slave catcher Songs of the Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad Records (1872 book)
Related	National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Harriet Tubman Memorial (Boston) Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park visitor center Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center Underground Railroad Bicycle Route The Railroad to Freedom: A Story of the Civil War (1932 book) A Woman Called Moses (1978 miniseries) Roots of Resistance (1989 documentary) The Quest for Freedom (1992 film) Freedom: The Underground Railroad (2013 board game) The North Star (2016 film) Underground (2016 TV series) Harriet (2019 film) The Underground Railroad (2021 miniseries)
See also: Slavery in the United States and Slavery in Canada

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF
National	Israel United States

Boston African American National Historic Site

Contents