EDITOR’S NOTE
I lived in the Deep South in the early 1980s and the stone water fountains in our town park still had “White Only” chiseled into them. No one paid much notice, except to point out how slowly some things change.
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Americans on our cover recently (we had, last t least, that’s what I thought. I’d take December and January), but it rang a bit holvisitors out to show them those low as I wrote it. (You can read the letter and fountains and the Confederate war monument on the town square — an obelisk my response in Feedback on page 8.) Had I discovered a blind spot in my field with a hand on top pointing triumphantof vision that had been there so long I’d just ly towards the heavens. I grew up during grown used to it? Glancing through our list desegregation and was acutely aware of the of things chosen as Best of NH in this issue, racist speech and attitudes of some of my the limited cultural diversity of the state is friends, but my parents maintained a realm not exactly highlighted. Is this for lack of of liberality and acceptance. Still, it never trying or is it something larger? occurred to me how the local “non-White” population might feel about these artifacts. Our sister publication, the NH Business From what we’ve witnessed in recent weeks, Review, was working on a list of Black-owned it’s likely that they were not amused. businesses in the state and had acquired one When I moved my young family to New for New England as a starting point. The New Hampshire in 1993, the sudden lack of Hampshire delegation was pretty slim, I no“diversity” was apparent, but one of the first ticed, but when I checked, I saw that Clyde’s people I befriended as the new editor of this Cupcakes of Exeter was not even on the list. magazine was a Black man named Mel BoldHow could Mel Bolden, a brilliant en. Bolden was a 20th-century illustrator of artist, political organizer, Democratic Party substantial fame for his work on magazine chairman for New Hampshire’s Merrimack and book covers as well as commemorative County (the only Black Democratic county art. He was commissioned to paint a portrait chairman in the country at the time), who of Christa McAuliffe that now hangs at the once designed a Christmas card for President National Air and Space Museum. In his Jimmy Carter, go unmentioned in the biggest heyday, critics compared Bolden’s renderings encyclopedia ever compiled? of life in the 1950s to Norman Rockwell. His How could I, the child of open-minded original paintings are expensive collector’s parents, have been so blind to the offense items. He died just as the century was turnthat might be felt by Black families to the ing, but while looking him up to mention words “White Only” etched in stone? him in this essay, I realized that the great Mel I don’t really have answers for these Bolden does not even have a Wikipedia page. questions, but how often have I stopped to As we were preparing this issue, I received ask them of myself, or others? The worlda letter to the editor asking about the lack of wide response to the killing of George Floyd Black-owned businesses mentioned in our in Minnesota suggests that it’s time to seek pages and challenging us to do better. The some answers. author, Clyde Bullen, owns a cupcake business There’s only so much that one lifestyle in Exeter and, as I wrote my response, I publication in one of the country’s whitest realized I was dismissing what he said. The states can do, but as a keeper and teller of short supply of Black people in New Hampthis state’s stories, I can at least promise to try shire is legendary, what am I supposed to do to do better. Feel free to hold me to it, Clyde. about that? I mentioned the fact that we make efforts to include diversity in our pages (we do) and that we had featured two African
photo by p.t. sullivan
Chiseled in Stone
