Black History Month | Black History in Massachusetts

There are many interesting and educational things to do across the state during “Black History Month” Just click on the links below for more information.

Read Governor Healey’s Proclamation recognizing Black History Month.

STATEWIDE

The Trustees of Reservations has stories and events to honor Black History Month in its properties across the Commonwealth.

Virtual Black Heritage Trail Tour – The Black Heritage Trail^® is a 1.6 mile walk through the heart of Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood. The trail showcases residences and community buildings associated with a Black community that thrived on, and near, the north slope of Beacon Hill before, during, and after the American Civil War.

Black Is… – As part of the Boston Public Library’s annual observance of Black History Month “Black Is…” is a list of books published in the previous year for all ages concerning the African American experience.

Virtual: 2023 Martha’s Vineyard Annual Collaborative Black History Event – This year’s Martha’s Vineyard Annual Collaborative Black History Month Event will take place on Saturday, February 4 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. It will feature a historical perspective panel discussion on Black Resistance.

GREATER BOSTON

Museum of African American History – 46 Joy street. Daily {except Sundays} 11am-3pm hourly
National Park Service Ranger-led tours allow visitors to walk in the footsteps of Frederick Douglas, William Lloyd Garrison, Maria Stewart and all of the abolitionist leaders who helped bring slavery to an end in this country. The meeting house is an Historic Landmark, recently restored to its 1855 appearance. In recognition of Black History Month, the Red Sox and Red Sox Foundation are partnering with the Museum of African American History in Boston to provide free admission and tours for all visitors from February 18 to 23, coinciding with school vacation week in the city.

Boston African American National Historic Site – Centered on the north slope of Beacon Hill, the African American community of 1800s Boston led the city and the nation in the fight against slavery and injustice. These remarkable men and women, together with their allies, were leaders in the Abolition Movement, the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, and the early struggle for equal rights and education.

African American Patriots Tour – Tales of intrigue and bravery, poetry and defiance by Black Bostonians will unfold during the 90 minute African-American Patriots walking tour offered by the Freedom Trail Foundation. Visit the sites of key important to both the revolution and the Abolitionist movement that led to the Civil War. Led by costumed guides, visitors view history through the eyes of revolutionaries such as Crispus Attucks, Phillis Wheatley, Peter Salem, Prince Hall and others. The Freedom Trail.

Black History Month Film Festival – Now in its third year, The Boston Globe’s Black History Month Film Festival will honor and celebrate the lives, culture, and creativity of Black Americans through film.

Boston Black Restaurant Challenge – Massachusetts State Representative Chynah Tyler and The Boston Black Hospitality Coalition invite you to experience the cultural and culinary excellence of Boston Black Owned Restaurants and Bars.

Jazz Scene in Boston – Jazz, America’s own music, has always had a home in Boston. But the city gained its place of prominence on the national jazz map in the 1950s, and continues to hold that place today. The Museum of African American History celebrates Boston’s rich jazz history in its exhibit, Jazz Scene in Boston: Telling the Local Story. Recurring Daily.

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks – Based on the bestselling biography of the same name by Jeanne Theoharis and executive produced by award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien, this crucial documentary about the “mother of the civil rights movement,” Rosa Parks, is a comprehensive telling of the icon’s lifelong dedication to activism. Museum of Fine Arts. Friday, February 10, 7 p.m.

Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom – Boston Historical Society. February 6, 2023, 6 p.m.

NORTH OF BOSTON

Walking Tour: African American Heritage Site North of Boston

Site 1: Hamilton Hall – 9 Chestnut Street: Hamilton Hall was designed by the famous architect Samuel McIntire and built in 1805. In the early nineteenth century, Hamilton Hall was the center of the catering business of John Remond, an immigrant from the Caribbean Island of Curacao.
Site 2: Harmony Grove Cemetery – 30 Grove Street – Harmony Grove Cemetery was consecrated in 1840 and is a beautiful example of “rural garden” cemetery, with landscaped trees and winding paths. This cemetery holds the burial plots of many members of the Remond family. Charles Lenox Remond shares a common marker with many of his family. He was one of the first African Americans to be paid to lecture on the abolitionist circuit.
Site 3: Salem Lyceum – 43 Church Street – The Salem Lyceum opened in 1831, and its rows of banked seats quickly filled with residents of Salem eager to watch demonstrations, lectures, and concerts. Many activists in the abolitionist movement came to the Lyceum. The hall was also used for meetings and lectures by the Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society, whose members included the noted African American abolitionists Charlotte Forten and Sarah Parker Remond.
Site 4: African American Sailors – Pond Street – In the 1830s and 40s, Pond Street was home to an ethnically diverse population and included many of Salem’s sailors. Between 1842 and 1846, approximately 46% of African American males with an occupation listed in the Salem City Directories were sailors.
Site 5: Charles A. Benson, Sailor – Rice Street – Charles Benson was an outstanding sailor who lived on both Pond Street and Rice Street. He sailed for twenty years, and because of his skill he earned more than the able bodied seamen in his crew.
Site 6: Cedar Street – Like Pond Street, Cedar Street was home to several African American families. During the Civil War, several residents of the street served in the Union Army.
Site 7: Cemetery Howard Street – Howard Street – When the Howard Street Cemetery was established in 1801, a portion was dedicated to Salem’s African American population. Many prominent members of the African American community are buried in the cemetery.

Black Diaspora History Month – As part of Black History Month, the City of Salem and Salem United. Inc, an organization dedicated to uplifting, educating, informing and unifying individuals, businesses and organizations, have partnered together to fill Old Town Hall with month-long activities entitled the “Black Diaspora History Month Expo”, which will be free and open to the public. Wednesdays-Sundays, February 2023

Let None Be Excluded: The Origins of Equal School Rights in Salem – This Peabody Essex Museum exhibition features documents that capture the impassioned activism of young Black leaders, including Sarah Parker Remond and Robert Morris.

SOUTH OF BOSTON

New Bedford Black History Trail

Black History Month Celebration: From My Mother’s Hands – Celebrate Black History Month with Fuller Craft and Harambee Learning & Cultural Center! We are celebrating Black women and mother’s this year. Hear from featured storyteller, Len Cabral and enjoy a plate of soul food from Southern Comfort. Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton. February 25, 2023 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

The New Bedford Whaling Museum and National Park presents a rich history of the Black experience in New Bedford and the southeast coast of Massachusetts, including many Black seamen who worked on the whaling ships, as well as the compelling story of fugitive slaves who made it to New Bedford through the underground railroad.

CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS

African American Heritage Trail – No in its 25th year, The African American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard is a physical entity comprised of 30 sites dedicated to the formerly unrecognized contributions made by people of African descent to the history of the island. At each of these sites, a descriptive plaque has been placed.

Museum of African American History – The African Meeting House is the only public building constructed and occupied by African Americans in the 19th century still standing on Nantucket.

Black History Month Book Sale at the West Tisbury Library – The Friends of the West Tisbury Library invite you to explore resources on African-American history, learn about noteworthy Black figures and their contributions, and purchase books by Black authors. West Tisbury Public Library – Friday, February 3 at 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

NICC Presents: Black History Month Panel with Oral History Presented by Desiree Spriggs – Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce. Thursday Feb 23, 2023, 5 – 7 p.m.

CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS

African Wrap Doll-Making Workshop – The National Black Doll Museum of History & Culture (NBDMHC) specializes in this updated adaptation of doll-making based on the techniques of the traditional art form rooted in 18th century African American culture. Worcester Public Library. February 4, 2023 at 2:30 p.m.

Worcester’s Black History Trail with Thomas Doughton – Worcester Public Library. February 11, 2023 at 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Buck O’Neil: Right on Time Exhibit – The exhibit chronicles the remarkable life and times of Negro Leagues legend John “Buck” O’Neil and is adapted from his acclaimed biography “I Was Right on Time.” Worcester Public Library. February 1, 2023 – April 2, 2023

WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS

The Heart of Harriet Tubman – Explore the intertwining lives of Harriet Tubman and Susan B Anthony during a crucial time in American History. Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum. February 12, 3 – 4:15 p.m.

Sojourner Truth Memorial African-American Heritage Trail – A self-guided tour that explores the Florence of Sojourner Truth, David Ruggles, and Basil Dorsey. Notable sites include Sojourner Truth’s house, the Nonotuck Silk Mill Dam, the site of David Ruggles’ home and Northampton water cure, and the Park Street Cemetery.

Black History Month Celebration – The Worcester Roots Project heads to Worcester’s City Hall to celebrate the new USPS stamp honoring the late Congressman John Lewis. The event will include a dedication to The Village, a local nonprofit Afrocentric cultural, learning, and healing center. The unveiling will be followed by a reading and discussion of Fredrick Douglass’s speech, “What to the Slave is the 4th of July?” February 14, 3:30-6 p.m.