The Founding of Concord’s Robbins House and a Debt of Gratitude

BY MARIA MADISON

In 1976, Concordians and school administrators Barbara Elliot and Janet Jones published the text Concord: Its Black History, 1636-1860 through the Concord Public Schools. The text included photos of Black and White children visiting places associated with 19th century [and earlier] Black residents. Their book was used in the school system up to 1986 to orient youth to the rich history of Concord’s earliest African American residents. One of the individuals highlighted in Elliott and Jones’s book was Peter Hutchinson.

Barbara Elliott and Janet Jones on vacation in the early 1970s, when they were working on Concord: Its Black History together.

Courtesy of The Robbins House

February 2, 1859, Henry David Thoreau wrote in his journal, “I see Peter Hutchinson cutting down a large red oak on A. Heywood’s hillside, west of the former’s house.”

Beginning in the early 2000s, a couple of Concord moms and METCO ‘Family Friends’ leaders dusted off the book and restarted tours to school children. Because of Barbara and Janet’s book and the tours with school children, the town discovered the Robbins House, where Peter Hutchinson and other early African Americans had lived. One resident inquired about the plaque on the house that stated, “Peter Hutchinson c1780,” and noted the house was slated for demolition by 2009. The town began the process of acquiring, restoring, adapting, and moving the house closer to its original location. None of this could have happened without Barbara and Janet’s book.

Barbara Elliott passed away this year. Her memorial services were held May 2022, near her burial site in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Janet Jones’s family honored her memory with a generous donation to The Robbins House that will help expand our work on the African American and Antislavery history of Concord and preserve The Robbins House as an African American and Antislavery Interpretive Center.

Maria Madison and Janet Jones in 2022

Courtesy of The Robbins House

Maria Madison, Sc.D. is Co-Founder of The Robbins House and Co-President of the Board of Directors of The Robbins House. She serves as Interim Dean of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.