Learning from NH’s Black history

Suffering inflicted in enslavement is ‘beyond anything else you can imagine’

BY AMANDA ANDREWS

IT’S OFTEN SAID THAT THE GRANITE STATE LACKS DIVERSITY, but New Hampshire’s history shows a different story. Thanks to the efforts of the Black Heritage Trail NH, we are now learning that people of color have called the Granite State home since the 17th century.

“Every day we get a piece of somebody’s story and you go, ‘Oh my God, I didn’t know that,’” said JerriAnne Boggis, executive director of the Black Heritage Trail. “As a person of color, finding these stories in New Hampshire, in a place that often tells us there are no people of color, we’re finding these links to the 1600s — these stories that are full and fleshed, (showing) what it means to be human.”

Based in Portsmouth, the Black Heritage Trail NH (BHTNH) helps to promote African American history in the state to create more inclusive communities. Through the nonprofit’s efforts with educational programs and guided trail tours, we’re constantly learning about resilient and courageous African Americans.

For instance, Boggis told a story about when the Pittsfield Historical Society placed a marker to honor a formerly enslaved man who was also a Revolutionary War veteran. At the unveiling, both his descendants and those of his enslaver came together. “That’s what reconciliation is all about. Looking at these stories and trying to reconcile that past and come to an understanding,” shares Boggis. “These stories are totally entwined.”

There’s another story that tells of a Black woman from Henniker, Lucy Prince, who ended up traveling to Russia to work for the czar, and then went to Jamaica to work for freedom fighters. “She traveled to all of these places from a life of enslavement to world traveler. An activist in that time is just amazing. And we see those stories over and over again. When you look at that and the adversities, coming from enslavement, from poverty, where you’re treated less than human, to actually define yourself in an environment that doesn’t define you, it’s beyond anything else you can imagine,” said Boggis.

To help share these local stories, the Black Heritage Trail NH relies on in-person meetings and tours — initiatives that were upended due to the pandemic.

“Not being able to meet, not having that personal contact, made our work a lot more difficult. … The good thing is we were able to reach a much larger audience (with Zoom), and that was not only due to Covid but also to the George Floyd murder.”

Because of these major events occurring around the same time, “people (were) at home, watching the news more. Being isolated gave people that moment to reflect,” said Boggis. “We had to look at how we got here, and our role in the community got really important.”

Boggis explained that in order for change to happen in our communities, “it needs the heart to be involved. For the heart to be involved, you need to be in person.”

Moving educational programs online is challenging work, but staffing was also a major issue for the organization.

JerriAnne Boggis, executive director of Black Heritage Trail NH, stands at a trail marker in Portsmouth. (Photo by Allegra Boverman)

“All this upheaval is really a resetting of our relevance in society. What work they want to be doing and how they want to do that work … but everybody is looking for the same people right now,” Boggis remarked.

LEARNING FUNDAMENTALS

Also affected were the Black Heritage Trail’s school tours and programs. Group numbers obviously had to be limited, so while individual tours were still flourishing, group tours were few and far between. But a certain recently passed state law that’s garnered some controversy is a potential boost for the Trail’s programs.

Boggis shares, “We are developing a tour specifically for the middle schools and high schools because of the divisive concepts law, where teachers are afraid of addressing some of the (racial) issues we do.”

The divisive concepts law bans teachers from using certain language when educating students about the racial truths found in U.S. history, and the confusing legislation has educators worried about how to best present the subject.

“Because the law is not clear on the role and what they can say or cannot, it’s an opportunity for us to work with teachers and see if we can meet the needs of our school population in getting a more honest and inclusive look at our history. That includes New Hampshire’s Black history,” said Boggis.

As the Black Heritage Trail works on expanding its services in schools, Boggis is still searching for ways to build on the model currently employed. One such effort is a plan to enhance the interpretive center in Portsmouth, retrofitting the nonprofit’s current building to be the premier center of New Hampshire’s Black history.

“Somebody was interested in how we could use AI to really (promote) the material culture but also tell a story. … We met with somebody else (who had the idea) where you could go to a site and someone could project a tour guide at that site,” Boggis said. “It’s not going to happen for us tomorrow or the next year, but just thinking about it and the ways we could get this history out to everyone is exciting.”

JerriAnne Boggis, pictured here, is on the hunt for more stories like Harriett Wilson’s, a Milford resident who was the first Black woman to publish a novel in English. (Photo by Allegra Boverman)

NEW DISCOVERIES

While the Black Heritage Trail offers a robust catalog of African American ancestors and their families in the state, more individuals’ stories are still materializing.

“There’s so many. One that people know is of Harriett Wilson. She became the first Black woman to publish a novel in English. She was from Milford, NH. Who knew we produced the first Black woman to publish?” Boggis remarked.

Another surprise: Boggis and her team got a call from an organization in Windham that discovered a burial ground for formerly enslaved people in town.

“Windham was not on our radar at all,” exclaimed Boggis. The Trail plans to erect a marker at the site.

Boggis will also help to expand an oral history project that founder Valerie Cunningham started years back, thanks to some new research and more stories coming to light.

“We started putting together some documentation to try to get to those stories,” said Boggis. “The whole civil rights movement in New Hampshire is part of that story.”

How they plan to share those histories is still to be decided, but what visitors can count on is continuous education on the state’s Black history.

“History shows us that if we don’t know our history, we’re doomed to repeat it. That’s clear from anything that’s been written or done,” said Boggis. “There’s something strange about our humanness. Even though we know a path that’s been gone down before, we think it’s somehow going to have a different result. I believe once we know our history, even if we’re making some of the mistakes that’s been done before, we’re not doing a circle, we’re spiraling instead. We have the chance to move that bar just a little bit further along, rather than keep running that same circle.” As the Black Heritage Trail NH continues to grow and restart in-person programs, it’s clear that there’s still much to learn about our own communities and the people of color who were resilient in the face of adversity and paved the way for future generations. “I think right now in our environment, it’s needed work. And it’s also work that we all enjoy, so that makes a difference,” Boggis said.