Black Boston: The North Slope of Beacon Hill Black Boston Highlights: 1638-1909 Text by James Oliver Horton and Lois E. Horton Reformer Wendell Phillips 1638 First enslaved Africans The largest African American community in Boston during the addresses an anti-slavery brought to Boston aboard the meeting on Boston Com- slave ship Desire. decades before the Civil War was on the northern slope of Beacon mon, April 11, 1851 (far Hill, in the shadow of the Massachusetts State House. Although left). 1641 Massachusetts enacts some black Bostonians lived in the North End and in the West End y Col. Robert Gould Shaw, Body of Liberties defining legal north of Cambridge Street, over half the city’s 2,000 blacks lived son of a Boston abolitionist slavery in the colony. on Beacon Hill just below the homes of wealthy whites. The historic family, commanded the 54th Massachusetts Regi 1770 Crispus Attucks, an es buildings along today’s Black Heritage Trail® were the homes, busi- ment, the first all-black mili- caped slave, is first colonist killed nesses, schools, and churches of a thriving black community that tary unit raised in the North in the Boston Massacre. organized, from the nation’s earliest years, to sustain those who in the Civil War (middle). 1783 Slavery abolished in faced local discrimination and national slavery, struggling toward Poster in Boston recruiting M useum o f AFR I CAN A mer i can Hi st r Massachusetts. Abiel Smith School the equality and freedom promised in America’s documents of African Americans for ser- vice in the 54th Regiment, First black private school Boston integrates public national liberty. massachusetts h i st o r cal s c et y 1798 1855 National Park Service Park National Interior the of Department U.S. Site Historic National Massachusetts 1863 (near left). opens in home of Primus Hall. schools; Abiel Smith School closes.
Crispus Attucks, black martyr of Black Bostonians’ organizations, masters, Maria Stewart called ing antislavery protests in the wake After the Civil War many freed 1800 Free black population 1861 Civil War begins. the Boston Massacre, was the sym like the African Society and Prince black men to greater exertions of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. African Americans moved north. nears 1,100. bol of sacrifice in the name of lib Hall Masons, spoke out against on behalf of their race, William Black and white Bostonians took Boston’s black population in 1863 Emancipation Proclama 1806 African Meeting House tion signed; 54th Massachusetts erty for black Revolutionary War racial discrimination and slavery. C. Nell spearheaded the successful direct action to protect and some creased from fewer than 2,500 opens as First African Baptist Volunteer Infantry Regiment soldiers who helped bring a free movement for school integration, times rescue fugitives seeking shel in 1860 to nearly 12,000 by 1900. Church. formed, the first all-black regi- nation into being. Yet American Establishment of the African Bap Lewis Hayden defied southern ter in the city. Most newcomers came from the ment raised in the North. promises of freedom and equality tist Church and construction of its slave catchers, and Frederick Doug Southeast, some brought by the 1808 Hall house school moves rang hollow in the ears of slaves African Meeting House on Beacon lass inspired black men to enlist in In the Civil War black Bostonians Freedman’s Bureau for training and to African Meeting House. 1865 Civil War ends; 13th Amendment abolishes slavery. like Quok Walker, who sued for his the Civil War to end slavery. Hill in 1806 drew many blacks to formed the core of the 54th Massa employment as domestic servants. 1826 Massachusetts General liberty in 1783. With his victory, hear the church’s dynamic minister, chusetts Regiment, fighting to pre They expanded black residential Coloured Association, a black 1897 Robert Gould Shaw Massachusetts abolished slavery, Thomas Paul. Soon the center of In 1831 white abolitionist William serve the United States and destroy areas, settling in Boston’s South abolitionist group, founded in Memorial honoring 54th declaring it incompatible with an active community, the meeting Lloyd Garrison launched his radical slavery. Boston’s blacks, mainly End and Roxbury. Gradually long- the African Meeting House. Massachusetts Regiment dedicated on Boston Common. the state constitution. Free blacks, house hosted a school, community newspaper The Liberator promot domestic workers, laborers, and time black residents of Beacon Hill 1829 david Walker publishes ing interracial antislavery alliances uniting families and seeking mutu groups, musical performances, sailors, created an active communi moved their businesses and homes The Appeal, an essay urging 1898 Black congregation at al support, concentrated in Bos and antislavery agitation. From and the protection of fugitive ty on Beacon Hill that fought for to that area. By 1930 South End slaves to fight for their freedom. African Meeting House moves to ton’s North End near the docks these slopes Prince Hall denounced slaves on the Underground Rail better working conditions. They Boston’s African American community and Roxbury were home to most of Roxbury; meeting house becomes has traditionally lived in neighborhoods and sea where many worked. the ill treatment of blacks in Bos road. Boston earned its reputation joined other blacks and white abo Boston’s 21,000 African Americans. 1831 William Lloyd Garrison a Jewish synagogue. shown here. begins publishing The Liberator. ton, David Walker exhorted south as a strong center of abolition dur litionists, building a campaign that 1900 Sgt. William H. Carney, ern slaves to rise up against their brought freedom to all blacks. 1832 Garrison forms New Eng veteran of the 54th Massachu- land Anti-Slavery Society at the setts Regiment, receives Medal African Meeting House. of Honor for rescuing the flag during the Battle of Fort Wagner, 1835 Abiel Smith School opens, S.C., in 1863. Boston’s first black public school; Fugitive slave Ellen Craft William Lloyd Garri- The slavery trial of John J. Smith, Boston replaces African Meeting House 1901 William Monroe Trotter and Boston antislavery son established The Anthony Burns (right) abolitionist (above left). school. begins publication of influential activist Lewis Hayden Liberator in Boston in Boston galvanized African American magazine (right). The light-skinned in 1831. He devoted Northern opposition to Sgt. William H. Car- 1849–50 Sarah Roberts unsuc The Boston Guardian. Craft and her husband the four-page week- the Fugitive Slave Law ney, the nation’s first cessfully challenges segregation William Craft were two of 1850. ly newspaper to the black Medal of Honor in Boston public schools. 1909 National Association for of many fugitive slaves defeat of slavery. recipient (left). the Advancement of Colored that Hayden helped After the trial, U.S. mar- both: Museum of AFRICAN Fugitive Slave Law requires People (NAACP) founded, with keep out of the hands shals and a company of American History 1850 of slave catchers. marines escort Burns to fugitive slaves be returned to their overwhelming support of black owners. and white Bostonians.
© Jo anne Devereau x a ship to take him back
African Meeting to Virginia and slavery All photos Library of Congress Boston African American African Boston House (left). (far right). unless otherwise credited the bostonian society / Old state house Planning Your Visit Boston African American National tours, call 617-742-5415 or visit Museum of African American Historic Site works in partnership www.nps.gov/boaf. History The museum pre- with the Museum of African Ameri- serves, conserves, and inter- can History, the City of Boston, Accessibility Ask the park for de- prets the contributions of New and private property owners to tails. Service animals are welcome. England’s African Americans promote, preserve, and interpret from colonial times through the history of Boston’s free African More Information the 1800s. It also honors those American community on Beacon Boston African American who found common cause Hill in the 1800s. It includes homes, National Historic Site with African Americans in the businesses, schools, and churches 14 Beacon Street, Suite 401 struggle for liberty and jus- of a community that struggled Boston, MA 02108 tice. The museum operates against the forces of slavery and 617-742-5415 the Abiel Smith School and injustice. www.nps.gov/boaf African Meeting House.
Black Heritage Trail® This 1.6-mile To learn about national parks Museum of African American walking tour begins at the Robert and National Park Service pro- History Gould Shaw Memorial and ends at grams in America’s communities 14 Beacon Street, Suite 719 the Abiel Smith School (see map). visit www.nps.gov. Boston, MA 02108 Ranger-led tours are available year- 617-725-0022 54th Regiment Memorial George Middleton House Phillips School © JAMES LEMASS Charles Street Meeting House Lewis and Harriet Hayden House Abiel Smith School at Smith Court ALL photographs © susan cole kelly EXCEPT AS NOTED round. For information about www.maah.org The American Revolution was a turning 54th Regiment Memorial (1735–1815), one of the original a barbershop that became a center odist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.) slavery. In 1851 he was arrested, and African Meeting House deacon. 1835 Boston’s black children at- point in the status of African Americans Park and Beacon streets owners, was a Revolutionary War for abolitionist activity and a ren- remained here until 1939, the last tried, and acquitted for the court- • Numbers 7 and 7A Joseph Scar- tended the Smith School, which in Massachusetts. In 1783 the Supreme Responding to pressure from black veteran. Middleton led the Bucks dezvous point for people escaping black institution to leave Beacon house rescue of Shadrach Minkins, lett, chimney sweep and entrepre- replaced the school in the African and white abolitionists, President of America, one of three black mili- on the Underground Railroad. Dur- Hill. a freedom seeker who was caught neur, owned this building in the Meeting House. The school re- Judicial Court of Massachusetts declared Lincoln admitted African American tias that fought against the British. ing the Civil War, Smith was a re- in Boston by federal slave catchers 1860s; it served as rental property. mained Boston’s black public slavery unconstitutional. When the first soldiers into the Union forces in After the war he became an activist cruiting officer for the all-black 5th Lewis and Harriet Hayden House empowered by the Fugitive Slave • Number 10 Scarlett also owned school until public schools were
® federal census was counted in 1790, Mas 1863. The 54th Regiment of Mas and community leader, helping Cavalry. He was later elected to the 66 Phillips Street Law of 1850. Coburn was co-found- this property next to the African integrated in 1855. sachusetts was the only state in the Union sachusetts Volunteer Infantry was found the Free African Society and Massachusetts House of Represen- Lewis Hayden (1816–1889), born er and captain of the Massasoit Meeting House. At his death in to record no slaves. the first black regiment recruited serving as the 3rd Grand Master of tatives for three terms. Smith lived enslaved in Lexington, Ky., escaped Guards, a black military company 1898, Scarlett owned 15 properties African Meeting House in the North. On July 18, 1863, the the Prince Hall Masons, a fraternal here from 1878 to 1893. with his wife Harriet and settled in in 1850s Boston that was a precur- in Boston, a testament to his hard 8 Smith Court The free African American community 54th regiment led an assault on order started by black Bostonian Boston. Lewis became a leader in sor to the 54th Regiment. work and success in business. The African Meeting House, built Fort Wagner in an attempt to cap Prince Hall. Charles Street Meeting House the abolition movement, and the by free black laborers in 1806, is in Boston was concerned with finding ture Confederate-held Charleston, Mt. Vernon and Charles streets Hayden House became an integral Smith Court Residences The brick apartment houses on considered the oldest surviving decent housing, establishing indepen S.C. In this hard-fought battle, Col. Phillips School This meeting house was built in stop on the Underground Rail- 3, 5, 7, 7A, and 10 Smith Court the west end of the court and on black church building in the United dent supportive institutions, educating Robert Gould Shaw and many of Anderson and Pinckney streets 1807 by the white Third Baptist road. The Haydens reportedly kept These five homes typify those the corner of Joy Street typify the States. In the 1800s the building their children, and ending slavery in the his soldiers were killed. Sgt. Wil- This architecture is typical of 1800s Church of Boston. New England’s kegs of gunpowder in their home of black Bostonians in the 1800s. tenements that developers built served as the center of religious, rest of the nation. Between 1800 and liam Carney of New Bedford was Boston schoolhouses. Built in 1824, segregationist tradition of church that they threatened to ignite if • Number 3 Owner James Scott’s between 1885 and 1915. The apart- social, educational, and political 1900, most African Americans in wounded while saving the flag this was a white-only school until seating prevailed. Timothy Gilbert, slave catchers tried to enter. Hay Underground Railroad activity is ments provided inexpensive, dense activity for Boston’s free black Boston lived in the West End, between from capture. Carney was awarded 1855. Black children attended church member and abolitionist, den also recruited for the 54th documented in the records of the housing units for the waves of community. William Lloyd Garrison Pinckney and Cambridge streets and the Medal of Honor for his bravery, school on the first floor of the Afri tested the tradition in the mid- Regiment, was a Grand Master of Boston Vigilance Committee. Like late-1880s European immigrants. founded the New England Anti- the first black soldier to receive this can Meeting House or, after 1834, 1830s by inviting black friends to the Prince Hall Masons, and was John Coburn (see 2 Phillips Street), Except for the Smith Court Resi- Slavery Society here in 1832. Fred between Joy and Charles streets, a neigh honor. This bronze memorial by the Abiel Smith School. When the his pew one Sunday. Gilbert was later elected to the Massachusetts Scott was arrested, tried, and dences, most wooden houses were erick Douglass spoke here, and it borhood now called the North Slope of Augustus Saint-Gaudens was dedi- Massachusetts Legislature abol- expelled. Joined by other white House of Representatives. acquitted for the 1851 rescue of torn down to make way for these was a recruitment station for the Beacon Hill. Many of these homes are cated May 31, 1897, in a ceremony ished segregated schools in 1855, abolitionist Baptists, Gilbert found- Shadrach Minkins. William Cooper four- and five-story apartments. 54th Massachusetts Regiment dur part of the Black Heritage Trail.® that included Carney and members the Phillips School became one of ed the First Baptist Free Church, John Coburn House Nell, abolitionist and community ing the Civil War. At the end of the of the 54th Regiment. Boston’s first integrated schools. which became Tremont Temple— 2 Phillips Street leader, also lived at Number 3. Abiel Smith School 1800s a Jewish congregation Note: Historic homes on the Black Heritage considered to be one of the first John Coburn (1811–1873) was a Nell, the driving force in the strug- 46 Joy Street bought the building, and it served Trail® are private residences and not open George Middleton House John J. Smith House integrated churches in America. clothing retailer and community gle to integrate Boston’s schools White philanthropist Abiel Smith as a synagogue until 1972, when it to the public. Please respect the privacy of 5–7 Pinckney Street 86 Pinckney Street After the Civil War, Boston’s black activist. He served as treasurer of in 1855, is considered the nation’s willed money to the city of Boston was acquired by the Museum of homeowners. Built in 1787 this structure is one Born free in Richmond, Va., John population increased, and the larg- the New England Freedom Associ- first published black historian. for educating African American African American History. of the oldest standing homes on J. Smith (1820–1906) moved to Bos- est of its churches bought the ation, an organization dedicated • Number 5 Owner George Wash- children. The city built this school ✩GPO:20xx—xxx-xxx/xxxxx Reprint 20xx Printed on recycled paper. Black Heritage Trail Heritage Black Beacon Hill. George Middleton ton in the late 1840s. He opened building in 1876. The African Meth to helping people escape from ington was a bootblack, laborer, building with Smith’s legacy. In